Dumfriesshire Botany Group at Carrifran Sunday 17th June 2026
This meeting was jointly planned by the Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS) with the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) and hosted by the Borders Forest Trust. So it was slightly different in that you had to book to attend. Eventually seven of the local botany group joined the meeting. Other participants came from the Borders and Edinburgh.
Carrifran is a great story about re wilding a valley, re creating a wooded habitat that encompasses both the lower levels starting at 200m where trees can grow to normal proportions and running up to the assumed natural treeline in south Scotland with true montane scrub at 700-800m. That vision by a far sighted and determined group of volunteers, starting with a practically treeless valley on 1st January 2000, is now maturing and the reality is taking shape remarkably quickly. The use of the Rotten Bottom peat pollen core to inform what former vegetation occurred and the determined hunt for South Scotland provenance material to grow on and plant in the valley gives the project an extra legitimacy. The other thing is that this has been done on a site that is an SSSI and important for non tree habitats like scree, acid and boreal grasslands and flush communities. These have been accommodated in the planting design and remain open today.
After an introduction to the project by Stuart Adair and Fiona Martynoga, who have been part of the project from the start well before 2000, and Andy Wilson the current ranger, we decided we would do detailed recording in the square NT1511. This includes the burn and flushed slopes as well as maturing woodland. The seven of us were joined by at least four others. The weather was better than originally forecast until about 3:30pm when rain returned.
Once across the bridge and into the square we recorded along the burnside. Here we found Bay Willow Salix pentandra, Dark-leaved Willow Salix myrsinifolia and Creeping Willow Salix repens. Aspen Populus tremula, Hazel Corylus avellana and Rowan Sorbus aucuparia had been planted and were doing well.
The herbs were what has grown up since the removal of graziers about 25 years ago when the gravels would have been closely grazed. As discussed in the introduction some plants formerly restricted to cliffs have now colonised the gravels down the burn as they no longer get eaten off. Among these we can count Pyrenean Scurvygrass Cochlearia pyrenaica. There was a former clump of Mountain Sorrel Oxyria dygina but we did not refind this.
On the gravels here we saw a good range of plants including Meadow Oat-grass Helictochloa pratensis, Lady’s Bedstraw Galium verum, Wood Crane’s-bill Geranium sylvaticum, Water Avens Geum rivale and two hairy leaved Lady’s-mantles Hairy lady’s-mantle Alchemilla filicaulis subsp vestita and Intermediate Lady’s-mantle Alchemilla xanthochlora. In the now well vegetated area, Ross found a very diminutive Early-purple Orchid Orchis mascula flower spike. We found three others, but they looked as if the surrounding vegetation is crowding them out.
In this location, flushes emerge and run down to the burn. They bring a little enrichment from the underlying rock like many hill flushes in the higher Southern Upland hills. These were quite good for species that like such conditions, especially sedges. We saw Flea Sedge Carex pulicaris, Tawny Sedge Carex hostiana, Long-stalked Yellow-sedge Carex lepidocarpa and Dioecious Sedge Carex dioica. The young shoots of Broad-leaved Cottongrass Eriophorum latifolium were emerging. This is not common in the Moffat Hills but a good marker of quality flushes. There was more Pyrenean Scurvygrass and also Quaking-grass Briza media. We looked for Lesser Bladderwort Utricularia minor, which Bob had previously recorded here, but it may have been too early in the season.
Just down stream there is a little ravine which has some of the very few trees that were on site when the project started. A small area with mature Ash Fraxinus excelsior and a relict woodland flora including Honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum, Polypody Polypodium vulgare, Ivy Hedera helix and Beech Fern Phegopteris connectalis.
We could not follow the burn down to the road as the bank is too steep so followed a faint path through the planted trees. We puzzled over the identity of one of the birches. This had features of both Downy Birch Betula pubescens with hairy twigs and Silver Birch with biserrate leaves. I put it down as Hybrid Birch Betula x aurata. This is probably more widespread but rarely gets recorded.
Total records: NT1511 …. 138
Chris Miles
BSBI county recorder for Dumfriesshire VC73 – see bsbi.org/dumfriesshire
