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bsbiscotland.bsky.social
BSBI Scotland
@bsbiscotland.bsky.social
860 followers 520 following 220 posts
I am Matt Harding, the Scotland Officer at @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Studying, appreciating & conserving wild flowers across Scotland, and supporting the Scottish botanical community.

https://bsbi.org/scotland
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bsbiscotland.bsky.social
BSBI Scotland @bsbiscotland.bsky.social · 5d
20 years on from the first #GBRedList for vascular plants - what's changed?
285 taxa have become more threatened.
Critically Endangered up from 35 to 55 taxa, Endangered up from 90 to 117 taxa, Vulnerable up from 220 to 261 taxa 😱☠️

Action needed now! Well done @bsbibotany.bsky.social and partners
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Some fantastic botanical webinars running throughout the winter, thanks to @bsbiireland.bsky.social and @daera-ni.gov.uk
Full line up at bsbi.org/botanical-sk...
November 9, 2025 at 7:13 AM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Fab winning shots of Grass-of-Parnassus and an intrepid aquatic botanist venturing forth from Scotland, in the 2025 BSBI Photo Competition!
Oh go on then, the Reedmace from Cambridgeshire isn't bad either... 😉
Still waiting for my 'blurriest thumb' category to be approved by @bsbibotany.bsky.social
bsbibotany.bsky.social BSBI Botany @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 3d
We're proud to announce the winners of the 2025 BSBI Photo Competition!
3 categories - intrepid, inquisitive & inclusive - reflecting our Society's values.
Winning pix 👇 by Ian Francis, Catriona Matheson & Edward Burden: congratulations!
Full details & links to all entries:
bsbi.org/photographic...
Child with Great Reedmace (Typha latifolia) in Cambridgeshire by Edward Burden Close-up of Grass-of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris), in Birnie, Morayshire, by Catriona Matheson Botanist venturing 'Into the depths' to find aquatic plants at Loch Ullachie, Aberdeenshire by Ian Francis
November 7, 2025 at 5:04 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Brilliant to see the #GBRedList making a report on CBBC newsround, headlined by the tale of Fen Orchid recovery.
The future of our wonderful plants is in their hands - let's try not to drop the baton before we can hand it over!
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...
@plantlifeuk.bsky.social
Rare orchid bought back from brink of extinction
The fen orchid is no longer listed as almost extinct in Great British Red List for vascular plants.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 9:42 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Doesn’t get much better than dangling on a rope counting Tufted Saxifrage rosettes 🥰🤪
Great talk by Gus to close the #ScotBotanistsConf, big thanks to @plantlifeuk.bsky.social for organising the survey, and watch out for Gus’s final report coming soon…
trisnorton.bsky.social Tristan Norton @trisnorton.bsky.social · 4d
A fantastic presentation on some hardcore survey work in the Scottish uplands here. Great to hear from Gus Routledge, who is unfortunately not on Bluesky ☹️, but evidently still doing inspirational field botany alongside @bsbiscotland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social youtu.be/RZFv8lSfmj8?...
Tough tufts to tally: Scottish Tufted Saxifrage Survey 2025
YouTube video by Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland
youtu.be
November 6, 2025 at 8:34 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Jersey Cudweed is a recent coloniser in Stirlingshire in central Scotland, marking its movement northwards. Found this year at the Kelpies by Falkirk, as well as in nearby Grangemouth
A Jersey Cudweed (Laphangium luteoalbum) plant growing out of a narrow crack in angled concrete slabs on the underside of a motorway bridge at the Kelpies, Falkirk. The plant is small but erect, with grey-green hairy leaves held upright and a beige cluster of small flowers in a rounded head at the top. It shares its crack with a baby willowherb (Epilobium) A photo showing the location of the Jersey Cudweed (Laphangium luteoalbum) plant, in a crack in angled concrete slaps below a motorway bridge - plant circled in red. The Forth & Clyde Canal is seen in the top left of the picture Not a plant. One of the mighty Kelpie sculptures that overlook the east end of the Forth & Clyde Canal, giving first-time drivers on the M9 an almighty shock! The metal sculpture is of a horse's head and neck, 10s of metres high, rising out of a concreted area against a deep blue sky with occasional white clouds, and towering over the people gathered below it's head. A boy with a yellow t-shirt in the foreground is dwarfed by the sculpture.
November 6, 2025 at 7:27 AM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
As usual, @markavery.bsky.social has it right. Things are not getting better for our wild plants

The 20-year efforts of #BSBImembers & the botanical community gave us #PlantAtlas2020, which provides the evidence base for much of this #GBRedList assessment.

