Thought members might be interested in a recent article in British Wildlife magazine (
www.britishwildlife.com/) about
Diapensia Diapensia lapponica.
In the UK
Diapensia is restricted to a single mountain in Lochaber (which is the area in the west highlands around Fort William). It grows at 800m, on stony ground, in an area of high rainfall. (As someone who used to live just north of Fort William at Laggan and one year endured over 144 inches of rain the term high rainfall doesn't really convey the reality of living an amphibious existence!).
Anyway to return to the matter in hand, scientists from Tromso University, Norway,are undertaking genetic analysis of
Diapensia from Scotland (its most southerly location) to compare with samples taken from Russia, Scandinavia, Iceland and Greenland in order to determine what happened to the flora during the ice age. Apparently there are conflicting theories: one promotes the notion that some species survived on the peaks above the ice sheet whilst the other argues that the flora was wiped out and has subsequently recolonised from the south. This reseach may help in forming a view as to which theory is the better.
Incidentally
Diapensia seems to survive on my wet clay (albeit with added grit) in West Lothian - perhaps its the moist damp air!
