A Couple of Hours near Borve

I had to get something checked by Highland Motors at Borve and so I was able to spend a couple of hours wandering along the road, then along the Lòn na h-Iolainn and back across the bog, all in the 1 km square NG4447.

This turned out to be unexpectedly good botanically with Carex hostiana x demissa, the hybrid between Tawny Sedge and Common Yellow-sedge and Impatiens glandulifera (Indian Balsam) both new to the 10 km square NG44. Additionally, I found a single plant of Artemisia vulgaris (Mugwort), a locally uncommon plant for which there was previously an old but undated and unlocalised record in NG44. Furthermore, there was Alnus cordata (Italian Alder) in only the fourth monad in VC104 and I made only the second vice-county record for Erythranthe (previously Mimulus) x burnetii (Coppery Monkeyflower). I made the first record for this in 2013 about two-thirds of a kilometre away in a different tetrad and on a different watercourse.

• 

  Erythranthe x burnetii leaves

• 

  Erythranthe x burnetii flower

I also spotted the rust fungus Coleosporium tussilaginis on Tussilago farfara (Colt’s-foot). This fungus produces tubules containing rust spores on pine needles and later rust pustules on the leaves of Colt’’s-foot, Butterbur and other species.

Coleosporium tussilaginis on Tussilago farfara

Mid-July

I see that it is nearly two weeks since I last posted. Here are a few items from that period. John has found Luzula luzuloides (White Wood-rush) by a woodland path on Eigg. This is a neophyte that is grown for ornament, naturalised in woods and by shady streams, scattered throughout most of Britain, but mainly in Scotland. However, this is the first record for vice-county 104.

Luzula luzuloides from Eigg

Seth, Joanna, Caroline and I have been surveying Portree for the Urban Flora of Scotland project. Seth has found a patch of Ligustrum vulgare (Wild Privet) which has either been missed before or overlooked as Ligustrum ovalifolium (Garden Privet), the commoner of the two on Skye.

Frustratingly, the Philadelphus he found last autumn is not flowering this year, presumably because it is shaded. It is luxuriant enough, just not flowering. I may have to grow some on.

Joanna has re-found the Vicia orobus (Wood Bitter-vetch) in NG25, last recorded in 1958 but now with a precise grid reference.

Vicia orobus at Coral Beach Image: J Walmisley

I have been finding new fungi on various plants:

• 

  Ramularia inaequalis on Taraxacum (Dandelion)

• 

  Puccinia cnici-oleracei on Tripolium pannonicum (Sea Aster)

• 

  Erysiphe symphoricarpae on Symphoricarpos albus (Snowberry)

July has been good for moths. I had 44 in the trap about a week ago and then on Sunday I moved it about 200m to a spot with various trees, Bog Myrtle, Bell Heather, Purple Moor-grass etc. and caught over 100. They have taken a lot of sorting out but I have had lots of generous help from various folks. New to my West Suisnish list of adult moths:

Barred Red	Hylaea fasciaria
Scalloped Oak	Crocallis elinguaria
Dark Pine Knot-horn	Dioryctria abietella	R
Mountain Pearl	Udea uliginosalis	R
Inlaid Grass-veneer	Crambus pascuella
Satin Grass-veneer	Crambus perlella	R
Straw Dot	Rivula sericealis
Welsh Wave	Venusia cambrica
Marsh Oblique-barred	Hypenodes humidalis	R

Species in green are micro-moths. Species marked “R” have few records in VC104

Mid-May

It is still cold so plants are late in flowering and insects on the wing are few in number much of the time. However, it has still been possible to find interesting things…..

A single leaf of Dryas octopetala (Mountain Avens) from Gualann na Leac on Raasay had a gall and leaf spots.

Dryas gall and leafspot

The leafspots are caused by the fungus Isothea rhytismoides but the gall causer is less certain. Following the key on Plant Parasites of Europe leads one to the chytrid Synchytrium cupulatum but a paper on nematode infections of Dryas in Perthshire has some similar looking galls caused by nematodes:

Nematode galls on Dryas

I shall have to go and get the leaf and dig into the gall.

New 10 km square records have been made for Hedera hibernica (Atlantic Ivy), Hyacinthoides x massartiana (Hybrid Bluebell), Prunus avium (Wild Cherry or Gean) and, by David H, Scutellaria galericulata (Skullcap).

I seem to have an aphids day yesterday. Following a lead from Murdo of HBRG I went to check for aphids on Viburnum opulus (Guelder-rose). He had found the aphid Ceruraphis eriophor at Strathpeffer and noticed that there was only one dot on the NBN Atlas for this species. I have often registered that on Skye V. opulus is infested with aphids and indeed the first plant I looked at had these on it (awaiting final confirmation). Later: Confirmed

Ceruraphis eriophor on Viburnum opulus

Meanwhile, Neil had spotted some clumping of leaves on Acer platanoides (Norway Maple) in a garden at Dunan.

• 

• 

Acer platanoides with leaf
nests

I suspect that this is caused by maple leaf-nest aphid Mimeuria ulmiphila, a taxon that appears on NBN but with no records. Someone is going to have to knock on the door and say “Please can we get a ladder to look at your rare aphids?”. Hope that goes well.

