Primula scotica

[Giles]

I'm coming up to Scotland next week.
Any particularly good sites you know of for P.scotica?

[Lesley Cox]

There seem to be good stands in the Orkney Islands. A bit far maybe?

[Giles]

Mainland, please!

[David Shaw]

Hi Giles, welcome to Scotland.
If you want to see Primula scotica, in the wild, you will have to go right up to the north coast were it is locally common all the way from John o' Groats to Cape Wrath. It is very much a coastal plant preferring the short vegetation of cliff tops and I have seen it near Bettyhill growing in rock crevices. Just to the east of Thurso is Dunnet Bay and Dunnet Head which are said to be good locations, but I have not searched here.
Happy hunting and please let us know how you get on.

[TC]

My best site is Durness, up at the Cape Wrath. Drive down to the car park at Balnakiel and park there  Take the path towards the golf course but keep as near as you can to the cliff edge.  About 400 yards along, you should come to the area where they grow.  They are not abundant and can be difficult to see as they are so small - about 3/4 inches wide and no taller.  They seem to thrive in the very short turf and by the gritty paths.  Also in this area are large clumps of Dryas octopetala.  We found several double flowered specimens.  Farther up the golf course, by the dry stone dykes, there are large stands of orchids -  we came across 3 varieties.  Saxifrages should also be in flower at this time.  Apart from that, the scenery is wonderful. 

 I have attached a few pictures of the area.
 Picture 013 is looking towards the grassy cliffs
 Picture 012 is looking back
 Picture 015 is by the car park.

[Giles]

Thankyou David and Tom,
I'll be staying at Thurso for a couple of nights, so hopefully both sites will be within reach.
I'll post some pictures if I find anything.
Giles

[Giles]

-am back from a very happy time in Scotland.
Primula scotica was at its peak.The best were seen at Dunnet. Alot of other things there too, including Campanula and Pinguicula.
The flora at Dunnet Bay sand dunes is shown below:
1.P.scotica distant view
2.P.scotica
3.Dactylorhiza purpurella
4.Neottia ovata
Visited Christie's/Edrom/Lamberton/Kevock/Cluny House and came back with rather alot of Primulas.
P.scotica seed is available at http://www.edirectory.co.uk/chilternseeds/
15 hr drive from Thurso back to home!

[Paul T]

Giles,

Beautiful colour to that Dact.  So strong.  The Primula isn't bad either. 

[Lesley Cox]

-am back from a very happy time in Scotland.
Primula scotica was at its peak.The best were seen at Dunnet. Alot of other things there too, including Campanula and Pinguicula.
Visited Christie's/Edrom/Lamberton/Kevock/Cluny House and came back with rather alot of Primulas.

In other words Giles, you went to Heaven.

[TC]

Searching through my slide collection, I found one of a Dryas Octopetala taken at Durness about 6 years ago.  I scanned it and saw that it was not just a double flowered variety but had 32 petals, looking more like a Chrysanthemum.  How uncommon is this ?  Should it be called  Dryas quadruplepetala  ?

[shelagh]

Tom I loved your coastal pictures, they were so good I could almost smell the ozone.

[David Shaw]

20 September - Yesnaby
We liked Yesnaby so much that we went back today for a long coastal walk in great weather.
Primula scotica has a flowering season of May and then July/August. In the middle of September I was not expecting to find any in flower but there was no harm in hoping. Guess what, we found one! It was rather old and battered looking (makes two of us) but there it was on 20 September. We saw several other plants in the grass and found just a very few seed, not enough to offer I am afraid.
A perfect end to the holiday.

[Maggi Young]

David : old, battered but still flowering... that's the spirit!!

[David Shaw]

 

[Giles]

Well done David, so you did find it!
What was the habitat (Dunes? Sheep Pasture?)
It struck me how precarious this plants existance was.
This is the smallest flowering specimen I saw earlier in the year, in close cropped sheep pasture.
It was only 1cm tall !