The flora of Teesdale needs little introduction. As one of Britain’s most botanically rich landscapes, it supports a remarkable array of distinctive, beautiful and, in some cases, rare plants. From species-rich upland meadows and riverbanks to its renowned fells, there is an abundance to discover here. The accounts below should therefore be seen as a summary only but may grow with time.
Teesdale’s flora is nationally significant, and care should be taken at all times not to damage or disturb sensitive habitats. Please stick to footpaths, follow local guidance and mind your step. Plenty of information is available online to guide your visits, and inside this brilliant book by Dr Margaret Bradshaw. Please consider supporting the Teesdale Special Flora group and their brilliant work to safeguard the area’s unique flora.
As ever, this page is an amalgamation of my own sightings over the years. As ever, some species have been omitted and others, particularly grasses and sedges, will be added in time.
Ferns, Horsetails & Clubmosses
Moonwort
Botrychium lunaria
Moonwort is one of Britain’s most enigmatic ferns, growing in short, unimproved grassland on limestone and other base-rich soils. A single frond emerges each year, divided into a sterile blade with distinctive crescent-shaped pinnae and a separate fertile spike carrying clusters of sporangia. Often no more than 10–15 cm tall and easily hidden among surrounding vegetation.
Mountain Male-fern
Dryopteris oreades
Mountain Male-fern is a handsome little fern of limestone screes, rocky slopes and crags. It most closely resembles Male-fern Dryopteris filix-mas, but is distinguished by the arrangement of its sori, with those of this species covering only around half of the pinnule underside.
Brittle Bladder-fern
Cystopteris fragilis
A dainty fern of limestone cliffs, screes and shaded rock crevices. Its soft, pale green fronds are finely divided and remarkably fragile, readily snapping at the stalk when handled. One of the easiest upland ferns to recognise.
Parsley-fern
Cryptogramma crispa
A specialist of unstable screes and rocky mountain slopes, where it often grows among loose boulders beyond the reach of taller vegetation. It produces two distinct types of frond: short, finely divided sterile fronds and taller, more erect fertile fronds. This and its delicate, parsley-like foliage make it unmistakable.
Green Spleenwort
Asplenium viride
A diminutive fern of limestone crags, rocky crevices and shaded outcrops. At first glance it closely resembles Maidenhair Spleenwort Asplenium trichomanes, but the rachis remains green throughout rather than turning dark purplish-brown.
Common Maidenhair Spleenwort
Asplenium trichomanes subsp. quadrivalens
A familiar fern of limestone crags, walls and rocky crevices. The evergreen fronds are composed of neat rows of rounded pinnae set along a distinctive dark purplish-black rachis. Although widespread, it is readily separated from the much scarcer Green Spleenwort Asplenium viride by its dark rachis, though it could be confused with the next species.
Delicate Maidenhair Spleenwort
Asplenium trichomanes subsp. trichomanes
Typically associated with acidic rocks and upland crags, where it occupies narrow crevices beyond the reach of larger ferns. Like the more widespread subsp. quadrivalens, its evergreen fronds consist of rounded pinnae neatly arranged along a dark purplish-black rachis. The two subspecies are rather similar, but a preference for acidic rather than calcareous rocks is a good indicator.
Lemon-scented Fern Oreopteris limbosperma
Typically associated with acidic soils and upland habitats, Lemon-scented Fern Oreopteris limbosperma is particularly characteristic of damp, peaty ground, open woodland and shaded stream sides. Its fronds form neat, upright tufts, with the pinnae becoming progressively shorter towards the base, giving the frond a distinctive tapering outline.
Beech Fern Phegopteris connectilis
Beech Fern favours cool, humid habitats, carpeting rocky stream sides, flushes and shaded screes. The soft, broadly triangular fronds are held almost horizontally, with the lowest pair of pinnae spreading noticeably downwards to give the plant a distinctive outline. It is usually seen tucked away among rocks, out of reach of grazing animals.
Rustyback
Asplenium ceterach
Most often encountered on sun-baked limestone walls and rocky outcrops, where it thrives in places that seem far too dry for a fern. The leathery, deeply lobed fronds curl inwards during dry weather, exposing a dense covering of rusty brown scales on the underside.
Variegated Horsetail
Equisetum variegatum
A scarce species of calcareous flushes, river gravels and open limestone grassland. Its wiry, usually unbranched stems are marked by striking black sheaths with narrow white margins, giving the plant a distinctly banded appearance. Rarely more than 30 cm tall, it often forms low patches and is readily distinguished from other horsetails.
