Stoer Green: Swarming with gentians
Back in August 2022, Bill Badger reported large numbers of autumn gentians Gentianella amarella in flower on Stoer Green. On 14th we walked over the higher parts of the site, where they occur; our rough estimate was at least 500 plants.
Our pale-flowered northern form of autumn gentian, G. a. septentrionalis, thrives in the short turf of the northern part of the Green, often in rather stony areas. We could not remember seeing so many plants before, and thought that a detailed survey might provide a useful baseline for future years.
Survey
A few days later, on 19th August, Gwen Richards and I mapped the areas where the plants occurred, by 8-figure grid reference, and made an approximate count (photos 1-2). We also logged the boundaries of the site, together with other useful features for orientation (sketch map, photo 3). Our assessment of the total population was in excess of 760 plants, probably the largest stand in Assynt. Most were in the early stages of fruiting (photo 4).
Autumn gentian is known from 25 tetrads (2km squares) in Assynt, either in coastal grassland between Achmelvich and Stoer, or on the eastern limestones and adjacent roadside verges. The one exception is on the old road north of Little Assynt (NC1424).
Bonuses
On our visit, Bill and I had noticed a great number of compact, almost shrubby, eyebrights Euphrasia spp. (photo 5) in the same general areas as the gentians. They are annuals and quite a challenge to identify, but on 19th Gwen took close-up photos (photo 6), and we collected a couple of specimens from the thousands present.
From these, I was later able to put a name to them – E. marshallii. This is a rare plant nationally, a speciality of the cliff grasslands of West Sutherland, with scattered records from some offshore island groups.
In the process of mapping the gentians, Gwen and I found a ‘fairy ring’ of what we thought were small earthballs (see sketch map) buried in short turf at the north-western end of the Green (photos 7-8). These proved to be the meadow puffball Lycoperdon pratense. Although widespread in the British Isles as a whole, there are few previous records from the far north, and John Blunt did not record the species from Assynt.
Ian M. Evans
All photos by Gwen Richards