A report on Limerick (H8) botanical work in 2021

day from the lake or marsh were Ranunculus lingua (Greater Spearwort), Rumex hydrolapathum (Water Dock), Cicuta virosa (Cowbane), Samolus valerandii (Brookweed) along with the less rare Triglochin palustris (Marsh Arrowgrass) and frequent Sagina nodosa (Knotted Pearlwort) in flower. The limestone outcrops had an abundance of Galium verum (Lady’s Bedstraw) (not common in Leitrim), Geranium molle (Dove’s-foot Crane’sbill), Sedum acre (Biting Stonecrop), Alchemilla filicaulis subs. vestita (Hairy Lady’smantle) and the rarely recorded Aphanes arvensis (Parsley-piert). There are only three modern Leitrim records for Sedum acre, including this one. I cannot conclude this article without mentioning the late Don Cotton who contributed many valuable records while he was Vice-county recorder (VCR) for Leitrim (a few alluded to above). In the last 10 years, I got to know him well as a teacher and good friend during our several outings in various parts of Sligo. He will be missed not least among field botanists throughout Ireland and further afield.

Sylvia Reynolds, 115 Weirview Drive, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin

Another year of living with Covid. I took advantage of the lockdown early in the year to work on a Rare Plant Register for Limerick and so the main aim of fieldwork in 2021 was to update records of selected taxa – and as in recent years I was ably assisted by Julian Reynolds. Also in 2021 our three friends and colleagues Mike Quirke, Paul Murphy and Tom Harrington did their own exploring and botanising, and some of their good finds are mentioned below. In 2016 I had drawn up a draft list of taxa for a proposed Rare Plant Register for all of Co. Limerick, including the part north of the River Shannon near Limerick city which falls within Vice-county H9. Following BSBI Guidelines (2017) and adding records from fieldwork since 2016, that list was modified in February to include natives and archaeophytes which are internationally rare, nationally and locally rare or scarce, and extinct in the county. From March to mid-May I drafted accounts and compiled records for over 300 taxa, erring on the side of inclusion of some hybrids and subspecies for which distribution in Limerick is not well known. Soon after restrictions on inter-county travel were lifted, Julian and I headed out of Dublin to Limerick. During the season we spent 12 long days in the field, a few shorter ones, and only three overnights, adding over 130 updates or new finds for the Rare Plant Register; over 40 more were added by others. Our first stop was at Curragh Chase (19 May, R4049) where we refound Lathraea squamaria (Toothwort) already dying down under Portugal Laurel and Ash near the ruined house. At Barrigone (R2950) we looked for elusive Neotinea maculata (Dense-flowered Orchid) without success, but instead saw a large patch of Rubus saxatilis (Stone Bramble) coming into flower and a few plants of Ophrys insectifera (Fly Orchid). The rest of the day was spent visiting sites along the Shannon Estuary. Cochlearia officinalis s.s. (Common Scurvygrass) persists near Glin Pier (R1247) and C. danica (Danish Scurvygrass) at Kilteery Pier (R1749), at their only known Limerick