Shady Horsetail
Equisetum pratense
An elegant species of damp woodland, rocky ravines and stream sides. The slender green stems bear numerous fine, drooping branches that are often obviously swept to one side, giving the plant a one-sided look.
Lesser Clubmoss
Selaginella selaginoides
A tiny, easily overlooked plant of base-rich flushes, damp grassland and upland springs. Despite its moss-like appearance, it is one of Britain’s most ancient vascular plants, belonging to a lineage that predates the flowering plants by hundreds of millions of years.
Fir Clubmoss
Huperzia selago
Fir Clubmoss is a striking evergreen of rocky ledges, crags and montane heath, where it forms dense clumps of upright shoots. The stems branch repeatedly and are clothed in stiff, pointed leaves arranged in many ranks, giving the plant the appearance of a miniature conifer. Unlike the true clubmosses Lycopodium species, it produces its spores in the leaf axils rather than in distinct terminal cones.
Wildflowers
Spring Gentian
Gentiana verna
Spring Gentian is one of Upper Teesdale’s botanical treasures, dazzling the limestone grasslands with its intensely blue, star-shaped flowers in late spring. The low, tufted plants rarely stand more than a few centimetres high, making the brilliant blooms all the more eye-catching against the short turf. Although unmistakable in flower, this arctic-alpine relic has an extremely restricted British distribution.
Globeflower
Trollius europaeus
Globeflower is among the most conspicuous wildflowers of Upper Teesdale’s hay meadows, flushes and damp pastures. Its large, golden-yellow flowers remain almost spherical when flowering in late spring and early summer.
Bird’s-eye Primrose
Primula farinosa
This one flourishes in the calcareous flushes and damp meadows for which Upper Teesdale is renowned. Delicate lilac-pink flowers, each with a bright yellow eye, are borne above compact rosettes whose leaves are dusted beneath with a distinctive white, mealy coating known as farina.
Shrubby Cinquefoil
Dasiphora fruticosa
Often found on riverbanks, Shrubby Cinquefoil is rather unmistakable. Its neat, silvery-green leaves are divided into five narrow leaflets, providing an attractive backdrop to the bright yellow, buttercup-like flowers that appear throughout summer. Although widespread across the Arctic and mountains of Europe, this one is confined to just a handful of sites in Britain.
Mountain Pansy
Viola lutea
Mountain Pansy brightens Teesdale’s fells and grasslands with cheerful yellow, purple or bicoloured flowers from late spring onwards. It is rather common, and always a joy to behold.
Yellow Saxifrage
Saxifraga aizoides
Yellow Saxifrage threads its way through lime-rich flushes, springs and stream margins, often rooting among wet gravel and mosses. The bright yellow flowers, usually speckled with orange dots, are carried above creeping stems clothed in narrow, fleshy leaves.
Alpine Bistort
Bistorta vivipara
Alpine Bistort is fairly common in Teesdale and has a nifty trick: rather than relying solely on seed, the slender flower spike produces numerous dark purple bulbils beneath a cluster of pale pink or white flowers, allowing the plant to reproduce vegetatively.
Hoary Whitelowgrass Draba incana
Found clinging to limestone rocks, cliffs and open calcareous turf, where its grey-green appearance helps it blend into the surrounding landscape. Dense hairs cover the leaves and stems, giving the whole plant a distinctly hoary look.
Mountain Everlasting
Antennaria dioica
Mountain Everlasting forms low mats across short, nutrient-poor grassland and rocky slopes, where its woolly foliage is often more conspicuous than its flowers. The small flower heads are carried in compact clusters, with male plants typically producing white blooms and female plants pink ones. Silvery-white hairs covering the leaves and stems give the plant a softly felted appearance.
Autumn Gentian
Gentianella amarella
Bringing rich purple blooms to limestone grassland well into late summer, the upright stems of Autumn Gentian bear narrow leaves and clusters of tubular flowers whose petals spread into pointed lobes, each fringed with tiny scales at the throat.
Gangrene Willow Salix caprea subsp. sphacelata
Salix caprea subsp. sphacelata, Gangrene Willow, is a characteristic shrub of rocky gills, limestone scars and steep upland slopes. Compared with the typical subspecies, it forms a lower, more compact plant with smaller leaves that are densely silky above when young.
This specimen grows by Cronkley Bridge – you can’t miss it!
Tea-leaved Willow Salix phylicifolia
A common shrub of upland flushes, riverbanks and rocky gills. Although several willow species occur in Upper Teesdale, its lustrous foliage helps tell it apart from the next species.
Dark-leaved Willow Salix myrsinifolia
Dark-leaved Willow is an uncommon shrub of upland flushes, riversides and damp rocky ground. It can be frightfully similar to Tea-leaved Willow but ought to have at least some hairs on the leaf undersides, and second-year twigs that remain downy.
