Skubbhult, Naturreservat

Skubbhult has a scenic location by Lake Mellan-Färgen. The forest is old and the trees have a rich flora of mainly mosses and lichens.
The beech forest in Skubbhult has long been well known for its fine location next to the lakeshore. The forest grows on a gently undulating slope towards the lake and the location is very scenic. In recent years, it has also been noted that parts of the area consist of relatively untouched old-growth forest with an interesting lichen flora.

Traces from the past

Over most of the area (and especially dense in the southern part) there are moss-covered stone piles, so-called cultivation cairns. These may be as old as the period from the Early Iron Age to the Middle Ages. The cairns indicate that the land was once cleared of stones to make way for cultivation.

Lichen and mosses

The forest is of the type of heath forest with herb-poor field layer. Pure carpets of leaves alternate with carpets of creeping thistle, bilberry, wood anemone or sorrel. Some of the birds found in the area are bees, sparrowhawks and green warblers.

Some of the old beech trees are infested with wood fungi, but the flora of lichens and mosses is particularly rich. Many of the old beech trees are hairy and covered with barnacle lichen, coral lichen, feather moss and trap moss. The large and conspicuous lungwort also grows on many trees. All these species are good signal species for flora and fauna worthy of protection associated with old beech forests.