News from the Botanic Gardens | Irish Botany News | Research Projects | Kilmacurragh News
New Curator at the National Botanic Gardens
The National Botanic Gardens are delighted to welcome Dr. Darach Lupton as the new Curator of the Gardens. Darach was a student at the Gardens from 1995 – 1998; he spent 12 months at the RHS Gardens at Wisley during his placement year in 1996. Finishing at Glasnevin...
An Introduction to the Spring Flowering Plants Project – online talk with Oisín Duffy
This live talk took place on 10 March 2021 Discover how you can become a Citizen Scientist by recording spring flowers, with Oisín Duffy. The Spring Flowering Plants Project is seeking records for 20 easily identifiable wildflowers. Find out how you can take part...
Ireland’s Oceanic Flora: Tales of mosses, liverworts and ferns from the Tropics and the Himalaya – online talk with Rory Hodd
This live talk took place on 03 March 2021 Thanks to its position on the edge of the Atlantic, Ireland has perfect conditions for the growth of a very rich, lush mix of mosses, liverworts and ferns which, within Europe, only grow along the humid oceanic fringe. Many...
A National Seed Bank in the National Botanic Gardens
Plants are fascinating. Even though they surround us and feed us, they often go unseen and unnoticed each day. They even hold the record for the largest and oldest organisms on earth - the largest being a clone of aspen trees and the oldest being a bristle cone pine...
Rhododendron ‘Thomas Acton’ registered with the RHS, March 2020
Very early in the 1860s, some rhododendron seedlings arrived at Kilmacurragh, sent to Thomas Acton by Dr David Moore, Curator of the National (then Royal) Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. The seedlings were a result of a cross between two of Joseph Hooker's Sikkim...
Plant News from the 18th World Wildlife Conference
by Dr Noeleen Smyth, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland Elephants, Giraffes, Sharks, Frankincense, Rosewoods and Malawi Cedars… What do all these have in common? These were some of the plant and animal species discussed at the world wildlife conference also known...
Herbarium in Focus – Exhibition brings to life the power of plants
Herbarium in Focus, a free exhibition in Ireland’s National Herbarium at the National Botanic Gardens was officially opened on Thursday 3rd October 2019 by Office of Public Works (OPW) Commissioner, John McMahon. The purpose of the exhibition is to showcase the key...
Eucalyptus Gall Wasp – an additional threat to Eucalyptus in Ireland
In late June a plant sample came to the Foremen at the National Botanic Gardens for identification of a plant problem. On close examination small galls were identified on the leaves of Eucalyptus gunnii from a suburban garden in Dublin 6. The specimen was placed in a...
Levinge lost treasures – plant specimens which have survived fire and lay undocumented at Irelands National Herbarium
This blog focuses on the discovery of the wealth of Irish and Indian plant specimens collected by Henry (Harry) Corbyn Levinge (1828-1896) rediscovered in the Herbarium here at the National Botanic Gardens. Levinge grew up in Knock Drin Castle in County Westmeath. He...
Irelands National Strategy for Plant Conservation – progress to 2020
The National Botanic Gardens (OPW), in collaboration with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) have carried out a progress report on Ireland’s ability to achieve the 16 Targets outlined in our National Strategy...
Memories of sun, sea and Cottonweed – one of our rarest iconic Irish coastal plant
During the super-hot summer of 2018 we enjoyed Mediterranean weather. Many of us went to the sea to enjoy the heat and unusual sunshine. At the National Botanic Gardens, we undertook an autumnal expedition to see how one of our rarest Irish coastal plants – the Cottonweed – had fared. We discovered that, shockingly, just 12 individuals are left in the one remaining Irish site in Co. Wexford. . .
Flora of County Longford
In 1986 John (Seán) Thomas Howard submitted his MSc Thesis on the The Flora of County Longford. A copy of the manuscript was given to Maura Scannel and has been kept at the National Herbarium ever since. We are very grateful to Seán Howard for giving us...
Irish Bryophyte Group – Field Meetings 2013/2014
The Irish Bryophyte Group welcomes beginners and experts to its field meetings. Joanne Denyer has organised a number of Irish Bryophyte Field Meetings over the winter 2013/2014, to be led by Maurice Eakin, George Smith, Rory Hodd and her good self. All are welcome,...
Flora of County Limerick published
The publication of Sylvia Reynold's Flora of County Limerick is the third flora the Botanic Gardens has published, Sylvia's previous catalogue of the Alien plants of Ireland is also available from the Botanic Gardens bookshop.
