North Ebudes, v.c. 104

Over 2,700 records from 2024 have been added to the DDb so far. Two taxa were added to the vice-county list: Vicia sativa subsp. segetalis (a subspecies of Common Vetch) at Kyleakin and Vicia sepium var. ochroleuca (a variety of Bush Vetch) in Portree, a first for the west coast of Scotland. On Raasay, Tolmiea menziesii (Pick-a-back-plant), a relic of cultivation, is new for the island.

SHARPP

Three SHARPP targets were re-found:

• Ervilia hirsuta (Hairy Tare) in NG71 at Kyleakin
• Melica nutans (Mountain Melick) in NG62 at Suardal
• Torilis japonica (Upright Hedge-parsley) in NG71 at Àird na Meacan

Searches around the coast at Harlosh, NG24 failed to re-find Mertensia maritima (Oyster plant). Likewise, Hammarbya paludosa (Bog orchid) in NG72. In both instances, it was thought that further searches might be successful.

New Hectad Records of native plants ignoring subspecies/varieties etc.:

• Carex arenaria (Sand Sedge) in NG71
• Carex pendula (Pendulous Sedge) in NG72 (doubtfully native)
• Erophila vernas. (Common Whitlowgrass) in NG44
• Lotus pedunculatus (Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil) in NG55
• Moehringia trinervia (Three-nerved Sandwort) in NG25
• Rumex sanguineus (Wood Dock) in NG72
• Salix x multinervis ( aurita x cinerea) in NG71
• Sonchus arvensis (Perennial Sow-thistle) in NG71

There are also new hectad records for Centaurea montana (Perennial Cornflower), Centranthus ruber (Red Valerian), Cotoneaster bullatus (Hollyberry Cotoneaster) and Thuja plicata (Western Red-cedar), Veronica salicifolia (Koromiko).

Skye Botany Group (SBG) met three times in the first half of the year.

In April, a small group visited a large garden and estate in which it was known that Ilex (Holly) taxa, including I aquifolium (Holly) and several cultivars, were growing. Saplings growing beyond the garden boundary showed signs of hybridity but their numbers were small and gave no cause for concern as invasive plants.

In May, the aim of a visit to the famous “Coral” Beaches in northwest Skye was to try to re-find a record from 2022, of Scilla verna (Spring squill), which would be the first for Skye. Twelve members made up the group which set off via Lovaig Bay and updated records for this tetrad along the way. Orchis mascula (Early purple-Orchid), abundant in the hillside and Rubus saxatilis (Stone bramble) and Asplenium marinum (Sea Spleenwort) in the sea-cliffs added new taxa to the list. In the event, S. verna was not found, but many other records were updated.

In mid-June, one of only two sunny days in the month, seven members crossed the Narrows for a visit to Raasay in search of limestone specialists. Joined by two more on Raasay, on our way across the island we saw Botrychium lunaria (Moonwort) and Saxifraga hypnoides (Mossy saxifrage) before reaching Dactylorhiza traunsteineriodes (Narrow-leaved Marsh-orchid) and Chara vulgaris (Common Stonewort), (rare in Scotland) with Carex canescens (White sedge), nearby. We walked along a small gorge, growing on the sides of which were Saxifraga aizoides (Yellow Saxifrage), Dryas octopetala (Mountain Avens), Asplenium viride (Green spleenwort), Cystopteris fragilis (Brittle Bladder-fern) and in the most inaccessible crevices, Polystichum lonchitis (Holly-fern). Higher still, on a precarious ledge, was a small group of plants, yet to flower, of Epipactis atrorubens (Dark-red Helleborine).

Other Matters

The SHARPP algorithm was adapted to find less rare plants not seen in a hectad since before 2000, use of which resulted in some successes and some failures e.g.:

• Carex lasiocarpa (Slender Sedge) in NG44 last recorded at the re-found site in 1972 (last hectad record 1984).
• Aira caryophyllea (Silver Hair-grass) in NG71 (1996)
• Eupatorium cannabinum (Hemp-agrimony) in NG71 (1973)
• Geum urbanum (Wood Avens) in NG71 (1987)
• Vulpia bromoides (Squirreltail Fescue) in NG71 (1978)

• Utricularia minor (Lesser Bladderwort). There is only one record for NG55, in 1989; the site now looks totally unsuitable.

The Epipactis helleborine (Broad-leaved Helleborine) reported from 2022 has emerged near Portree and a record of Senecio squalidus (Oxford Ragwort) from Skye in May 2023 turned up on iNaturalist from a reliable source. This is a first for VC104 apart from an anonymous 10 km record from 1962.

Stephen J Bungard

Joanna Walmisley

July 2024

Read the Plants in Vice-county 104: A Review of July-December 2023 and Plants in Vice-county 104: A Review of January-June 2023 to find out what was discovered in the vice-county in 2023. The vice-county report for the second half of 2022 is available here.