Welcome to the blog of the Botanical Society of Scotland
We launched in May 2020. We wanted to provide a focal point for members, in view of the cancellation of our usual programme of visits and lectures. Through this blog, we are hoping to supplement the information available on our main website, our Facebook pages and our News publication.
So far, we have had a steady flow of blogs, and we introduced ‘Plant of the Week’ in which we feature a species which you may easily find on your walks. Feel free to submit a blog article to us, preferably with at least one image. Send us a message through the contact form and we will get back to you.
Our main field activity at present is to gather data for our Urban Flora Project (https://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/Urban_Flora_of_Scotland), so part of the blog will be about this, and we hope to encourage more of you to participate.
To help newcomers, we have also added a LEARN page, which will be further developed in the coming weeks and we hope will be a valuable resource.
Don’t forget, our website (https://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/) is useful for basic information about us and provides access for our members to our BSS News and our international journal Plant Ecology and Diversity. Our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/botsocscot/ is enjoyed by many people.
Plant of the Week – 29th September – Common ragweed Ambrosia artemisiifolia
A fast-growing plant recently appeared beneath our peanut feeder. We didn’t recognise it, and in the spirit of botanical inquiry we let it grow rather than putting it on the compost heap.
Plant of the Week – 21st September – Water Bent Grass (Polypogon viridis)
This is said to be one of the fastest spreading plants in the British Isles, yet little is known about its ecology. John Grace found it close to his house, and tells the story.
Plant of the week – 14 September – Moschatel Adoxa moschatellina
This week, Richard Milne writes about finding Adoxa moschatellina (moschatel, aka town hall clock, or five-faced bishop). The clusters of flowers always contain exactly five flowers, which between them have 24 petals. Read the article to learn more.
Plant of the week – 7th September – Cuckoo Pints: Arum maculatum and A. italicum
These plants of shady places are self incompatible and rely on female owl-midges carrying pollen between plants for their fertilisation. The midges are attracted to the flowers by heat and smell and a trapping mechanism prevents the flies escaping until pollination has occurred.
Common fungi – rust fungi
These fungi are usually host specific, only infecting particular plant species. Look out for any plants that appear a bit sickly or have distortions – they may well be infected with rust. Here we look at rusts found on nettle, creeping thistle, comfrey and groundsel.
Common plants – edges and hedges
These species are commonly found growing at the side of paths and buildings and at the foot of hedges. Keep an eye out in other places too, though, because they grow in other places as well. Here we look at wood avens, herb Robert, sticky willie and ribwort plantain.
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