After the wash out that was yesterday’s bad weather, today the scientists have been returning with amazing finds left, right and centre. Mark and Rosemary found this Linum bienne, described scientifically by Mark, as a stonker! It is probably the ancestor of the domesticated flax and today he rediscovered a wild population of it on St Mary’s.
Linum bienne also known as Pale flax
It is known historically but has not been seen recently and was feared extinct on the islands. It is also exceptionally pretty.
A stonker indeed
Rosemary Parslow (literally) wrote the book on The Natural History of the Isles of Scilly and she has been a great asset to the project. She has spent years studying practically every aspect of the nature on the islands and she also used to work at the Museum.
James came back from the beach with a brilliant find. Sea spiders (pycnogonids) are in an order of their own, they are remarkable and weird and unlike anything else in the sea.
Sea spider
James explained his find.
Two pycnogonids
Ana Rita made a welcome discovery on top of our bunker, a flush of St George’s Mushrooms.
Calocybe gambosa and Ana Rita
After a positive identification by mycology expert Mark (on top of being potentially fatal, it would be very embarrassing to poison Museum staff with mushrooms) these gorgeous fungi were turned into a spanish omelet. Delicious.
A St George’s omelette