Areas

For the purposes of this blog I have divided Scotland into four large areas, namely North, East, South and West. For the sake of simplicity I've used major roadways as the boundaries. Each of these four areas hold a number of species that the others do not. As such, I plan to visit all of them in an attempt to realise my ambition of recording 650 plant species in Scotland during 2022. I currently have no plans to visit any offshore islands other than Raasay, a twenty minute ferry crossing from Skye and home to several highly desirable plant species not easily findable elsewhere. I have no idea how attainable 650 species is, I could pass that number halfway through the year or I could fail to reach even 500 species. It's just a little something to keep me forging ahead.

A quick tour, starting at the top and progressing clockwise...

First up we have North Scotland. This covers all of mainland Scotland north of the A835, which is the road that runs from Ullapool down to Inverness. In the height of summer the daylight here seems to last forever and it is easy to find yourself relaxing on top of a beautiful coastal cliff with not a person in sight. It truly is a stunning part of the world and is home to some equally stunning plant species. The north west coast provides the largest area of machair to be found in mainland Britain. Further east, alpine plants descend almost to sea level whilst inland lies the Flow Country, the largest expanse of blanket bog in the world and a haven for many wetland and peatland species. There are a number of special plants to be found in the far north, plants such as Scottish Primrose, Estuarine Sedge, Alpine Bearberry, Purple Oxytropis, Oysterplant, Pyramidal Bugle and Norwegian Mugwort. Then there's the naturalised aliens such as Magellan Ragwort and all the weird stuff growing at the 'Inchnadumph Zoo'. With a bit of forward planning I should be able to make an attempt for each of these species, many of which I've not seen before. I do need to dodge the holiday season though, the North Coast 500 has brought in a lot of revenue to this far-flung part of Britain, but it's completely buggered up the roads and beaches.   

Next up we have East Scotland which is the area that lies east of the A9/M90 from Inverness down to the Queensferry Crossing at Inverkeithing. Apart from the Speyside/Cairngorm area and a little bit around the Inverness to Elgin area, this is a part of Scotland I am largely unfamiliar with. There are a number of damn good plants that occur here and I'm looking forward to doing a fair bit of discovering and exploring. I'm particulary looking forward to spending time on the slopes of Cairngorm and The Cairnwell, home to a suite of alpine plants I have rarely, if ever, encountered before. The East is also where Ali Shuttleworth lives, Fife's greatest pan-species lister. He's been looking at my list of target species and has hopefully tracked down a few of them for me. He has Rose Campion growing in his street, a plant I've never seen before, so that at least that should be guaranteed! Just a few of the plants I particularly hope to see in this area are One-coned and Issler's Clubmosses, Alpine Milk-vetch, Eight-stamened Waterwort, Monk's Rhubarb, Seaside Goldenrod, Purple Coltsfoot, Dickie's Bladder-fern and Whorled Solomon's-seal.

At the bottom we have South Scotland, which is the part of Scotland furthest away from where I live. It encompasses the area lying south of the M8/M9 from Greenock to Queensferry and north of the English border. I always suspected that this part of Scotland would provide me with the opportunity to see various essentially southern species at the northern edge of their range, which it transpires is true. But what I didn't expect was the huge array of genuinely exciting and scarce species which don't occur as far north as Skye or as far south as southern England (ie the areas I've spent most of my life), meaning that there are absolutely loads of species on offer which I've never seen before! Seriously, I think I'm going to see if I can book a week off work and just mooch around The Borders! St Abb's Head looks to be a superb site with various clifftop species I've never before encountered. Grey Mare's Tail has a whole host of mouthwatering plants just waiting to be sought out. Castle O'er likewise has several very exciting plants on offer. The south coast from Stranraer to Gretna has an equally exciting range of mostly beach/dune plants that I've never seen before. I've typically only spent time in southern Scotland whilst on my way elsewhere, but I've been doing it a huge injustice. Of the many plants that occur in this region, stand out highlights for me would be seeing Forked Spleenwort, Northern Hawk's-beard, Bay Willow, Small Restharrow, Spiny Restharrow, Spring Sandwort, Yellow Bird's-nest, Seaside Centaury, Purple Milk-vetch, Marsh Valerian, Maiden Pink, Hairy Stonecrop, Lesser Chickweed, Rigid Hornwort, Knotted Clover and Coral-root Orchid. And there are lots more that I haven't mentioned!

West Scotland is the largest of the four areas and it's also where I live, though admittedly being at the top end of Skye hardly puts me in a nice central location. As the map shows, this is the region that lies west of the Ullapool to Edinburgh road and north of the Edinburgh to Glasgow road. It's a wild and often mountainous part of the country with many areas lying a long way from civilisation. I work five days a week, so shall naturally be spending the majority of my time here on Skye itself. I can, of course, daytrip a nicely-sized portion of this area with ease during the long summer days. On an average day it takes me around an hour to reach the Skye Bridge, and somewhat longer once the tourists arrive. Happily there are still many plants that occur on Skye that I've never seen before, or have encountered just once or twice. Plenty enough to keep me happy between sojourns onto the mainland. Species that occur on Skye which I've never seen include Mackay's Horsetail, Herb-Paris, Alpine Pearlwort, Alpine Saxifrage, Alpine Woodsia, Alpine Meadow-grass, Whorled Mint, Brown-beaked Sedge, Tufted Saxifrage, Kidney Saxifrage, Soft Downy-rose, Mossy Sandwort, Spiral Tasselweed plus Frog, Bog, Narrow-leaved Marsh and Small White Orchids. Select specialities on the mainland include Diapensia at its sole British site, Hairy Stonecrop, Ostrich Fern, a great many alpine-arctic specialities up Ben Lawers, Pigmyweed down on Ardnamurchan, Greater Cuckooflower and Large-leaved Avens. I'm really looking forward to summiting Ben Lawers for a second time in an attempt to see a few more of the special plants up there and of exploring more of the Trotternish Ridge right here on my doorstep at the top end of Skye.