sites, and Sagina maritima (Sea Pearlwort) intermittently by the estuary as far up as Ringmoylan Quay (R6057). On 22 June we started at Kilkeedy graveyard near Clarina (R5054) where large fronds of Polypodium x shivasiae (P. interjectum x P. cambricum, Intermediate Polypody x Southern Polypody), a rare fern hybrid in Ireland, are still growing on a high wall. We then met up with Mike, Paul and Tom on the outskirts of Limerick city at Rootiagh (R5451) to further explore the extensive unimproved wet grasslands on peaty soil where they had been botanising earlier in June. Scattered Platanthera bifolia (Lesser Butterfly-orchid) were in full flower as was the endemic Dactylorhiza incarnata subsp. pulchella (Early Marshorchid subspecies). Several large patches of Thalictrum flavum (Common Meadow-rue), also in flower, were conspicuous at that time of year. New finds there were Carex viridula (= C. oederi, Small-fruited Yellow-sedge) and, more unexpectedly, C. pilulifera (Pill Sedge) in heathy vegetation among Gorse bushes – the latter is otherwise mainly known in the Galty Mountains in Limerick. A record of Lemna gibba (Fat Duckweed) in a brackish ditch at Durnish near Foynes (R2651) was updated on 29 June. Then on our way to Aughinish Island I measured the height of a Ficus carica (Fig) tree, previously noted growing beside the former railway, by lowering a weighted string from the high bridge – it is about 8m tall and may have originated from fruit thrown out of a train many years earlier. Somewhat unusually, a patch of Eriophorum angustifolium (Common Cottongrass) was growing with scattered Carex distans (Distant Sedge) at the edge of Hunt’s Lough near the Shannon Estuary on Aughinish Island (R2853), this pond with dense stands of Phragmites australis (Common Reed) and some Cladium mariscus (Great Fen-sedge) as well as Potamogeton coloratus (Fen Pondweed) and charophytes. After an overnight on Foynes Island, we checked some plants in Askeaton, refinding Apium graveolens (Wild Celery) and Verbena officinalis (Vervain) at the abbey (30 June, R3350) as well as Vulpia myuros (Rat’s-tail Fescue) on a high wall in the town (R3350, R3450), all three species noted at Askeaton by Praeger in 1900. Due to restoration works at Askeaton Castle it was not possible to check for the Salvia verbenaca (Wild Clary) known there since the 19th century, but I could see part of the grassy slope where it had been growing - and binoculars were used too to watch young peregrine falcons flying between the ruins. Petroselinum crispum (Garden Parsley) was recorded on the castle ruins in 1897 and continues to self-seed on the walls. Small trees of Salix x alopecuroides (S. euxina x S. alba x S. triandra, Eastern Crack-willow x White Willow x Almond Willow), another rare hybrid in Ireland, are thriving on low banks by the River Deel at Accrour Bridge N of Dromcolliher (12 July, R3825). The rest of the day was spent in W Limerick. Carex strigosa (Thin-spiked Woodsedge) is only known at two sites and was refound at both – in overgrown roadside ditches S of Newcastle West (R2831, R2832) and in woodland at Castle Demesne in Newcastle West (R2633, R2733), growing with the grass Elymus caninus (Bearded Couch) in one place at the latter site (R2733). The bog at Glenbaun-Knockfinnisk in the western uplands W of Carrigkerry (R1939) is wet and springy, with patches of Pinguicula grandiflora (Large-flowered Butterwort), at the edge of its range in SW Ireland; and Drosera anglica (Great Sundew) occurs on the same bog. Moyreen Bog S of Ballyhahill (R1942) with abundant Rhynchospora alba (White Beak-sedge) is drier. A few small plants of Carex

limosa (Bog-sedge) were seen in a shallow pool, but D. intermedia (Oblong-leaved Sundew) was not refound there. Having overnighted in Adare, we first went looking, unsuccessfully, for Carex aquatilis (Water Sedge) by the River Shannon between Corbally Baths and Athlunkard Bridge near Limerick city (13 July, R5859), where there is dense growth of Urtica dioica (Common Nettle), Oenanthe crocata (Hemlock Water-dropwort) and Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam). Instead a treat was to find a second site for Elymus caninus in the county, growing by the river on an old tree stump as it was also doing in Newcastle West. Trying to refind Ranunculus circinatus (Fan-leaved Water-crowfoot) in the River Shannon at Shannon Fields (R5958) was unsuccessful too. We were at the exact same spot where we had grabbed out healthy aquatics in 2006, but this time the water was murky and only Myriophyllum spicatum (Spiked Water-milfoil), Elodea nuttallii (Nuttall’s Waterweed) and a filamentous green alga were seen. The upper Shannon Estuary is accessed easily along the embankment W of Barrington’s Pier, but it is much less easy and even treacherous to walk on the soft tidal mud among the vegetation bordering the estuary, including extensive stands of Typha angustifolia (Lesser Bulrush) at Clonmacken (R5456 in H9). Finally that day we wanted to check aquatics in the Limerick Canal (R5857, R5957). The high steep sides are now overgrown with Willows and the water, even with a grab on a long rope, was nearly inaccessible, so records were only updated for Hydrocharis morsusranae (Frogbit) and Potamogeton lucens (Shining Pondweed), but not for Groenlandia densa (Opposite-leaved Pondweed), Ranunculus circinatus (Fan-leaved Water-crowfoot) etc.

