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Glen Clachaig (Walk 2.6)

Plants and Wildlife

For such a small island, Mull is amazingly diverse in its plant life, with more than 4000 different plant species. There are no less than 800 flowering plants and conifers, almost 250 different seaweeds, 56 ferns, 556 mosses and liverworts, almost 700 lichens and just under 1800 fungi…enough to keep even amateur botanists enthralled on every walk in this book, and for years to come.

Heather in bloom in Tireragan reserve (Walk 3.6)

First impressions are often misleading, for at times there is a prevailing sense of great swathes of bracken and heather. But that is only part of the story, and each season brings its own varieties, from the wild daffodils, bluebells, primroses and violets of spring to the winter deep greens; from the swaying foxgloves, orchids and harebells of summer to the gold of autumn. Wherever plants can grow, they do: Grass of Parnassus, tormentil, asphodel, scabious and cotton grass brighten the moorland bogs, while even the mountain peaks yield gentians and alpines.