Hybrid Snowdrops

I awoke to find snow on the windows, which was a tad unexpected. But the sun was bright in a crisp blue sly and there was barely a breath of wind. Perfect for taking a day off work! The weekend is forecast to be a bit rubbish weather-wise, so I'll work it. I'm absolutely loving the flexi-time approach I've been given whilst the hotel is still closed, as long as the work gets done the boss doesn't really care what I get up to.   

Yesterday afternoon I was messing about on iRecord when I came across a record of Scymnus suturalis from a small churchyard in the middle of Portree. I didn't even know there was a small churchyard in the middle of Portree! Today I visited it in search of ornamental conifers to beat, hoping for my own Scymnus. No joy there, though I shall try again once it warms up a tad, but I was pleased to see a few drifts of naturalised Snowdrops Galanthus nivalis strewn through the lawns. Snowdrops aren't massively well recorded on Skye, presumably due to most local botanists still being deep in hibernation until April time, and these are new to the monad.

I'll definitely be visiting again in the summertime

Drifts of Galanthus nivalis

There are a couple of micro-fungi associated with Snowdrops, I had a quick look but couldn't see anything obvious. I'll keep looking.

Six years ago today (a sheer coincidence, I hadn't planned it) I led local BSBI Recorder Stephen Bungard to a patch of snowdrops that I had discovered on the edge of a wooded area in Portree. Up until that point the only Snowdrop recorded on Skye was the common Snowdrop Galanthus nivalis. The plants I had found were Pleated Snowdrops Galanthus plicatus. I'm shocked that it's been six years since I found them, it seems more like three or four. Anyway, Stephen sent some samples/images away to an expert who said one appeared to be Galanthus plicatus ssp. plicatus, the others hybrids thereof. In fact Stephen blogged about it here. Today I revisited them to check for myself. 

Galanthus nivalis in the foreground and the 'other' Galanthus looming over them from behind 

Clearly the jumbo-sized snowdrops with their splayed flowers are very different from the Galanthus nivalis in the foreground. In fact, I feel they are a tad too jumbo for pure Galanthus plicatus. Has everyone heard the expression 'hybrid vigour'? I think that's what we're seeing here. 

Cross-section of leaf blade showing recurved margins but no distinct 'pleats'

Galanthus nivalis above, the hybrid (it's missing the pleats) below

Galanthus nivalis (on the left) alongside the hybrid snowdrop

The hybrid between Galanthus nivalis (in all of its many, many guises) and Galanthus plicatus (which itself has quite a few varieties) is known as Galanthus x valentinei, and that's what we seem to have here. Rather an apt naming, seeing as it's Valentine's Day tomorrow. I had a look around, but all I can see now is the hybrid swarm with no sign of the pure plicatus parent apart from this one possibility

Apologies for the paint splat on my thumbnail. Did I mention I do a lot of painting...

This one plant appeared to be pure Galanthus plicatus, less robust and with decent pleats along the leaf blade. If it is plicatus, it appears to be the only one present here. Which in itself probably makes a lot of sense, being surrounded by carpets of nivalis will lead to cross-pollination and hence the hybrid swarm. 

Hybrid: outer leaf-bases are flatly opposed, not wrapped

Hybrid: outer tepals have very elongated bases

Snowdrops don't have petals, despite seeming to have several. What you see are the three outer tepals largely concealing the green-marked inner tepals. There's a really nice blog about Snowdrops and the difference between sepals, tepals and petals here.

One of the few nivalis today that provided a peek of the inner tepals

Whilst in the woods I noted the emerging tips of Ramsons shoots and 'admired' the completely bare thicket of Mock-orange Philadelphus coronarius. It'll look pretty spectacular once it starts flowering but for now it's all sticks and twigs. 

What I need to do now is have a look at the small haul on tiny inverts I knocked from ornamental conifers back in the old churchyard. Lots of Empoasca vitis and a few Chilenocaecalius ornatipennis, plus a few other bits and bobs to check, springtails and psocids mostly.

Portree new cemetery in afternoon sunlight

I popped in to the 'new' cemetery in Portree to find this sunlit wall alive with blowflies. My passing shadow caused them to buzz around before settling once more to bathe in the welcome warmth. I netted a few; they were all Calliphora vicina apart from a single Calliphora vomitoria, both common species here on Skye. Common across most parts of Britain, to be fair. A pair of dancing winter gnats proved to be Trichocera regelationis exhibiting their obviously infuscated outer cross-veins. All three flies were yearticks, pushing me up to the heady heights of 672 species. I'm well over a quarter of the way towards my target of 2500 species but, let's face it, there's a heck of a long way to go yet!