Just one fruiting plant of Carex pseudocyperus (Cyperus Sedge) was seen by Glenisca Lough at Curragh Chase (R4150) on 1 August, and tantalisingly Utricularia vulgaris s.l. in flower was out of reach in the marly lake; flowers are needed to separate U. vulgaris s.s. (Greater Bladderwort) from U. australis (Bladderwort). At Shanid Castle S of Shanagolden (R2445) Arabis hirsuta (Hairy Rock-cress) still grows on fallen stonework, but there was no sign of Silybum marianum (Milk Thistle) which was collected there in the early 1900s. First found by Tony O’Mahony in 2005, Trifolium medium (Zigzag Clover) was again noted in a damp hollow in an area of calcareous grassland at Mullagh near Creeves Cross (R2847). Other searches that day were less successful, such as for Eleocharis quinqueflora (Few-flowered Spike-rush), E. uniglumis (Slender Spike-rush) and Juncus ranarius (Frog Rush) at a brackish pond near Poulaweala Creek (R2952), visited by Maura Scannell and Lynne Farrell with a BSBI group in 1974. The pond margins are now heavily poached by cattle and fairly disgusting! Celebrating my and Julian’s 50th wedding anniversary, 28 August was a more satisfying day out. We found a new site for Ophioglossum vulgatum (Adder’s-tongue) at the N end of Graigues Lough, the turlough SE of Askeaton (R3648); Juncus ranarius (Frog Rush) and Isolepis cernua (Slender Club-rush) in poached marshy ground at Kilteery Pier (R1749), the latter previously only seen near Ringmoylan Quay in 1990; Trifolium fragiferum (Strawberry Clover) near Long Rock NE of Glin (R1549); one plant of Asplenium marinum (Sea Spleenwort) in stonework of Glin Pier (R1347), nearly lost due to repointing; and more T. fragiferum and the protected species Hordeum secalinum (Meadow Barley) at Goleen Bridge N of Askeaton (R3353).

