Lovely lichen

This twig was lying at the side of the track along Loch Eck this damp afternoon, catching my eye with its almost luminous colour on such a gloomy day. We'd just been discussing the recent discovery of the rare Tunbridge filmy fern (Hymenophyllum tunbrigense), which was located near Benmore Gardens' Golden Gates. This tiny fern with a frond that is only a single cell thick is restricted to humid sites and is a speciality of the Celtic rainforest that survives in the area around Benmore in fragments of native coastal woodland. Though this specimen is much more common, I loved its delicate tracery and the fact that the twig still had a cone on it.

You can read more about the extraordinary diversity of this kind of flora Benmore Gardens and its surrounding area here.