Koenigia islandica   Iceland Purslane RR DDD N elashr

Koenigia islandica

We set out to find this plant with specific instructions for the Island (Skye), the place (Storr) and even the particular scree slope but still couldn't find it. Perhaps it was because as a member of the Polygonaceae family we expected something a little more obvious. Eventually we realised that this plant is so small that if you are over 3 feet tall you can't see it standing up. Some hands and knees scuffling (not easy on a scree slope) yielded one or two plants. The photograph is a Photoshop enhanced version of a blurred print taken before the days of digital cameras.

K. islandica is found in just a few places on Skye and Mull plus one record from Norfolk.

One of the scree slopes near Old Man of Storr, Skye,Scotland 18th July 1997

Added on January 28th 2005, updated 16th February 2010, updated 13th April 2010

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