University of BergenPublished: 28.07.2015 | Author: Bjørn Moe, Anders Lundberg, Knut Krzywinski
Møkster in May is worth a visit: Grassy hills are beautifully decorated with large amounts of dark red, flowering early purple orchid (picture). In small fields between the rocky outcrops we find a colourful flora with many herbs. On the outcrops by the beaches we find small sea mouse-ear and early hair grass, and in the cracks the seldom seen hart's-tongue. This calcium-loving plant seems quite exotic out here at the entrance to the fjord among the more usual plants. They get their calcium from the bedrock: Møkster and the neighbouring islands are largely comprised of metamorphosed limestone, marble.
Hazel at the fjord entrance
The first settlers along the coast of Hordaland brought hazel nuts with them from the south. This caused a rapid colonisation by this tree species. When the first farmers later cleared the forest to make grazing land for their animals, hazel was forced out to the barren rocky places and other outlying areas. But, it took root and has lived here right up to the present day. The history of the hazel at Møkster may therefore be more than 11 000 years old. The calcium-rich ground at Møkster has been a good help, even in places with little soil. Where the ocean beats in, one finds low, creeping hazel thicket, barely a metre and a half high, that spreads out over the beach rock.
At Møkster there are also forests of pure hazel, a unique sight in the cultural landscape by the sea.
- Øvstedal, D. O.; Sæthre, H. Å. 1988. Hasselskogar i ytre Hordaland. Eit verneforslag. UiB, Aboha.
