Flora of the Cambrians
Cynefinoedd o’r Mynyddoedd Cambria
Plants
Wales has about 1200 native and anciently introduced flowering plants. The most important habitats in the Cambrians are listed above. Six plants found here are of particular note (all on Wales Red List): Bog Orchid, Floating Water-plantain, Stag’s-horn Clubmoss, Small White orchid, Globe-flower, and Wood bitter-vetch. But the Cambrians are also important for more common species e.g. Mountain Pansy, found in extensively grazed, unimproved upland grasslands fringing the Cambrians but a plant that is under increasing threat from agricultural intensification.
Plant highlights from the Cambrians include:
Forked Spleenwort – a scarce fern often associated with mining. It can be found in Cwmystwyth on village walls and at Cwmsymlog where over 2,000 plants were recorded in 2023. This is possibly the largest population in Britain.
Small White Orchid – this still occurs in the south of the Cambrians at one of the few remaining sites in Wales. It is a Priority Species in Wales and critically endangered on Wales Red List. It occurs on well-drained, short but not over-grazed hill pastures.
Starry Saxifrage – this grows in wet flushes, mossy springheads and on wet rock ledges. It is found in mountainous areas of North Wales, England and Scotland but is growing at its southernmost site in the UK in the Cambrians. The Cambrians are quite unusual because there are quite a few upland/boggy species that are at, or approaching, their UK southern limit here: Bog Rosemary, Tall Bog-sedge, Stiff Sedge, Dwarf Willow, Alpine Clubmoss, Lesser Clubmoss and two aquatic species: Awlwort and Water Lobelia. Why is this important? Because it demonstrates that the Cambrian Mountains are an upland link between the mountains of Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons. It is also important because such populations are often genetically distinct.
If you are out walking in the Cambrians and find an interesting plant and wish to record it what can you do? The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) welcomes plant records as part of the ongoing tracking of habitat changes and the spread of invasive species. You can see their introduction to plant identification here and if you do come across plants of interest, their plant recording page is [here]. For those who are less sure what to look out for, we’ve compiled a short list with photographs and identifying characteristics (with the help of Brecknockshire Plant Recorder John Crellin) [Plants to look out for in the Cambrian Mountains]. You can download it and take it with you when you’re out and about in the uplands – be sure to let BSBI know what you’ve seen.
Fungi, lichens and bryophytes
The grasslands and forests teem with fungi of all kinds including various kinds of waxcap, poisonous Fly agaric, Scarlet Elf Caps, Russulas and puffballs. Grassland fungi communities exist due to Wales’ oceanic climate, long history of grazing and hilly terrain. Waxcaps are particularly associated with low nutrient, unimproved upland grazing so the Cambrians should be a prime location for these. Most go unremarked and almost all go unrecorded. If you come across any variety of waxcap within the uplands, please do inform Plantlife for their Waxcap Watch mapping project. Their interactive map shows just how under-reported the Cambrian Mountains are.
Lichens occur in many different habitats in the Cambrians but the “specialities” are found in old mining areas (centred around Cwmystwyth) and in the Atlantic woodlands. Cennau Cymru (Welsh Lichen Group) kindly allowed CMS members to join their Pumlumon outing in early 2024. It was fascinating but also difficult to remember a fraction of what we were shown or told. One of their target species was Iceland Moss, Cetraria islandica ssp islandica (an Arctic-alpine lichen, not a moss). This is found in mountainous regions of northern countries and occurs on Pumlumon at one of its most southerly British sites.
Bryophytes are well represented with 811 (73%) of the 1110 British species found in Wales. The ground layer of Atlantic oak and ash woods is rich in bryophytes including Greater Fork-moss (Dicranum majus), Little Shaggy-moss (Rhytidiadelphus loreus) and Prickly Featherwort (Plagiochila spinulosa) and, in the most humid places, an array of tiny liverworts such as Petty Featherwort (Plagiochila exigua).
In all 35 species are on the UK and Wales Priority/Principal Lists including the golden plover (nearly all of the Welsh population are now found in the Cambrian Mountains), black grouse, otter, the climbing corydalis weevil and several rare fungi and upland lake water plants. The video below shows an otter visiting Nant y Walch in Cwm Irfon by night (best expanded to full screen).
The higher hills have skylarks, merlin and dunlin breeding as well as a few hen harriers and ring ousel. There are still a few red squirrels and the polecat is a widespread species.
Thanks to the Vincent Trust, the pine marten has successfully been re-introduced and the population is expanding.
Pine martens on a bird feeder in Cwm Irfon, courtesy of Gyles Palmer
(This link downloads a MOV file to your device)
Many other plants and animals found in the Cambrian Mountains are included on Red Data lists of threatened and endangered species. The MidWales Red Squirrel Project sightings map shows that the uplands of the Elenydd and Mynydd Mallaen are the stronghold for midWales’ red squirrel population, and work is ongoing to support the growth of the population in the face of the threat from alien grey squirrel. See here for the Project website with regular updates.
The RSPB’s nature reserve at Gwenffrwd-Dinas south of Llyn Brianne is home to all manner of birdlife including red kites, pied flycatchers, redstarts, common sandpipers, dippers and grey wagtails. A visit to the woodlands of Dinas in May is an opportunity to see the carpets of bluebells, a stunning violet haze beneath the trees. Curtains of lichens cover the trunks and branches of all the trees. Look out for Witches Beard or Usnea florida, with its tangled tresses and ‘eyes’.
A different kind of protected area is the Cambrian Wildwood project at Bwlch Corog, where the Coetir Anian charity is looking to restore natural woodland and peatland habitats through a slow and painstaking management process. Well worth a look.
Links: Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust
The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales