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Botany Walk, Scapa, Kirkwall, June 24th, 2025
by Maureen Kinsey - 16:37 on 02 July 2025
From early dullness (but dryness!) when we met in the car park at Scapa the day turned into lovely sunshine with a light breeze. After spending half an hour identifying plants in the car park before even setting off on the walk, we realised that going to Arcadia park as well as the Crantit Trail was too ambitious and we would enjoy the now lovely weather strolling and identifying along the Trail until it was time to turn around back to the car park. Nothing of particular note was discovered ( we declared it a Mono-culture ) apart from a colony of Corn Spurrey (Spergula arvensis) at the entrance to a cultivated field at the beginning of the Trail which was identified by Kate.
List of plants:
- sea rocket field horsetail
- Orache yorkshire fog
- groundsel lesser trefoil
- recumbent pearlwort red clover
- thrift northern marsh orchid
- scentless mayweed meadowsweet
- greater plantain meadow vetchling
- lime grass ribwort plantain
- curled dock great plantain
- common scurvey grass yellow flag
- dock cocksfoot grass
- sow thistle (perennial?) red fescue
- sea mayweed nettles
- silverweed eared willow
- common chickweed corn spurrey
- daisy pineapple mayweed
- creeping buttercup forget-me-not
- self heal knot grass
- prickly sow thistle speedwell (common field?)
- broad eared willow herb yellow rattle
- angelica wild pansy
- ragwort hair grass
- mouse ear sp. hybrid woundwort(?)
- false oat grass, meadow vetchling, field horsetail, bradleaved dock, water horsetail
- marsh horsetail
- soft rush
- watercress
- ribleaved plantain
- cow parsley
- marsh thistle
- compact rush
- sorrel
- marsh marigold or scurvy grass
- alder
- oak moss
- canary grass
- rosebay willowherb
- tealeaved willow
- and a green-veined butterfly
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