A few days later on 31 August we revisited the floodplain lake cut off from the River Shannon at Reboge on the E side of Limerick city (R6057). We were looking for Rorippa x erythrocaulis (Thames Yellow-cress) at its only Irish site, but only found the parents R. amphibia (Great Yellow-cress) and R. palustris (Marsh Yellow-cress) in nearby shallow muddy ditches. Persicaria mitis (Tasteless Water-pepper) still occurs in the same area. On our way to another overnight in Adare, we made our easiest update by parking right beside the low grassy bank and hedgerow with abundant Rubus caesius (Dewberry) at the T-junction W of Friarstown (R5649). Our final stop that day was to check Equisetum variegatum (Variegated Horsetail) at Clogh fen NE of Rathkeale (R3843), just surviving in very poached ground at the edge of the fen. On 1 September we again found Equisetum variegatum, a new Limerick site at Mornane Lough ENE of Askeaton (R3852). Open water there is now largely infilled with Cladium mariscus (Great Fen-sedge) etc. and bordering calcareous grassland has not been grazed recently, resulting in less plant diversity than formerly. Then on to Lough Gur and to find that visitors were discouraged by a high wire fence from walking along the N side of the lake or up Knockfennell - but there was a small gap in the fence! We looked for Rumex maritimus (Golden Dock) at its only Limerick location without success. The area beside the lake where formerly there were many plants of it has been enclosed for several years past by an electric fence and there is now dense and tall Phalaris arundinacea (Reed Canary-grass), Typha latifolia (Bulrush) etc. Otherwise, Rumex hydrolapathum (Water Dock) is quite common along the lake edge (R6441), also Ranunculus lingua (Greater Spearwort), Bidens cernua (Nodding Bur-marigold) and less B. tripartita (Trifid Burmarigold). Bilboa Bridge is in the NE of the county; we did not refind Epipactis helleborine (Broad-leaved Helleborine) there, but Julian spotted several spikes of this orchid in the grass verge NE of Bilboa Bridge near the confluence of Bilboa and Gortnageragh Rivers (R8252), and Rosa sherardii (Sherard’s Downy-rose) persists at the entrance to the old quarry. Further searches for the protected species Groenlandia densa (Opposite-leaved Pondweed) on 6 September were unsuccessful, probably because it was late in the season and ditches where it was known to occur were very overgrown, as in a shallow ditch near Doohyle Lough (R3643) and deeper drainage ditches at Ferry Bridge (R4752, R4852). Nor was this species refound in runnels over tidal mud with Zannichellia palustris (Horned Pondweed) at Shannon Bridge in Limerick city (R5756 in H9) where hundreds of plants were seen in 1993 and where it occurred more sparingly in 2006. Potamogeton praelongus (Long-stalked Pondweed) was not refound either at its only Limerick site in the deep channel through marl from Doohyle Lough to the former marina and lido, probably because it was almost impossible to throw the grab in due to dense growth of Willows along the channel. On the other hand Brachypodium pinnatum (Heath False-brome), widely scattered in Ireland, was still conspicuous on a grassy roadside bank just W of Doohyle Lough (R3643). We stopped at Castleconnell Bog on our way home. This bog is cut-over and quite degraded now, with only small plants of Andromeda polifolia (Bog-rosemary) seen and flowering Utricularia minor (Lesser Bladderwort) in deep drains (R6863), and I was pleased to find a few plants of Drosera intermedia (Oblong-leaved Sundew) at the N end of the bog (R6864). Betula pubescens (Downy Birch) is abundant at the bog edge and although some B. pendula (Silver Birch) was recorded there in the past, no convincing trees were seen this time. Recent work in Britain shows that F1 hybrids are apparently rare, but

