2023 County Report for Kirkcudbrightshire

David Hawker and Sarah White

  • At the beginning of the year, Sarah White joined David Hawker as Joint Recorder.
  • Monitoring projects were undertaken on two Nationally Scarce species:

Carex elongata (Elongated Sedge) on the RSPB Wood of Cree reserve, with over 2250 flowering clumps counted.

Silene viscaria (Sticky Catchfly) This showed a considerable decline in number of flowering stems since 1993.

  • Visits were made to VC73 by two partner organisations:

The British Pteridological Society (Roger Golding & Alison Evans), led a training day on ferns at Kirkbean Glen and found two New County Records: Dryopteris lacunosa and D. pseudocomplexa.

The British Bryological Society at their summer meeting discovered a good population of Hymenophyllum wilsonii (Wilson’s Filmy-fern) in the unusual habitat of block scree on Cairnsmore of Fleet.

  • The Rare Plant Register has been drafted and should be completed by March 2024.
  • New County Records and particularly interesting finds were:

Poa infirma (Early Meadow-grass) Southerness, Paul Stanley

Spergularia bocconii (Greek Sea-spurrey) Southerness Paul Stanley

Trachystemon orientalis (Abraham-Isaac-Jacob) Arbigland, Drew Davidson

Senecio inaequidens (Narrow-leaved Ragwort) Brockloch Rigg, Jan Davidson

Carex × decolorans Windy Standard, Kirkcudbright Botany Group

Centaurium pulchellum (Lesser Centaury) RSPB Mersehead, Anna White. One of only 3 records in the VC.

Melica nutans (Mountain Melick) RSPB Wood of Cree, Jim McCleary. One of only a few scattered sites.

Potamogeton friesii (Flat-stalked Pondweed) Carlingwark Loch, Sarah White. Re-found at its only site in VC where last recorded 1989.