Grid reference of gate is NO 18207 22428
(Please view the photo album in Picasa when reading the notes below. The photo album also contains the plant species list. Please click the link in the right-hand column.)
This is a small, wooded basalt quarry near Pepperknowes farm on the Balthayock road from Glencarse village (see photos 1 and 2 showing the wood from the east and west respectively). There is a quarry face with two levels of scree. Photos 3 and 4 show the upper scree directly below the rockface and photo 5 shows the lower scree. There is a marshy area below each scree. The upper one has the remnants of quarry buildings and machinery.
The wood is best described as a mixture of Ash, Elm and Sycamore in the tree layer with Rowan and Hawthorn in the shrub layer. If Sycamore is regarded as a recent invader the composition fits the Ash/Hawthorn model which is typical of natural woods on basalt.
Particularly striking in this wood are the phases of local dominance/abundance in the field layer by Butterbur (smothering a large area of the lower level down to the road in April; photo 6) followed by Leopard’s Bane (dominating the lower scree in June; photo 7) and Northern Marsh Orchid abundant on the upper scree level in July (photos 11 and 12).
Two surprising finds were Aquilegia (photo 9) and Musk Mallow (photos 14 and 15) growing on the same patch of ground on the lower level (not in flower at the same time). Both occur wild but could be garden escapes. Leopard’s Bane (photo 7) is also a garden flower but it is found wild and in abundance in the local area, particularly along the side of the high road to Perth behind Binn Hill.
Solitary plants of Heath Spotted Orchid (photo 10) and Meadow Saxifrage (photo 16) were found.
The occurrence of Laburnum and Cotoneaster may indicate deliberate planting. Unfortunately Himalayan Balsam has invaded a small area under the tree canopy.
The plant species list indicates that marshy conditions are an important influence on the flora here as indicated by the presence of bog-tolerant rushes, sedges, Water Avens (photo 8) Ragged Robin, marsh orchids (photos 11 and 12) and Marsh Thistle.
(Please use zoom to see the butterflies in photos 18 to 21.)
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