Scottish Wildlife Blog: September 2009

The summer is fading fast... now is the time to appreciate the last explosions of colour and life before the onset of winter. This is berry-picking and fungi-foraying time. My mum makes jelly and jam every year from the local wild fruits. We went together to have a look at the old Crab Apple trees to the SW of Little Round Top.

On the way, we passed the old Bullace (Prunus domestica subsp. insititia) hedges at the bottom of Beeches Road (near the Gas Station). The branches were crammed with unusually large Bullaces.

Bullace (Prunus domestica insititia)

The Bullace and the Damson are both primitive varieties of the Plum (Prunus domestica). The taste of a Bullace is like a slightly less sour version of the Sloe (Prunus spinosa). Very slightly less sour, still not what I would call edible. They make a lovely jam though!

My mum also makes jam/jelly out of Elderberries (Sambucus nigra), Dog Rose-hips (Rosa canina), Brambles (Rubus fruticosus), Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia).

Elder (Sambucus nigra)

The edible fruits of the Elder (Sambucus nigra) can be used to make pies/tarts, jam and fruit wine. The berries have an unpleasant bitter/acidic taste and when boiled up they smell like musty old socks.

The ripe berries and flowers are edible but the rest of the plant is poisonous and contains cyanogenic glycoside sambunigrin. The bark contains calcium oxalate crystals (CaC2O4) which are also highly poisonous.

We were disappointed to find that the Crab Apple trees bore no fruit at all this year.

At this point I headed on up into the hills on my own to look for fungi.

In the field near the old piggery (now abandoned) I disturbed a Brown hare (Lepus europaeus).

Bramble (Rubus fruticosus)

Dog Roses (Rosa canina) are also fruiting:

Dog Rose (Rosa canina)

The banana-like pods below, belong to the Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus):

Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus) seed-pods

Devil's Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) and Marsh Ragwort (Senecio aquaticus) are flowering at Little Round Top.

Marsh Ragwort (Senecio aquaticus)

Devil's Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis)

Devil's Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) was used in times past to treat scabies and other skin afflictions: 'scabious' comes from the Latin word 'scabere', meaning 'to scratch'.

I walked to the Hidden Valley (Haw Craig) and followed the strip of oak and birch woodland which extends from the top of Glenarbuck to the quarry at Rigangower. I collected a sample specimen of each mushroom species I came across.

Fungal Foray!

Here are the fungi I collected - the fungi look a bit withered because it took me hours to identify some of them.

Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum)

These Common Earthballs (Scleroderma citrinum) were collected in the oak/birch wood above Glenarbuck. The scientific name means 'hard-skin lemon-yellow' (Sclero = hard + derma = skin, citrinum = lemon-yellow). This fungus is inedible.

Bonnet Mycena (Mycena galericulatus)

The Bonnet Mycena (Mycena galericulata) was collected from above Glenarbuck, it is said to be 'edible but not worthwhile'.

Earthy Powder-cap (Cystoderma amianthinum)

The Earthy Powder-cap (Cystoderma amianthinum), also collected above Glenarbuck, is not edible. Its latin name means 'blister-skin like-asbestos' (Cysto = blister/vesicle + derma = skin, amianthinum = like/of asbestos).

Blackening Waxcap (Hygrocybe conica)

The Blackening Waxcap (Hygrocybe conica) was collected from the rough grassland at Haw Craig. The edibility of this species is uncertain. The flesh is yellow and bruises black, giving it a charred look.

Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethystea)

The vivid violet colour of the Amethyst Deciever (Laccaria amethystea) fades with age: these specimens (collected at Glenarbuck) have lost most of their colour. This species is edible.