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5 plants worth knowing

Iceland

Iceland is a volcanic island on the edge of the Arctic whose vegetation consists mainly of mosses, lichens, grasses and low dwarf shrubs – forests now cover only about 2% of the country. When it was settled in the 9th century, birch woodland covered much of the lowlands, but felling and sheep grazing led to soil erosion and the formation of vast deserts. Of its roughly 500 species of vascular plants many are arctic-alpine, and the lava fields are slowly being overgrown by thick carpets of moss.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Mountain avens 1

    dwarf shrub · National flower of Iceland (chosen in 2004)

    Mountain avens

    Dryas octopetala

    The white, eight-petalled flowers of mountain avens light up gravel plains and heaths – in 2004 Icelanders chose it as their national flower.
  2. Downy birch 2

    tree

    Downy birch

    Betula pubescens

    The only native tree that forms Icelandic forests – in Viking times birch woods covered much of the island; today they are being painstakingly restored.
  3. Woolly fringe-moss 3

    moss

    Woolly fringe-moss

    Racomitrium lanuginosum

    Grey-green moss covers Iceland’s lava fields like a thick cushion – a footprint in it can remain visible for decades.
  4. Iceland moss 4

    lichen

    Iceland moss

    Cetraria islandica

    “Iceland moss” is really a lichen – for centuries Icelanders ate it in soups, bread and porridge.
  5. Garden angelica 5

    herbaceous plant

    Garden angelica

    Angelica archangelica

    For the Vikings it was one of the few vegetables of the North – medieval Icelandic law punished stealing angelica from another’s garden.