In sunny weather but a snell breeze, seven of us had a forage round Houton Head last Tuesday and found a few treasures and many old favourites. The setting is beautiful, with a view from one end of Scapa Flow to the other. And feeling almost close enough to touch, we looked across Bring Deeps to Scad Head on Hoy.

 

The terain, old croft land, is a mix of heath and grassland, dipping down to cliffs and occasionally giving access to the beach.

 

Our finds included devil's bit scabious, mouse-ear, prickly sow thistle, spear thistle, marsh thistle, tormentil, eye-bright, thyme, dog violet (leaves), marsh ragwort, self-heal, sheep's sorrel, creeping willow (complete with berry-like orange galls on some leaves caused by the sawfly Euura collactanea), bell heather, ling, dock, sneezewort, yarrow, Yorkshire fog grass, heath spotted orchid, angelica, cat's ear, bird's foot trefoil, hogweed, horsetail, toad rush, autumnal hawkbit, cuckoo flower, primrose (leaves), heath rush, sea arrow grass, slender St John's-wort, green-ribbed sedge, lady's bedstraw, northern marsh orchid, gorse, crowberry, cross-leaved heath, bracken, meadowsweet, tufted hair grass, tufted vetch, eared willow, sea rocket, mat grass, glittering wood moss.

 

The group split up on occasion so I will have missed some finds but hopefully I have noted most.