The Flowers of Scotland

 Since studying botany at the University of Aberdeen, wild flowers have always been a particular passion for Michael Scott, especially those that live high in Scotland's mountains. In recent years, he has extended this interest to alpine vegetation outside of Scotland and to the Arctic (see next gallery). In their garden in Wester Ross, Sue and Michael specialise in native Scottish flora, and in arctic-alpine species that they know from the wild on their travels. These garden flowers are further subjects for Michael's camera.

The gallery below shows a small selection of Scottish wild flower photos, mostly in the wild but also (where noted) in the garden. Michael's collection is extensive, so publishers should contact him if they are trying to source photographs of specific Scottish wild flowers.

Note that this website only allows us to display extremely low resolution images; all the photographs displayed are available either as 35mm transparencies or as high-quality digital images with a minimum size of 2GB. 

All images copyright Michael Scott

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SCOTTISH PRIMROSE (Primula scotica) Confined to Caithness, Sutherland and Orkney, and mainly found on windswept seacliffs, this delicate flower often only grows an inch or two high. It is endemic to Scotland (ie found nowhere else in the world).	SCOTTISH ASPHODEL (Tofieldia pusilla) Despite its common name, Scottish asphodel is not exclusively Scottish. It grows beside springs and burns in lime-rich mountain areas, usually at altitudes above 210m.
THRIFT / SEA PINK (Armeria maritima) It is always a challenge to photograph wild flowers in ways that also display their habitat, like this Thrift photographed on the island of Oransay, with Jura in the background. Right: The Brown Birch Boletus is a species that is quite common in summer and autumn in Scottish woods, always close to birch trees, to which its mycelia are attached. (However, please note that Michael has only limited coverage of fungi in his image library)	FUNGUS: BIRCH BOLETUS (Boletus scaber)
MACHAIR FLORA Sometimes it is the mass of flowers that impresses, rather than the species. The machair is an important coastal habitat, maintained by crofting activities as here on South Uist. It hosts a rich diversity of mainly commoner flowering plants.	DIAPENSIA (Diapensia lapponica) Diapensia is a rare species in Britain, photographed here at its only known site "in the parish of Arisaig" (as the books always state) in Inverness-shire. It is widespread in the Arctic, and Michael has also photographed it in Greenland and New Hampshire.
TWINFLOWER (Linnaea borealis) Through his work with Plantlife Scotland, Michael has maintained a special interest in this inhabitant of Scottish woods, photographed here on the edge of the Cairngorms in Inverness-shire.	ONE-FLOWERED WINTERGREEN (Moneses uniflora) One-flowered wintergreen – also known as 'St Olaf's Candlestick' – is an attractive but easily overlooked species of a few Scottish pinewoods. This photograph is from one of its best sites, in Sutherland.
MOUNTAIN AVENS (Garden) (Dryas octopetala) As gardeners, Michael and Sue specialise in native Scottish plants and arctic-alpines, including one of Michael's special interests, mountain avens. However they only grow plants they know from the wild.	PURPLE SAXIFRAGE (Garden) (Saxifraga oppositifolia) The garden provides the opportunity to catch wild species, like this purple saxifrage, in perfect flower. However it will always be clear from the library which plants are photograped in the wild and which in the garden.
SCOTTISH PRIMROSE (Garden) (Primula scotica) In the garden, Scottish primrose looks very different from plants growing in their native habitat (above). However garden photos can often show more of a plant's features more clearly.	ALPINE SOWTHISTLE (Garden) (Cicerbita alpina) One of the most unusual species in the Scotts' garden, derived from long-established native stock, is the Alpine or blue sowthistle, an extremely rare species now confined in Scotland to about three remote sites.

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