Sedum villosum in Kirkcudbrightshire David Hawker

David Hawker Sedum villosum qualifies as a Near-Threatened Plant in GB and a Rare Plant in Kirkcudbrightshire. There are two old records for this species in the VC –“Moist places along the roadside between New Galloway and Minihive (Moniaive?; possibly hectads NX 68 or NX 78 DH) 1854 BM” and “Marsh at head of ‘Purgatory’ in Cargen Glen 1882 Grierson” (possibly hectad NX97 DH). And nothing after until I discovered a single flowering shoot on the lower slopes of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn in 1997, near a control plot surveyed for the Southern Uplands Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA). Despite 3 searches in subsequent years this site was never re-found. Much to my surprise two members of the Kirkcudbright Botany Group, Jan and Duncan Davidson, reported a flush with numerous flowering shoots, estimated at 260 or so, spread over an area of about 10 x 1 metres in July 2021. The location is NX 5810 9786 on the northern slopes of Standingstone Rig at approximately 475m. This is approximately 300 metres from the single shoot of 1997. On a second visit to the site in September 2021, we noted that the general area was staked out for afforestation, with diggers constructing a forest track a couple of hundred metres away. The heathery ground in the photograph was also within the planting scheme. I consulted firstly with Forest and Land Scotland in August following the site’s discovery, then Scottish Forestry who in turn contacted the agent for the afforestation proposal, in early September, and finally their ecological consultant/advisor, Cameron Ecology. Subsequently the landowner agreed modification of the planting scheme to safeguard this area. But the survival of the colony will be safeguarded only if · the proposed planting is held back sufficiently to prevent overshading by the mature trees, and · the water regime for the flush is not altered. This colony could so easily have been missed or overlooked; it highlights the vagaries of surveying large areas holding very small flushes. Further focussed and detailed searches of the general area of the VC’s North-Western hills (Cairnsmore of Carsphairn 679m, Benniner 710m, and Moorbrock 650m) may reveal other colonies, but none have been found during visits by individuals, the local botany group and by BSBI members in the last 20+ years. Forestry now encircles all these hills which stand as isolated peaks, with trees now planted or being planted at altitudes to at least 515m and in