BSBI Ayrshire meeting at Laglee Burn and Laglass Hill, 29 June 2025

The return to this corner of Glen Afton, spotted on our descent from Blackcraig Hill last July, did not disappoint. Dave Lang, Gill Smart, Peter Mackie and Carol Crawford had a warm sunny day, very pleasant for botanising. Though much of the ground was covered with wet heath and often degraded bog, the burnsides were more diverse with acid grassland, dry heath, basic flushing, marsh and rocky areas.

Bent-fescue grassland with Tormentil Potentilla erecta and Heath Bedstraw Galium saxatile was widespread by Langlee Burn, plus species such as Yarrow Achillea millefolium, Sweet Vernal Grass Anthoxanthum odoratum, Mat-grass Nardus stricta, Heath Milkwort Polygala serpyllifolia, Green-ribbed Sedge Carex binervis , Heath Speedwell Veronica officinalis, Lousewort Cuckoo flower, Cuckooflower Cardamine pratensis and some Harebells Campanula sp and Heath Grass Danthonia decumbens.

Where conditions were less acid, Wild Thyme Thymus drucei, Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus and Self-heal Prunella vulgaris were common in the sward and occasionally Fairy Flax Linum catharticum, Lady’s Bedstraw Galium verum, Pill Sedge Carex pilulifera and Flea Sedge Carex pulicaris. It was a good day for sedges with nine recorded in all, particularly in flushed spots.

In the marshes Creeping Forget-me-not Myosotis secunda was common, as well as Marsh Bedstraw Galium palustre, Marsh Willowherb Epilobium palustre, Lesser Spearwort Ranunculus flammula and Meadow Buttercup Ranunculus acris among rushes.

On steeper heathy banks Bell Heather Erica cinerea was blooming brightly among Ling Heather Calluna vulgaris and Blaeberries Vaccinium myrtillus with berries. Hard Fern Blechnum spicant and Lemon-scented fern Oreopteris limbosperma also stood out. Altogether a colourful scene.

On one rocky-heathy outcrop we saw the first Parsley Ferns Cryptogramma crispa of the day. Other pleasing finds were Fir Huperzia selago and Lesser Selaginella selaginoides Clubmosses (photos), the latter Vulnerable on the Red Data List. These last three are not seen often in Ayrshire. At the very edges of the burn were Marsh Hawk’s-beard Crepis paludosa, Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage Chrysosplenium oppositifolium, Wood Sorrel Oxalis acetosella, Slender St John’s Wort Hypericum pulchrum, Colt’s-foot Tussilago farfara, and Eared Willow Salix aurita.

Gill and Peter went for a look up Ern Cleuch, while Dave and I continued along the main burn then onto the mire and wet heath above. There Heath Rush Juncus squarrosus, Deergrass Trichophorum germanicum and Purple Moor-grass Molinia caerulea, indicators of burning in the past, were common among aforementioned dwarf shrubs. Cross-leaved Heath Erica tetralix, some Crowberry Empetrum nigrum, both Cottongrasses Eriophorum angustifolium and Eriophorum vaginatum and Bog Asphodel Narthecium ossifragum were also seen.

After an hour or so Peter and Gill had not returned to the main valley and Dave kindly went back to look for them. He found them in some excitement high up Ern Cleugh (above) having found a large population of Moonwort Botrychium lunaria (photo), patches of Mossy Saxifrage Saxifraga hypnoides (photo), Butterwort Pinguicula vulgaris in the flushes and a Hawkweed species Peter could not ID (expert being consulted). Gill counted 50 Moonwort plants on a 10m x 10m slope and the largest area of the Mossy Saxifrage was 3m x 1m. The latter was also recorded in the adjoining monad. As all except Butterwort are uncommon in Ayrshire, they were keen to explore the cleuch further while Dave and I continued up Laglass Hill.

We crossed the edge of Star Bog and climbed the hill but did not add many new species, disappointing after the burnside. The top was not high enough for the likes of Cloudberry, so we decided not to ascend Berry Hill but to follow the upper tributaries of another burn. Nothing new there but as we turned towards the track we crossed some flushed grassland with Wood Anemone Anemone nemorosa! We also saw one Heath Spotted-orchid Dactylorhiza maculata and some Viviparous Sheep’s fescue Festuca vivipara on the descent.

After emerging from the Ern Cleugh, Peter and Gill crossed to higher up the track and on the way down added more species such as Blue Water-speedwell Veronica anagallis-aquatica in a ditch, Marsh Cudweed Gnaphalium uliginosum and Round-leaved Crowfoot Ranunculus omiophyllus. The first of these is another one not often seen in Ayrshire.

Our total of just over 120 species is less than in lowland areas we have been visiting but double that in the two monads visited last year higher up Blackcraig Hill. And that’s 120 new records for the monad!

Carol Crawford
Joint Ayrshire VCR