Our two visits to Keen of Hamar were both a little under-resourced, given that we had forgotten to bring a flora ID away with us. On the first visit we relied upon the on site interpretation and an intermittent phone / internet signal. By the second visit we had purchased a very useful book, from the Tourist Information Centre in Lerwick entitled: "A Photographic Guide to Shetland's Wild Flowers" by David Malcolm.
Resource limitations aside, we were able to find and identify a handful of the plants present on this "serpentine debris" (nature-shetland.co.uk, 1999) including one of it's star prizes: Edmondston's Chickweed AKA Shetland mouse-ear (
Cerastium nigrescens nigrascens) which is known only from this site in its particular form (Laughton Johnson, J. 1999).
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| Serpentine debris Keen of Hamar |
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| amongst the Serpentine debris, Keen of Hamar |
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| common scurvy grass (Cochlearia officinalis) |
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| thrift (Armeria maritime) |
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| moss campion (Silene acaulis) |
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| kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) |
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| mountain everlasting (Antennaria dioica) |
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| finding the Edmonston's chickweed |
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| Edmonston's chickweed AKA Shetland mouse-ear |
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| early purple orchid (Orchis mascula) |
For a concise description of both the unique geology and the floristic value of the Keen of Hamar as a Nature Reserve visit:
nature-shetland.co.uk, 1999,
Keen of Hamar Nature Reserve, read:
http://www.nature-shetland.co.uk/snh/hamar.htm
Bibliography
Laughton Johnston, J. 1999,
A Naturalist's Shetland, T & AD Poyser Ltd, London
Malcolm, D. 2012,
A Photographic Guide to Shetland's Wild Flowers, The Shetland Times Ltd, Lerwick
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