considers introgression from B. pendula into B. pubescens widespread (Amphlett 2021), and this may explain why it can be difficult to separate the species. Our penultimate trip to Limerick on 15 September was to meet Mike Quirke and check one of the lakes in the grounds of Glenstal Abbey at Murroe (R7356). Not having been there since 2008, it was a shock to find the lake almost completely overrun by Elodea canadensis (Canadian Waterweed) and we saw no Potamogeton obtusifolius (Blunt-leaved Pondweed) or Ranunculus circinatus (Fan-leaved Water-crowfoot), previously found there. We noticed that slurry had been spread in bordering pasture and Mike told us that the lake had a dense covering of green algae in May and June. Also in E Limerick, non-native Prunus cerasus (Dwarf Cherry) is well established along the shaded grass verge and in the hedgerow by a lane at Castlegarde SE of Cappamore (R7949). Then we wanted to check if Potamogeton alpinus (Red Pondweed) was still in the large artificial pond beside Griston Bog near Ballylanders (R7523), but it was not seen. It had been introduced accidentally with Lagarosiphon major (Curly Waterweed) which quickly became invasive and is the dominant aquatic in the pond. P. alpinus was last recorded as native in the county near Limerick city in 1900. Heading for home it was good to find that many plants of the archaeophyte Lamium album (White Dead-nettle) had survived beside the ruined church on the hill top at Ardpatrick (R6320), although they were quite stunted as a result of grass cutting there. 25 September was our final day of fieldwork in 2021 and was worth the 200 plus kilometre drive from Stillorgan. We refound Lemna gibba (Fat Duckweed) among other Duckweeds in a deep drainage ditch on the E side of King’s Island (R5858) and many small trees of Salix triandra (Almond Willow), the latter in the same area where specimens had been collected over a century earlier. There was also a large tree of S. triandra on the embankment at Clonmacken and Rorippa x anceps (Hybrid Yellow-cress) still at Barrington’s Pier (both R5556 in H9). And at last we were able to update Groenlandia densa (Opposite-leaved Pondweed) for the county when, with binoculars, I could see submerged plants at low tide at two places in the tributary of Ballynaclough River (R5754) – easily from a low bridge and much less easily by walking over soft mud in wellies and with a walking pole at the second place until it wasn’t safe to go further. Again in 2021, Mike Quirke, Paul Murphy and Tom Harrington contributed new and useful Limerick records. Tom reported a new site for Lathraea squamaria (Toothwort) beside a large Ash tree just SW of Monaster (12 April, R5440). Then in response to my suggestion, the trio went looking for that parasitic species in the Castleconnell area where there had been a vague record. To their and my pleasure they found two patches by the path in woodland along the River Shannon near the old mill canal SW of Castleconnell (7 May, R6461); and records of Eleocharis uniglumis (Slender Spike-rush) and Oenanthe fistulosa (Tubular Water-dropwort) were updated by them at Loughmore Common (9 July, R5452). Miscellaneous garden escapes and casuals were recorded in Limerick city by Paul, such as Pilosella aurantiaca (Fox-and-cubs) on a wall top at Ballinacurra (R5655) and Pseudofumaria lutea (Yellow Corydalis) on a wall at St Munchin’s church (R5755) on 31 May; and at Raheen (R5552) Erodium cicutarium (Common Stork’s-bill) at a pavement edge (22 June) and one plant of Echinochloa crus-galli (Cockspur) on a kerbside (18 October). Rapistrum rugosum (Bastard Cabbage) was found by Paul and Mike at the train station (22 July, R5756), a new Limerick record.

