Flora

See also: List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland

Heather growing wild in the Highlands at Dornoch.

In a similar sense to fauna, and for similar reasons, the flora consists of fewer species compared to
much larger continental Europe.[68] The flora comprises 3,354 vascular plant species, of which 2,297
are native and 1,057 have been introduced.[69] The island has a wide variety of trees, including native
species of birch, beech, ash, hawthorn, elm, oak, yew, pine, cherry and apple.[70] Other trees have
been naturalised, introduced especially from other parts of Europe (particularly Norway) and North
America. Introduced trees include several varieties of
pine, chestnut, maple, spruce, sycamore and fir, as well as cherry plum and pear trees.[70] The tallest
species are the Douglas firs; two specimens have been recorded measuring 65 metres or 212 feet.
[71]
 The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is the oldest tree in Europe.[72]
There are at least 1,500 different species of wildflower.[73] Some 107 species are particularly rare or
vulnerable and are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is illegal to uproot any
wildflowers without the landowner's permission.[73][74] A vote in 2002 nominated various wildflowers to
represent specific counties.[75] These include red
poppies, bluebells, daisies, daffodils, rosemary, gorse, iris, ivy, mint, orchids, brambles, thistles, butt
ercups, primrose, thyme, tulips, violets, cowslip, heather and many more.[76][77][78][79]
There are also many species of algae and mosses across the island.

Fungi
There are many species of fungi including lichen-forming species, and the mycobiota is less poorly
known than in many other parts of the world. The most recent checklist of Basidiomycota (bracket
fungi, jelly fungi, mushrooms and toadstools, puffballs, rusts and smuts), published in 2005, accepts
over 3600 species.[80] The most recent checklist of Ascomycota (cup fungi and their allies, including
most lichen-forming fungi), published in 1985, accepts another 5100 species.[81] These two lists did
not include conidial fungi (fungi mostly with affinities in the Ascomycota but known only in their
asexual state) or any of the other main fungal groups (Chytridiomycota, Glomeromycota and
Zygomycota). The number of fungal species known very probably exceeds 10,000. There is
widespread agreement among mycologists that many others are yet to be discovered.

Demographics
Main article: Demography of the United Kingdom

Settlements
London is the capital of England and the whole of the United Kingdom, and is the seat of the United
Kingdom's government. Edinburgh and Cardiff are the capitals of Scotland and Wales, respectively,
and house their devolved governments.
Largest urban areas
See also: List of urban areas in the United Kingdom
Ran Built-up Population Area Density
City-region
k area[82] (2011 Census) (km2) (people/km2)

Greater
1 London 9,787,426 1,737.9 5,630
London

Greater
2 Manchester–Salford 2,553,379 630.3 4,051
Manchester

Birmingham–
3 West Midlands 2,440,986 598.9 4,076
Wolverhampton

West
4 Leeds–Bradford 1,777,934 487.8 3,645
Yorkshire

Greater
5 Glasgow 1,209,143 368.5 3,390
Glasgow

6 Liverpool Liverpool 864,122 199.6 4,329

Southampton– South
7 855,569 192.0 4,455
Portsmouth Hampshire

Newcastle upon Tyne–

8 Tyneside 774,891 180.5 4,292
Sunderland

9 Nottingham Nottingham 729,977 176.4 4,139

10 Sheffield Sheffield 685,368 167.5 4,092

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