Shetland I - flowers on Serpentine debris

[RobSutton]

Just come back from a recent trip to Shetland. I spent most of the tie on Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland Isles. One of the main reasons for going was to look at the peculiar flora found on the serpentine debris fields. The main place to see stuff is the Keen of Hamar NNR.



As well as some rare and unusual plants it has great views north towards Saxa Vord - the old RAF radar station.

A lot of the plants growing here are not particularly rare but because of the extreme environment have odd prostrate or dwarfed forms, such as Sea Plantain:


and Kidney Vetch:


The reasons for this are probably because of the lack of water and extreme exposure - I've never known a windless day there. In the past people thought that nickel toxicity from the serpentine could be important but they seem to have largely discounted this.

Even the orchids grow as tiny individuals:

Northern Marsh Orchid:


Early Purple Orchid:


Frog Orchid:


None of these were growing to much more than about 5-6cm tall.

Others species have a localised Northern distribution such as Mountain Everlasting:


or Moss Campion:


But the real stars are things like Shetland Mouse-ear, an endemic to Unst:




Northern Rock-cress:


and Arctic Sandwort:


There are also Adders Tongue Fern and Moonwort, Lesser Clubmoss and all the time there are Great Skuas buzzing around and Golden and Ring Plover nesting amongst the debris. All in all a fabulous place to visit.

[ron1863]

Looks like you had a great time Rob with good weather and got some lovely shots from a beautiful part of the world.

[KeenTeen17]

great shots and plants there Rob. Most of those are restricted to the North. I once heard a story about a botanist who went up specially for this and spent the day climbing up in the hills for hours looking for it but he never found it. On the way back to the car he was quite annoyed

you know whats coming

It was right next to the car

great shots of the Moss Campion - this is one I want to see

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by ron1863

Looks like you had a great time Rob with good weather and got some lovely shots from a beautiful part of the world.

Thanks Ron - it's a wonderful place in a bit of decent weather. The problem I had was trying to photograph small plants in strong winds. A bit of patience works wonders sometimes.

Originally Posted by KeenTeen17

great shots and plants there Rob. Most of those are restricted to the North. I once heard a story about a botanist who went up specially for this and spent the day climbing up in the hills for hours looking for it but he never found it. On the way back to the car he was quite annoyed

you know whats coming

It was right next to the car

great shots of the Moss Campion - this is one I want to see

Thanks KT - its often the case, the first time I ever saw a corncrake was after 5 hours traipsing around looking for it with no luck and then when we got back to the camper van we were in it was stood on a rock no more than 10 feet away calling.

[Jenny W]

I spent two months on Shetland a few years ago and it's one of my favourite places. I was really taken with the Keen of Hamar - stunning place. Definitely recommended!

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by Jenny W

I spent two months on Shetland a few years ago and it's one of my favourite places. I was really taken with the Keen of Hamar - stunning place. Definitely recommended!

I'd second, third and fourth that. For a botanist the Keen of Hamar has to be on your list of places to go.