The first daffodil

The first daffodil opened in our garden today. This probably doesn't seem that unusual if you live in the south of England, but here in central Scotland the crocuses have hardly begun to appear and I haven't seen any other daffodils anywhere near flowering yet this year.

New Year flower count 2016

I've just heard back from the BSBI about their New Year plant hunt. The idea was to count wild plants in flower in a three-hour period over the New Year weekend. They have accepted my list of 21 species (from west central Scotland) found on 2nd January, so I'm rather belatedly listing them here. A few weeks later, after several days of frost and snow, many of these are no longer flowering. Most were either plants that can flower all year round or that normally flower into autumn and had survived the mild winter until New Year.

Unfortunately it was a very dull day and many of the plants were in a patch of waste ground that I could only view at a distance through wire netting, so it was far from ideal for photography.

Arabidopsis thaliana (Thale Cress)

Bellis perennis (Daisy)









Capsella bursa-pastoris (Shepherd's-purse)

Cardamine flexuosa (Wavy Bitter-cress)







Cerastium glomeratum (Sticky Mouse-ear)

Crepis capillaris (Smooth Hawksbeard)

Cymbalaria muralis (Ivy-leaved Toadflax)

Euphorbia peplus (Petty Spurge)











Fumaria officinalis (Common Fumitory)

Geum urbanum (Wood Avens)







Heracleum sphondylium (Hogweed)
Matricaria discoidea (Pineappleweed)

Myosotis arvensis (Field Forget-me-not)

Ornithopus perpusillus (Bird's-foot)

Poa annua (Annual Meadow-grass)

Ranunculus repens (Creeping Buttercup)










Senecio vulgaris (Groundsel)
Taraxacum officinale agg. (Dandelion)

Tripleurospermum inodorum (Scentless Mayweed)










Ulex europaeus (Gorse)
Veronica persica (Common Field-speedwell)


The following day I also found Erophila verna agg. (Common Whitlow Grass), but it didn't count as it wasn't within the three-hour period - a pity as it would have been the only true spring flower although I have found it flowering in almost every month of the year.

Unusual flowers

Last Saturday I went on an outing with the Scottish Orchid Society. I have already covered most of the species which we saw, but we went to one interesting location, which was already known to me, where there are a large numbers of Lesser Twayblades (Neottia cordata) growing on sphagnum in woodland. At the same site Chickweed Wintergreen (Trientalis europaea) and Common Wintergreen (Pyrola minor) are also present. These last two are unrelated despite their names. Chickweed Wintergreen is mostly found in eastern Scotland and is not at all common in the west.

White form of Common Spotted Orchid

Chickweed Wintergreen

Common Wintergreen

Lesser Twayblade

Flowers close to home

For the past month, having trapped a nerve in my arm and being unable to drive, my botanical activities have been restricted to close to home. It's amazing what you can find locally if you set your mind to it. Only a few hundred yards from our house I found two plants which I had never seen before, growing in a grass verge. Both are members of the pea family (Fabaceae), and both are species which thrive on mown grass because they are very short in growth and can survive being mown but cannot stand the competition of taller vegetation.

Birdsfoot (Ornithopus perpusillus) is a widespread but local annual which is scattered throughout Great Britain, though in Scotland it is mostly restricted to the central belt, the south-west and around Inverness. It get its name from the shape of its seed pods.

Slender Trefoil (Trifolium micranthum) is common in south east England, but has hitherto been regarded as absent from Western Scotland north of the Clyde and Scottish records are regarded as alien. This is the first record for the species in Dunbartonshire. In the top picture the plant on the left is Lesser Trefoil (Trifolium dubium) which is abundant throughout Great Britain.

Portencross

Two weeks ago we decided to go to the coast and look for some of the coastal flowers now out. The rocks were covered in flowers, particularly Bloody Cranesbill, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Sea Campion and Thrift.

Bloody Cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum - below) is native along this part of the coast, though it also occurs as a garden escape.

This was the first Small Tortoiseshell butterfly we had seen this year.

Another Tortoiseshell butterfly had alighted on some Thrift (Armeria maritima). Although Thrift is most often a coastal plant, it can also be found growing on alpine ledges in the hills.

Sea Spurrey (Spergularia sp.) was growing along the edges of the shore.

Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) was exceptionally brightly coloured, with more orange flowers than usual.

Red Campion (Silene dioica)

This was only the second time I had seen Navelwort (Umbilicus rupestris) in Scotland. It grows mostly in the west of the UK, often near the coast.

The leathery pointed leaves of Sea Sandwort (Honckenya peploides) formed large patches near the top of the beach.

Wild orchids in May

Here in Scotland we think of the main orchid season as starting in mid-June, but after the recent hot weather I wondered which species I could find already in flower in May.

No surprise that the first was the Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula), near Aberfoyle on 22nd May.

More of a surprise, on the same day, was a number of Lesser Twayblades (Neottia cordata) on the Menteith Hills.

On 25th May we found some Northern Marsh Orchids (Dactylorhiza purpurella) coming into flower near Fintry.

By 26th May, large numbers of Heath Spotted Orchids (Dactylorhiza maculata) were in flower on the lower slopes of Ben Lomond.

Just in time, this Common Twayblade (Neottia ovata) at Dumbrock near Milngavie managed to open one floret on 28th May.

In memory of a tree

"Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather. "

William Shakespeare

Do you have favourite trees?

I have several. The huge beech tree that grows in the park by our house. The beech tree that grows in an open space in the middle of the forest about 5 miles from here. The tree we used to climb when we were children.

One of my favourites was the first Chilean Firebush (Embothrium coccineum) I ever saw. It grew in the grounds of the Lodge on the Isle of Eigg. After my first sight of it I even tried (unsuccessfully) to grow one in our garden. When we walked past, I would pick up fallen flowers and wear them as jewellery.

It flowered at the end of May and the beginning of June, and last summer it was flowering profusely when we passed by on a sunny day.

This year, along with many other trees on Eigg, it was a casualty of the January gales.

RIP, Chilean Firebush.

Heather for Heather

I recently got back in touch with a friend's daughter called Heather, who was born in Scotland but has lived in the US all her life and never returned here since she was a baby. So here are some pictures of heather for Heather.

At this time of the year, many parts of Scotland turn pink with the flowering heather (Calluna vulgaris). I took this picture earlier in September when we were on the Isle of Eigg. That's the Sgurr in the background.

Calluna vulgaris, Heather, or Ling, is the commonest species.

In the picture below it is mixed with the darker flowers of another common species - Bell Heather (Erica cinerea).

A third species found very commonly, though perhaps not in quite such large quantities, is Cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix). The two flowers on the right in the picture below are Cross-leaved Heath, while the flower on the left is Bell Heather.

The ordinary Heather, or Ling, also comes in a great many colour variants. The two plants in the picture below are the same species.

Occasionally you can find "lucky" white heather.

All these photos were taken on the Isle of Eigg during this September.

Easter Eigg - in September?

Somehow, whenever I have a lot to post, I don't have the time to do it. I now have a huge backlog of pictures taken, places visited, things seen, from the summer, and will try to post some of them over the next few days.

To start with, some pictures from the Isle of Eigg.

A very out-of-season primrose, taken on 5th September.

Ten days later these flowers had been eaten, but the plant had produced another flower and bud.

Although garden primroses quite commonly flower out of season, the wild ones are less inclined to do so and mostly flower in March to May. Other out-of-season ones I've seen have been December (Eigg, 2005) and 18th August (Skye, 2008).

And how about an Easter bunny?