If you’ve never visited the small island of Papa Westray, you may not know that the RSPB’s North Hill nature reserve is one of the best places to see the Scottish Primrose (Primula scotica). The Scottish Primrose is one of very few plants that is endemic to Britain, meaning it is not found anywhere else in the world and, as the name suggests, it only grows in Scotland. Not only that but it only grows in coastal areas in the far north of Scotland – in Caithness, Sutherland and on six of the Orkney isles, so they are a real treat to see! However, despite being so beautiful and brightly coloured they are often over-looked, as they are very small and low-growing (they only grow to about 4cm tall, with the flowers being about 8mm in diameter), so you would be forgiven for missing them! The Scottish Primrose is quite unique amongst flowers, as it has two flowering seasons –once in May and then again in July! These tiny flowers also appear to be self-pollinating, and do not attract insects despite their colourful appearance.
Scottish Primrose (Primula scotica)
Scottish Primrose is very picky about where it grows, as they like very specific conditions. The colonies are found in open vegetation by the coast, often along cliff tops or on the drier ridges above wet flushes and seem to flourish in these areas, with some colonies holding thousands of individual plants! However, since they are only found in such a small area worldwide, conservationists are very keen to keep these little plants going, and that’s where the RSPB comes in – we’re not just interested in birds you know! Every three years, every individual Scottish Primrose in every colony across the North Hill nature reserve on Papa Westray is counted, with a lot of help from volunteers! There are 47 colonies of these primroses that can be found all around the coast of the reserve, with the largest colony at the top of the cliffs at Fowl Craig, on the east coast of the island. In 2009 this colony held a massive 8,343 Scottish Primroses – which actually represented a drop in numbers from 11,874 plants in 2006! The reserve was due for another big count this year, so I recruited as many volunteers as possible to help me pull off this massive task! Everyone was bribed with lots of cake and the promise of seeing many of these beautiful little flowers, and even the winds and showers didn’t stop us! After roping off the area into workable compartments, we set to crawling along at a snail’s pace, watching the ground the whole time, looking for the rosettes of leaves and flower heads which are characteristic of these mini primroses.
Counting the primroses on hands and knees!
It was a huge task, but with lots of man-power we managed to count the entire area in about 5 hours – much faster than if I had to do it on my own, but I think there were some sore knees by the end of the day! Everybody’s individual counts have now been tallied up and the results are in... This year, we have a grand total of 8,134 Scottish Primroses in the Fowl Craig colony! This is a slight drop in numbers from the count in 2009 but still a very good count and not the lowest count we’ve had!
This slight drop in numbers is most likely due to the specific nature of the Scottish Primrose – they will only grow in certain conditions and are therefore affected by a number of factors. Over-grazing can be a big issue for the Scottish Primrose, as it can remove flower or seed heads and disturb the soil, creating areas where they cannot grow. Under-grazing is also an issue for the primroses, as faster-growing plants can smother them or shade them out, so the surrounding vegetation needs to be kept in check by grazing or by the high winds and salt spray that batters these coastal, cliff-top communities, so that the primroses can thrive and expand. However, this exposure can also be an issue, as too much wind or salt-spray can be damaging too. So it is hard to say exactly what it is that caused this slight decline in numbers, but hopefully this colony will continue to survive in their cliff-top location so that we don’t lose this beautiful species from the island. However, of the 8,134 Scottish Primroses that were counted in the colony this year, 25% were in flower, with many more producing seeds and several young seedlings being counted as well, so it is possible that we will see an increase in these little flowers at the next big count (in 2015), but only time will tell...
The Scottish Primrose in it's natural habitat - how many can you see?
I would like to say a big thank you to all of the staff, volunteers and islanders that gave some of their time to help count this large and very important colony of primroses this year. It would not have been possible without your help, so thank you all very much for coming along – it was a very long day for everyone (especially those that came in from Kirkwall!), but I hope you enjoyed the count as much as I did!
I still have many more colonies to count across the rest of the reserve (although thankfully none as large as the Fowl Craig colony!), so if you are visiting the island any time soon and are interested in helping out, please call me (Sarah) on 01857 644240 to arrange this.