What a wet afternoon it was last Tuesday but it did not stop us investigating the delightful, secluded area at the Loch of Bosquoy in Harray. We first had a look along the the shore, mostly stony and rather barren but nevertheless home to abundant Shoreweed Littorella uniflora, an unassuming member of the Plantain family, which might be better named Water Plantain - except that name is already taken by another plant that does not look a bit like a plantain.  Marsh Cinquefoil ('5 leafs' from Old French) Comarum palustre was growing in marshy ground nearby, and we noted that it has stipules, little leafy outgrowth at the base of leaves, as do all members of the rose family. With it was Marsh Bedstraw Galium palustre. A bit further along in a corner sheltered from wave action were the very tall stems of Common Club-rush Schoenoplectus lacustris. Large stands of the same species could be seen growing out of the water on the other side of the loch; it's a rare plant in Orkney and nowhere else does it grow like this (a very similar species, Glaucous Club-rush is more common). Some little sedges grabbed our attention, particularly the neat black-and-green heads of Common Sedge Carex nigra (it goes black later in the year). We had a good look at it using hand lenses and mobile phone cameras.

 

Leaving the water and making our way through tall grassland with Meadowsweet we had a go at grasses, first the reed-like Reed Canary-grass Phalaris arundinacea, then two 'oat-grasses'. One of these, False Oat-grass Arrhenatherum elatius is very common on Orkney road sides, its shiny stems and fruits catching the sun as it waves in the wind. The other, Downy Oat-grass Avenula pubescens, is much less common; we could see its much larger, yellowish fruits with long, crooked awns - easy to identify with both to look at together but not so much one at a time. The Downy one has soft hairs on leaf sheaths but they are not easy to see as the plants age. The distinctive Crested Dog's-tail (grass) Cynosurus cristatus and Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus minor grew along the path. A little further on we came across a few plants of Lesser Stitchwort Stellaria graminea, with tiny starry flowers like those of Chickweed, another Stellaria. It's not common in Orkney, but not especially rare either. On a dry bank nearby were two more Bedstraws, Heath G. saxatile and Lady's G. verum, making three for the day, Tormentil Potentilla erecta (rose family, stipules again) and Bell Heather Erica cinereain flower.

 

The rain was coming on properly now but we persevered, as yet without complaints, towards a wet, flowery field with Ragged-robin Silene flos-cuculi, Marsh marigold Caltha palustris, Bog Stitchwort Stellaria alsine (our third Stellaria), more Common Sedge, Oval Sedge Carex leporina, (new to sedge-convert Kate), Meadow Vetchling Lathyrus pratensis, and most of what we had seen before only here with more flowers in the open ground. The rain then became too much and we beat a swift exit to cars and home.