Cairngorms Wild Plants Keys Mountains

Unlock the outdoors Cairngorms wild plants keys Mountains

An outdoor learning resource for group leaders KEYS to Cairngorms mountains

Key The language of the Cairngorms 1 Gaelic and Scots words for plants and places Key Lines on the landscape 2 Poems and prose to inspire us Key The shaping of our mountains 3 Cairngorms geology and erosion Key Natural treelines 4 In search of ‘krummholz’ Key Patterns in the heather moors 5 Red grouse and the landscape of muirburn Key Blanket bogs 6 Sphagnum mosses and peat hags Key A splash of spring green 7 Spring lines and flushes Key Life in the snow and ice 8 Explore the arctic alpine world of Scotland Key What’s that plant? 9 Spotter guides with handy plant ID tips

Cairngorms mountains keys | Contents Unlocking Cairngorms mountains

How to use the KEYS Each KEY includes an ‘Idea’ and short ‘Activity’, with a ‘Discussion’ The KEYS explore different section to take things further. You aspects of Cairngorms mountain don’t need to know the answers to habitats and wildlife and are a the questions, they are prompts to learning resource for leaders. stimulate thought and discussion. Whether hill walking, climbing Have fun with them. Choose KEYS or wildlife watching, there will to suit your group. Fit the KEYS into be something in the KEYS for short stops or lunch breaks with you to help enrich your group’s your group. Or take more time and experience of this amazing habitat. unlock more of the Cairngorms. ©Gwenda Diack

Cairngorms mountains keys | Introduction

Cairngorms mountains

Important Plant Areas are the fascinating flora which is one most important places in the of the reasons why Plantlife world for wild plant and fungal identified the Cairngorms as diversity that can be protected an Important Plant Area (IPA). and managed as specific sites. Through these KEYS, we The Cairngorms mountain want to raise awareness range has one of the few of the valuable mountain truly arctic alpine habitats habitats and encourage their in the UK. Because of this, long-term conservation. the mountains boast some

Map of Cairngorms National Park mountains

Ground >600m

Boundary Grantown-on-Spey Tomintoul

Aviemore

Newtonmore Braemar Ballater

Blair Atholl

Cairngorms mountains keys | Introduction The language Key of the Cairngorms 1 Key idea Natural landscapes, and the plants and animals within them, have had a significant impact on Scotland’s cultural heritage. There are

many Gaelic and Scots words for them. Place names can tell us a Coire

lot about the history and landscape features. There are also some ©Gwenda Diack wonderfully evocative Gaelic and Scots names for plants which describe them or their uses. Abhainn Understanding the meaning of these

Gaelic and Scots words Mullach

Ach/Auch MealCarden helps us to read the Bad Cruach cultural history of Carden the Cairngorms. Stob Allt Fearna Cuilc Craobh Giubhas Bog(l)ach Beag/bheag CraobhachCarn Creag Badan Mhor/Mor Clach Linne ruadh Cnoc Dearg/ruadh Gorm Cluan Sgurr Coille/Doille Sgor Dubh Sgorr Ban Moine Creag Dearg Reaneach aichean Geall Key Lairig The language of Cuilc the Cairngorms 1 Fearna Craobh Giubhas

Beag/bheag CraobhachCarn Badan Creag Mhor/Mor Linne ruadh Gorm KEY ActivityCoille/Doille Stop at a place that has a Gaelic or Scots name. Maps show many Gaelic and Scots words, with various spellings. If you Moine Creag Dearg have one, spread out your OS map. Discussion Use Table 1 and call out some other How much of the map shows Gaelic aichean Gaelic/Scots placeReaneach names Gealland ask names for landscape features? Cuilcyour group to find examples. What changes have there been in Go through the English definitions. Lairig the Gaelic cultural landscape through time? Table 1 – a selection of Gaelic and Scots words for landscape features

Abhainn – river Cruach – stack Ach/Auch – field Cuilc – reed Allt – stream, burn Dearg/ruadh – red Bad – thicket or clump, Badan (small clump) Dubh – dark, black Ban – white Fearna – alder Beag/bheag – small Geall – white Bog(l)ach, aich, aichean – bog Giubhas – fir Carden – thicket Gorm – blue Carn – cairn, heap of stones Lairig – a low traveller’s pass Clach – rock or stone Linne – pool, pond Cluan – meadow Meal – round lumpy hill, meaning bald head Cnoc – small rounded hillock Mhor/Mor – big Coille/Doille – wood or forest Moine – blanket bog Coire – corrie Mullach – summit Craobh – tree Reaneach – bracken Craobhach – full of trees Sgurr/Sgor/Sgorr – jagged peak Creag – crag Stob – small top, point or peak

