Examples of Plant Entries

Under each species in the body of this work is first shown the specific name and any other synonyms, and the trivial name, if any. The next line shows, in order : 1.Status- native or otherwise; 2.The type of station in which the species is to be found; 3. Frequency; 4. Lifetime of species; 5. Flowering period. Marked soil affinities are inserted, where necessary, in CAPITALS between (4) and (5).In the case of the commoner plants no further details are given, and in these it may be assumed that they are to be found throughout the County. In rarer species stations are fully quoted, though of course it is seldom possible to go into detail

NOMENCLATURE:

The scientific names used are based on the eleventh edition of the "London Catalogue of British Plants", and the synonyms are mentioned when these are necessary to correlate the species in the present work with those of the second edition of "Cybele Hibernica".

TRIVIAL NAMES:

These have been cut down to a minimum, and only those in common usage have been accepted. Local names exist in hundreds: to collect them would be labour wastedas they vary from county to county and even from parish to parish.

STATUS OF SPECIES:

Natives-Species which are apparently aboriginal, with no reason to suppose that they have been introduced by humanagency.

Denizens-Species which maintain their existence without human aid, but suspected of having been introduced by the agency of man.

Colonists-Weeds of ivation and waste ground, usually found in "unnatural" habitats.

Aliens- Species probably of foreign origin, now often well established among native plants.

TYPES OF STATIONS:

Here only the most usual types of ground on which a species is to be looked for can be given, for the power of adaption in most plants is great. If a species cannot find its ideal habitat , it will "make do" with the nearest substitute. Thus the Scalefern, in County Wicklow, cannot find the limestone rock it requires, so it utilises the mortar of old walls; plants of shingle banks find an excellent substitute in railway ballast; and the granite freestone shores of a mountain tarn form a habitat for a few of those species which are most at home on a sand-dune.

FREQUENCY:

I must admit that the statistical method of showing frequency can be thoroughly unsatisfactory, and only a general indication can be given. The figures for the Districts may be very misleading at first sight, for an otherwise rare species may be found in great abundance in one place. For instance, Papaver hybridum is recorded in three Baronies, and Papaver Argemone in two only, yet the first is confined to half a dozen places where anything from a single plant to a dozen or so may be found, whereas the latteris so common along the length of the Murroughthat there are probably ten thousand plants in the County for every one of the former.

LIFETIME OF SPECIES:

Annuals are plants which flower only once from the same root, and do not survive the winter.Winter Annuals are those which flower only once from the same root, but live through the winter.Biennials are those which spend their first summer storing food in the roots, live through the winter, and produce their flowers and seeds in their second year.Perennials are those which produce flower and seed in at least two successive years from the same roots.