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Aspen Bristle-moss

Nyholmiella gymnostoma

Close up of the detailed Aspen Bristle-moss growing on Aspen tree bark

As the name suggests, Aspen Bristle-moss is an Aspen Populus tremula specialist, it grows exclusively on Aspen tree bark. While you may see Aspen trees occasionally across the country, Aspen dominated woodland with a range of young and older trees is very rare. These sites provide a home for this and other rare species of epiphyte (species which grow on the surface of other plants).

Where it grows

Aspen Bristle-moss is only known to grow at three sites in the entire UK. All three sites are in and around the Cairngorms in Scotland.

Close up image of the beautiful bright green Aspen Bristle-moss growing out of grey coloured tree bark

Best Time to See it

Aspen Bristle-moss can be spotted all throughout the year. Though given that it only grows at three sites, it is a particularly tricky one to find.

Mosses and liches which grow as epiphytes are often easiest to spot in winter months as they remain green all year round, are often fresher and brighter when wet, and are not obscured by summer vegetation. 

Something You Might Not Know

This beautiful, tiny moss was believed to be extinct in the UK in 2000, but a lucky find in 2003 sparked a drive to hunt for it again. It was quickly discovered at three new sites, but no further patches have been found since.

A new Plantlife project looking at this and other species of rare Aspen epiphyte will investigate whether these often overlooked species are truly as rare as they seem, or just under-recorded.

Photos taken by Gus Routledge

Other Species

Aspen Bristle-moss
Close up of the detailed Aspen Bristle-moss growing on Aspen tree bark

Aspen Bristle-moss

One-flowered Wintergreen
Close up of a delicate One-flowered Wintergreen flower. The five white petals stand out against the forest floor.

One-flowered Wintergreen

One-flowered Wintergreen

Moneses uniflora

Months

Season

Colour

Habitat

Close up of a delicate One-flowered Wintergreen flower. The five white petals stand out against the forest floor.

How to identify:

Annual/Perennial/BiennialEvergreen perennial
Height15cm
Flower typeSingle , white, 12-20mm
LeavesLight green leaves which are oval shaped
StemsGrows in rosettes with light green stem for single flower heads

 

Three One-flowered Wintergreen plants can be seen amongst the fallen leaves on the forest floor. They have not yet bloomed and the individual buds one each plant hang like white bells.

How to Spot

One-flowered Wintergreen can be a hard one to spot. As well as being very rare, it’s a small, single-flowered plant that grows on the forest floor, which can make it harder to see.

It is a distinctive plant however. Each plant has just 1 stem, and 1 flower. The flower heads are white, with 5 petals and 5 filaments with anthers, leaves at the base of the plant form in a rosette.

Where to Spot

This pretty plant is very rare. In the UK, it can only be found in pine woods in North East Scotland.

One-flowered Wintergreen only occurs at specific sites, and is often isolated to an area a few tens of metres across in a large and apparently suitable woodland.

As part of a possibly global decline, we have recorded it going locally extinct at more than half of the sites it was recorded at, since 2000.

We have been working with this plant up in the Cairngorms and have had some break throughs in understanding it better. Read the full story here.

Did you Know?

We have been working hard to save this tiny wildflower in Scotland. In Autumn 2023 we translocated 109 individual One-flowered Wintergreen rosettes from two sites in to RSPB Abernethy, reinforcing a tiny relic population.

The translocation was a huge success, with a 70 per cent survival success rate one year on.

Read the full story here.

Other Species

Aspen Bristle-moss
Close up of the detailed Aspen Bristle-moss growing on Aspen tree bark

Aspen Bristle-moss

One-flowered Wintergreen
Close up of a delicate One-flowered Wintergreen flower. The five white petals stand out against the forest floor.

One-flowered Wintergreen

How to identify:

Annual/Perennial/BiennialEvergreen
Height15m
Flower typeWhite with 4 petals
LeavesThick, spiny and shiny
StemsGrey smooth bark with green branches

 

A Holly tree with dark shiny leaves and clusters of red berries, covered in snow in the winter cold

How to Spot

Holly can grow very tall, up to 15m. It’s an evergreen tree so stays in leaf all year round, with sharp, spiny leaves that are thick, glossy and dark green in colour. You can see it flowering between May and August with small white flowers, each with four petals. In winter it fruits with shiny red berries.

Where to Spot

Holly is a native plant that can be found all over the British Isles as well as western and central Europe. It prefers to grow in hedgerows, scrubland, woodlands and wooded pastures, and prefers acidic soils.

Holly in Folklore

Holly is a common decoration in our homes around the festive season and was in fact thought to be lucky by many cultures. It was believed that Holly could bring you luck, protection and improve your fortunes. However there is also bad luck associated with Holly. It’s believed to be bad luck if you cut down a whole Holly tree.

