Highland Cattle World

Native Scottish plants and trees.

There are about 1,600 species of plants and ferns growing wild in Scotland.

Whilst every country has its heritage trees - old trees, wide trees, tall trees, rare trees, "weird and wonderful" trees, and trees with historical and cultural significance. Scotland is blessed with an unusually rich heritage of such trees: perhaps the richest in the world.( Forestry Commission )

It would take several large websites to cover Scotlands wild plants and trees - so we have linked to a few to get you started! We will add more so do come back!

Links to UK Organisations and Projects of Interest

The Wildlife Trusts
Forestry Commission
Flora Locale
Trees for Life
Plantlife International

The Machair
For a wealth of information on the Flora
and Fauna of the Hebrides click here

Scotland's Living Landscape - for further information click here

On the Hebridean Machair

About the first of June when the cattle are put upon it, it is all over as white as a cloth, with daisies, and white clover. In that season, there may be seen pasturing upon it at once, about 1000 black cattle, 2000 sheep and 300 horses intermixed with immense flocks of lapwings and green plovers.

Reverend Dr John Walker (1764)

.....these sands produce crops of barley, oats, rye and potatoes, or of natural grass and wild clover, far beyond what a stranger would expect. They then assume a variegated and beautiful dress, scarcely yielding in colour's or perfume to any fields in the kingdom; and being of great extent, they afford a prospect of riches and plenty equalled by no other of the Western Isles.

James Macdonald (1811)

Juniper

Because of its dense cover of prickly needles, juniper provides a good nesting site for birds such as the goldcrest (Regulus regulus) and the song thrush (Turdus philomelos), and it is also important in providing winter cover for the black grouse (Tetrao tetrix). The berries are eaten, and the seeds distributed, by birds such as the fieldfare (Turdus pilais), which is a seasonal migrant from Scandinavia, and the ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus).

Get more information on endangered species recovery click here to help restore the Caledonian Forest and to get lots more information on Scotland's native trees click here