Surmyrbergets nature reserv
Here and there, there are pine trees up to 200 years old. The proportion of pine increases higher up the slopes. In many places, the trees are draped with hanging lichens. There are plenty of large deciduous trees and old standing and fallen dead trunks, home to wood-decaying fungi such as rosy crust, star-tipped antler and velvet tooth.
Hidden gems of the forest:
In the moss-rich spruce forests, the delicate orchid creeping lady's-tresses blooms in early summer. Herb Paris also flowers in early summer in the richer parts of the spruce forest, producing a single small greenish flower. Later in the summer, it develops a poisonous black-blue berry. Gnawing marks left by the timberman beetle can be seen on spruce trees, along with ring-shaped marks made by three-toed woodpeckers. In late winter and early spring, the intense hooting of the boreal owl can be heard.
Haymaking and slash-and-burn farming:
Surmyran and the periodically flooded areas around Hansabäcken were important haymaking grounds for the villages of Mjösjö and Långsjö in the late 19th century. Cows and goats grazed in parts of the forest. Slash-and-burn farming was also common, and in the southeastern part of the nature reserve there is an old burn that is still particularly rich in deciduous trees. It provides a habitat for Sweden's smallest woodpecker, the lesser spotted woodpecker. There are also several overgrown charcoal-burning pits and tar-burning pits in the area.