Around a dozen or more Skemorlie residents joined us for a walk through Kelly Woods as botanist Angus Hannah set about recording plant species present. Peter Livingstone from Eadha Enterprises also joined us.
Walk route and plant diversity
We met at Wemyss Bay Station, heading up to the woods via Station Road, stopping near the Rotary Map to identify species from the south side of the Kelly Burn, this area being quite rich in species. We continued up the hill, where we joined the footpath at the end of Montgomerie Drive. At the entrance to this part of the wood, it was noted that the understory species found were typical of an acidic woodland, with the trees you would expect such as beech, oak and rowan. The footpath itself, however, tends to have a more neutral pH and that introduces greater diversity. Angus explained that, contrary to what you might expect, plant diversity in an acidic woodland drops off as you move away from paths. Paths actually bring diversity. The same was true of the small streams running across the paths, that were species rich, through more neutral conditions.
The old creaking Beech
Another thing Angus explained, was that the majestic creaking Beech tree in the woods is actually made up of several multi-planted Beech rubbing against each other, explaining how it could still be alive, despite there being a hole right through it!
A few of us expressed relief that the tree wasn’t in fact about to come down at any moment!
Missing Flora
I’ve attached the full list of plant species that we found with the Latin and common names. Some have question marks next to them, as they were too small to identify with certainty. A follow-up visit is needed. A few mosses were identified, but more time would be needed to study them up close and identify them. Some species were notable by their absence, such as primrose (Primula vulgaris), wood dock (Rumex sanguineus) and golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium). The species on the plant list that don’t have a “y” next to them are species that you would expect to find.
