Crowberry

Crowberry is such a widespread plant in Orkney and at this time of year is in its best autumn colours.

Here is the draft text for Orkney's 'Heather Berry' and you can see how important this common plant was for everyday life.

Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)                         Heather berry

Wireling

Crowberry family

Height to 40cm; flowers April to June, fruits June to September. Very easy to find.

Very widespread and abundant in Orkney (25/28); frequent and widespread in upland Britain (1162/2852), absent from the Midlands and southern England.

The Yorkshire name is Wireling – a succinct description of this tough and wiry stemmed, evergreen relative of heather. Across Britain it is a shrub of the uplands, far more abundant in Scotland than in Wales or England. In Orkney it can be found on acid soils countywide but appears to prosper on the heaths that are close to the sea. In fact it is not uncommon to see plants clinging precariously to the cliff edge with brown, burned leaves due to the constant buffeting by the wind and persistent drenching of salt spray. The leaves are glossy green and linear with rolled back margins which make the underside impossible to see. The flowers are tiny and composed of six tiny and separate pink sepals. The female plant bears the berries which turn from green to black.

For centuries in Orkney, Crowberry was high on the list of useful and indispensible plants. Archaeological excavations at Skara Brae unearthed small pieces of rope twisted from the stems of this shrub. Indeed we know that it served a similar purpose in the North Isles right up to the beginning of the 20^th century. From ‘ropes’ it is a fairly small step to ‘baskets’ and for maybe 5000 years Crowberry was integral to the manufacture of cubbies, luppies, skep and kaisies, all of them woven containers of different types and capable of performing different functions It provided a purplish dye and another of its merits was that it was edible – hence its Orkney name Heather berry. However, the small black berries make for poor eating so that extremely large gatherings are needed to make jam or jelly. In the raw state, the fruits are gritty, with stones bigger than flesh, and tasting of turpentine. The Norse name Kraekling sums it all up, the berry was suitable only for crakes or crows.

     Clinging to the smallest patch of peaty soil. This one flourishing in the confines of the top of a fence stab.

                                              Look carefully and you'll see the berry 'fit for a Crow'

Anne's latest plate

Just to explain Anne's latest brilliant plate. As she says it's the last of the plates that depicts the wildflowers of the 'Dunes, links and dry grasslands'.

Top left - Ragwort at Scrimpo on Rousay
Top right - Hardhead at No4 barrier, Burray
Centre - Red Clover at Warebeth, Stromness
Bottom left - White Clover at Scapa, St Ola
Bottom right - Bugloss at Noltland on Westray

PS: Scrimpo is a super little sandy beach on the northeast side of Rousay.

Links 5

At long last, the final links plate is completed.

Now we move on to the Freshwater section.  I'm really looking forward to this - so many interesting and characterful plants to paint; Marsh Cinquefoil, Flag Iris, Ragged Robin.....

The variety that is Devil's-bit Scabious

No one can have failed to notice how abundant Devil's-bit Scabious is at this time of the year in Orkney. It really is the dominant flowering plant on dry heath, maritime heath and heathy roadside verges.

Devil's-bit Scabious on coastal heath with the papery seed capsules of Spring Squill containing seeds of jet waiting to fall to the ground

Most of the flowerheads are lilac-blue but every so often you bump into different shades of pink and even creamy white

The leaves are hirsute and often very heavily spotted.

And here is the draft for the book:

16. Devil’s-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis)                

Blue Bonnets, Blue Buttons, Blue Heads, Blue Kiss.

Teasel family

Height to 80cm; flowers June to October. Very easy to find.

Very widespread and abundant in Orkney (25/28) and in Britain (2395/2852) although absent from parts of East Anglia.

One of the most conspicuous of Orkney’s late summer flowers, Devil’s-bit Scabious is known from just about everywhere in the county except Sule Skerry. It enjoys moist and slightly acidic soils and although it is frequently encountered amongst cliff-top heath, it is also profuse on inland heaths, in rough grassland and in mires but it is predictably scarce in sandy areas. The rounded flowerheads are generally in shades of purple, violet, mauve and blue but occasionally white or pink may be met with. Colloquial names referring to the colour of the flowerheads are widespread nationally and include Blue Bonnets from Somerset, Blue Buttons from Yorkshire, Blue Heads from Shropshire and Blue Kiss from Sussex. It is a hairy perennial with elliptical, untoothed leaves which often have dark blotches.

