Burren trip Day 2

I had heard much of a country walk called the Burren Way and intended to go on it on Day 2, however I needed a circular walk and it was linear so I had to make adjustments... It turned out that the walk was a bit of a bore as it was all along paved roads for the first two hours. Doubtless connected to this, the plants were much less interesting... I photographed anything I wasn't sure about - or though wouldn't be tedious for DGers. This was just developing its inflorescence, but eluded me as to what it might be (2 - 3 feet tall).

The next one was in flower and I probably should know it, but can't seem to figure it at all. The leaves are mint-ish and the flowers look a bit Salvia-ish. But I am getting too ish-ish... ;O). Height around a foot.

This message was edited Jun 9, 2005 1:58 PM

These may be some sort of orchid not yet fully flowering, or could be something quite unrelated... Height a few inches.

When it comes to terrs and shrubs, there isn't a great deal, because the soil is very shallow with solid rock only a few inches below the surface. The predominant deciduous tree is the hazel - but I didn't see a single squirrel! Of shrubs there are mainly the blackthorn and the hawthorn. This picture is of a juvenile example of another shrub which is, if not common in the Burren, then fairly widely distributed. Anyone recognise?

The areas that have virtually no soil at all are called 'limestone pavement' and they act as a kind of storage heater, absorbing heat in the summer and releasing it is the winter to maintain a much more even soil temperature than that of the surrounding area.
This picture shows t he effect.

Eventually, after two strenuous hours of walking along roads, the hills beckoned and the plants were more interesting. Geranium sanguineum is very common throughout the area. (See image)...

This is a gorgeous little plant which is moderately common on the slopes that I explored. I haven't a notion what it is.

Here is a very healthy-looking orchid. Could be 'Fragrant Orchid' or 'Early Purple' (see http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/518618/).

By now I was almost back to the place I had gone the evening before, and - oh joy, oh bliss! - there, much smaller than I thought, but just as stunningly beautiful was the plant which I had really wanted to see, the Spring Gentian (Gentiana verna). Rare elsewhere in the British Isles, but quite common in upland grassland in the Burren.... It's strange how you peer into the undergrowth looking for plants and see nothing, then you see one and within minutes you see several. This was the way of this lovely discovery.

Finally, for now, it is strange how nature can sometimes achieve what we mortals never can. Heather is an acid-soil lover, right? Well, here is a big healthy growth of heather sprawling over a limestone boulder on a hillside with just a few inches of soil over solid limestone...

cinemike, thank you so much for posting this thread, what a treat! I know what you mean about dicovering one and then it's 'veil lifted' and there are several! I do not have a clue about the identity of the shrub in your 8:09 post but how special is that rock to the left of it?

Two things about the rocks... they often have enormous lichen growth - a white lichen and a bright yellow one. Apparently this is a reflection of the purity of the air as lichens will not grow amongst pollution. Second thing is that often the rocks have been eroded by the rain into strange shapes (I didn't photograph any of them unfortunately...).

I've always wanted to see a limestone pavement and go plant hunting (taking piccies only of course) in there!

Here's what I think your photos may be of.

Ajuga reptans (which can grow to 40cm tall in the wild) http://images.google.com/images?q=ajuga%20reptans&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&client=safari&rls=en-us&sa=N&tab=wi

Pedicularis sylvatica which is a hemi-parasitic http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&client=safari&rls=en-us&q=pedicularis+sylvatica&btnG=Search

Could be Myrica gale http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&client=safari&rls=en-us&q=myrica+gale&btnG=Search

or possibly Salix caprea http://images.google.com/images?q=salix%20caprea&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&client=safari&rls=en-us&sa=N&tab=wi

Pinguicula, there are 3 species that occur in the UK, P. vulgaris, grandiflora and lusitanica http://images.google.com/images?q=pinguicula+vulgaris&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&client=safari&rls=en-us


I too found it odd that there are many plants here that prefer an acid soil and found this http://www.burrenbeo.com/Karst.htm which you might find an interesting read.

Fabulous. I think that the Ajuga, Pedicularis and Pingicula are spot on. The shrub might be either of those, but the leaves seem a bit more olive coloured and 'shorter' than those on the Google pics...

I rather wished I had spent a bit more time on the limestone pavement and less walking on the road on the Burren Way! I have some more pics that I will post on a new thread later.

David Tarrant has a show called "Spring" on HGTV here on Saturday mornings and he visited Ireland and the Burren on one of the shows - he was looking for the Spring Gentian, too. I think of all the places that he visited, this would be (along with Holland and the tulip fields) the place that I would want to visit. Lovely pictures, Mike.

The Burren Way took me over four hours. So a certain amount of Guinness was necessary before setting off for the next trip. This was well into the Burren area in a place called Deelin Beg - a pass between two small mountains. There is a wedge tomb from megalithic times up there and hence a footpath. On the way, I saw this lovely little plant that looks like an Anemone of sorts (Baa?). Being of the heavily nodding variety, it was difficult to photograph...

... so I took a picture of my hand with it in it...

One of the characteristics of the Burren are these strange depressions called turloughs. They can be small and very deep, in which case they are called grikes. This is onomatopaeic and comes from the sound of someone falling down one. ;O)

Shortly after taking the picture of the turlough, I had to go into this incrediby dense growth of young hazel trees...

What was really strange was the incredibly thick moss growth in this little wood. It looks like something out of a horror movie... The moss grew all up the trunks of the trees as well...

That's a very pretty Geum rivale in it's perfect habitat! Are you sure the Guinness was needed for the walk or for saying Grikes after falling down one ;)

How were the turloughs created, I'm imagining tiny glaciers here :D

And on the other side of the wood was another field in which I saw this little beauty. Originally I thought it was a Frog Orchid (Coeloglossum viride) - as this was the only orchid in the local book that was basically green, but having seen some other pictures of the Frog Orchid on the net, I think it *might* be a Lesser Butterfly Orchid (Platanthera bifolia) before the flowers have opened... I will happily bow to superior knowledge on that one...
The point is t hat it was the only one that I saw, and, at least where I was, rare.
And that was all, as I discovered that I had some problems back home and had to cut my trip short... (all sorted out now...).

There are a few more interesting things I saw, but will leave them for another thread...

I wonder when cinemike gets back from his trip to the continent?

I'm back.... bronzed and bouncy!

me too.