Walking in the CairngormsDid you know? The Cairngorms National Park covers 4,528 sq km,

half of which consists of mountainous terrain; There are 55 munros (a munro measures just over

914 metres high) in the Cairngorms and... Five of the sixth highest in Britain can be

found here; The Cairngorms comprises a third of all land above

600 metres in Britain. The Cairngorms is an Important Plant Area (IPA) with a wonderful assemblage of arctic alpine plants, and a walk here is a truly memorable experience.

Use a map at a scale of 1:50,000 or larger and a compass for navigation and route finding. Remember, hill routes shown on Ordnance Survey maps are often not waymarked and may be ill-defined on the ground. Help minimise erosion in fragile areas by keeping to paths where you can.

Discover the Cairngorms Important Plant AreaHome to Scotland’s rare and endangered arctic alpine plants

©An

ne E

lliot

t

Inse

t im

age

©W

ill B

oyd-

Wal

lis

Visit the CairngormsImportant Plant Area Home to nearly 2,000 species of wild plants

A guide to the wild plants of the Cairngorms

In wet flush areas, precious blanket bogs with brightly coloured bog asphodel and sphagnum mosses lock up carbon and slow the flow of rainwater coming off the hills. Protecting these peat habitats from erosion is crucial in helping us fight against the impacts of climate change.

Upland springs of icy meltwater are colonised with fresh green jewels of rare mosses and liverworts. Fountain moss, mountain everlasting and starry saxifrage (pictured, above) and insectivorous plants, such as sundew, find their home here. Vulnerable to nitrogen pollution as well as trampling, these are fragile but magical habitats.

The granite and metamorphic rock areas of the Cairngorms favour acid-loving plants. However, in the southern and eastern Cairngorms, there are some calcareous rocks and soils richer in minerals. In calcareous upland springs and grasslands, you can find patches of mountain avens, alpine bistort and yellow saxifrage.

Plants of the Cairngorms provide food for much wildlife, from arctic birds such

as snow bunting and ptarmigan whose calls echo round the corries, to red grouse and herds of reindeer and red deer. In some parts of the Cairngorms, red deer numbers have been reduced and young trees are

establishing at the upper edge of the forest zone, providing homes for other

species such as black grouse.

Famed for its expansive skies, spectacular mountains and shimmering lochs, did you know that the Cairngorms is also an Important Plant Area (IPA), internationally recognised for its wild plants? From the dome-shaped plateaux with their tors, towering corries, rotted rock scree and peat-filled hollows and blanket bogs, the Cairngorms is home to a unique and diverse range of over 1,900 species of wild plants.

Climb to the highest summits and you’ll discover vegetation that has remained largely unchanged since

the ice age. Only the hardiest plants have adapted to live

through the harshest winters, growing in

between shattered rock, low lying to withstand the snow, ice and wind. For only a few weeks a year, on

the rocky plateau (see left), the fleeting beauty

of these slow-growing arctic alpine plants, such as

trailing azalea, moss campion and alpine clubmoss, can be found alongside crowberry, three-leaved rush, woolly fringe moss and bearberry (pictured, above).

Where the snow lies late into the summer, dwarf willow and rare lichens can be found. The milder winters, brought on by climate change, threaten these species, with plants on the lower slopes taking over these areas as snow melts earlier.

On the lower slopes, the lichen-rich heath is springy with dwarf shrubs, alpine lady’s mantle and heathers and, in dips and hollows where the peaty soils build up, cloudberry, reindeer moss and dwarf cornel (pictured, right) make their appearance.

Photographs: Bearberry ©Lorne Gill/SNH; dwarf cornel ©Anne Elliott; starry saxifrage ©Will Boyd-Wallis

Plan your visit Useful information: www.cairngorms.co.uk;

www.plantlife.org.uk/scotland for walk guides in Anagach Woods and Cambus O’May

Study a map and route description: www.walkhighlands.co.uk

Check a weather forecast: www.mwis.org.uk Estimate walk time (3-4km per hour); build in

time for stops, poor weather, looking at plants. Make sure you are properly equipped with

compass, map, hillwalking clothing and footwear, food and drink. Above all, ensure you have the skills to navigate in poor weather (it can snow even in June).

Have an emergency plan. Let somebody know your route plan and expected time back.

Be aware that mobile phone reception can be patchy.

Tread lightly with respect to wildlife and people’s livelihoods: www.outdooraccess-scotland.scot

Late-lying snow beds

Scree slopes Lichen-rich heath

Rocky plateau

Boulders with lichens

Upland spring

Blanket bog

Wet flush

Peaty soils

Plantlife is a charity that depends on the generosity of our supporters. If you’d like to support our work, visit www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/support-us

We are Plantlife ScotlandWild flowers and plants are the life support for all Scotland’s wildlife and their colour and character light up our landscapes. But without our help, this priceless natural heritage is in danger of being lost.HRH The Duke of Rothesay is our Patron

www.plantlife.org.ukPlantlife Scotland, Balallan House, 24 Allan Park, Stirling FK8 2QG01786 478509Plantlife, Brewery House, 36 Milford St, Salisbury, Wilts SPI 2AP 01722 342730 enquiries@plantlife.org.ukPlantlife is a charitable company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales, company no. 3166339. Registered in England and Wales, charity no. 1059559. Registered in Scotland, charity no. SC038951.