The plant has a very short root-stock as though part of it has been bitten off. The story goes that the Devil was envious of the plant’s ability and virtue and bit the root to destroy or render it less effective. In medieval times it was the apothecaries’ plant for the scab or scabies but in later years it was considered a herbal cure-all especially for scrofula and toothache.

Last of the wildflower walks

'Los afficionados'

We had our last wildflower walk of the season on Saturday 20th August. The classes had been looking at Orkney's various habitats and today's turn meant that we would be heading off into the hill to look at 'heath' and 'dale'. Our journey into the hill took us along the Bigswell Road which was lined with the lilac flowers of Devil's-bit Scabious. It really seems to have had a sudden blossoming in Orkney in the last two weeks.

Our route took us alongside the Burn of Russadale and up to the quarry. The hill was at its colourful best with Ling and Bell heather covering the slopes. The 'dale' still looked lush with swathes of Rosebay Willowherb and patches of Valerian still in flower. The large round leaves of Water Avens were still very obvious but most of the flowers had seeded. We found a couple of clumps of Blaeberry heavy with fruit. At the quarry the little clusters of Fairy Flax had lost their white bonnets and been replaced with brown round seed heads.

Bell heather

Valerian

Blaeberry heavy with berries

Rosebay Willowherb

Water Avens - seeding; Devil's-bit Scabious

Fairy Flax - 14 days ago

The same patch of Fairy Flax 14 days later

Elaine R.Bullard (1915 - 2011)

Elaine slipped from this world on August 10th after a short illness and long life. She has been a guiding light. Self-taught, she was active for fifty years in the county and held the post of plant recorder until she was 93. A full obituary will appear in the local press in due course but until then Prof Sam Berry's simple eulogy says it all - 'Miss E.R.Bullard, botanist and doyenne of Orkney naturalists'.

The picture is of Elaine on her 95th birthday with my daughter Eleanor at Yesnaby.

Elaine wanted to see her beloved Primula scotica,

and here it is next to a High School Musical sneaker!

The gem that is Graemsay

One of the most important aspects of the Orkney Book of Wildflowers is for the flowers that are depicted to be set in an appropriate location. We have to be truthful - the illustrated flower must occur in the location that forms the backdrop to the plate. However it can be long-winded process to find the perfect site. The chosen background must be visually strong and depict an Orkney view that is recognisable. You also have to take into account the welfare of the artist - she doesn't want to fall asleep at her easel. She needs the right and stimulating combination too. So it is with those ideas in mind that I set out to the various islands and parishes to search for what at times appears as elusive as the Holy Grail.

On Tuesday it was Graemsay's turn. The island is a gem with a splendid array of wildflowers and Tuesday's visit provided me with locations for at least five of the flowers that will be included in 'the book' - Creeping Willow, Sneezewort, Shepherd's Purse, Goldenrod and Lousewort. The verges were a delight with Eyebrights everywhere and though the Twayblades were over, they would have been a tremendous sight a month ago. One of my favourite hoverflies, the 'large and silent one' (Sericomyia silentis), indulged on the sprays of Wild Anglica. I was particularly pleased with the display of Goldenrod along the eastern side of the island which has caused me to change my original location for this flower's location (Nowt Bield, Hoy) - it will now be Graemsay with Hoy High lighthouse as the backdrop.

My six hours on Graemsay were a tonic. Not only did I manage to find some target flowers,  I also bumped into an Otter. While leaning on the bridge at the Burn of Quoys ruminating over the day's successes I heard a great deal of heavy splashing sounds coming up the burn - you would have thought a Water Buffalo was on the charge such was the din - a few seconds later a dog Otter appeared and promptly launched itself into the deeper waters near the bridge. I obtained one image - body submerged, tail raised and a ribbon of bubbles streaming from its nostrils.

Creeping Willow's view of Hoy from Graemsay

Granite outcrop with Cuilags behind

Eyebrights and Sea Plantain on granite outcrop

Goldenrod view of Hoy High lighthouse

Goldenrod

Twayblade

Willow curtain at the quarry

Sericomyia silentis on Wild Angelica

'Up periscope' - dog otter at Burn of Quoys