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Botany Report for Tuesday July 22nd 2025
by Ian Robertson - 14:54 on 05 August 2025
Our arrangements did fall nicely into place eventually following a week of high stress levels for Merryn and me arising from email problems. It was a small group of enthusiasts who arrived to do a bit of botanising at the fresh water wetland site at the south end of Loch of Hundland. Perhaps the mention of clegs and quadrats discouraged some members. But, amongst our group, we were fortunate to have John and Jenny who brought their considerable botanical knowledge and expertise to the proceedings.
About half of us did get down on our hands and knees to “do” our quadrat, while the others were happy to botanise as they wandered slowly down towards the water’s edge. Amongst the 30 odd species in our 1m square quadrat (randomly selected! In a wet flush) the stars of the show had to be the 3doz tiny Bog Pimpernels shown to best advantage while the sun shone. Jenny has the full list.
Although I think this is classed as a fresh water wetland, there were areas of Dry Heath with Bell Heather (fully out), Ling (coming out), Crossed Leaf Heath and Tormentil. One large patch defied classification as it contained lots of Field Horsetails sprouting up amongst the Heathers. Marsh Cinquefoil, Marsh Horsetails, Marsh Ragwort, Marsh Marigold and Butterwort (the last two only showing their leaves now) were to be seen in the areas classed as Wet Heath, which also contained many sedges (like Glaucus, Common Yellow, Star, Carnation, and Green-ribbed), Purple Moor Grass, Mat grass, Viviperous Fescue, and Grass of Parnassus, the latter with a lovely solitary white flower with 5 clearly veined petals, and no more a grass than the Deer Grass which is a sedge! No doubt designed to confuse budding botanists.
Marsh Lousewort is now replacing the Common Lousewort, and someone spottedHeath Milkwort. As one would expect, there were plenty of Rushes – Soft, Compact, Bulbous, Toad and Jointed. Lots and lots more too. Meadowsweet at its glorious, creamy finest, Angelica, Valerian and Woundwort, all taller than the surrounding vegetation while Tufted Vetch did its best to clamber up to a similar height. Tufted forget-me-not gave rise to much discussion as the Foget-me-nots are a difficult group to ID.
Lesser Spearwort, Marsh Bedstraw, Silverweed, Tea-leaved Willow, a couple of Sphagnum species and Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil, the wetland variety of the more common one. And more, lots more. So much to see in such a compact area (we walked barely 200m!).
The fact that some of these species hybridise doesn’t help us amateurs. Soft and Compact Rushes, for example, Field and Marsh Horsetails and common and Marsh Ragwort. Apparently, the Sharpflowered Rush hat adorns the road verge here is, John thinks, more likely to be a hybrid between the Sharp-flowered and Jointed species. Finally, a sign that the year had slid into Hairst, an old Scots and Orcadian term for that period as summer slips into Autumn. The grasses have suddenly “turned”, the Bog Asphodels are fading and the Devil’s Bit Scabious begin to appear.
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