iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

A quick stop in Glencoe on our way back to England produced masses of Whorled Carraway Trocdaris verticillatum not far from the Scottish Mountaineering Club hut. Lovely plant in a stunning setting.

Glencoe looking down towards the Whorled Caraway site

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Moss Campion Silene acaulis growing below The Needle on The Quiraing and Northern Bitter-cress Arabidopsis petraea on The Cuillin Ridge, Skye. I’ve not seen either since I last visited Rum over a decade ago.

Northern Bitter-cress Arabidopsis petraea on the Cuillin Ridge, Skye

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Was passing the locus classicus for Pipewort Eriocaulon aquaticum on Skye so popped in to take a look. Lots growing in the pool but the yellow mass in the photo below appears to be uprooted plants growing happily together in a tangled mass. Quite extraordinary!

Tangled mass of pipewort on edge of lochan with Skye Cuillin in the background

Tangled mass of pipewort on the edge of a lochan

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Upper Wharfedale has a remarkable flora. In some places northern plants mix with those from further south. Here Dropwort Filipendula vulgaris and Horse-shoe Vetch Hippocrepis comosa growing happily alongside Blue-moor Grass Sesleria cearulea.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

‘Solution hollows’ on limestone pavement are a very rare habitat with a distinct assemblage of plants. On Ingleborough they are the main habitat of Arenaria norvegica subsp. anglica growing alongside Sabulina verna, Thymus drucei, Sedum villosum and a range of mosses including Tortella tortuosa

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Nice to bump into a new population of Hairy Stonecrop Sedum villosum in Crook Gill, Wharfedale today. A specialist of flat limestone slabs with a thin crust of soil in the Yorkshire Dales, but uber rare with only a handful of large populations, most further west on Ingleborough. Pretty little thing.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Lead mine spoil above Cote Gill in the Yorkshire Dales yesterday with the three ‘leadworts’; Spring Sandwort Sabulina verna, Alpine Penny-cress Noccaea cearulescens and Pyrenean Scurvy-grass Cochlearia pyrenaica. How they colonised these tiny fragments of habitat in is a complete mystery!

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Nice comparison between Spring and Yorkshire Sandworts on Ingleborough today. Spring Sandwort Sabulina verna has purple anthers and narrow leaves; Yorkshire Sandwort Arenaria norvegica subsp. anglica has yellow anthers and broad succulent leaves. Both on thin soils on limestone pavement

Yorkshire Sandwort Arenaria norvegica subsp. anglica

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

I think we have a new grassland type! Bird’s-eye Primrose grassland on Sulber, Ingleborough today. The number of Primula farinosa in flower was jaw-dropping. Beautiful. I never dreamt this grassland could be this good when I first visited in 1995. Then just the odd Primula flowering in flushes

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Two of Ingleborough’s finest flowers from today: Bird’s-eye Primrose Primula farinosa just coming into flower and a very early flowering Yorkshire Sandwort Arenaria norvegica subsp. anglica. Both on Sulber Pasture with Ingleborough brooding in the background.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Annual pilgrimage to count Fritillaria meleagris at Aubert Ings SSSI, Cattal where it appeared c25 years ago. Numbers now c250. Tulipa sylvestris seems to be spreading too as has the statuesque Heracleum mategazzianum which is now well established all along the River Nidd downstream of Knaresborough

Fritillaria meleagris naturalised at Aubert Ings SSSI near to Cattal

Tulipa syvestris naturalised on the bank of the River Nidd at Aubert Ings SSSI Cattal

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

As we were passing Wordsworth’s Point on Ulswater today we thought it would be rude to not stop and pay our respects to the Wild Daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus). And a few nice ones in the cottage we were staying in too…

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Some non-natives along the Oak Beck, Harrogate yesterday: Purple Toothwort, Caucasian Pennycress, and American Skunk-cabbage. These spread along streams from RHS Harlow Carr. Our paper in British & Irish Botany discusses their spread and implications for management of invasives in gardens.