Elsewhere, this leaf spot on Epilobium montanum (Broad-leaved Willowherb) appears to be Venturia maculiformis which is probably common but if so, very under-recorded.

Venturia maculiformis on Epilobium montanum

I have converted my moth trap so that it can be battery-operated.

Moth trap at Brae, Raasay

Its first outing at Brae produced several moths I haven’t seen yet this year at home such as Early Thorn:

Early Thorn

Without the aid of a trap, I found a nice Scalloped Hook-tip at Fearns:

Scalloped Hook=tip

Early February at Home

There is a lone curlew on the shore. I think there was just one this time last year – perhaps the same individual. Recently, there have been a flock of Purple Sandpipers, Turnstones and a pair of Goosanders to add to the usual Red-breasted Mergansers, Mallards, Eider, etc.

I have recorded Rhododendron Bud Blast before. Then it was called Pycnostysanus azaleae, but now it is Seifertia azaleae.

Seifertia azaleae

Several galls are present on small sallows along the road. I opened one up and found it to be caused by the gall midge Rabdophaga salicis.

• 

  Rabdophaga salicis Larva

• 

  Rabdophaga salicis Gall

Early one morning, I found this little chap in the bathroom, Amaurobius similis or perhaps A. fenestralis :

Amaurobius cf similis

We are having a period of cold weaher but escaping the serious snow affecting much of Scotland.

In the garden: Moths, Fungi & That Bramble

Two new moths have taken my total for adult moths here to 199 species:

• 

  December Moth

• 

  Scarce Umber

There are fungi everywhere at the moment, but two pink ones in the garden recently are Coral Spot (Nectria cinnabarina)and Wood Blewit (Lepista nuda), both common enough generally but with rather few records locally. (None in VC104 on NBN for the latter.)

• 

  Nectria cinnabarina

• 

  Lepista nuda

Coral Spot and Wood Blewit

Meanwhile, it is looking more likely that the bramble in the last post is in fact Rubus subinermoides as determined by Alan Newton when he stayed with me in 2007, though I am waiting for a view on the pink petals.

Mines, Galls and Microfungi. Part 2

In my last post I had meant to include this smut on Bluebells. It is common enough in this part of the world, but under-recorded.

Colletotrichum liliacearum on Hyacinthoides non-scripta (Bluebell)

In Broadford I found Venturia populina on Populus trichocarpa (Western Balsam-poplar). Bruce says it is “fairly common up here” but there is only one Scottish record on NBN – and that is incorrect as the host is given as Aspen.

Venturia populina on Populus trichocarpa

In Ardvasar there were Red Campion capsules with small holes near the base. I have forgoten what does this and hope someone will remind me…. maybe the moth known as The Campion?

Silene dioica

On one of the capsules I spotted this:

Unknown on Silene dioica capsule

It is very small but looks a bit too organised to be just miscellaneous junk.

Nearby there was a Leycesteria formosa (Himalayan Honeysuckle or Pheasant Berry) with lots of leaf mines.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Mines on Leycesteria formosa

Mines on Leycesteria formosa are caused by flies that traditionally mine Lonicera periclymenum (Honeysuckle) and I sometimes find them difficult to tell apart despite excelllent guides at UKflymines and Plant Parasites of Europe. Anyway, these images found their way to Barry Warrington who runs the National Agromyzidae Recording Scheme and he says they are caused by Chromatomyia lonicerae.

Mines, Galls and Microfungi

By the front gate there is a small Hawthorn tree (Crataegus monogyna). Yesterday I spotted a small moth larva that turns out to be a young Light Emerald.

Light Emerald larva

Apparently this species overwinters as small larvae lying flat along stems of the food plant. As you can see the larva has a fringe of hair-like projections hanging down from the sides.

Also on the Hawthorn a couple of leaves had been spun together with silk and inside was another moth larva. The identity of this one has not yet been resolved.

Spun leaves

Larva

Before I left the premises I noticed a fungus on Solanum dulcamara (Bittersweet) which Bruce tells me is Alternaria solani.

Alternaria solani on Solanum dulcamara

This is not entirely good news as this fungus causes Early Potato Blight and we grow quite a lot of potatoes.

Moving on a couple of hundred metres to a strip of woodland by the Arish Burn, I noticed some leaf mines on Stachys sylvatica (Hedge Woundwort) caused by the true fly Amauromyza labiatarum.

Amauromyza labiatarum mines on Stachys sylvatica

and a little further on a Hazel (Corylus avellana) had leaf mines made by two different micro-moths.

Stigmella floslactella mine on Corylus avellana

Phyllonorycter nicellii mine on Corylus avellana

Phyllonorycter nicellii larva

Also there was a springtail, Entomobrya nivalis (sometimes called Cosmopolitan Springtail), though I almost missed it and have no worthwhile image to share.

A little further on there were galls on Ranunculus repens (Creeping Buttercup) caused by the fungus Urocystis ranunculi

Urocystis ranunculi galls on Ranunculus repens

I am grateful to various folks for identifying and confirming many of the species shown here: Bruce Ing, Roy Leverton, Murdo Macdonald, Stephen Moran, Nigel Richards and Mark Young.

