Dappled light

The intention today was to take a respectable photograph of a scotch argus butterfly. The scotch argus is a speciality of Arnside Knott, and is found at only one other location in England. I went in the early morning, perhaps too early, there was nothing flying and I couldn't find any butterflies basking.

What I did find was altogether more surprising: woolly thistles. Now I have featured these before, blipped when we were visiting the Yorkshire Wolds 10 days ago. I said then that they are not found in Cumbria, and indeed until now that was thought to be the case, see the distribution map on the National Biodiversity Network website. A remarkable coincidence and a notable new record for Cumbria. and given that Arnside has been crawled over (literally) by generations of botanists, it was something to feel a warm glow about. I have walked past this spot dozens of times this year, and had not noticed them before.

So why have they turned up now? They were growing on disturbed ground in a an area that the National Trust have cleared of encroaching scrub to provide more butterfly habitat. The woolly thistle seeds have perhaps been lying for decades buried in the soil waiting to be exposed to the light and have germinated in good numbers. There are numerous rosettes blind of flowers so there will be a good showing next year and beyond. The woolies are monocarpic, dying after flowering.

Anyway, what's this all got to do with dappled light? Well, not much really, I couldn't post another woolly picture, so here is something completely different. I did go back up the Knott at lunchtime to find the scotch argus, and this time I had more success in the afternoon sunshine. I didn't get a respectable photo though. On the way back down, I came to the large beech tree that stands next to the track with its massive rootplate extending along the track edge. I have a picture of this tree and its root plate taken on a frosty, misty morning in the winter and it has been my screen saver ever since. On this day in summer, light was breaking through the leafy canopy and throwing this dappling across the track.

Post script: After writing this, I learned that the woolly thistle has been found before on Arnside Knott, first seen about five years ago, and now known from 3 small patches. I should have known! Anyway, the debate goes on as to whether the plant was somehow introduced on someone's boot or whether, as suggested above, it's been lying dormant in the seedbank waiting for its chance in the light. In the days when botanists wore trousers with turn-ups, this could be a very effective way of dispersing seed around the country, and if I remember correctly, one famous old botanist, Edward Salisbury, identified something like 17 species of seeds in one of his turn-ups. Still, I favour the seedbank theory myself.