IV.

Plants and Animals

Cornwall's warm climate allows a number of plants (including several varieties of palm), which are not usually expected as far north as the British Isles, to be grown on the south coast without difficulty. Many kinds of colourful heather and furze grow on the moors and the cliff tops, and are especially to be found in the Lizard nature reserve near Mullion Cove, where many varieties of seabird can also be seen. The whole coast is rich in sea birds, including razorbills, turnstones, and gulls of all varieties. However, the chough, a member of the crow family, once so common in Cornwall that it was known as the “Cornish chough”, is now rare and no longer breeds in the county. Grey seals are to be seen on the north-west coast and there is a seal sanctuary in the estuary of the River Helford. Otters are found in the north-west of the county, although not in large numbers; the Tamar Otter Park is near Launceston. Brown trout, sea trout, and salmon breed in some of the rivers. Porpoises and dolphins sometimes visit Cornish waters, and large shoals of Portuguese Man-o'-War jellyfish are occasionally blown towards the shore.