2022 County Report for West Perthshire

Liz Lavery and Jane Jones

It has been a quiet year in VC87 though over 3300 records were collected.

One memorable day was climbing Ben Venue near Aberfoyle. A rich flush was found with Helictochloa pratensis (Meadow Oat-grass), Carex dioica, C. hostiana, C. pulicaris (Dioecious, Tawny and Flea Sedges), Galium boreale (Northern Bedstraw), sheets of Micranthes stellaris (Starry Saxifrage), Thalictrum alpinum (Alpine Meadow-rue), Thymus drucei (Wild Thyme) and Trollius europaeus (Globeflower). Cornus suecica (Dwarf Cornel) was found growing beside the path and a large clump of Saussurea alpina (Alpine Saw-wort) was balanced on a large rock in the middle of the way to the summit. The final find was Juncus triglumis (Three-flowered Rush) tucked in beside a large cairn where two routes joined.

In 2021 a small group from RBGE had visited Leny House and grounds near Callander and recorded at the base of Leny Glen. This, however, still left a large proportion of the narrow steep sided valley unexplored and unrecorded. But this was recified this year when the owner of the upper part of the glen accompanied us and we were able to explore and record the remainer of the glen.

Finally, Equisetum pratense (Shady Horsetail) had been recorded by the cycle track north of Callander in August 1998 but never refound. A trip was organised at a similar time to see if it was still there. Unfortunatlely only E. arvense (Field Horsetail) was found but the under growth was dense and it was felt going earlier in the year might be beneficial. So this is on the to do list for 2023.