©Plantlife March, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-910212-98-1Cover photograph by Lorne Gill/SNH Design: evansgraphic.co.ukPrinted by Acanthus Press, Wellington, Somerset

PlantlifeScotland #CairngormsWildPlants

Thank you The Cairngorms Wild Plants project is delivering the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan. It has been part-financed by the Scottish Government and the European Community (Cairngorms Local Action Group) LEADER 2014-2020 Programme, Nature Scot and the Cairngorms National Park Authority.

Illustration by Andrew Evans

Cairngormsarctic alpineplantsDiscover the rare and diverse flowering plants, mosses and lichens

Dwarf cornel Cornus suecicaThis dogwood likes the high, peaty moors of the Scottish Highlands. The tiny black flowers crowd in the centre of four, white, petal-like bracts. The fruit are red berries and while the birds eat them, they are not good for humans.

Cloudberry Rubus chamaemorus Preferring peaty soils, the aromatic salmon-pink berries of this bramble-like bog plant are a treasured delicacy in northern Europe and are food for a wide range of moorland birds and animals.

Bog asphodel Narthecium ossifragumDrifts of flaming yellow bog asphodel flowers light up blanket bogs in late summer. The Latin name means ‘bone-breaker’ as it grows in calcium-poor soils which can lead to sheep having brittle bones, with the plant unfortunately getting the blame.

Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursiSpreading mats of this dwarf evergreen shrub with oval leaves and red berries can be found on the thin, rocky soils of windy exposed ridges.

Trailing azalea Kalmia procumbensOn thin soils of the Cairngorm plateau, little cushions of this arctic alpine plant are studded with pink flowers for a short period in late spring. It has small, but thick, succulent-like evergreen leaves.

Alpine clubmoss Diphasiastrum alpinumThis creeping blue-green alpine plant grows well in the high tundra areas which have abundant snow cover. It belongs to an ancient group of plants that existed in the age of the coal forests.

Alpine lady’s mantle Alchemilla alpinaWith fluffy, lime-green flowers and pretty, silver-fringed palmate leaves (green above, silky silver-grey below), this arctic alpine perennial is like a miniature version of garden lady’s mantle. It has been used as an anti-inflammatory and astringent herb.

Mountain everlasting Antennaria dioicaA small wild flower of upland grasslands and sides of mountain burns. The woolly, pale pink flowers with their sturdy stems look like clusters of upright cotton buds. The common name is linked to it being used in dried flower arrangements.

Woolly fringe moss Racomitrium lanuginosumLooking like an old, woolly jumper left out in the sun, mats of this moss of the montane and arctic tundra are widespread in the Cairngorms.

Three-leaved rush Juncus trifidusSometimes called Highland rush, this low-growing plant is an arctic alpine species, at home on the alpine grasslands of the Cairngorm plateau. It can be threatened by trampling.

Reindeer moss Cladonia rangiferinaThe Cairngorms have superlative examples of lichen-rich alpine and boreal heaths. The pale Cladonia lichens (C. rangiferina and more common C. arbuscula) look almost like snow on the Cairngorm mountains. Reindeer moss is actually a lichen (which is part fungi, part algae) and reindeer find it delicious to eat.

Moss campion Silene acaulisSometimes called ‘compass plant’, as the pink flowers appear first on the south side of the cushion, this alpine plant forms dense cushions on the windswept arctic tundra. Sadly, it is at risk of rapid decline with climate change bringing warmer winters, pushing it out of the landscape.

Alpine bistort Bistorta viviparaA member of the buckwheat family, this alpine plant of upland grasslands and nutrient-rich flushes has flowering spikes that look like tiny bottle brushes. The seeds are full of starch and are food for ptarmigan and reindeer.

Starry saxifrage Saxifraga stellarisA delicate arctic alpine species of wet flushes and springs, the five, tiny white petals of each flower have two yellow or red dots at their base.

Mountain avens Dryas octopetalaWith eight white petals and a yellow centre, clumps of mountain avens flowers sit proudly above crinkly evergreen leaves. The arctic alpine plant is a striking feature of the south and east Cairngorms, in areas where there are calcareous soils or outcrops.

Dwarf willow Salix herbaceaSometimes called ‘snowbed willow’ this is one of the smallest woody plants in the world and is adapted to live in the snowbeds of the Cairngorm plateau. It typically only grows a couple of centimetres high. When the catkins ripen, the seeds can look like cotton wool lying on the ground.

Illustrations of three-leaved rush, reindeer moss, alpine clubmoss and woolly fringe moss by Andrew Evans. All other illustrations by permission of Philip’s, a division of Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, from the Philip’s Guide to Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe, Bob Gibbons and Peter Brough 2008.