Glamaig

Yesterday I climbed Glamaig, my nearest Red Cuillin, but one of very few that I have never climbed to the top. One of the sites I had intended to include was Leathad Dubh on the northern edge, but Nick went there looking for bryophytes on Monday and found two of the three vascular plants I would have been looking for based on pre-2000 records: Cirsium heterophyllum (Melancholy Thistle) and Rubus saxatilis (Stone Bramble). I very nearly went on Monday – if I had we would very probably have bumped into one another.

So, not needing to do Leathad Dubh I went back to a Hieracium site on the Allt Daraich and took another specimen in the hope of re-finding the probable H. subcrinellum (Blunt-leaved Hawkweed) I found last year. I also found another Hieracium site a little way upstream, so another specimen for determination.

Then, up the hill. There were Scotch Argus butterflies in good numbers and I caught this little moth that turns out to be Eana osseana (Dotted Shade), one with few records hereabouts.

Eana osseana

In terms of finding plants that had not been recorded since before 2000, things were a bit thin with only Euphrasia frigida (Upland Eyebright) re-found – no Gnaphalium supinum (Dwarf Cudweed), Silene acaulis (Moss Campion) or Silene uniflora (Sea Campion). It is a shame about the Gnaphalium as there is no record in NG53 since 1993.

However, I did add 33 taxa to the tetrad list including Luzula spicata (Spiked Wood-Rush) and the hybrid sallow Salix x reichardtii (S. caprea x cinerea).

It was a bright if windy day and I didn’t do well at taking photos – apart from Hieracium specimens. Here is the summit mound with Raasay behind it:

Glamaig Summit

Not far away there was this fungal fruiting body growing through Salix herbacea (Dwarf Willow) and Alchemilla alpina (Alpine Lady’s-mantle). Initially suggested to be Stubble Rosegill (Volvariella gloiocephala), Colin’s comment below has led to a redetermination as Amanita nivalis  (Snow Ringless Amanita or Mountain Grisette).

Amanita nivalis  (Snow Ringless Amanita or Mountain Grisette)

This is one of the species in the Lost and Found Fungi project and is a first for the vice-county. See here.

 

Plant News plus Fungi

The trouble with finding Hieracium silvaticoides (Wood Hawkweed) is that it casts into doubt earlier records in the vice-county for the very similar H. duriceps (Hard-headed Hawkweed). One of these records is from limestone rocks near Brae on Raasay in NG5541, so I went to collect specimens from that area. Time will tell what I found.

I was delighted to re-find Orthilia secunda (Serrated Wintergreen) at a site where I discovered it in 1996 but where it had not been recorded since. It is not exactly in a spot one passes by casually. Best to climb up the nearby waterfall and then up a steep slope – and there it is, about 20 rosettes of leaves but only one plant in flower/fruit:

Orthilia secunda (Serrated Wintergreen)

Close by was this fungus on  Geum rivale (Water Avens)

Ramularia gei on Geum rivale

and along the gorge the Ulmus glabra (Wych Elm) was covered in this:

Mycosphaerella ulmi on Ulmus glabra

Mycosphaerella ulmi on Ulmus glabra

Mycosphaerella ulmi on Ulmus glabra

In the Garden 26th May 2020

It is not the peak time for fungal fruiting bodies but this one has appeared in the veggie bed. Chris tells me it is Tubaria furfuracea, commonly known as the scurfy twiglet.

Scurfy Twiglet

The gooseberries have small quantities of Puccinia caricina as usual, which is colourful and not at a level to cause concern:

Puccinia caricina

Flowerng weeds in the garden now include Poa trivialis (Rough Meadow-grass) and Rumex acetosa (Common Sorrel). The weeds aren’t doing as well as usual as we are spending much more time this year removing them, owing to lockdown. Many seedlings of Gnaphalium uliginosum (Marsh Cudweed), Ranunculus sceleratus (Celery-leaved Buttercup), Spergula arvensis (Corn Spurrey), Veronica persica (Common Field-speedwell) and Veronica peregrina (American Speedwell) from the veggie beds have ended up on the compost heap, but they will have considerable seed banks in the soil.

Insects have contiued to arrive in variety. The moth trap has yielded my first Streamer of the year and the first Shears I have had for five years.

• 

  Streamer

• 

  Shears

Also this splendid Poplar Hawkmoth

Poplar Hawkmoth

and in the garden my first and second ever Large Longhorn (Nematopogon swammerdamella). I didn’t manage a picture but here is one Katie found on Raasay a week or so earlier

Large Longhorn (Nematopogon swammerdamella) Image: K. Guerra

This litle beetle is probably Contacyphon padi (thanks, Ralph)…

Contacyphon padi

and this hoverfly is Xylota segnis (sometimes called Orange-belted Hoverfly). (Thanks Steve and Seth):

Xylota segnis

though I had to check for this spine at the base of the hind femur to make sure it wasn’t the rarer Xylota tarda (sometimes called Aspen-wood Hoverfly):

Xylota segnis Hind femur