Wild Flowers - by Jeroen Willemsen - visit his site for more information. Jeroen has kindly allowed his article on wildflower species in Glencolmcille to be replicated here.

Iris Pseudacorus

Iris are common in damp lowland places, especially close to shore. Unmistakable at any time of year with leaves like an army of green spears thrusting up out of the ground during spring.

Iris generally grows in close stands. Has three large drooping petals and three smaller horizontal ones.

Montbretia (Crocosmia x crocosmiflora)

Montbretia can be found beside streams and in damp places at low altitudes. The flowers orange and red, with a tube widening out into 6 petals, in a one-sided spike. Other features: Grows from roundish corms visible at ground level, which multiply into clumps. Leaves long, like Iris or Gladiolus leaves.

Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

Primroses are very common on grassy banks, rocks, streams and in woods, preferring shady sheltered sites but can often be found in open exposed areas. The main flowering season is from March to late June.

Cottongrass or bog cotton

This is a common sight across the fens and bogs of Ireland. Cottongrass is often referred to bog cotton, due to the presence of three or more white, cotton heads per stem. It grows to about 60cm and inhabits shallow, standing water or wet, boggy (peaty) ground. The long narrow leaves which surround each stem turn from green to red-brown in autumn adding to the bogs overall red hue.

Deergrass (Trichophorum cespitosum)

Deergrass grows in dense tufts, comprising almost solely of rounded stems. These stems lack true leaves and end in a single flower spike which is oval in shape and reddish-brown to yellowish in colour.

Deergrass is common in the drier ridges of raised bogs and mountainous blanket bogs where it can become widespread. It grows to 35 cm and endures grazing and trampling by sheep, cattle and deer as well as fire damage.

Heather - Cross-leaved (Heath Erica tetralix)

This heather can be found on raised and blanket bogs as a low, sprawling shrub. The name cross leaved comes from the arrangement of the leaves in fours along the stem. The small pink flowers appear between June and August in groups of 5 - 15 per stem. Their colour and scent attract the attentions of many flying insects during the summer months and their foliage provides food for grazing animals throughout the year.