Kärna Mosse, just outside Linköping, is one of the best-known lime marshes in Östergötland. Here you can delight in the diversity of orchids or refresh yourself in the clear spring water in the shadow of the untouched forest.

Kärna Mosse is a lime marsh surrounded by broadleaf and coniferous forest on the slope of an old shore embankment. On the wet marsh there are dwarfed pines and reeds.

In the summer a profusion of magnificent and colourful orchids come into bloom on the marsh. For example, you can find Marsh Helleborine, Narrow-leaved Marsh Orchid, Fragrant Orchid and Heath Spotted Orchid. A characteristic plant for the marsh is the Ruddy Scirpus that grows in tufts and has small pointed black ears.

In the summer a flowering lime marsh is an impressive sight. Apart from that, there are also large numbers of small animals and invertebrates, inluding many different kinds of molluscs.

The fine forest that surrounds the marsh is also part of the nature reserve. There are several footpaths, one of which goes round the whole marsh. There is a rich flora in the forest that is at its best in the spring when a carpet of white and blue anemones covers the ground.

The reserve that extends to 37 hectares is owned and managed by the Municipality of Linköping. For further information there is a leaflet about Kärna Mosse.