Trees and bushes
True woodland is scarce in Trotternish,
though there is a fair amount of Hazel, Rowan, Downy Birch and
Eared Willow scrub on the steeper slopes and along the edges of
the burns. Holly, Aspen and Alder also grow by the waterside and
if you follow a burn up into the hills you may be rewarded with a
Tea-leaved Willow. Ash, Hawthorn, Elder, Osier, Gorse and Broom
occur along the roadsides and on rough ground near sea level. The
Rowan (right) is a magnet for birds when its berries turn red.
From the rate at which they eat them you'd expect it to be picked
clean in a day, but the splendid display of fruit persists for
weeks. Most of the wild roses in Trotternish belong to the Rosa
Villosa group; the purest forms have deep pink flowers and thin,
perfectly straight, spines.
es
such as False Brome and Tufted Hair-grass, and flowers like
Pignut, once a welcome source of food, Yellow Pimpernel and
Sanicle. Globe Flower (left) and Woodruff brighten up the
shadiest places, and the damp areas have a good show of
Meadowsweet and Water Avens, both in its pure form and as a
hybrid with Wood Avens. As summer draws on, the Wood Sage and the
Upland Enchanter's Nightshade come into flower, and thistles and
Foxgloves grace the clearings. In autumn, Fuschias give the
riversides an exotic touch, the Hazels yield their nuts and the
Brambles their fruit. Ferns in the woods include Hartstongue,
Brittle Bladder-fern and Hard Shield Fern, but the most common
and striking is the Scaly Male-fern with its rusty stems.
Much of the
Trotternish shoreline consists of steep cliffs. These have
certain species in common with the inland cliffs, including
Roseroot and Moss Campion, but also have many specialties of
their own, such as the glossy Sea Spleenwort and the chewy Scots
Lovage. There is also plenty of accessible shoreline, and here
some of the more noticeable flowers are those of Thrift (left),
Common Scurvy-grass, Sea Mayweed, Skullcap and Sea Campion.
Clumps of Yellow Iris (below) are often found in rough grassland
near the shore, and tall herbs such as Wild Carrot and Perennial
Sow-thistle make a striking display in the same habitat. Two rare
shingle plants are found on the beaches of Trotternish: the
Scottish Scurvy-grass and the orache Atriplex Praecox.
The inland lochs tend to be very acid, but they are full of botanical
interest. Their most noticeable inhabitants are the White Water-lily, the Bottle
Sedge, the Bogbean, the Common Club-rush and the Common Reed. Closer examination
will reveal countless stems of Water Lobelia protruding through the water bearing
attractive blue flowers, and a number of less colourful species of interest
to the specialist, including Quillwort, Awlwort, Alternate Water-milfoil, Broad-leaved
Pondweed, Various-leaved Pondweed, Perfoliate Pondweed, Red Pondweed, Long-stalked
Pondweed, Small Pondweed, Floating Bur-reed and Floating Club-rush.
Skye is, apparently, a veritable
paradise for the lover of mosses, lichens and liverworts, owing
to its pollution-free air and its boggy hills, humid woods and
clammy caves, but I cannot enlarge on this except to say that
many beautiful species are often met with and one day I will get
round to learning their names.