Key The language of 1 the Cairngorms Key KEY Activity – Plant names 1 Latin/scientific names are useful for identification; however, there is a rich heritage of common names that can tell us about some plants’ shapes, colours, smells, uses and customs. Find some of the plants and trees pictured here. Share the different names and uses/meanings. Do they have their own examples of common names for wild plants? ©Deborah Long

Gorse/Whin (Scots); Conasg

©Deborah Long (Gaelic, meaning quarrel or Heather/Ling/Freuchie (Scots); Fraoch wrangle – no doubt the thorns (Gaelic). Purple heather is strongly making people bad tempered!). associated with Scotland, but white heather was considered lucky, meaning ‘wishes come true’. ©Deborah Long

Bilberry/Blaeberry (Scots); Caoramhitheag (Gaelic which means ‘blue berries’, our deliciously ©Lorne Gill/SNH edible native blueberry). Bog cotton/Cottongrass/Canach (Scots)/Caineachan (Gaelic) – the fluffy seed heads were spun into cloth shirts to cast off bewitchment. The language of Key the Cairngorms 1 Discussion Are common names of wild plants still common knowledge? Do they know of any customs associated with wild plants that are still practised today? ©Dcrjsr 4.0 CC BY Bird’s-foot trefoil/Craw’s Taes (Scots), refers to the claw-like seed pods.

An English common name ‘bacon Lindsey ©James and eggs’ refers to the yellow and orange flowers. Mat grass/Deil’s hair (Scots for ‘devil’s hair’, which refers to its short spiky stems in tufty clumps). ©Polly Phillpot

Rowan/Mountain ash/Chaoruin/

Caorann (Gaelic). This tree was Elliott/SNH©Anne planted around Scottish homes to ward off evil spirits. Birch/Craobh/Beith (Gaelic); Birk (Scots). Birch brooms were used as bridal staffs in Scotland.

Key The language of 1 the Cairngorms Key Lines on the landscape 2

KEY Idea Poets and writers have long used the landscape as inspiration for their writing, expressing their emotional connections with wild places and the plants and animals that live there. Taking a moment to absorb the beauty of our surroundings and share our KEY Activity experience can deepen our appreciation Stop at a scenic spot on the of the natural world and help connect us mountain. Ask the group to to nature and others. describe how it feels. What descriptive words can they come up with? Share some of the lines of poems and prose from Nan Shepherd and Norman MacCaig (over the page). How do these authors relate to the landscapes? ©Gwenda Diack

Discussion What places do they find magical and why? How does society value and connect with wild places today? How does nature enhance our wellbeing, creativity and sense of place? Lines on Key the landscape 2 “The plants of the plateau are low in stature, sitting tight to the ground with no loose ends for the wind to catch. They creep, either along the surface, or under it, or they anchor themselves by a heavy root massive out of all proportion to their external growth. I have said that they have no shelter, but for the individual flower there is the shelter of its group. Thus the moss campion, Silene, the most startling of all the plateau flowers that in June and early July amazes the eye by its cushions of brilliant pink scattered in the barest and most stony places, has a habit of growth as close set as a Victorian posy. Its root too is strong and deep anchoring it against the hurricane, and keeping its vital essence safe against frost and fiery drought, the extremes and unpredictable shift of weather on the exposed plateau. In these ways this most characteristic of the plateau flowers is seen to be quite simply a part of the mountain. Its way of life lies in the mountain’s way of life as water lies in a channel.”

Nan Shepherd excerpt from The Living Mountain ©Lorne Gill/SNH (Canongate Books Ltd 2011)

Key Lines on 2 the landscape Key

“Except in grooves of streams, armpits of hills, 2 Here’s a bald, bare land, weathered half away. It pokes its bony blades clean through its skin And chucks the light up from grey knucklebones, Tattering the eye, that’s teased with flowers and stones.”