An interesting and enjoyable project of theirs was to walk stretches along the Shannon Estuary from Ringmoylan west to Ballinvoher Point and south to Goleen Creek where they noted some of the rarer species, e.g. Apium graveolens (Wild Celery), Artemisia maritima (Sea Wormwood), Oenanthe lachenalii (Parsley Water-dropwort), Silene uniflora (Sea Campion), Trifolium fragiferum (Strawberry Clover) and Hordeum secalinum (Meadow Barley). A particularly good find was fertile Asplenium marinum (Sea Spleenwort) in rock crevices facing west on Bushy Island NE of Ballysteen (17 August, R3756), much further up the estuary from the only other known site at Glin Pier. They also found new sites for the robust grass Elymus athericus (Sea Couch) at Ballynash W of Goleen Bridge (21 September, R3253, R3353). I appreciated receiving records from other people too. Paul Green told me that Cochlearia danica (Danish Scurvygrass), normally a coastal plant, was abundant by the M7 near Castleconnell (21 April, R66), perhaps spreading along roadsides here as it is known to do in Britain; also about Viscum album (Mistletoe) on trees at the Adare Golf Club (20 October, R4745), introduced to nearby Adare Manor nearly a hundred years before. Margaret Jackson emailed me about Scutellaria galericulata (Skullcap) by a stream near the Glenstal Woods carpark (11 July, R7557), and John Hardiman about finding Dactylorhiza kerryensis (Irish Marsh-orchid) in wet meadow at Lacka N of Castleconnell (11 May, R6664), the record of that endemic confirmed by Richard Bateman from John’s photographs. Geoff Hunt updated records of Spiranthes spiralis (Autumn Lady’s-tresses) on Aughinish Island (23 August, R2852) and reported a new site for Rhamnus cathartica (Buckthorn) and Bidens tripartita (Trifid Bur-marigold) by a pond at Callow near Cappagh (1 September, R3846). At some distance away from its range in the SW of Ireland, John Conaghan found the little orchid Neottia cordata (Lesser Twayblade) in dry heath with dominant Calluna vulgaris in Grouselodge townland NW of Ardagh (25 August, R2541), a very good new county record. Two of Tony O’Mahony’s hybrid records were inadvertently omitted from the Limerick Flora (Reynolds 2013). One was for Rosa corymbifera x R. agrestis (Hairy Dogrose x Small-leaved Sweet-briar) from near Doohyle Lough (R3743) in 1995, a single bush beside a R. agrestis thicket at the fen edge and a second bush in a nearby hedgerow. Stace (2019) includes this hybrid in his Flora, listing it only for Co. Limerick in the British Isles. The other was for Helosciadium x moorei (H. nodiflorum x H. inundatum, Fool’s-watercress x Lesser Marshwort) at Reboge (R6057) in 2004, presumably near the floodplain lake where both parents occur. The only earlier record was from the River Shannon at Castleconnell in 1903. Altogether fieldwork in 2021 resulted in about 175 updates and new records of taxa included in the Rare Plant Register for Limerick, and only about 20 searches were unsuccessful. There are accounts for some 335 native and archaeophyte species, subspecies and hybrids (following Jebb 2019 for status), and mentions of a further 15 taxa native in Ireland but considered only introductions in Limerick. Excluding microspecies, 27% of the 1070 taxa in the current Limerick flora since 1987 are listed in the Rare Plant Register, and of those over 80% are natives and about a third internationally rare, nationally rare or scarce and/or assigned a national threat status in the Ireland Red List (Wyse Jackson et al. 2016). The year 1987 was chosen as the earlier cut-off date (the first year of the BSBI’s Monitoring Scheme) because it seemed likely that most native and archaeophyte taxa would have been

found during the period up to 2021. Taxa not refound since 1987 were categorised as extinct – about half were rare arable weeds or casuals (mainly archaeophytes), a few were hybrids (often difficult to identify) and the remaining were natives nearly all found only at single sites in the past. Accounts in the Rare Plant Register include the latest year date when a taxon was found; whether internationally rare (including endemics), nationally or locally rare or scarce (including protected species); a brief summary of distribution in Ireland; distribution and habitats in Limerick; any threats or other comments; and first records. Records are listed with sites, dates, recorder(s) and often more detailed grid references than submitted to the BSBI’s database (DDb). I included records from other people which I could stand over, some from consultants and fewer ‘citizen science’ records. In some cases records were summarised, e.g. there were many hundreds of detailed records in the DDb for the protected species Schoenoplectus triqueter (Triangular Club-rush) from professional surveys. On the whole I decided that it is better to provide than withhold details and my hope is that the information in the Rare Plant Register will be useful to those involved in conservation and planning in Limerick, and to others interested in the county’s flora, and that it provides a good baseline against which future surveys of Limerick rare plants can be compared. Having completed the Rare Plant Register (see page 78) I am now resigning as Vice-county recorder for Limerick. It was Daniel Kelly, Chair of the BSBI Irish committee in 1983, who suggested that I be appointed, and I had no idea what I was letting myself in for, nor for how long I would hold that position! Since then and until very recently I have participated in all the BSBI projects and complied with what was expected of VCRs, such as the Monitoring Scheme, systematic recording for Atlas 2000 and Atlas 2020 (also helping record in Longford and Wicklow), the Threatened Plants Project and Irish Species Project, checking and validating records in the DDb for Atlas 2020, and responding to numerous botanical queries. I have written A catalogue of alien plants in Ireland (2002), the Flora of County Limerick (2013) and compiled an Inventory of County Limerick sites of botanical and habitat interest (2020). Over the years I have been a member of the Irish committee (including Field Meetings Secretary), the Irish representative to Council, a member of Council, an Honorary Vice-president and in 2015 I was made an Honorary Member of the Society, which meant a lot to me. What I have valued most about the BSBI has been the friendships and interactions with many fine Irish and British field botanists, and I have a very special appreciation for all the Society’s referees I have consulted over nearly 40 years. Now it is time to step down as VCR and, health and head willing, pursue my own botanical and non-botanical interests.

