Welcome to my website ‘Isle of Bute Wildflower Walks’! It contains a record of some of the wildflowers I have seen in the course of short walks on the island over the last few years. The 35 walks to date are as listed on the left; the start point for each walk is shown on the map below. By clicking on the ‘Walks’ tab above, you can find the details of each walk together with a list of the flowers recorded. I also pick out a few highlights, perhaps arising from the time of year at which the walk was made.
The species lists are primarily limited to wildflowers, though trees, grasses and other plants are sometimes included. They are in no way intended to be exhaustive, reflecting as they do the time of year that the walk was made (and the limits of my botanical competence!).
My hope is that anyone visiting this little website will be encouraged to explore, or further explore, the wonderful floral richness to be found on this island. The flowers can be enjoyed at any level, from one of just general interest to a more detailed approach.
Whatever the level, a wildflower identification book, however basic, will enable you to get that little bit more from your walk, and perhaps stimulate you to seek further knowledge. It is almost inevitable that your ID book will include many species that are unlikely to be present on your walk; this can often be confusing and, sometimes, rather intimidating. I hope that the species lists will serve as a guide to narrow down the possible candidates for identification, though of course you may well find species not listed, particularly if you are doing the walk at a different time of year.
Have fun and remember the well-known adage that species diversity always increases in good weather!!
Roger Connard
