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u3a Botany Group - May 2024
by John Crossley & Jenny Taylor - 14:46 on 26 May 2024
On Monday 6 May our group of nine met for the first time in 2024 to visit a less well-known colony of Primula scotica, in a fenced-off area just to the east of the Brough of Bigging near Yesnaby. In fact it seems to have been neglected by botanists since the 1960s and 70s when Elaine Bullard and colleagues carried out a study there. Leaders for the day Jenny Taylor and John Crossley thought it would be very worthwhile to add to knowledge of the species in Orkney by counting the number of plants growing there. Hence U3A Botany Group’s first targeted survey!
The day had started warm but became chilly in the afternoon; nevertheless, we persisted with our self-appointed task. Our survey plan was to establish the boundaries of the area where PS was growing, mark this out with canes and then attempt to count all plants within the marked perimeter by walking line abreast and evenly spaced across the area. It worked reasonably well given the temptation to wander off line to the best places with plants in flower! There were many in flower and they and even the non-flowering rosettes were easy to spot against the short turf still wearing its more or less wintery coat of brown. The colony was at the peak of its first (spring) flowering; the plants all seemed healthy and the flowering plants mostly had multiple florets carried on tall (for Primula scotica!) stems. The eventual total of 3250 +/- 20% was arrived at by a combination of actual counts and estimates of remaining uncounted parts of the survey area.
Apart from the PS itself there was not a lot to see plant-wise: mainly scattered Scurvy-grass, Ribwort Plantain and Spring Squill just coming into flower. Territorial Oystercatcher and Ringed Plovers were alarmed at our presence but we did not linger long enough to keep them from their nests. Away from the PS area there was more variety to see, especially Marsh Marigold lining the small burns with gold and the Noust of Bigging entirely carpeted with Scurvy-grass.
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