Irish Officer for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI)
The BSBI have appointed Maria Long as their first Irish Officer. Maria will co-ordinating their activities in Ireland, supporting the Vice-county recorder network, as well as promoting other national projects. Maria will be based in the herbarium at the National...
Rare Stinkhorn appears in Dublin Garden
The Basket Stinkhorn (Clathrus ruber), has been found in a city garden in Sutton. A relative of the more widely known stinkhorn, the spores of this mushroom are dispersed by flies attracted to the smell of rotting carrion it releases. This is an interesting discovery,...
Irish Pollinator Initiative: Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme
In addition to the honeybee, Ireland has 20 species of bumblebee and 80 species of solitary bees. Half these species are now in serious decline in Ireland. The Irish Pollinator Initiative is about pooling expertise to tackle the problem and develop positive actions. A...
EBESCONet
The European Bryophyte Ex situ Conservation Network is a group of people working on ex situ conservation of Bryophytes. The aim being to develop techniques, disseminate information, identify training requirements and foster collaborations. The webpage has numerous...
Mosses and Liverwort recording in Ireland
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...
A new Crypic network – The Fern, Moss, Liverwort and Lichen conservation network
At the recent Fourth 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...
Back issues of Irish Botanical News on the web
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...
The Irish Grid and Lat/Long conversions
Paul Whelan has recently launched a truly excellent mapping system on his website biology.ie 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...
Locating placenames in Ireland
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...
Irish Plant Scientists’ Association Meeting (IPSAM) 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...
Flora of County Waterford published
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,...
Golden-Eye Lichen re-found in Cork
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.
Ex situ conservation of Trichomanes speciosum (Killarney fern) at the National Botanic Gardens and Kinsealy Teagasc Research Station
Noeleen Smyth (National Botanic Gardens), Sinead Phelan & Gerry Douglas (Teagasc Research Institute, Malahide Road, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin) Trichomanes speciosum, Killarney Fern Trichomanes speciosum Willd (Killarney fern) is a large filmy fern in the...
Bryophyte Synonymy list for Ireland
A synonymy spreadsheet for the bryophytes of Ireland is now available 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...
A catalogue of alien plants in Ireland – now online
Over the last 200 years or so, nearly as many alien plants have been recorded in Ireland as there are native taxa. This catalogue, published in 2002, is the first annotated check-list of the approximately 920 alien plant taxa recorded in Ireland. Catalogue entries...
Irish Fleabane Inula salicina
A community-based conservation project to consolidate and establish new populations of the highly endangered Irish Fleabane. Lough Derg contains the last site in Ireland for the protected plant species Irish Fleabane. To conserve this species and ensure that part of...
Carex buxbaumii – extinct in the wild, but alive in captivity
The National Botanic Gardens has had a long history of involvement in the cultivation of the native flora of Ireland. One of our most remarkable survivors is Carex buxbaumii (Club Sedge). David Moore, Curator of the Gardens from 1838 to 1879, was the original...
Sea Stock – an extinct plant returns
A new educational display of the extinct Irish ‘Sea Stock’ is being established at the National Botanic Gardens as part of its native plant conservation and education programme on the threatened flora of Ireland. In...
New mosses for Ireland
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...
A new grass for Ireland
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. Other coastal plants we have 'yet' to find in Ireland are Ononis reclinata, Rumex rupestris, and...
Global Partnership for Plant Conservation
The National Botanic Gardens Glasnevin hosted the 1st international conference of the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation over four days in October 2005. It was the largest international meeting ever held at the National Botanic Gardens and included 120...
The Wollemi Pine – Wollemia nobilis
Wollemia nobilis was discovered in August 1994 by David Noble, a National Parks and Wildlife Services Officer, in the Wollemi National Park in Sydney's Blue Mountains. Sydney Botanists recognised the plant as belonging to the Monkey Puzzle tree family,...
Encephalartos woodii goes back on show
Encephalartos woodii, one of our most treasured plants, went back on show today after being behind the scenes for the past 3 years with the restoration of the Palm House. It comes from South Africa, and has now been planted in the east wing of the Curvilinear house,...
British and Irish Botanic Gardens adopt Plan to save endangered species of plant
A new plan was developed and adopted by more than 80 delegates from British and Irish botanic gardens meeting this week at Glasnevin, to conserve all the endangered plant species in Britain and Ireland by 2010. Meeting at a major conference hosted by the...