Purple Toothwort Lathraea clandestina by the Oak Beck Harrogate. A parasite of roots of trees, in this case Salix x fragilis

Caucasian Pennycress Pachyphragma macrophyllum along the Oak Beck Harrogate where it originated from RHS Harlow Carr

American Skunk-cabbage by the Oak Beck, Harrogate. This originated from RHS Harlow Carr

Paper in British and Irish Botany on the waterborne spread of ornamental plants from RHS Harlow Carr

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem Gagea lutea along the River Ure yesterday for #WildflowerHour

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

In London for a few days a bumped into Mediterranean (Roman) Nettle Urtica membranacea in Walthamstow. Not a species I’ve seen before but unmistakable with those long linear inflorescences! #urbanbotany

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

The escape of ornamental plants from large gardens can pose a threat to native species and habitats. Here we provide evidence for this in riparian habitats near to Harrogate UK and discuss the lessons for managing potentially invasive species in gardens. britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...

Aconite-leaved Buttercup Ranunculus aconitifolius along the Oak Beck

American Skunk-cabbage Lysichiton americanus by the Oak Beck

Coralroot Cardamine bulbifera by the Oak Beck

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Out with lovely peeps from Harrogate District Naturalists’ Society yesterday visiting a private SSSI near to Knaresborough. Bee and Fragrant Orchids (Ophrys apifera & Gymnadenia conopsea s.s.) were definitely the main crowd pleasers!

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

I don’t usually ‘do’ Hawkweeds but couldn’t resist this lovely one growing near to Pannal en route to my @btobirds.bsky.social BBS square this morning: Hieracium triviale f. subfasciculare apparently. The ability of these plants to thrive in zero substrate is remarkable! @bsbibotany.bsky.social

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Time spent with some rather lovely plants and people from @bsbibotany.bsky.social in the Derbyshire Dales this week including Jacob’s-ladder (Polemonium caeruleum), Shaggy Mouse-ear Hawkweed (Pilosella peleteriana), Nottingham Catchfly (Silene nutans) and Hoary Mullein (Verbascum pulverulentum).

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

I never tire of seeing Jacob’s-ladder, so named because its leaves resemble the ladder that Jacob used to access heaven. In Britain it is a very rare plant confined limestone regions such as the Yorkshire Dales where there are a few colonies on steep, scree slopes below limestone cliffs.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

What happens when you don’t cut the grass? Rare orchids appear! Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) recorded for the first time on The Stray, Harrogate in an area left uncut for biodiversity. Found by @clarepinches.bsky.social Well done North Yorks Council 👏

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Mountain biking at Dalby Forest, North Yorks with @clarepinches.bsky.social yesterday produced this rather lovely Red-necked Footman amongst the conifers. Not a moth I’d seen before but not surprising as it seems to be a recent colonist in this part of the world! @savebutterflies.bsky.social

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

Sadly Wood Crane’s-bill Geranium sylvaticum no longer occurs in hay meadows in Nidderdale, due to a shift to silage production, but it still survives on road verges like this one here near to Lofthouse.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

Holy Moley! Some serious control going on in Upper Nidderdale. We counted 157 in this larder and there was an even bigger one just down the road. I naively thought that these public displays were a thing of the past, sadly not here in North Yorkshire anyway.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Can’t resist posting a flowering Bay Willow Salix pentandra! This is a male tree which have been widely planted for their lovely yellow catkins. Female trees are much rarer, certainly here in North Yorkshire.

Flowering Bay Willow Salix pentandra with male catkins

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Left or right? I know which one I prefer. St Robert’s Church in Pannal embracing #NoMowMay to the benefit of wildflowers and insects 👏👏👏

St Robert’s Churchyard in Pannal showing the difference between cutting (left) and not cutting (right) the grass in May

The uncut area in St Robert’s churchyard in Pannal with Ox-eye Daisy and Mouse-ear Hawkweed

The mown area of St Robert’s churchyard with no flowers!

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Astonished by the resilience of this Yorkshire Sandwort Arenaria norvegica subsp. anglica on Ingleborough the other day. Growing on a tiny scrap of moss on a bone dry slab of limestone during one of the longest spring droughts on record. 🫡 ✊

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Small but mighty. Dwarf Milkwort Polygala amarella is super rare with a stronghold in the Yorkshire Dales. Easily told from Common Milkwort P. vulgaris by its smaller flowers and large-leaved basal rosette.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Mountain Avens Dryas octopetala growing alongside Horseshoe Vetch Hippocrepis comosa in Yorkshire today. Possibly the only place in the world where these two species grow together?

