Cochleria micacea
Mountain Scurvygrass

A small plant with spikes of small white flowers on branching stems and triangular leaves near the base. It grows on mountain slopes on poor soils, usually in wet flushes or near springs, often in areas where there are old mines as it can tolerate heavy metals in the soil.

It is a relic of Arctic-Alpine plants from the Ice Age, and is found nowhere else in the world. It has always been rare and restricted to Scotland, mainly in the Breadalbane Mountains.

Fortunately most of its few remaining sites are now in protected areas such as National Nature Reserves. The reasons for its rarity are not known.