Plants of Skye, Raasay & The Small Isles

Attentive readers will know that this is my second year of vegetation monitoring to assess effects of grazing and erosion in this corrie to the south of Sgùrr a Mhadaidh Ruaidh.  The first day was fine:

Coir’ an t-Seasgaich

and the second day, accompanied by Jonathan, started well enough but deteriorated by the afternoon. This is the parking spot:

Loch Cuithir

and this is what looked from a distance like a sheep in a theoretically ungrazed site:

but in fact it was outside.

Some plots have really quite uncommon plants in national terms:

Minuartia sedoides (Mossy Cyphel)

Steve has sent me nearly 600 records from Skye in July. These include nine new 10 km square records:

Geranium endressii (French Crane’s-bill) NG72
Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Crane’s-bill) NG72
Ribes nigrum (Black Currant) NG52
Rosa mollis (Soft Downy-rose) NG60
Rosa rugosa (Japanese Rose) NG72
Sedum acre (Biting Stonecrop) NG72
Stellaria graminea (Lesser Stitchwort) NG60
Vicia sativa subsp. nigra (Narrow-leaved Vetch) NG61

and Hypericum tetrapterum (Square-stalked St John’s-wort) at Camus Croise last seen there by C W Murray  in 1970.

He also knocked off a few species not seen in 10 km squares since before 2000, like Linum catharticum (Fairy Flax) in NG72.

Keep going Steve!