Dryas octopetala growing with Hippocrepis comosa

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

The Alps? No, Mountain Avens Dryas octopetala at its southern limit in Yorkshire today. Enjoy.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Also large stands of American Skunk Cabbage, the often confused Pick-a-back Plant and Fringecups growing side by side and finally Caucasian Pennycress at one of its few naturalised sites in GB 2/2

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Warning; may contain photos of alien plants! A quick recce along the Oak Beck, Harrogate this morning. All usual ‘escapees’ from RHS Harlow Carr including Coralroot, Aconite-leaved Buttercup, Purple Toothwort and Greater Cuckoo-flower 1/2

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Birkham Wood (Knaresborough) is looking astonishingly beautiful at the moment; bluebells, yellow archangel, stitchwort all at their best and a few herb paris revealing themselves amongst a sea of dog’s mercury @bsbibotany.bsky.social

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Some lovely flowers from an evening stroll at Aubert Ings SSSI near to Knaresborough with @clarepinches.bsky.social. Wild Tulip Tulipa sylvestris, Snake’s-head Fritillary Fritillaria meleagris and the spring leaves of Meadow Saffron Colchicum autumnale @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Wild Tulip naturalised on the bank of the River Nidd, Aubert Ings

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Not much of a tree but the best I can do: flowers of bog myrtle Myrica gale near to Kindrogan last week for #wildflowerhour

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Some gorgeous purple saxifrage Saxifraga oppositifolia seen on Ben Lawers last week for #WildflowerHour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Annual pilgrimage to see Purple Saxifrage Saxifraga oppositifolia on Pen-y-Ghent yesterday; lots of Draba incana too but no sign of Hutchinsia Hornungia petraea that was last recorded in 1978

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Hopefully @nationaltrust.bsky.social are controlling its spread by removing seedpods before they mature? Can be highly invasive if dispersed in wetland habitats downstream. Photo below shows a local patch in wet woodland below RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Some early flowers from Yorkshire; Mezereum Daphne mezereum is a rare shrub which occasionally grows on limestone pavement. The gorgeous Blue Moor-grass Sesleria caerulea is another national rarity that is super abundant on limestone throughout the Yorkshire Dales. Ingleborough, 27/3/2025

Mezereum Daphne mezereum in flower, Ingleborough

Blue Moor-grass Sesleria caerulea in flower

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

In York today to see England Red Roses triumph over Italy. So called in on York Radiate Groundsel Senecio eboracensis on the way back to the train station; lots by Lendal Bridge

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

A rapidly increasing non-native species in GB as shown by the results of plantatlas2020.org

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Staggering amount of the non-native Few-flowered Leek Allium paradoxum along the River Whiteadder in Berwickshire. Dominating riversides disturbed by floods and extending back into adjacent woodland. Seems to be mainly dispersing by bulbs rather than bulbils.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Quick stop on way back from Upper Nidderdale to see Dipper at Wath with @clarepinches.bsky.social. First place I saw one as a kid and still putting on a good show!

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Seeing more and more self-sown Sitka Spruce in upland heath. Here at 370 m alt on a grouse moor in Upper Nidderdale, Yorks, about a kilometre from the nearest plantation. The Australian Cotula alpina super abundant on a track nearby. Lovely views back across to Whernside and Meugher.

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

I knew plantatlas2020.com would come in handy at some point!

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

A trip to Robin Hood’s Bay before the snow arrived earlier this week with @clarepinches.bysky.social and my son Ali. Paid my respects to the Bay Inn at the end of the Coast to Coast Walk which I completed with friends in 1990! Ali now keen to do it with me 😳

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Another must read for anyone interested in the British and Irish flora. Pete Marren’s beautifully written Rare Plants (updating his earlier edition). Bursting with amazing facts and stories about our most rare and threatened plants - and my son has a little cameo on page 335!

Alpine Bartsia, Gt Close Mire, Malham Tarn, Yorkshire

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Just published and a must read for anyone interested in Britain’s rarest plant; Paul Redshaw’s tantalising tale of the rediscovery of Lady’s-slipper Orchid in 1930, the controversy that surrounded it, and its conservation since then. Enjoy!

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Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Some pretty large patches of Royal Fern on Colonsay but never as tall as at Askham as much more exposed to the elements

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