Norman MacCaig excerpt from the poem ‘Treeless Landscape’, from The Poems of Norman MacCaig (Polygon, an imprint of Birlinn Ltd 2005) ©Anne Elliott©Anne

Lines on Key the landscape 2 “Scotland small? Our multiform, our infinite Scotland small? Only as a patch of hillside may be a cliché corner To a fool who cries ‘Nothing but heather!’ where in September another Sitting there and resting and gazing around Sees not only the heather but blaeberries With bright green leaves and leaves already turned scarlet, Hiding ripe blue berries; and amongst the sage-green leaves Of the bog-myrtle the golden flowers of the tormentil shining; And on the small bare places, where the little Blackface sheep Found grazing, milkworts blue as summer skies; And down in neglected peat-hags, not worked Within living memory, sphagnum moss in pastel shades Of yellow, green, and pink; sundew and butterwort Waiting with wide-open sticky leaves for their tiny winged prey; And nodding harebells vying in their colour With the blue butterflies that poise themselves delicately upon them; And stunted rowans with harsh dry leaves of glorious colour. ‘Nothing but heather!’ How marvellously descriptive! And incomplete!”

Hugh MacDairmid excerpt from ‘Dìreadh I’, from Complete Poems, Vol. II (Carcanet 1994) ©Polly Phillpot

Key Lines on 2 the landscape The shaping Key of our mountains 3 KEY Idea From the pine-clad foothills to the arctic alpine zone of the high tops, the great massif of the Cairngorms has been shaped by geology and erosion. Geological upheaval thrust up the mountains and forged the hallmark granite that has been revealed through aeons of weathering and erosion.

During the last ice age, corries and glens were excavated by ice and frost ©Gwenda Diack and when the glaciers melted, rock debris became the foundations of the soils and habitats that are Learning to recognise home to a huge variety of plant life. Processes of and understand what erosion continue and our landscape is still changing. has shaped the features of the Cairngorms helps us to feel the immensity of change through time of this vast landscape.

The shaping of Key our mountains 3 KEY Activity As you take your group onto the Cairngorms, look out for the following landforms: ©Lorne Gill/SNH

U-shaped glens – eroded by fast- flowing glaciers and infilled with valley sediments. ©Lorne Gill/SNH

Hummocky moraine – piles of rocky debris left by melting glaciers. ©Gwenda Diack Corries – caused by smaller glaciers carving out basins on the north and east-facing slopes, where there is

©Anne Elliott©Anne more windblown snow.

Tors on the high plateau – pre- glacial rock features that survived because the glaciers on the plateau Discussion were thin and nearly static, so didn’t erode them. Climate change is bringing warmer winters and wetter summers. What impact might this have on the Cairngorms Key The shaping of landscape? 3 our mountains Natural Key treelines 4 KEY Idea A natural treeline is the edge of the At one time, all but the highest habitat at which trees are capable of tops of our mountains were covered growing. At higher elevations, trees in woodland. Over thousands of cannot tolerate the environmental years, trees were felled for timber, conditions such as cold temperatures agriculture and fuel. The extent of and winds. It is a gradual transition woodland regeneration was limited rather than a firm defined edge. by climate, grazing and fires with At the natural treeline, trees are trees being lost from their upper limit, sparse and stunted, more like bushes. the ‘natural treeline’. However, in the These scrubby trees are known as Cairngorms, some natural treelines krummholz (German for crooked survive and in some areas, young wood). This zone is extremely valuable trees are once again establishing for species such as black grouse. on the upper forest edge. Natural treelines that grade into montane scrub are often missing in Scotland or are limited to gullies and rocky ledges where grazing pressure is lower. ©Gwenda Diack

Key Natural treelines 4 KEY Activity If you are heading out of the forest and onto the open hill, try to stop in the transition zone. Are there any krummholz or ‘crooked wood’? What elevation is the krummholz? How high Discussion are the trees? Look out for bushes of What limits the natural willow and juniper as well as stunted treeline today, both in the Scots pine and birch with twisted Cairngorms and elsewhere? and spreading branches. How would people in the group feel about seeing more natural treelines in the Cairngorms? ©Lorne Gill/SNH

Key 4 Natural treelines Patterns Key in the heather moors 5 KEY Idea Fire has been used as a land management tool for generations. Nowadays, it is used primarily to enhance the moorland habitat for game such as red grouse. The use of fire is strictly controlled both in where it can be used (not in woodland or on deep peat, for example) and at what time of year (from the beginning of October to mid/end of April). Used in red grouse management, fire creates a heather mosaic, a patchwork © L o blanket across the landscape of r n e freshly burnt strips, short young

