2024 County Report for Outer Hebrides

Paul Smith

Recording continues towards a tetrad flora. Just over 3000 records were added in 2024. The recorder made two visits in 2024, fewer weeks than usual. In spring I visited Barra, relatively neglected recently since it had good tetrad-level coverage early in the flora project. There were two objectives – to record islands NE of Barra, and to record some Taraxacum (including a follow-up request from John Richards). Gighay had nice cliffs with Ajuga pyramidalis and Vicia sativa ssp nigra (a rare native locally). Perhaps the most interesting was a new site for Calystegia soldanella, on a scruffy verge near Castlebay, but probably native.

A midsummer trip to Lewis and Great Bernera aided by Jim McIntosh and Geoffrey Hall recorded a mix of moorland, coast and inhabited tetrads, including several long walks. A surprising cluster of ferns and fern allies was written up in BSBI News 157.

It was a year for microspecies. Taraxacum efforts in Barra and Vatersay produced new county records for T. obtusifrons, trilobatum, porrigens and kernianum and followed up a new species. Then, enthused by Angus Hannah, I photographed Rubus in July. Brambles are thinly scattered, but Rubus dasyphyllus turns out to be widespread across NW Lewis, and there were new records for R. tuberculatus (status unknown)and R. × tridel ‘Benenden’ (introduced), both in Stornoway Castle grounds. The rare R. ebudensis was refound in South Harris (last seen 1980). Finally, Hieracium specimens identified by Brian Burrow included H. vennicontium from a new site. Big thanks to the determiners.