There’s many myths and legends associated with Holly that span across many countries, cultures and religions. One Christian-based tale suggests that the Holly once had white berries, but when Jesus was on the cross, his blood dripped onto the plants and stained the berries red forever.

Perhaps the most famous folklore is that of the Holly King and the Oak King, in which many iterations, the two are brothers. The story goes that the Oak King was the ruler of the summer months, while the Holly King was the lord of the winter.

The telling of the story varies, but it is generally believed that on the equinoxes of autumn and spring an epic battle begins. The winner is declared by the signs of the season. When spring begins to bloom, the Oak King has taken the crown. He rules throughout summer, but gets weaker after the summer solstice. By the time the autumn equinox approaches, the Holly King makes his move and the fight begins again. The changing leaves signal the Holly King has indeed won the fight and becomes lord throughout the winter, until the cycle starts again.

 

 

Other Species

Aspen Bristle-moss
Close up of the detailed Aspen Bristle-moss growing on Aspen tree bark

Aspen Bristle-moss

One-flowered Wintergreen
Close up of a delicate One-flowered Wintergreen flower. The five white petals stand out against the forest floor.

One-flowered Wintergreen

Fly Agaric

Amanita muscaria

How to identify Fly Agaric

CapRed or sometimes orange in colour with white spots, which are remnants of the protective veil. They can sometimes be washed away by the rain.
Cap diameter10cm-20 cm when mature
GillsBegin white but become a pale yellow over time. The gills are free from the stem
StemWhite stems around 10cm-25cm long
SporesWhite

 

 

Where to find them?

Fly Agaric can be found in woodlands and along woodland edges. They often reoccur in the same place over multiple years and are widespread throughout Britain and Ireland.

Did you know?

The name Fly Agaric refers to the fungus having been used as an insecticide.

Don’t mistake it with?

If the white spots wash off the Fly agaric cap, it can be mistaken for red Russula species such as the Beechwood sickener Russula nobilis. There are also other Amanita species which look similar to the Fly Agaric but lack the distinctive red cap (e.g. The Blusher, Amanita rubescens)

Other Species

Chicken of the woods

Laetiporus sulphureus

Chicken of the Woods

How to identify:

BracketsThe fungus is comprised of several  overlapping brackets 
GillsThis bracket fungus does not have gills  
StemIt has no stem
FleshThick yellow-orange flesh which darkens with age. The underside of the brackets have yellow pores, which is the spore-forming surface of the fungus  
SporesWhite

 

Where to find them?

This fungus is a common find in woodlands across the UK. They are found mainly on deciduous trees, for example oak, sweet chestnut and beech. Often they are quite high up on the tree trunk, so its worth casting your eyes upwards!  

Did you know?

The flesh of this bracket fungus has a texture similar to cooked chicken, hence the common name!  

Don’t mistake it with…

The Giant polypore (Meripilus gigantus) can form similar bracket structures. However, the underside of Giant polypore turns black when damaged, which cannot be seen in Chicken of the Woods. 

Other Species

How to identify:

Annual/Perennial/BiennialPerennial
Height90cm
Flower typeRounded flower spikes
LeavesHairy, oval and toothed
StemsSingle or double stemmed, hairy

 

A collection of Water Mint growing by a woodland stream, pretty purple flowers stand out against the green leaves

How to Spot

Water Mint can grow up to 90cm tall. It has pretty, pale purple flower heads and hairy leaves and stems. The leaves can be between 2cm and 6cm and grow in whorls around the stem.

Peppermint shares a resemblance, but has darker flowers, leaves and often has a purple stem.

Where to Spot

This pretty, aromatic plant is common all over the UK. You can find it growing in wet meadows, fens and marshes, streams, ponds, riversides and damp woodlands.

Things you might not know

It is said that Water Mints pleasant scent was used during the medieval era, to make their dining halls smell fresh.

Reportedly the plants were laid on the floor so that guests would step on them upon entering, and release the sweet smell of mint.

Other Species

Bluebell
Bluebell close-up.

Bluebell

Hyacinthoides non-scripta

Bugle
A close up of a blue bugle plant.

Bugle

Ajuga reptans

Cowslip
Cowslip Close Up.

Cowslip

Primula Veris

Bracken

Pteridium aquilinum

Close up look at Bracken

How to spot

Bracken is the most common fern in the UK. A long-lived extensively spreading plant, it can grow up to 2.5m.

It has long fronds with pinnate leaves, which means they have one long stem in the centre with small leaves coming off.

This species, unlike other fern species, dies back in the winter, with it’s leaves turning brown. In the spring Bracken fronds appear tightly curled and slowly unravel.

Where to spot

Bracken is a common site all around the UK – but it’s not just in the British Isles that it can be seen, this species is found on every continent except Antarctica.

Here in the British Isles, it can be found in moorlands, woodlands, heathlands, and even pastures and abandoned agricultural land.

