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Ireland's National Strategy for Plant Conservation
Irish Botanical Resources
A new Crypic network - The Fern, Moss, Liverwort and Lichen conservation network
We are trying to establish an on-line listing of current, and recent, botanical research in Ireland
that has a bearing on conservation or ecology of our flora. The purpose is to try to ensure that we are
all aware of one anothers work, and can exchange and seek advice from one another. Please visit the
forum pages and submit your research activites and encourage others you know of to do so.
21 July 2010
At the recent Forth Global Botanic Gardens held in the National Botanic Gardens in June 13-18th 2010
a new network of gardens and individuals working on conservering RARE Fern, moss, liverwort and lichen (Cryptogams) species as "insurance collections"
in Gardens accross the globe was launched. The importance of these mostly diminutive representatives of our flora was outlined
and the role gardens can play in their conservation was outlined.
Mosses and Liverwort recording in Ireland
Click here for more information
21 July 2010
A new Irish Branch of the British Bryological Society (BBS) has been launched and is being run by the Dublin Naturalist Field Club
and Dr. Jo Denyer. Jo has set out an early ambitious task to have all the
bryophyes (mosses and liverworts) in Co. Wicklow National Park recorded by November 2010 and has launched a new newsheet with events called "Irish Bryophyte
News". If you are interested in joining the group contact Jo at www.denyerecology.com
Robert Lloyd Praeger's headstone restored
17 April 2010
an Taisce have restored Robert Lloyd Praeger's headstone in Dean's Grange graveyard.
Matthew Jebb gave a brief talk at the graveside on Saturday the 17 April 2010 to
celebrate the remarkable life of this Botanist and polymath and describe the selection
and significance of the plants supplied by the staff of the National Botanic Gardens ...
Back issues of Irish Botanical News on the web
3rd March 2010
Since 1991, Irish members of the BSBI have received Irish Botanical News from Brian Rushton each year.
This excellent newsletter brings useful updates from around the country, as well as articles on specific
and general aspects of Irish botany. Back issues up to 2008 are
now available on the BSBI website.
The Irish Grid and Lat/Long conversions
Paul Green has now taken over the editing of the Newsletter. It is one of many good
reasons to belong to the BSBI . . .
24 July 2009
Paul Whelan has recently launched a truly excellent mapping system on his website biology.ie
Locating placenames in Ireland
As well as enabling instant conversions between Irish Grid and Latitude/Longitude co-ordinates,
the site allows you to pan and zoom in google maps and locate a position on satellite images
with extreme precision.
N.B. MS Internet Explorer Users Beware! the browser cannot handle google maps effectively.
link to biology.ie convertor page . . .
20 July 2009
The Placenames Commission (Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs) and Fiontar (DCU) has developed an online database to the Placenames of Ireland. This provides
simultaneous translations in English and Irish and provides four-figure grid references to all the
townlands of Ireland. An invaluable resource for tracking down localities of plants.
The Plant Conservation Network for Ireland
link to logainm.ie here
21 March 2009
A web page for keeping up to date with current plant research in Ireland relevant to the conservation of the Irish Flora
Irish Plant Scientists' Association Meeting (IPSAM) 2009
Visit the Forum pages here . . .
7th February 2009
You are warmly invited to the Irish Plant Scientists' Association
Meeting (IPSAM) 2009 to be held from the evening of Wednesday 18th to
lunchtime of Friday 20th March at Trinity College Dublin. As with all IPSAM
meetings, it is open to anyone working in plant sciences or interested in
plant research in Ireland, from molecular to physiological to
taxonomical and ecological scientists, and everything in between! The
deadline for abstract submission is 20th February, and for early bird
registration 20th February.
Flora of County Waterford published
Further details are available shortly on the Trinity Botany Department website.
26th August 2008
This is the first flora to be written for county Waterford, and a great tribute to Paul Green's meticulous
and thorough fieldwork. Paul Green has spent the past 10 years working on the flora, and it contains detailed
introductory chapters outlining the work involved, some of Paul's favourite botanical walks, a botanical history
of the county and a description of the habitats found in the county. The species accounts give a summary of the status,
ecology, and distribution of 1,530 taxa recorded since 1746. For the majority of species there are tetrad
maps, The National Biodiversity data Centre have launched an interactive Web Flora to coincide with the publication.
Golden-Eye Lichen re-found in Cork
You can inspect an on-line version of the flora here, and order the
flora direct from the National Botanic Gardens here.
30th January 2008
The Golden-Eye lichen has been refound by lichenologist Vince Giavarini during the current Lichen Ireland
Survey. Paul Whelan of Biology.ie has written a short piece on his excellent website.
read more here. . ..
Bryophyte Synonymy list for Ireland
3rd June 2007
A synonymy spreadsheet for the bryophytes of Ireland is now available
ALIEN PLANTS - Target-10 Webpage
This is similar to the spreadsheet for vascular plants produced some years ago.
The spreadsheet will
automatically look up the current name for a taxon and provide the authority, common name and family placement.
Download the spreadsheet here. . .
12th April 2007
Target 10 of Ireland's National Strategy for Plant Conservation aims to put in place management plans for at least 10 major alien species
that threaten plants, plant communities and associated habitats and ecosystems in Ireland.
See here for more details. . .
On-Line Census Catalogue
15th January 2007
An updated census catalogue to the Vascular Flora is now available on-line.
here . . .
A new grass for Ireland
7th April 2006
In May 2005, Tony O'Mahony discovered the diminutive sand-dune grass Mibora minima at Cannawee dune system in West Cork, the first record of this species in Ireland.
New mosses for Ireland
Other coastal plants we have 'yet' to find in Ireland are Ononis reclinata, Rumex rupestris, and Trifolium squamosum.
7th April 2006
Intensive fieldwork by bryologists David Holyoak and Nick Hodgetts over the past few years has yielded a host of new mosses and liverworts for Ireland.
In 2005, David Holyoak described a new species of moss collected at Lough Oughter in Co. Cavan - Ephemerum hibernicum - however, its status as an Irish endemic was short lived after it was discovered in Wales and Spain shortly thereafter.
What is the Irish Botany Newspage ?
National Parks and Wildlife service has contracted these two botanists to conduct rare bryophyte surveys in Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Offaly, Roscommon and Tipperary.
This year they will be surveying Cork and Kerry.
David Long of the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, has also made many valuable contributions while on holidays in the west of Ireland.
See Recent Additions to the Irish Flora for more info on these and other species.
26th October 2005
This webpage is part of the National Strategy for Plant Conservation. Its purpose is to provide a notice board, advertising hoarding, or simply a place to report
news on the Irish Flora and those working with it. It is meant to keep everyone informed of what everyone else is doing.
A new Red Data List for vascular plants in Ireland
Please email me
any stories, observations, corrections, remarks or comments about activities you or your organisation is undertaking (matthew.jebb at opw.ie).
18th October 2005
The Red Data Book for Irish vascular plants is now 21 years old (1988), and the work
needed to update both the information and assess the species on such a list is pressing. A new Red Data List has been drawn up
by Naomi Kingston of the Wildlife Service, and this is available for consultation here.
Feedback and suggestions on this list are being sought as part of a consultative process that we hope will culminate in a gap-analysis
workshop that will take place in the National Botanic Gardens in October 2006.