Your #botany records make a difference!
markavery.bsky.social Mark Avery @markavery.bsky.social · 5d
New GB Red List for vascular plants from @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social is comprehensive revision of 2005 list.

Plants are good indicators of the pressures on all our wildlife - things are not getting better.

More details: markavery.info/2025/11/05/b...
November 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
The story of Fen Orchid is a bright spot in the gloomy picture of the new #GBRedList
@plantlifeuk.bsky.social show that positive conservation actions can make a difference to the threats plants face, highlighted by @emilybeament.bsky.social in @the-independent.com
www.indy100.com/news/beautif...
‘Beautiful yet mercurial’ fen orchid brought back from brink of extinction
The orchid’s increasing population in Britain is a bright spot in otherwise ‘stark picture’ for British wild plants, the latest Red List shows.
www.indy100.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by BSBI Scotland
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Huge thanks to @adamvaughan.bsky.social for his excellent article in today's @thetimes.com about #GBRedList.
Wild plants inc Common Restharrow, Common Rock-rose & Common Milkwort all now classed as Vulnerable - so no longer common!
Download the new Red List:
britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...
November 5, 2025 at 3:18 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
20 years on from the first #GBRedList for vascular plants - what's changed?
285 taxa have become more threatened.
Critically Endangered up from 35 to 55 taxa, Endangered up from 90 to 117 taxa, Vulnerable up from 220 to 261 taxa 😱☠️

