Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)
- Fern with broad pinnate fronds.
- Forms thick brown leaf litter in autumn/early winter.
- Steep, well-drained slopes.
- Often in areas of abandoned pasture.
Heather/ Ling (Calluna Vulgaris)
- Low-grounded, bushy & woody evergreen shrub up to 60cm.
- Bell shaped pinky-purple flowers, July-October.
- Prefers low, relatively dry moors, and bogs on gentle slopes.
- 4 leaves in vertical rows.
- Has four growth stages.
Cross-leaved heather (Erica tetralix)
- Shrub shorter than Ling (above).
- 4 leaves in a whorl
- Pinker flowers than above
Bell Heather (Erica cinerea)
- Shorter shrub.
- Hairless leaves.
- Flowers are bell-shaped, 5-6 mm long, deep red-purple colour - June to September.
- Occurs in drier moors.
Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)
- Low deciduous shrub 20-60cm.
- Green stems & bright green oval leaves.
- Edible black berries follow flowers in July.
- Prefers drier, thinner peats at higher altitudes than heather.
- Often co-dominant with Heather or grasses (e.g. Wavy-Hair grass in drier conditions).
Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)
- Low shrub, resembling members of the Heather family.
- Red-green stems.
- Narrow green leaves, often rolled into tubes.
- Pink-purple flowers May-June followed by,
- Black berries in August.
Cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)
- Smaller evergreen shrub, up to 30cm.
- Green, oval, glossy leaves.
- Bell shaped white-pink leaves May-July.
- Red berries.
Cotton Grass (Eriophorum vaginatum)
- 30-50cm tall tussocky sedge.
- Pure white hares-tail-like tuft in late spring & early summer.
- Cotton grass moors ("mosses") found on thick, wet, intact blanket peats at high altitiudes (up to 600m) - often in and around surface bogs and pools.
- Common cottongrass (E. angustifolium) is also found in the Dark Peak.
Purple Moor-grass (Molina caerulea)
- Tall, long flat grass (30-50cm).
- Grey-green in colour.
- Found on wet, gentle valley slopes over shale areas where peat is 15-25cm deep.
- It is found in tussocks in damp hollows or as vast swards across damp pastures.
Bog moss (Sphagnum spp.)
- Found on very wet bogs and moors.