2002 Skye 30 July - 4 August Main Come-and-find Meeting
18 people crossed over the sea to Skye for the 2002 Come and Find co-ordinated by Bill and Carol Hawkins. This was the first Wild Flower Society Field Meeting to Skye since the one in June 1975 led by the redoubtable Mary McCallum Webster and written up in the autumn 1975 Wild Flower Magazine.
I have the field notebooks of my mother, Connie Swindells from that meeting and they make an interesting comparison with my own. They stayed for three days, we stayed for five and though there was only one location which both parties visited (the Old Man of Storr) we ended up with very similar plant lists. Our list is longer but that seems reasonable as we had an extra two days. They saw more potamogetons than we did and a few other water plants. Our respective lists of Euphrasia species differed and, as we didn't venture into the Cuillins, we didn't see Arabis alpina (alpine rock-cress). We did, however, have a much longer list of introductions.
Broadford was our base and on the first day, at Bill and Carol's suggestion we made for nearby Ben Suardal. Though the underlying rock is limestone the surface cover is acidic and the first plants we saw were those typical of grass moorland. Carex pulicaris (flea sedge), C. echinata (star sedge) and Festuca vivipara (viviparous sheep's-fescue) caught our eyes and in the damper areas and wet flushes we found Pinguicula vulgaris (common butterwort), Pinguicula lusitanica (pale butterwort), Selaginella selaginoides (lesser clubmoss) and Saxifraga aizoides (yellow saxifrage). We made for a burn and followed it towards the summit. This gave us a bit of shelter but also enabled us to find some ungrazed spots where Circaea x intermedia (upland enchanter's-nightshade) and Asplenium viride (green spleenwort) were growing. Here too was Epilobium brunnescens (New Zealand willowherb) which subsequently we found in nearly every location we visited.
As we went up higher we found Antennaria dioica (mountain everlasting), Salix repens (creeping willow), Salix aurita (eared willow) and Agrostis vinealis (brown bent), the last not recorded for Skye since 1970-86. After a bit of a scramble over a stretch where the limestone came to the surface and where Dryas octopetala (mountain avens) was growing we made the summit. From there as the rain set in we moved towards Loch Lanachan. Schoenoplectus lacustris (common club-rush) and Myriophyllum alterniflorum (alternate water-milfoil) grew in the loch and Platanthera bifolia (lesser butterfly-orchid) and a late-flowering plant of Dactylorhiza incamata ssp. incamata (early marsh-orchid) grew nearby. We decided not to linger in the ram and headed back in the general direction of our vehicles.
The rain, however, eased and the sun came out making it much more pleasurable to explore old quarry workings and areas of limestone pavement where hidden in the grikes we found Paris quadrifolia (herb-Paris) and Rubus saxatilis (stone bramble) in fruit. Near here were several species of Hieracium (hawkweed), including H. vulgatum and H. shoolbredii determined by Vincent Jones. Vincent showed us 22 different species of hawkweed while we were on Skye and took several more away for confirmation.
Our second day saw us further north just below the Old Man of Storr. Here, as well as spectacular scenery, we had a feast ofalpines: Arabis petraea (northern rock cress), Silene acaulis (moss campion), Oxyria digyna (mountain sorrel), Poa glauca (glaucous meadow-grass) and several species of Saxifrage, including Saxifraga nivalis (alpine) and S. hypnoides (mossy), the latter showing only leaves. Other species identified from their leaves included Sibbaldia procumbens (sibbaldia), and Thalictrum alpinum (alpine meadow-rue). For me the botanical highlight on Storr was the tiny Koenigia islandica (Iceland purslane) but the finding of Sagina saginoides (alpine pearlwort) and Luzula spicata (spiked woodrush) was special too. A brief roadside stop by Rigg Burn enabled us to see the hybrid horsetail Equisetum x font-queri with its parents, E. palustre (marsh horsetail) and E. telmateia (great horsetail). Parnassia palustris (grass of Parnassus) was growing nearby.
A further stop at Loch nan Eilean, near Sligachan proved very worthwhile for there we found Eriocaulon aquaticum (pipewort), Subularia aquatica (awlwort), Utricularia minor (lesser bladderwort) and what we reckoned was Nymphaea alba ssp. occidentalis. After a careful search of the margins of the loch we were successful in locating the dainty Deschampsia setacea (bog hair-grass).
