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15 plants worth knowing

Poland

Poland lies in a transitional temperate climate zone, and forests cover almost a third of its area – they are dominated by pinewoods, complemented by mixed forests of oak, beech and hornbeam. The farmland of the lowlands is broken up by field margins, avenues of roadside trees and riverside willows, while the Tatras and the Carpathians have mountain vegetation zones with dwarf mountain pine and Swiss pine. Białowieża Forest is exceptional on a European scale – one of the last fragments of primeval lowland forest.

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

where it grows

  1. Pedunculate oak 1

    tree · Unofficial national tree of Poland

    Pedunculate oak

    Quercus robur

    A long-lived symbol of strength and endurance – Poland’s oldest oaks, such as Bartek and Chrobry, are more than 700 years old.
  2. Common poppy 2

    flower · Unofficial national flower of Poland

    Common poppy

    Papaver rhoeas

    Red petals among the corn are a classic image of the Polish summer – and a symbol of remembrance for the soldiers of Monte Cassino.
  3. Scots pine 3

    tree

    Scots pine

    Pinus sylvestris

    The most important tree of Polish forests – pine grows on more than half of their area and forms vast pinewoods on the sandy plains.
  4. White willow 4

    tree

    White willow

    Salix alba

    Pollard willows along country lanes and ditches are an icon of the Masovian landscape, immortalised in Chopin’s music and in painting.
  5. Swiss pine 5

    tree

    Swiss pine

    Pinus cembra

    The high-mountain pine of the Tatras, able to survive for more than a thousand years on rocky cliffs and at the treeline.
  6. Small-leaved lime 6

    tree

    Small-leaved lime

    Tilia cordata

    The sacred tree of the Slavs, celebrated by the poet Jan Kochanowski – July in Polish, lipiec, takes its name from the lime (lipa).
  7. Silver birch 7

    tree

    Silver birch

    Betula pendula

    A white birch at the edge of a field or pinewood is one of the most Polish of sights – and the tree used for crosses on soldiers’ graves.
  8. Apple 8

    crop

    Apple

    Malus domestica

    Poland is the largest apple producer in the European Union, and the orchards around Grójec are called the largest orchard in Europe.
  9. Cornflower 9

    flower

    Cornflower

    Centaurea cyanus

    The blue flower of the cornfields – an essential part of harvest-festival wreaths and of the bouquets blessed on the Feast of the Assumption.
  10. Bilberry 10

    dwarf shrub

    Bilberry

    Vaccinium myrtillus

    Wild forest berries – picked in huge quantities in Polish woods each summer, they go into pierogi, sweet buns and home-made preserves.
  11. European beech 11

    tree

    European beech

    Fagus sylvatica

    Smooth, silvery-grey beech trunks form the “cathedral” forests of Pomerania, the Sudetes, the Beskids and the Bieszczady – Poland’s grandest broadleaf woods.
  12. Rye 12

    crop

    Rye

    Secale cereale

    The grain of wholemeal bread, żurek and sourdough – for decades Poland has been one of the world’s largest rye producers.
  13. Potato 13

    crop

    Potato

    Solanum tuberosum

    Potatoes are the foundation of Polish cooking – from pierogi ruskie and potato pancakes to kopytka, pyzy dumplings and potato soup.
  14. Norway spruce 14

    tree

    Norway spruce

    Picea abies

    Dark spruce forests cloak the Tatras, the Beskids and Białowieża Forest, and a decorated spruce is the traditional Polish Christmas Eve tree.
  15. Heather 15

    dwarf shrub

    Heather

    Calluna vulgaris

    Purple swathes of heather bloom in late summer in pinewoods and on heaths – and give September its Polish name, wrzesień.