Plants and mushrooms
T
he present status of the Park's flora was created not only by different
habitat conditions. 
Like in other parts of Sudeten the flora has been
transformed by long influence of man. He caused deforestation, particulary
of lower situated areas; changed water courses and rebuilt natural forest
by introducing spruce trees on a large scale. Forests cover about 89% of
the Park area. They are mainly artificially planted spruce forests. The
National Park is situated almost all in lower montane belt, but the
forests with spruce and fir trees, close to natural ones, are rarely met.
Spruce forests on the sandstones in the top part are in bad condition,
and being a monoculture, they are esspecially susceptible to damages
caused by biotic and abiotic factors. Natural broad leaves forests of
lower montane belt have survived only in a small fragments in an almost
inaccesible areas. On a fertile habitats they are represented by montane
beech forests, on less fertile - mixed montane forests and in the deep,
shadowy dells of streams - European sycamore forests. 
Plant species
characteristic for highmoor peatbog together with mountain pine can
be found mainly on the Wielkie Torfowisko Batorowskie - floral reserve.
An important part of Stolowe Mountains flora are the pionieer lithophyte
plants - numerous species of mosses (270 species), lichens (60) and l
iverworts. Among them the most interesting are the phytocenosis of the
marls exposures, containing a variety of flowerless plants and Saxifraga
rosacea, which only grows in Poland in this area. Various meadows cover
an area of about 300 ha. Among them we can easily distinguish marshy
meadows overgrown with many protected species. The globe flower, found
in big quantities, is considered a symbol of this region. On other
meadows on the poor soils one can see mat-weed swards and in dry and
sunny places - xerothermic meadows. In a whole the vascular flora of
the Park contains about 550 species, including 48 being protected in Poland.
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