Orkney is one of the smaller vice counties, but it is made up of a large number of islands, 16 of them inhabited, with populations from 2 to 20,000, and many more smaller, uninhabited ones. Included are Sule Skerry and Sule Stack, 40 miles westwards into the north Atlantic.

Kirkwall on ‘Mainland’ Orkney is the Islands’ capital (with a Norse cathedral); it has plenty of places to stay and is a convenient centre for exploring the islands, especially those to the north. There are daily ferries to most of the larger ones of these, also an inter-island plane service. Stromness is the second-biggest town, an attractive place and more convenient for visiting the island of Hoy and others in Scapa Flow. For full details of where to stay, travel, and more, try VisitOrkney.

There is much of interest for the botanist. Highlights include arctic-alpines at unusually low altitude on the ridges of the Hoy hills, maritime heaths and grasslands with Primula scotica and Euphrasias, dunes and machair on the island of Sanday and a multitude of small lochs, most of them naturally eutrophic or mesotrophic and rich in aquatic  plants.

Field meetings 2013

Members visiting the islands will be most welcome at any of local meetings programmed. This year the focus will be recording in parts of hectads with few post-1999 records, especially those which potentially offer the most interest for habitats and species.

Saturday 22 June. Island of Hoy, northwest of Rackwick. Sea cliffs and moorland near the famous Old Man of Hoy. Highlights include Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and A. alpinus easily accessible at low altitude.

Saturday 29 June. Westray, Rapness and Noup Head areas at north and south extremities of this outlying island. Coastal grasslands and heathlands, including ‘perched saltmarsh’ on cliff-tops. Rare coastal eyebrights including Euphrasia marshallii and hybrids to be expected though not previously recorded from these areas.

Saturday 20 July. Carness, Head of Work and Bay of Meil. Relatively sheltered coastal areas, marshes, small lochs and farmland close to the county town of Kirkwall. Hierochloe odorata is known from here.

Saturday 3 August. Graemeshall Loch and surrounding area, Orkney mainland. An easily accessed area including a shallow loch with rich aquatic flora, marsh, farmland and adjacent coast.

For further details, of travel arrangements and times, please contact John Crossley well in advance. Booking is essential for the two island trips on 22nd and 29th June.

Recording

A vice-county checklist has been recently compiled (2011) and is linked to this web page. Work is in progress on a County Rare Plant Register.

Records of plants are welcome, at 1 km or 2 km square resolution, and higher, preferably 8-figure GR, for uncommon species, also notes, images and queries regarding these.

Checklist of Orkney

>> Introduction (Word document)

>> Checklist (Excel spreadsheet)