Must have some sort of attraction for the steaming reaches of primeval swamps at the moment, for yesterday’s bright sunshine found me slopping my way through the wet edges of another swamp, this time the transition fen at Yetholm Loch. I’m not sure that following the wet weather we’ve had this year; that this was necessarily a good idea, as the water regularly lapped round the top of the wellies and occasionally could be felt leaking in over the top!
In this case, yesterday’s steaming swamp was made up of Reedmace and Common Clubrush, both of which were easily growing to well over six feet in height, so could easily have been anywhere as all the views were hidden, especially with the rising humidity in yesterday’s sunshine that could have placed us somewhere tropical. It was also to some degree a disappointment that the height of the vegetation hide the views of the surrounding loch that then spread down the valley towards the Cheviot Hills in the distance. 
Yetholm Loch and the Edging Bands of Vegetation – 20 August 2012 (Copyright – Carol Jones)
Though in general these edge swamps are species poor, being dominated by either Bulrush or Reedmace and not a great deal more, other than the tiny floating green plates of Common Duckweed that is washed one way and then another by the wind on the open water. There were also a couple of nice plants hiding amongst the stems. The first is Gypsywort (Lycopuus europaeus), a tall perennial plant, with deeply toothed leaves, that tries its best its best to look a little like a Stinging Nettle, but doesn’t sting. It also has whorls of small white flowers at the base of the leaves, with tiny purple dots marking the lower lip of the flower. The second is the white umbel of Cowbane (Cicuta virosa) with its coarsely toothed, bright green leaves, that within the confines of the tall surroundings grow almost straight up, accompanied by the dense white umbels of flowers.
Away from the mono-cultures of the edge and before the dense stands of Reed Canary-grass that characterise the eutrophic inner reaches of the fen amongst the willow carr, there were patches that are much richer and are characterise by bands of Lesser Pond Sedge. In places accompanied by the wonderful minty scent of large patches of Water Mint (Mentha aquatica), that was just beginning to produce whorls of delicate lilac flowers. Together with patches of Skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata), with its bright blue flowers, that reminds me of the bright blue skies of a true British summer.
lostnaturalist 