Mountain Avens
Dryas octopetala
Mountain Avens creeps across limestone pavement and rocky grassland, forming evergreen mats that can persist for decades. The large white flowers each have eight petals surrounding a golden centre. A pretty thing!
Hoary Rock-rose
Helianthemum oelandicum
A characteristic plant of dry limestone grassland, where it forms low mats across thin, base-rich soils. The cheerful yellow flowers open in bright sunshine above tiny grey-green leaves that, despite its name, are not particularly hoary.
Alpine Meadow-rue
Thalictrum alpinum
A delicate arctic-alpine species of lime-rich flushes and damp upland grassland. Slender, leafless stems rise above neat tufts of rounded, blue-green leaflets, each bearing a single nodding flower.
Horseshoe Vetch
Hippocrepis comosa
Horseshoe Vetch grows on the thin, lime-rich soils of limestone grassland and rocky banks. Rounded heads of bright yellow, pea-like flowers are followed by distinctive segmented seed pods. Common in Southern England, it is rather scarce in the North East.
Spring Sandwort
Sabulina verna
Spring Sandwort forms dense, moss-like cushions across limestone grassland, flushes and lead-rich soils. Its tiny, narrow leaves are packed tightly along the stems, while clusters of delicate white, five-petalled flowers appear from late spring onwards. Do take care not to confuse it with Knotted Pearlwort!
Wood Anemone
Anemone nemorosa
Wood Anemone heralds the arrival of spring, carpeting ancient woodland with a dazzling display of white flowers before the tree canopy closes. However, in Teesdale, this common little plant also forms a component of the montane assemblages, taking on a new light in an altogether odd habitat.
Marsh Valerian Valeriana dioica
Marsh Valerian is a delicate perennial of lime-rich flushes, fens and damp grassland. Slender stems carry loose clusters of pale pink flowers above neat rosettes of glossy, dark green leaves, with male and female flowers borne on separate plants. Flowering early in the season, it is a characteristic component of species-rich wetlands.
Round-leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia
Round-leaved Sundew has overcome the nutrient-poor conditions of bogs and flushes by adopting an extraordinary lifestyle. Its rounded leaves are covered in glistening, sticky tentacles that trap small insects, which are then slowly digested to supplement the plant’s nutrient supply.
Northern Bedstraw
Galium boreale
A perennial of limestone grassland, flushes and rocky banks. Its upright, unbranched stems bear neat whorls of four narrow leaves, topped in summer by dense clusters of small, fragrant white flowers. The combination of four-leaved whorls, broad leaves and three prominent veins provides a reliable way to distinguish it from other bedstraws.
Juniper
Juniperus communis
One of the defining shrubs of Upper Teesdale’s slopes and upland heaths, where its gnarled branches often bear witness to centuries of slow growth. The sharply pointed needles are arranged in threes, and each has a distinctive broad white stripe along the upper surface, while the blue-black, berry-like cones take two or three years to ripen.
Marsh Violet
Viola palustris
Marsh Violet brings soft lilac colour to bogs, flushes and spring-fed fens from late spring onwards. The delicate flowers rise above glossy, kidney-shaped leaves borne on long stalks, while creeping rhizomes allow the plant to spread into loose patches across wet ground.
Early Purple Orchid
Orchis mascula
Early Purple Orchid is among the first orchids to flower each spring, appearing in woodland, limestone grassland and scrub. Dense spikes of rich purple flowers rise above a basal rosette of broad leaves, which are often marked with distinctive dark spots, although these are not always present.
Heath Spotted-orchid Dactylorhiza maculata
Thrives in the damp heaths, flushes and acid grasslands of the uplands, where it often flowers in impressive numbers. The slender flower spike carries many pale pink to lilac blooms, usually marked with intricate loops and spots, while the central lobe on each flower is generally shorter than those beside it.
Melancholy Thistle
Cirsium heterophyllum
A striking inhabitant of upland meadows, flushes and woodland edges. Large, deep purple flower heads are borne singly on robust, almost spineless stems, while the broad leaves are dark green above but densely white-felted beneath.
Grasses & Sedges
Blue Moor-grass
Sesleria caerulea
Blue Moor-grass is one of the defining grasses of Upper Teesdale’s limestone grasslands, where it forms extensive blue-green swards. Flowering unusually early in the year, the short, dense flower heads display striking purple-black anthers before fading to silvery white. Its stiff, finely pointed leaves and distinctive glaucous colour make this an easily recognised species, even when not in flower.
