Glenan Wood: The UK's Best Biofluorescent Night Walk?
Glennan Wood is a 146-hectare community-owned woodland set on the West Coast of Scotland. It is one of Scotland’s largest remaining expanses of temperate rainforest and is home to an incredible range of different liverworts, mosses and lichens. It is my favourite place in the UK for a biofluorescent night walk, a true treasure trove of colour and fluorescent magic.
Community owned woodlands
The world owes a great debt of gratitude to the local community around Portavadie for coming together and buying this woodland. It is one of a number of Scotland’s amazing community owned woodlands. What are community owned woodlands? Community woods are special places where enthusiastic volunteers rally to the aid of the UK’s woodlands. They are growing and thriving in Scotland, with over 200 communities across the country engaged in owning or managing woodlands.
The community have setup their own iNaturalist page to document all the species found in the wood and there are already 207 species recorded. If you would like to find out more about what you can see at Glenan Wood you can check it out here:
iNaturalist Glenan Wood
Through the portal into another world
Entering through the gate and crossing the meadow, I made my way to the start of the wood, a sense of anticipation building as I neared its edge, eager to discover what might be in store tonight. The first tree I encountered was teeming with life, its trunk covered from top to bottom with lichens, while at its base was a thick red carpet of mosses. To my right, a stack of giant boulders ran parallel to the path, an irresistible invitation to explore. These rocks looked like the perfect hiding place for liverworts.
The moment my UV light touched the rock, it was transformed into a vibrant spectacle of colour by two liverworts. Intense yellow fluorescence from Saccogyna viticulosa danced against the deep blue glow of Diplophyllum albicans, the two contrasting colours creating a sumptuous feast for the eyes. The rock itself was glowing crimson-red from a thick carpet of algae that had overtaken its surface, as a drizzle of rain added a lovely wet glow to the entire scene.
Curiosity urged me to crouch down and peer into the cracks between the boulders, where an even more astonishing display awaited. Layer upon layer of colour unfolded before me; salmon-pink lichens, sapphire blue liverworts, and greens, yellows, and reds of various moss species, crowned by the striking brilliance of an electric blue powdery lichen.
Continuing down the path I eventually made my way down to a bridge across a small river, or burn. The scene was perfect, like a bryophyte paradise, with flowing freshwater, ancient rocks, and the cool shade of overhanging trees. The rocks and roots along these streams and burns, constantly bathed in moisture, are havens for rare liverworts, mosses, and filmy ferns. Burns and waterfalls, with their ever-present splash zones, offer prime conditions for bryophytes to thrive, their leaves constantly soaked in the mist of flowing water. In these perpetually moist conditions, a nightly biofluorescent show takes place, one of great colour, textures and shapes which very few people have ever seen. The stars of this nightly show? Lichens & liverworts.