Amphlett, A. (2021). Identification and taxonomy of Betula (Betulaceae) in Great Britain and Ireland. British & Irish Botany 3: 99-135. Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (2017). County Rare Plant Register Guidelines – an update (2017). Downloaded from the BSBI website February 2021. Available at: https://bsbi.org/wpcontent/uploads/dlm_uploads/BSBI-County-Rare-Plant-Register-Guidelines-2017.pdf. Jebb, M. (2019). Irish vascular plant synonym workbook. National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. Updated May 2019 (used in Rare Plant Register for status of taxa in Ireland). Available at: http://botanicgardens.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2-syno.xls. Reynolds, S.C.P. (2002). A catalogue of alien plants in Ireland. National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. Reynolds, S.C.P. (2013). Flora of County Limerick. National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin.

Reynolds, S.C.P. (2020). Inventory of County Limerick sites of botanical and habitat interest. Privately circulated and pdf on BSBI website, Irish County Pages. Reynolds, S.C.P. (2021). County Limerick Rare Plant Register. Privately circulated and pdf on BSBI’s Rare Plant Registers webpage. Stace, C.A. (2019). New Flora of the British Isles. 4th edition. C & M Floristics, Suffolk. Wyse Jackson, M., FitzPatrick, Ú., Cole, E., Jebb, M., McFerran, D., Sheehy Skeffington, M. & Wright, M. (2016). Ireland Red List No. 10: Vascular Plants. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Dublin, Ireland.

13 members from across Ireland, and 2 from Scotland joined me to learn how to identify Salicornia (Glasswort) and Atriplex (Orache) along the north shore of Bannow Bay at Saintkierans. A key I had put together on Atriplex was handed around, along with another on Salicornia. We started by looking at the top of the strand where Atriplex x gustafssoniana was by far the commonest Atriplex. We also saw both parents (A. longipes (Long-stalked Orache), A. prostrata (Spear-leaved Orache)) of the hybrid, as well as A. laciniata (Frosted Orache) and A. littoralis (Grass-leaved Orache). A saltmarsh was visited where the legally protected Sarcocornia perennis (Perennial Glasswort) was abundant in the drier areas (see page 41). Five annual and one hybrid Salicornia (Glasswort) species also occurred in the saltmarsh. S. disarticulata (Oneflowered Glasswort) (as the name suggests this species has single flowers), and S. ramosissima (Purple Glasswort) (this species has flowers in groups of three), as well as their hybrid, were common. The hybrid can be distinguished from the two parents by having groups of either one, two or three flowers together. A stubble field was explored to look at arable weeds. Here there was a large number of species seen that are rare in Ireland, but are still fairly common in parts of Co. Wexford: Kickxia elatine (Sharp-leaved Fluellen), Mentha arvensis (Corn Mint), Silene gallica (Small-flowered Catchfly), and Stachys arvensis (Field Woundwort), etc. I really enjoyed leading this meeting, as I lost count of how many times I heard people say 'that is a new plant for me'.

