Busy, Busy, Busy

It has been a while since my last post - not because nothing has been happening, rather the opposite.  At the beginning of May I spent a week in Fife with other Lichen enthusiasts, most of whom I knew from Zoom sessions but had never met in person.  I had a brilliant time as up until now I have been a solitary lichener  and really enjoyed going out on field trips with others.  We also had fantastic weather as shown in this photo taken at Earlsferry.

I also got to see some new (to me) lichens such as cornflake lichen, a brilliant golden yellow coastal species.

"Cornflake lichen" Xanthoria aureola

And a less impressive one known as "Fag ash lichen"

Fag Ash Lichen Porpidia tuberculosa

I also got a chance to play with microscopes:

 - and will soon have one of my own as I have ordered one.  In the meantime, a kind friend has loaned me their microscope and I am having fun slicing up lichens and looking at them. 

Driving back from Fife, there was a traffic queue on the A9 and I amused myself by spotting Danish Scurvy grass on the road verges!

With the warm weather, plenty of plants have started to flower. On Newtonmore Golf Course and up Geln Banchor, there is a tiny yellow flower that looks like a miniature version of gorsewith small pea type flowers and tiny spikes. Its name reflects that as it is called Petty Whin (Genista anglica).

It just manages to peep above the grass.  To get an idea of its scale, here it is next to a sprig of Broom.

While waiting for a friend, I also did a bit of botanising in Kingussie.  The field next to the Bowling Green had 3 kinds of Speedwell.

Left to right: Thyme-leaved Speedwell, Germander Speedwell, Slender Speedwell

Rhapsody in Blue?

There are flowers bursting out everywhere, thanks to the warm weather and – dare I say it? – summer.  The more obvious bluebells abound near houses, though the true native  bluebell  (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)is a scarcity here, as most of the plants you will see are the garden variety or Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) or a cross between the two (Hyacinthoides x massartiana).  For more information check out this Plantlife article.

Spanish and hybrid Bluebells by Loch Imrich

The other obvious blue flowers that are out now are the Speedwells.  These are much smaller than bluebells . I have  already mentioned  the Slender Speedwell (Veronica filiformis) in a previous post. There are several  other kinds and I found three of them in my garden whilst weeding the veg patch. Here they are (after being weeded…)

Wall Speedwell, Thyme-leaved Speedwell and 2 Germander Speedwell

The most obvious one is Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys), which forms large patches. It has the largest flower and leaf.

Germander Speedwell

Germander Speedwell

Next is the Thyme-leaved Speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia) which has a smaller flower with  white and purple on the petals.

Thyme-leaved Speedwell

Then, with a tiny deep blue flower, is Wall Speedwell (Veronica arvensis). I have never seen it in walls but it does like dry ground.

Wall Speedwell

 All quite small, but if you don't mind getting on your hands and knees for a closer look, very beautiful.

 Links

Plantlife What is the difference between Spanish and Native Bluebells?

Slender Speedwell post