 

The tops of Bracken plants against a dark background

Things you might not know

Bracken has fascinating folklore and can be linked to a number of different cultures and religions.

One of the most interesting mythologies around this species is that it was said to hold the power to turn people invisible! Bracken reproduces using tiny spores rather than seeds. The story goes that holding the spores of bracken could make you as invisible as they were.

Other Species

Bluebell
Bluebell close-up.

Bluebell

Hyacinthoides non-scripta

Bugle
A close up of a blue bugle plant.

Bugle

Ajuga reptans

Cowslip
Cowslip Close Up.

Cowslip

Primula Veris

Devil’s-bit Scabious

Succisa pratensis

The round pretty blue flowers of Devil's-bit Scabious

How to spot

Devil’s-bit Scabious is part of the Globulariaceae family which includes similar looking relatives such as Small Scabious Scabiosa columbaria and Field Scabious Knautia arvensis.

They all have similar looking rounded composite flower heads, made up of many tiny flowers. They are usually blue in colour, though can sometimes be purple. You can tell Devil’s-bit from it’s relatives as it has long oval leaves.

Devil’s-bit Scabious is a perennial plant that grows up to 100cm.

Where to spot

This plant prefers damp environments and can be found in marshes, wet heathlands, fens and woodlands.

It is a common plant that is found all over the UK.

 

Common Carder Bee on Devil's-bit Scabious - Joan's Hill

Things you might not know

  1. Devil’s-bit Scabious is a favourite among pollinators. It is rich in both pollen and nectar which attracts a variety of insects from bees to butterflies and moths to hoverflies.
  2. The first part of the name ‘Devil’s-bit’ comes from a folklore tale that suggests the devil once bit the root of the plant which caused it’s distinctive flat edge.
  3. The second part of the name, ‘Scabious’, comes from the Latin word ‘scabere’, which means ‘scratch’. Indeed the plant has been used in the past to treat itchy skin conditions from scabies to eczema and even the sores brought on by the bubonic plague.

 

Other Species

Bluebell
Bluebell close-up.

Bluebell

Hyacinthoides non-scripta

Bugle
A close up of a blue bugle plant.

Bugle

Ajuga reptans

Cowslip
Cowslip Close Up.

Cowslip

Primula Veris

Sea Mayweed

Tripleurospermum maritimum

Months

Season

Colour

Close up of a Sea Mayweed clinging to a coastal wall
Sea Mayweed pokes out of the rocks on a beach in Cornwall

How to spot

Sea Mayweed is very similar to it’s relative the Scentless Mayweed. One way to spot the difference is that the Sea Mayweed has shorter and thicker leaves that are quite succulent.

It belongs to the Daisy family and, like it’s relative is a composite, which means the ‘flower’ head that you see is actually made up of many different tiny flowers. Just like the Daisy, these consist of white ray florets and then yellow disc florets in the centre.

Sea Mayweed is a perennial plant that grows up to 60cm high with 4cm flowering heads.

Where to spot

As the name suggests, this is a coastal plant that loves to be close to the sea. You can find it all around the UK, on cliffs, sea walls and beaches as well as waste ground that is near the ocean.

 

A close up of a Sea Mayweed flower head with white petals and a large yellow centre, in the background you can see a mass of succulent style leaves

Things you might not know

Sea Mayweed belongs to the Asteraceae family, which is the largest plant family in the world and contains species ranging from the Common Daisy Bellis perennis to the Lettuce and from Sunflowers Helianthus, to Artichokes!

Other Species

Bluebell
Bluebell close-up.

Bluebell

Hyacinthoides non-scripta

Bugle
A close up of a blue bugle plant.

Bugle

Ajuga reptans

Cowslip
Cowslip Close Up.

Cowslip

Primula Veris

Sweet Vernal Grass

Anthoxanthum oderatum

A close up photograph of Sweet Vernal Grass
Sweet Vernal Grass in the sunshine

How to spot

Thin, wiry grass with short leaves and a spike of flowers at the top of the stem. Where the leaf meets the stem, there is a fringe of hairs which look like eyelashes.

Where to spot

On old meadows and grasslands that are often rich in wild flowers. Here, it’s one of the first meadow grasses to come into flower in the spring.

Don’t mistake it with

Red Fescue – another grass with a narrow stem and pointy flower spikes, but which is bigger and lacks the scent.

Sweet Vernal grass

Things you might not know

It gives out a scent that is THE distinctive smell of a hay meadow – somewhere between vanilla and almond. Some people like to chew the grass to get the taste of the scent.

Other Species

Aspen Bristle-moss
Close up of the detailed Aspen Bristle-moss growing on Aspen tree bark

Aspen Bristle-moss

One-flowered Wintergreen
Close up of a delicate One-flowered Wintergreen flower. The five white petals stand out against the forest floor.

One-flowered Wintergreen