Paul R. Green

Plate 1. Glenville: R. corymbifera x R. sherardii: (26/09/2021) Infructescence leaf (the leaflet teeth uniserrate-eglandular) + ripe, subglobose hip, with tardily deciduous sepals and a wide head of styles; stipules of leaves and infructescence-bracts very broad. Plate 2. Cork City: R. corymbifera x R. sherardii: (19/09/2020)

Ripe hips narrowly-ovoid, their sepals tardily deciduous; the domed, densely hairy head of styles almost covering the hip disc; pedicels short and unarmed; leaflet teeth uniserrate-eglandular. Plate 3. Cork City: R. corymbifera x R. sherardii: (11/09/2021) A mosaic of dissected diagnostic features: (a) a vertically-sectioned hip; (b) a stylar bundle; (c) 2 sepals, with dorsal glandular-setae; (d) 2 hip discs (concave) with a wide stylar orifice. Plate 4. Cork City: R. corymbifera x R. sherardii: (19/09/2020) 2 vertically-sectioned hips, the smaller (inner) wholly achene-sterile; the larger (outer) with an admixture of many aborted, and only 3 fully-developed, achenes. Plate 5. Cork City: R. corymbifera x R. sherardii: (11/09/2021) 2 stem prickles, these broad-based and strongly arched, as in their R. corymbifera parent. Plate 6. The grassy area in the foreground contains Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis), a native species of damp grassland in Dublin and a major food plant of Orange Tip butterfly larvae. The conspicuous purple and white flowers further along the bank are the related, non-native Dame’s-violet (Hesperis matronalis), apparently recently sown and displacing Cuckooflower. Growing amongst the Dame’s-violet are the non-natives Honesty (Lunaria annua), Flax (Linum usitatissimum), and Californian Poppy (Eschscholzia californica). St Mobhi Drive, Dublin 9, June 2021. Plate 7. Mass plantings of eye-catching, fast-growing, quick-flowering plants (Yarrow, Campion, Poppy, Oxeye Daisy, etc.) at Trinity College Dublin, June 2021. This grouping misrepresents the species assemblages that would occur in nature and does not meet the complex habitat requirements of threatened insects. Plate 8. A pastiche of predominantly non-native annual species – an impossible assemblage in nature – growing along roadsides in Portrane, Co. Dublin, July 2020. This mixture was inserted into the traditional territory of Prickly Poppy (Roemeria argemone), a rare species of sandy fallow ground near the sea, now in serious decline due to suburban encroachment. Plate 9. Clare Island was selected by the Royal Irish Academy as the site for a seminal study of flora and fauna, on account of its almost uncontaminated condition, in the early 1900s, and a series of studies was conducted by distinguished national and international experts, led by Robert Lloyd Praeger. Sowings of exotic species (photograph from 2010) have not enhanced its natural attributes.

Plate 1. Equisetum hyemale (Rough Horsetail) population on a roadside near Lough Eske, West Donegal (H35), incorrectly labelled as an “invasive weed”! Photo R. Northridge & H. Northridge © 2021. Plate 2. Polystichum lonchitis (Holly-fern) on limestone karst at Glenaniff, Co. Leitrim (H29). Photo P. McHugh © 2021. Plate 3. Sylvia Reynolds with Limerick Rare Plant Register, 1 February 2022, and other main contributors – Paul Murphy, Tom Harrington, Mike Quirke and Julian Reynolds. Photo M. Quirke © 2022. Plate 4. Limosella aquatica (Mudwort) plant close-up from population at Lough Allen, Co. Leitrim (H29). Photo E. Gaughan © 2021. Plates 5. Oreopteris limbosperma (Lemon-scented Fern) at Glenaniff, Co. Leitrim (H29). Photo P. McHugh © 2021. Plates 6. Anacamptis morio (Green-winged Orchid) at Carrickashedoge, Co. Monaghan (H32). Photo A. FitzGerald © 2017. Plates 7. Epilobium pedunculare (Rockery Willowherb) in woods near Carrigeencor Lough, Co. Leitrim (H29). Photo E. Gaughan © 2021. Plates 8. Carex pallescens (Pale Sedge) near Dromahair, Co. Leitrim (H29). Photo E. Gaughan © 2021.

Plate 1 (p. 77) Plate 2 (p. 67)

Plate 3 (p. 69)

Plate 4 (p. 67)

Plate 5 (p. 67)

Plate 7 (p. 67) Plate 6 (p. 47)

Plate 8 (p. 67)