Botany Of Scrabster Braes
The Botany Group
Scrabster is on bedrock surrounded by high cliffs of clay till which has washed down to a steep but mostly stable angle. The quality of the clay is variable, with some wet zones where the drainage is restricted, some very dry parts, some rich in calcium and others neutral or mildly acid. The most interesting areas botanically are the calcium-rich zones, especially towards the base of the till where the mineral salts tend to concentrate. One clear indication of this is the presence of snails among the vegetation. There are two particularly rich parts - one is the stretch from the lifeboat station to the lighthouse, the other is just opposite the fuel tanks. In both places there is a wall at the base of the bank and both walls and banks were surveyed by the Botany Group in July 1980. There were a considerable number of common grassland plants present which do not essentially demand the high calcium content:
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Achillea millefolia
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Yarrow
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Agropyron repens
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Common Couch-grass
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Agrostis canina
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Brown Bent-grass
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Agrostis tenuis
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Common Bent-grass
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Anthoxanthum odoratum
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Sweet Vernal-grass
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Anthriscus sylvestris
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Cow Parsley
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Arrhenatherum elatius
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False Oat-grass
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Bellis perennis
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Daisy
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Capsella bursa-pastoris
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Shepherd's Purse
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Carex flacca
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Glaucous Sedge
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Carex nigra
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Common Sedge
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Centaurea nigra
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Common Knapweed
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Cerastium holosteoides
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Common Mouse-ear
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Cirsium arvense
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Creeping Thistle
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Cirsium vulgare
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Spear Thistle
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Dactylis glomerata
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Cock's-foot
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Deschampsia cespitosa
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Tufted Hair-grass
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Equisetum arvense
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Field Horsetail
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Euphrasia sp.
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Eyebright
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Festuca ovina
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Sheep's Fescue
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Festuca rubra
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Red Fescue
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Galium verum
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Ladies Bedstraw
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Heracleum sphondylium
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Hogweed
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Holcus lanatus
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Yorkshire Fog
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Hypochaeris radicata
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Cat's-ear
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Lathyrus pratensis
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Meadow Vetchling
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Leontodon autumnalis
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Autumn Hawkbit
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Lolium perenne
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Perennial Rye-grass
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Lotus corniculatus
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Common Bird'sfoot Trefoil
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Phleum pratense
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Timothy-grass
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Plantago lanceolata
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Ribwort Plantain
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Plantago major
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Greater Plantain
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Poa annua
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Annual Meadow-grass
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Poa subcaerulea
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Spreading Meadow-grass
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Polygala serpyllifolia
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Heath Milkwort
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Primula vulgaris
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Primrose
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Prunella vulgaris
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Selfheal
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Ranunculus acris
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Meadow Buttercup
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Ranunculus repens
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Creeping Buttercup
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Rumex acetosa
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Common Sorrel
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Rumex crispus
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Curled Dock
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Rumex obtusifolius
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Broad-leaved Dock
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Sagina procumbens
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Procumbent Pearlwort
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Senecio vulgaris
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Groundsel
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Sonchus arvensis
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Perennial Sowthistle
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Succisa pratensis
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Devil's-bit Scabious
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Taraxacum sp.
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Dandelion
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Trifolium pratense
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Red Clover
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Trifolium repens
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White Clover
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Urtica dioica
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Common Nettle
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Vicia cracca
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Tufted Vetch
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Vicia sepium
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Bush Vetch
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Viola riviniana
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Common Dog-violet
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Plants which specialise in occupying walls and dry banks
were to be found:
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Cymbalaria muralis
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Ivy-leaved Toadflax
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Hieracium pilosella
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Mouse-ear Hawkweed
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Sonchus asper
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Prickly Sow-thistle
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Thymus drucei
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Wild Thyme
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Plants specially associated with the calcium-rich conditions are:-
in the dry parts:
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Gymnadenia conopsea
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Fragrant Orchid
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Linum catharticum
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Fairy Flax
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and in the wetter parts:
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Carex pulicaria
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Flea sedge
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Filipendula ulmaria
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Meadowsweet
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Parnassia paulustris
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Grass-of-Parnassus
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Another interesting aspect of the plant population is the occurrence of a group of plants suggestive of a former scrubland or primitive woodland vegetation:
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Brachypodium sylvaticum
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False Brome
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Campanula rotundifolia
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Harebell
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Dryopteris filix-mas
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Male-fern
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Hedera helix
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Ivy
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Pteridium aquilinum
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Bracken
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Rosa canina agg.
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Dog Rose
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Rosa tomentosa agg.
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Downy Rose
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Rosa pimpindellifolia
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Burnet Rose
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Rubus fruticosus agg.
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Bramble
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Rubus idaeus
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Raspberry
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Stachys sylvatica
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Hedge Woundwort
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In a zone higher up the bank a quite different plant community indicates that the soil there is acid but mineral-rich:
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Erica cinerea
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Bell Heather
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Festuca tenuifolia
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Fine-leaved Sheep's fescue
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Hypericum pulchrum
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Slender St. John's-wort
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Pinguicula vulgaris
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Common Butterwort
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Potentilla erecta
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Tormentil
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Salix repens
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Creeping Willow
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This whole delightful area is prone to loss by development or by natural landslides - perhaps somebody will resurvey it in about 50 years time to see what has survived of this list.
Published in 1981 April Bulletin
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