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Cairngorms Wild Plants Keys Caledonian Pinewoods Unlock the outdoors Cairngorms wild plants keys Caledonian pinewoods An outdoor learning resource for group leaders KEYS to Caledonian pinewoods 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 Caledonian pinewoods through time 3 How events have shaped our forests Key How ancient is this pinewood? 4 Reading the clues from the plants and trees Key Signs of succession 5 A journey from rock to forest Key The importance of fungi 6 Explore this essential component of pinewoods Key Clothed in lichens 7 Awaken to the beauty and usefulness of lichens Key Food for life 8 Signs from wildlife that live in the forest Key What’s that plant? 9 Spotter guides with handy plant ID tips Caledonian pinewoods keys | Contents Unlocking Caledonian pinewoods How to use the KEYS The KEYS explore different Each KEY includes an ‘Idea’ and aspects of Caledonian pinewoods short ‘Activity’, with a ‘Discussion’ habitats and wildlife, and are section to take things further. You a learning resource for leaders don’t need to know the answers to when out with groups. the questions, they are prompts to stimulate thought and discussion. Whether you are mountain biking through the forest or on a nature Have fun with them. Choose KEYS safari, there will be something to suit your group. Fit the KEYS into in the KEYS for you to help short stops or lunchbreaks with enrich your group’s experience your group. Or take more time and of this amazing habitat. unlock more of the pinewoods. ©Gwenda Diack Caledonian pinewoods keys | Introduction Caledonian pinewoods Important Plant Areas are the such as twinflower and one- most important places in the flowered wintergreen. The world for wild plant and fungal ancient pinewoods in this area diversity that can be protected are one of the most valuable and managed as specific sites. habitats in Britain and one of the reasons why Plantlife identified The Cairngorms National Park the Cairngorms as an Important encompasses the most extensive Plant Area (IPA). Through these tracts of Caledonian pine forest keys, we want to raise awareness in Britain and is a stronghold of IPAs and encourage their for many rare pinewood plants, long-term conservation. Map of Cairngorms National Park pinewood cover Caledonian pinewoods 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 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 Gaelic/ How much of the map shows Gaelic aichean Reaneach Geall Scots place names and get your names for landscape features? Cuilcgroup to find examples. Go through What changes have there been in 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 of these plants. Do they have their own examples of common names for wild plants? ©Deborah Long Gorse/Whin (Scots); Conasg (Gaelic, meaning quarrel or wrangle – ©Deborah Long no doubt the thorns making people bad tempered!). Heather/Ling/Freuchie (Scots); Fraoch (Gaelic). Purple heather is strongly associated with Scotland, but white heather was considered lucky, meaning ‘wishes come true’. ©Deborah Long Bilberry/Blaeberry (Scots); Caora- mhitheag (Gaelic which means ‘blue berries’, our deliciously edible native blueberry). ©Andrew Gagg ©Andrew Chickweed wintergreen/Arctic starflower/Reul na Coille (Gaelic which means ‘star of the wood’). 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 which are still practised today? ©Dcrjsr CC 4.0 BY Bird’s-foot trefoil/Craw’s Taes (Scots), refers to the claw-like seed pods. An English common name ‘bacon and Lindsey©James 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 ©Anne Elliott/SNH 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 experience can deepen our appreciation of the natural world, and help connect us to nature and others. “October is the coloured month here, far more brilliant than June, blazing more sharply than August. From the gold of the birches and bracken on the low slopes, the colour spurts upwards through all the creeping and inconspicuous growths that live among the heather roots – mosses that are lush green or oak-brown, or scarlet and the berried plants, blaeberry, cranberry, crowberry and the rest. Blaeberry leaves are a flaming crimson, and they are loveliest of all in the Rothiemurchus Forest, where the fir trees were felled in the 1914 War, and round and out of each stump blueberry grows in upright sprigs: so that in October a multitude of pointed flames seem to burn upwards all over the moor.” ©Polly Phillpot Nan Shepherd excerpt from The Living Mountain (Canongate Books Ltd 2011) Key Lines on the landscape 2 KEY Activity Stop at a scenic spot within the forest. Ask the group to describe how it feels. What descriptive words can Discussion they come up with? Share with the group some of the lines of poems/ What places do they find prose from Nan Shepherd and magical and why? Norman MacCaig. How do these How does society value and authors relate to the landscapes? connect with wild places today? How does nature enhance our wellbeing? “Enter the dignified wood. The pine needles will give you a cloak of inaudibility. “And you’ll hear nothing yourself unless a maverick gust of wind drags a line of surf through the tree tops.” Norman MacCaig excerpt from poem ‘Pine Trees’ from The Poems of Norman MacCaig (Polygon, an imprint of Birlinn Ltd 2005) ©Stuart Davies Key Lines on 2 the landscape Caledonian Key pinewoods through time 3 KEY Idea When the glaciers retreated, native forests established over much of Scotland. In north-east Scotland, the forests consisted of many pinewoods and birchwoods. There have been many changes to our forests and wildlife over the years. The extent of ancient Caledonian pinewoods is much smaller, making way for people, agriculture and moors. What we see today is still changing, with pinewoods now expanding KEY Activity in some areas of the Cairngorms. People have a huge influence on our forests. Use the timeline to walk your Learn about key events that have changed group through key events from the last ice age, 10,000 our forests through time. years ago to now. Each step represents 100 years. When you finish pacing out the timeline, look back. This activity highlights the changes in our forests through time and how recent some of these changes have been. ©Polly Phillpot Key Caledonian pinewoods through time 3 The last ice age in Scotland to now in 100 steps! It’s 10,000 years ago The ice age has ended – birch, willow and juniper TAKE 40 have spread across Scotland. STEPS It’s now 6,000 years ago Forests cover much of Scotland, up to 800 miles. There are bears, lynx, It’s now 2,000 years ago TAKE 40 wild boar, aurochs and Roman Britain – STEPS wolves in the forests.
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