Day 3 was another mountain top experience - well, not on the very top but high enough up for some more alpine plants. This time we were on the Quiraing where again there was a good match of magnificent scenery and special plants. The two montane willowherbs, Epilobium alsinifolium (chickweed) and E. anagallidifolium (alpine) were found by going upstream along a couple of steep rocky burns until they almost became too steep. Here too, on a ledge, we found Hieracium chloranthum showing its green ligules well and Botrychium hmaria (moonwort). After lunch the party split and some of them went higher to the naturally enclosed area known as The Prison and then higher still to The Table. Here there were some magnificent views and some very explorable ledges where notable plants included late flowering examples of Saussurea alpina (alpine saw-wort) and Cirsium heterophyllum(melancholy thistle), more Saxifraga nivalis and, beautifully silhouetted against the blue sky, some fine clumps of Antennaria dioica (mountain everlasting).
On day 4 we left Skye by ferry for a day on Raasay where two set off for (and reached) Dun Caan, the highest point while the rest of us stayed at lower altitudes. At Brochel, towards the north of the island, we found Sagina maritima (sea pearlwort) and Rosa x rothschildii (R. canina x R. sherardii) more or less on the beach and Inula helenium (elecampane) just behind it. After lunch with a view over to Applecross on the mainland, we ventured into a small birch wood which proved good for ferns including Dryopteris aemula (hay-scented buckler-fern) and Hymenophylum wilsonii(Wilson's filmy-fem) but we-did not stay there long when the mosquitoes became active. By then it was time for a change of scene so we inspected some of the lochans near Brochel and then near Oskaig. Water plants seen included Eleogiton fluitans(floating club-rush), Nymphaea alba ssp. alba (white water-lily), Sparganium angustifolium (floating bur-reed) and Littorella uniflora (shoreweed) Gnaphalium sylvaticum (heath cudweed) in Raasay Forest was new to some along with the aliens Persicaria campanulata (lesser knotweed) at Inverarish and Acaena inermis (spineless acaena) near the ferry pier and along the dismantled railway.
Day 5 was a winding down sort of day when we pottered around the west coast of Skye visiting Camas Malag, Elgol, Kilmarie and Torrin. At Camas Malag where the limestone rock comes to the surface we repeated some of our finds of the first day but also saw Hypericum androsaemum (tutsan) and Hieracium craveniense and what some of us reckoned was Cochlearia pyrenaica ssp. alpina (Pyrenean scurvy grass). If our identification of the last was correct then that is a new location for Skye. Elgol was our lunch stop with good views of the Cuillins and across to Soay and Rum. The grey skies though were a contrast to those of the previous three days when it had been bright and sunny. Notable at Elgol were the huge bushes of Fuchsia magellanica. At Kilmarie Hieracium latobrigorum was growing profusely on the parapet of the river bridge. Our preliminary identification of Atriplex praecox (early orache) on the rocky shore was subsequently confirmed by expert opinion. We also reckoned to find Euphrasia tetraquetra which has not been found before in that part of Skye. Our final stop of the day at the coastal end of Srath Mor near Torrin yielded some surprises for there, almost at sea level were Moss Campion, Mountain Sorrel, Northern Rock- cress, Purple and Yellow Saxifrages and Alchemilla alpina (alpine lady's-mantle). Presumably these had been washed down from Sgurr nan Each when the burns were in spate and had settled on the gravelly flood plain below. They were a pleasing reminder of plants we had seen higher up in the previous few days.
Bill and Carol insisted that they were not leaders and that it was up to the group to decide where we would go. We were well pleased with our decisions and with what we found and appreciated Bill and Carol's light touch co-ordination and their extensive investigation beforehand. Those of us from the south found a wealth of plants new to us (60+ extra diary entries in my own case). Bill and Carol, thanks very much. I for one intend to put my name forward for the next Come and Find.
P.S. What I've not recorded above were the informal strolls in Broadford or the more distant ventures up towards Dunvegan that some people made in the long light evenings. Amongst our finds in Broadford were Setaria viridis (green bristle-grass) and Securigera varia (crown vetch) both of which are new to Skye since recording finished for the new Atlas.
JOHN SWINDELLS