Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 3d

Some lovely areas of wet heath near Boat of Garten had impressively large and dense mats of small cranberry. Given how healthy these mats looked, they had surprisingly few berries, but just a few had fully open flowers so perhaps more to come?

1 13

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 5d

Perhaps you should subscribe to an acclimatisation plan involving cold showers and cooling fan on max followed by manual dexterity and acute vision tasks? Doubtless the Scottish Tourist Board would tell you it's completely unnecessary, but...

2 4

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 5d

I'm sure Poland and Clement will have a character that can be used to separate Salix from Vaccinium....

1

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 5d

Here's a nice juxtaposition from below Cairngorm earlier this week: bilberry (left) and bog bilberry (right), demonstrating differences in shape and colour of both leaves and stems.

2 3 31

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 7d

Attractive colouration displayed by deergrass, dwarf willow and viviparous sheep's-fescue, plus curved wood-rush in a rocky hollow, some highlights of a walk from the Coire Cas car park to Ben Macdui summit.

1 8

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 7d

I agree, NB also the blunt-tipped leaves.

1 2

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 8d

Serrated wintergreen forms clonal patches, so several options for quantification. Do you count patches, flowering stems, leaf rosettes or estimate patch areas? Regardless, it's a lovely plant and an advantage of taking measurements is that you may discover other interesting things in the process!

1 1

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 8d

Yup. Looks good to me, well spotted!

2 3

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 13d

Plant distributions provide an endless source of wonder, and the BSBI Plant Atlas 2020 online site is a great resource for seeing them!
plantatlas2020.org/atlas

PlantAtlas

plantatlas2020.org

1 7

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 13d

Here's the highlight from a bicycle-based tour of a rather unpromising tetrad inland from Catterline, Kincardineshire: a second county site for rustyback. Close to a house and farm, so perhaps a localised escape though not growing on the outside of a domestic wall.

1 1 24

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 15d

Pleased to find a new site for alternate-leaved golden-saxifrage, in Glens of Foudland, North Aberdeenshire. Nearby, striking autumn colours of sheep's sorrel and either pale lady's-mantle (BSBI Handbook) or intermediate lady's-mantle (BSBI DDb) as vernacular names for Alchemilla xanthchlora.

1 12

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 17d

Revisited an odd horsetail at Den of Maidencraig LNR, Aberdeen, which I think is shore horsetail, the hybrid of water and common horsetails. Like a long-branched common horsetail but with stems smoother, compressible due to a large central hollow and protruding cortex when pulled apart lengthways.

2 8

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 19d

Close to my heart as well. Have just signed and hope others do too.

Judy Webb @judywebb.bsky.social · 20d

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

Save COUL LINKS protected nature from destructive Déjà Vu Groundhog golf course

I've just signed the petition opposing plans to build a destructive luxury golf course at beautiful rugged Coul Links in the Scottish Highlands. Will you sign too?

you.38degrees.org.uk

1 4 9

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 21d

How about this for a monster sun spurge? In an arable field margin near Rothienorman, north Aberdeenshire, yesterday.

6

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 23d

Spent today in the last two tetrads entirely in Kincardineshire with fewer than 30 higher plant records. Highlights a colony of blue water-speedwell in a little-used sand quarry (scarce in the county) plus a fragment of relic heath (heather grows much bigger when protected from browsing by gorse).

1 1 7

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 24d

I'm the BSBI VCR for 91 (Kincardineshire) and 93 (North Aberdeenshire) so my 70 refers only to higher plants. I'd imagine that if considering recording adequacy more broadly then some breakdown by taxonomic groupings would be required.

1 2

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 24d

In VC91 I use 70 taxa as a target, and have very few tetrads to get over the line (excepting edge squares and a couple in the uplands species-poor). In VC93 that target leaves over 200 in the 'to do' camp, so I'm focussing on under 30s. For the 3 just visited, the numbers of were 2, 2 and 0.

1 2

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 25d

So that's 3 more tetrads struck off North Aberdeenshire's list of areas with inadequate higher plant records. Highlights from the largely aforested low hills west of Huntly were greater and lesser tussock sedges, late flowering grass-of-Parnassus and a hectad first for the bramble Rubus dasyphyllus.

1 1 16

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 27d

Really enjoyed today's roses workshop led by Roger Maskew and Gareth Knass. Introduced to many new characters to look out for, such as leafy bracts. I clearly have much more to learn about this fascinating but challenging group, so am eagerly awaiting the publication of their BSBI Roses Handbook...

4

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · 28d

Parsley fern only grows at three sites in North Aberdeenshire, all are spoil heaps from former quarries. Nice to see it doing well at Hill of Foudland today, though its long term prospects here are surely bleak if the heath continues to spread over the currently bare stones.

1 11

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · Sep 7

Six-stamened waterwort, found floating in an artificial loch near Monymusk today. Third South Aberdeenshire site from the year 2000.

1 8

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · Sep 3

Came across an unfamiliar willow at Drumblade, near Huntly, this week. From a distance resembling crack willow, but the bark was smooth and grey. Back home, I'm thinking it's European violet-willow, characterised by: leaves pale below; pruinose stems below buds; and glands on inside of stipules.

2 7

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · Aug 31

An interesting juxtaposition of wild strawberry and stone bramble today by the River North Esk near Edzell, the contrast enhanced by the early onset of autumn colours in the stone bramble leaves.

7

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · Aug 29

Twinflower leaves were starting to show their autumn colours at Glen Tanar NNR today.

3

David Elston @1davidelston.bsky.social · Aug 28

Back in the spring I took a walk on Tullos Hill, Aberdeen, while the car was being serviced and found what looked like cleft bramble Rubus fissus but was unsure as no leaves present. Went back today during its MOT test and collected the first localised record for the bramble in the NJ90 hectad.

2 17