Action needed now! Well done @bsbibotany.bsky.social and partners
November 5, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by BSBI Scotland
bsbibotany.bsky.social
A lovely gift for Simon Milne, the outgoing Regius Keeper @thebotanics.bsky.social, to thank him for his years of support for botany in Scotland.
The full eBook collection of 24 #BSBIHandbooks is a great resource, available to purchase for £160: bsbi.org/publications...
@bsbiscotland.bsky.social
November 3, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by BSBI Scotland
scottshanks.bsky.social
A few #Speyside finds for this week’s #Wildflowerhour from a hike up Ben Rinnes near Aberlour.
Bonus Ptarmigans too!
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbiscotland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social #Moray #VC95 @rspbscotland.bsky.social
Clockwise from top-left: Common Heather, Bell Heather, Cross-leaved Heath & Cowberry (with berries too) Covey of Ptarmigan on Ben Rinnes Wee covey of Ptarmigan walked across the path in front of me- Close encounter with a covey of Ptarmigan on Ben Rinnes (blurry camera phone photo)
November 2, 2025 at 11:58 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
The Scottish Botanists' Conference is here!
230 botanists are about to descend on @thebotanics.bsky.social to celebrate Scotland's incredible flora, and all I can think about is whether I've ordered enough biscuits...
@sarahwatts.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social
A welcome slide for the Scottish Botanists' Conference 2025 at RBGE - Whorled Solomon's-seal (Polygonum verticillatum) as the background, with its elegant drooping pale green inflorescence standing out from a haze of yellow-greens. Photo by Gus Routledge
October 31, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by BSBI Scotland
1davidelston.bsky.social
A good day for tiny plants at Sands of Forvie NNR today: after admiring the small adder's-tongues we went back to count them (22 plants), then noticed allseed (10 plants) which we'd missed a few minutes earlier. First allseed I've seen there after over 30 years of trying! My pinkie for scale.
October 12, 2025 at 9:43 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
An unusual one for #wildflowerhour this week - Ribwort Plantain with a new basal rosette developing from within the seedhead! Ok not a flower, but it’s all reproduction isn’t it?! 😁
A new rosette of green leaves growing out of the brown seedhead of Ribwort Plantain, held on a long green stalk above a background of green grass
October 12, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by BSBI Scotland
1davidelston.bsky.social
Here's a nice juxtaposition from below Cairngorm earlier this week: bilberry (left) and bog bilberry (right), demonstrating differences in shape and colour of both leaves and stems.
October 3, 2025 at 10:35 AM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Book your #ScotBotanistsConf place now! Its going to be a fantastic day @thebotanics.bsky.social, with brilliant talks on restoring montane woodland, Tufted Saxifrage, urban flora and much much more!
@sarahwatts.bsky.social @plantlifeuk.bsky.social @botsocscot.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social
A small, tight clump of Tufted Saxifrage rosettes just catching the morning sunlight on a steep rock wall, high in the Grey Corries. There are three flowerheads, with the last tiny white petals hanging on as they go to seed. Behind, a pattern of brown-green bryophytes and ledges form a mosaic in the vertiginous, pale grey quartzite, with the rock spires reaching towards a bright blue sky in the far corner of the photo.
October 3, 2025 at 1:17 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
At £2.60 a month, this offer means that joining BSBI is cheaper than a monthly cup of coffee at <insertvendorhere>. Go on. You know you want to! 😜
bsbibotany.bsky.social BSBI Botany @bsbibotany.bsky.social · Oct 1
Our annual membership special offer opens today!
Join us this month & you'll enjoy 15 months of membership benefits for the price of 12.
Those benefits are so numerous & fabulous you'll have to head over here to see them all:
bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/bsbi...
Then join us! bsbi.org/join-us
October 1, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by BSBI Scotland
joaniemcnaughton.bsky.social
Culbin Forest 24/09/2025, is this Serrated Wintergreen (Orthilia secunda), gone over? Can this be confirmed? @bsbiscotland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @forestresearchuk.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social
September 30, 2025 at 4:39 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
So excited for this new #BSBIHandbook on Wild Roses! Order now for your #BSBImembers discount - if you're a student you save more than half the cost of a year's membership fee - QED.
Maybe don't buy it if your name is Eliza Day though... #wherethewildrosesgrow #kylie #badseeds
bsbibotany.bsky.social BSBI Botany @bsbibotany.bsky.social · Sep 26
Coming soon: 'Wild Roses of Great Britain and Ireland'.
This latest title, no.26 in the series of #BSBIHandbooks for tricky plant groups, has just gone to the printers!
Available for #BSBImembers to pre-order now at the discount price of £16 (vs RRP £25).
Sample pages here:
bsbi.org/bsbi-handboo...
September 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
This Perennial Sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis) was flowering this week for #wildflowerhour, but far more exciting were the weird purplish bumps on its leaves. These are the galls of a tiny midge species called Cystiphora sonchi - according to NBN just the 5th time it has been recorded in Scotland 🥰
Yellow flowerhead of Perennial Sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis) on a long stem above a sward of grass by a wire mesh stock fence. The leaves look odd, with dark spots visible in the grass The underside of the Perennial Sowthistle leaf, covered in round purple spots with a paler dot in the centre - the larvae of a gall midge called Cystiphora sonchi The upperside of the same Perennial Sowthistle leaf, showing the spots as raised and darker purple. Inside each is the larvae of a gall midge called Cystiphora sonchi
September 28, 2025 at 8:06 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
What wonderful news, and what a wonderful plant! Holly Fern is the best fern 😍
Holy Fern - a rosette of serrated, spikey fern fronds, green with a yellowish midrib, growing high in the Grey Corries in Scotland Baby Holly Fern croziers starting to unfurl, like little bright green nautilus against a greying backdrop of dry moss. Grey Corries in Scotland
September 26, 2025 at 1:17 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Great tip on autumn sundew ID for this tricky species pair - thanks @bsbicymru.bsky.social
bsbicymru.bsky.social BSBI Cymru / Wales @bsbicymru.bsky.social · Sep 23
Very different looking seeds between Drosera anglica (gwlithlys mawr / great sundew) and D intermedia (gwlithlys hirddail / oblong-leaved sundew). In the hybrid between D anglica and D rotundifolia the seed pods don’t really open and the seeds are just soft pale brown bits. #sundews #drosera
September 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
What a fruitful display!
September 26, 2025 at 12:48 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
This gorgeous variegated Wild Angelica is a beautiful sight! It can still be found flowering in September if you are lucky too. plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
September 26, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Reposted by BSBI Scotland
bsbibotany.bsky.social
We invite all #BSBImembers & supporters to take part in our 2025 survey & help inform our future direction!
All responders receive a 60% discount code on our eBooks until the end of September & there's a prize draw to win a year's free membership.
Start the survey:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
BSBI Member and Supporter Survey 2025
We are looking to learn more about our members, and supporters, and about how the BSBI is working. As a Society, it is vital that we work with members to meet our goals and ensure we have the greatest...
docs.google.com
September 8, 2025 at 4:52 PM