On the way to the start of the ridge walk which goes to the summit of Cul More in north west Scotland, the geology changes. Flat sandstone outcrops appear and amongst these we found this very attractive Hieracium. This is very difficult genus of micro species but using the new book British Alpine Hawkweeds by Tim Rich and David Tennant I was able to narrow the identification to two possible plants neither of which I had ever seen before. After consultation with experts this turns out to be Hieracium alpinum which is unusual in that it is not endemic to the British Isles but rare nonetheless.

H. alpinum is found in northern Europe, the alps and other very high European mountains. In the British Isles it is found throughout northern Scotland but in the Cairngorms mostly. There are a few records from the Wester Ross area where we found it but not many. This made me think originally that it probably wasn't H. alpinum (the rough rule being that if you think you've found something rare you've usually made an identification mistake.) The alternative possibility was Hieracium holosericeum (Shaggy Hawkweed) but this plant has different shaped leaves and is even hairier. As H. alpinum needs a high mountain habitat it does not occur in England, Ireland or even Snowdonia but there is one (dubious?) old record from south Wales.

We were climbing Cul mor to find the Artemisia norvegica (Norwegian Mugwort) which grows on the seaward side of the mountain but there is another reason to go that far north and climb this hill: the views are amongst the most spectacular in Scotland.

Sandstone outcrops near base of Cul Mor ridge, Wester Ross, Scotland 25th July 2009

Added 1st October 2009, updated 7th April 2010, updated 25th April 2016