G i l l / heather and taller mature S

N H heather. Find out more about how fires are used as a land management tool and how they change upland habitats.

r s

Patterns in the Key heather moors 5 KEY Activity If you are going through an area that is being managed for red grouse, try to spot the different habitat mosaics shown below. Compare the different stages of heather growth in each. Compare what other plants are also growing in these different mosaics. ©Anne Elliott©Anne

Initial recovery of heather strip ©Anne Elliott©Anne

Freshly burnt strip ©SNH Habitat mosaic

Discussion If heather wasn’t being managed ©Anne Elliott©Anne for red grouse, what would the Later recovery of heather strip landscape look like? Which plants and wildlife would Key benefit and which ones lose out? Patterns in the 5 heather moors Blanket Key bogs 6 KEY Idea Peaty pools, carpets of sphagnum mosses and dancing white tufts of cottongrass can signal that you are crossing blanket bog, a valuable habitat for people, plants and wildlife. Look out for unusual plants that thrive on blanket bogs, such as sundews which catch insects in their sticky hairs. Brightly coloured sphagnum mosses soak up and store water like a sponge and turn into soft peat over thousands of Protecting these fragile bog years. Peat hags are areas where the peaty plants and peat from erosion soils are exposed and are eroding. can help against climate change and flooding. The peat locked up in blanket bogs is a great carbon store and the sponge-like vegetation helps to slow the flow of water during heavy rainfall.

H N S / l l i

L ©

Oblong-leaved sundew ©Davie Black

Blanket bogs Key 6 KEY Activity Demonstrate how sphagnum mosses and peat act as a sponge by giving some a squeeze. Take a closer look at the soil profile of a peat hag. Show how the peat is made up of plant material rather than stones and grit. What might have caused the peat hag to erode? Discussion Commercial extraction for garden products, drainage, overgrazing, trampling and burning can all harm blanket bogs. What can we all do to conserve them? For example, use peat-free garden products and compost. ©Lorne Gill/SNH

Key 6 Blanket bogs A Key of splash spring green 7 KEY Idea Upland springs of icy meltwater with their beautiful bright cushions of rare mosses and liverworts are fragile and special habitats. A series of them across the slope is called the ‘spring line’. These springs are the source of our rivers and burns. Some are mineral rich and support a diverse range of plants. Some are thought to have healing powers. These are special places to

Inset photograph: Yellow mountain saxifrage

A splash Key of spring green 7 KEY Activity Upland springs are well away from most pollution, coming straight out of the ground, and a taste of this spring water can help make the connection between the landscape and our drinking water. Stop at the edge of a spring to see if the group can spot any others at the same level (a spring line). Invite your group to cup their hands to catch some spring water for a pure taste of the Cairngorms!

n o d r o G © Fountain moss, lady’s-mantle and starry saxifrage Discussion Which river will the water from your spring become part of? Has anybody come across springs that are thought to have healing powers? Note: The only time of year where this activity should be avoided is if you are there at the time of rapid snow melt. Atmospheric pollution can build up in the snowpack over winter and if there is a rapid thaw, high nitrogen and sulphur levels can result in an ‘acid flush’ of these springs. ©Lorne Gill/SNH

Key A splash 7 of spring green Life in Key the snow and ice 8 KEY Idea Climb to the highest summits of the Cairngorms and you are entering a different world where the vegetation is no more than a thin skin of life over the ancient eroded bones of the hills. This mat of arctic-alpine vegetation has survived largely unchanged since the end of the last ice age. The plants here have adapted to live through the harshest of winters, high winds, cold temperatures and the short summer season.

a i

Life in the Key snow and ice 8 KEY Activity A stop at the summit cairn is an ideal time to look at what is growing at your feet. Nestling in among the rocks will be tiny alpine plants and ground-hugging mosses and lichens. Is there any difference in vegetation cover at the summit cairn, where lots of people stop, and a few metres away where there is less trampling?

l l i

Discussion When we are out enjoying the mountains, what can we do (or not do) to help conserve this

©Lorne Gill/SNH fragile environment? How might paths make a difference? Key Life in the 8 snow and ice Spotter guides with handy ID tips for Key What’s some Caledonian that mountain plant? plants 9

Cowberry Crowberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea Empetrum vitis-idaea ©Plantlife ©Plantlife • in-rolled edges to oval leaves • black berries • evergreen, dwarf shrub • narrow leaves • red berries • evergreen, dwarf shrub

Blaeberry Juniper Vaccinium myrtillus Juniperus communis ©Andrew Gagg/Plantlife ©LianeM/iStockphoto.com • serrated edge to leaves • evergreen bush • leaves turn red in autumn • spiky blue/green leaves in whorls of 3 • no leaves in winter • hard green/black berries • blue berries What’s that plant? Key 9 Bearberry Trailing azalea Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Kalmia procumbens ©Lorne Gill/SNH ©Michelle Green • oval, leathery evergreen leaves • pink flowers (untoothed) • small, ground-hugging woody • small pink flowers shrub • red berries • tiny, leathery evergreen leaves • forms short, creeping dense mats in opposite pairs

Alpine lady’s-mantle Dwarf cornel Alchemilla alpina Cornus suecica ©Andrew Gagg/Plantlife ©Anne Elliott©Anne • star-like leaves • opposite leaves with parallel veins • blue-green leaves above with • four petal-like white bracts silvery, silky down underneath • cluster of purple-black flowers in • yellow flowers the centre • red fruits

©Chris Harris/Plantlife • creeping mat-forming perennial herb • yellow flower with four petals • purple flowers • toothed leaves without stalks • tiny oval leaves in opposite pairs

Alpine clubmoss Dwarf or least willow Diphasiastrum alpinum Listera cordata ©Andrew Gagg/Plantlife ©Anne Elliott©Anne • creeping branching shoots • round to oval net-veined leaves • smoothly overlapping leaves • short shrub • blue-green in colour • fluffy catkins

What’s that plant? Key 9 Cloudberry Woolly fringe moss Rubus chamaemorus Racomitrium lanuginosum ©Lorne Gill/SNH Elliott©Anne • orange bramble-like berry • looks like matted wool • white flower with 4-5 petals • leaves taper to a white hairy tip • round, lobed toothed leaves • grey when dry, blackish green • up to 20cm tall when wet

Bell heather Cross-leaved heath Erica cinerea Erica tetralix ©Anne Elliott©Anne ©arousa/iStockphoto.com • dark green leaves in threes • greyish green leaves in fours • crimson-purple flowers • pale rose-pink flowers in clusters

Key 9 What’s that plant? Thank you... Author/copy: Gwenda Diack/Plantlife Scotland ...to our partners SNH and Nan Shepherd excerpt from The Living Mountain CNPA who have supported the (Canongate Books Ltd 2011); MacCaig excerpt from The Poems of Norman MacCaig (Polygon, Cairngorms Wild Plants project, an imprint of Birlinn Ltd 2005); Hugh MacDairmid to all the photographers (who excerpt from ‘Dìreadh I’, from Complete Poems, are individually credited) for the Vol II (Carcanet, 1994) use of their photographs, to the Front cover photograph ©Anne Elliott publishers (right) for the use of Printed by Acanthus Press, Wellington, Somerset the poems and prose, and to Polly Design and Illustrations: evansgraphic.co.uk Phillpot and Anne Elliott for their A PDF of this document is available in the help in creating this publication. publications section of the Plantlife website

The Cairngorms Wild Plants project has been part-financed by the Scottish Government and the European Community (Cairngorms Local Action Group) LEADER 2014-2020 Programme, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Cairngorms National Park Authority. The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas ©Gwenda Diack We are Plantlife Scotland Wild flowers, plants and fungi 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. From the spectacular expanse of Munsary Peatlands Reserve to the corridors of Holyrood, we raise their profile, celebrate their beauty and protect their future. HRH The Duke of Rothesay is our Patron

www.plantlife.org.uk Plantlife Scotland Balallan House, Allan Park Stirling, FK82QG Tel: 01786 478509 Email:[email protected] Plantlife is a charitable company limited by guarantee. Company no.3166339. Registered in England and Wales Charity No.1059559. Registered in Scotland.Charity no. SCO38951. © Plantlife June 2018 ISBN 978-1-910212-64-6

Plantlife Scotland @PlantlifeScot #CairngormsWildPlants

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