Discovering our wonderful wildflowers..
Nature
Zoe Devlin explains where you can find our vast array of wildflowers and how you can recognise them
Thrift
As spring begins to make its gentle transformation into summer, June is the very best time to look out for some of those treasures of the hedgerows and roadsides – the wildflowers. Once you get into the habit of looking out for these gems, there can be an enormous amount of pleasure to be gained by observing and identifying them. No fancy equipment is needed other than a good pair of walking shoes and, if you find yourself being drawn in to this absorbing hobby, a small hand lens is a most useful tool for examining the delicate features of the flowers and leaves; and of course, a little field guide to Irish wildflowers might come in handy too. Ireland is a nature-lover’s paradise with many different habitats from woodland to coastal, bogland to meadows, limestone and heath, each with its own particular assortment of plant species. In early summer, a walk in a deciduous woodland can be most rewarding, the fresh, newly-emerged leaves creating a bright green canopy, high above the forest floor. At the woodland margins, curving, thorny branches of the native Dog-rose bear pink and white blossoms in small groups, the five petals of each flower surrounding a cluster of yellow stamens and a conical tuft of stigmas that, later on in the autumn will lead to the production of bright scarlet ‘hips’.
Honeysuckle
Dog Rose Honeysuckle (AKA Woodbine) begins to twine itself over other vegetation, helping diverse parts of nature as it grows. Its flowers help to feed the bees with sweet, sugary nectar and when they have finished blooming the plants will produce red berries that are devoured by visiting robins, song thrushes, blackbirds and bullfinches. The flowers also have a pleasant aroma that attracts night-flying moths in search of nectar. Tall, graceful Foxgloves, pictures of elegance, bear spikes with an abundance
of pinky-purple bell-shaped flowers in both deciduous and coniferous woodland; this species is also known, in some parts, as Fairy Thimbles. Also on the borders of the woodland, a little beauty with small, deep-blue flowers demands to be examined more closely. This is Germander Speedwell, just one of a number of speedwells that are native to Ireland. Each flower in the speedwell family has four petals – a matching pair on either side and a large upper petal with a smaller one below. Dark blue lines run into the centre of each flower, helping to guide tiny insects towards the nectar. Wandering through some of our old woodlands, it is quite common to come across the remains of old walls and abandoned dwellings with ferns and mosses growing over them in profusion. These relics of the past also offer tiny footholds for another native – Navelwort (AKA Pennywort). It has erect spikes of greenish-white tubular flowers but it is the leaves that help to identify the plant. Each has a small dimple at the centre – a little like a tummy-button, hence its
Senior Times | May - June 2022 | www.seniortimes.ie 45
