Within the British Isles the stronghold of the plant is in Scotland where it is very abundant, for example, in the ground flora of the native Caledonian pine forests such as the famous Black Wood of Rannoch. The occurrences in north-eastern Ireland have sometimes been attributed to wind-blown spores ariving from south-western Scottish populations, but this is entirely conjectural. Although so rare in the wild in Northern Ireland, it will flourish and spread easily within gardens if introduced into cultivation here.