Digerhuvud Nature Reserve on the Island of Fårö
Visited June 10th, 2104 with the Lakeland Horticulture Society
Our afternoon destination was to Sweden’s largest collection of limestone sea stacks at Digerhuvud Nature Reserve on the northern island of Fårö. The bedrock is covered with sharp chips of eroded limestone making vegetation very sparse.
The large vertical rock formations on the flat western edge of the island have been shaped by the sea since the ice age with the sea stacks standing on an underwater ledge of stratified limestone. Close to the shore are strong currents with water at a depth of 60 meters (196 feet).
A solitary vipers buglos (Echium vulgare) breaks the monotony of the gray limestone that extends to the sea's edge.
The landscape view is stark with unusual bedrock. The flora is sparse and scattered, precariously finding root in pockets of soil between the fissures of the stacks of loose limestone rocks.
In the austere landscape a Mediterranean herb, the wild mignonette nicknamed Dyer's Weld (Reseda luteola) grows in small patches with viper's buglass nearby. The Dyer's weld is the worlds oldest yellow dye plant, used in Europe until the middle ages and mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In Roman times is was used medicinally as a sedative and treatment for bruises.
Patches of white swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum hirundinaria),(which we found on the alvar plains of Öland), are scattered, growing through the sharp limestone beach.
Beauty is in the contrast of the multiple shades of blue horizon merging into the deep waters of the placid Baltic Sea with occasional patches of vivid yellow fleabane wildflowers (Pulicaria dysenterica) growing out of crevices in the limestone cliffs.
A sudden shift in the weather with a menacing dark fog rolling in quickly over the Baltic waters. It was mid-afternoon and time to return to Gotland by the small ferry that is the connection between the two islands.
TRAVEL REFLECTIONS
Our evening “Gotland Dinner”of spit-roasted lamb was at Toftastrand's second establishment, the Suderbys Hotel and Manor.
Before the meal their was a tour of the manor house then Viking games were played on the lawn by several members of the group.
A group of Swedish tourists from the mainland staying at the hotel joined for the dinner sitting on the opposite side of the formal dinning hall. Musical entertainment was provided by a folk singer with songs sung in Swedish and Gutnish. The memorable part of the evening for our group was the impromptu solo by Elli singing a song extolling the beauty of England's Lake District with the Gotland musician joining in with her on his guitar. A hearty round of applause was given to her on both sides of the isle.
All photos by Deborah McMillin.