Search Results ... (626)
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Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)
Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)
Colour photograph of the Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea) wild flower found on the grassland dunes of Bull Island, Dublin. Common centaury usually has a tall erect stem, up to 50 cm, branching into many flowerheads in a terminal cyme, forming a rather flat umbel. Oval leaves form a basal rosette and are then in opposite pairs on the stem. Flowers are 10-12 mm across with five pointed pink petals joined in a tube at the base with five narrow pointed green sepals. The fruit capsule is long and slender, holding many tiny rounded seeds. Common centaury is very visible across all the dune areas all summer. Flowers: June-October
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde
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Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria)
Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria)
Colour photograph of the Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) wild flower found on the grassland dunes of Bull Island, Dublin.
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde
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Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)
Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)
Colour photograph of the Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) wild flower found on the grassland dunes of Bull Island, Dublin. The pyramidal orchid of the dune grasslands is easily recognized by its dense pyramid spike of flowers in pink tones to deep crimson. Like all orchids, each flower has three sepals and three petals. The two lateral or side sepals are spreading, while the top sepal and upper petals form a tight hood. The lower petal has three broad blunt lobes and there is a long pointed spur. The stem is slender and erect to about 30-45 cm. Unstalked leaves clasp the stem, getting shorter and narrower as they go higher up. The seed capsule splits open to release numerous dust-fine seeds, but it can take up to seven years for the seed to form a flowering stem after germination. Flowers: June-July
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde
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Lesser Centaury (Centaurium pulchellum)
Lesser Centaury (Centaurium pulchellum)
Lesser Centaury is a quite rare plant found on the Bull Island in the grassland dunes and on the salt marsh where this speciman was photographed. It differs from the more robust common centaury in several respects. Lesser centaury is a much smaller plant than common centaury, seldom being more than 10 cm high. Its branching stems are also less crowded, holding only a few loose flowerheads. The smaller 5-petaled tubular pink flowers are about 8 mm across and are distinctly stalked, unlike the larger unstalked flowers of common centaury. The flower tube extends beyond the five pointed green sepals. There is no basal rosette of leaves, only the paired oval stem leaves. Fruit is a cylindrical capsule holding tiny round seeds. Flowers: June-August
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde
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Common Spotted-Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
Common Spotted-Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
Colour photograph of the Common Spotted-Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) wild flower found on the grassland dunes of Bull Island, Dublin.
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde
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Biting Stonecrop (Sedum acre)
Biting Stonecrop (Sedum acre)
Colour photograph of the Biting Stonecrop (Sedum acre) wild flower found on the grassland dunes of Bull Island, Dublin. Its hot tasting leaves give the name to biting stonecrop, or wall pepper as it is also known. On the Bull Island it can be found forming a green mat on the top or edges of the moss-covered dunes. Biting stonecrop has numerous short stalks, some completely covered with the unstalked overlapping fleshy green leaves, others ending in clusters of bright yellow, star-shaped flowers about 15 mm across. Five short blunt green sepals enclose the five pointed yellow petals spread out in a star shape. There are ten prominent yellow stamens. The fruits are five pointed dry pods spread out in a star shape, which opens from the top to release the many seeds. Flowers: June-July
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde
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Eyebright (Euphrasia)
Eyebright (Euphrasia)
Colour photograph of the Eyebright (Euphrasia) wild flower found on the grassland dunes of Bull Island, Dublin. Eyebright is a distinctive small herb, partly parasitic on other plant roots, which is found amidst the shorter dune grasses. Its erect purplish stems branch from the base to a height of 10-30 cm. Leaves are small, oval and a shiny dark green. They are unstalked, sharply toothed, and in opposite pairs on the lower stem and alternately near the stem top. Four pointed green sepals clasp the flower tube which opens into a two-lipped white or violet flower with a distinctive yellow throat. The upper hooded lip is 2-lobed and the lower lip opens out into three deeply indented spreading lobes. As its name implies, eyebright was used in folk medicine for treatment of eye ailments. Flowers: July-Sept.
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde
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Kauri Pine
Kauri Pine
Photograph of Agathis Australis, New Zealand
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Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris)
Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris)
COMMON MILKWORT (Polygala vulgaris) This short branching plant looks like a blue and green carpet spread across the short dune grasses of Bull Island, Dublin. The many woody stems angle upwards and have smooth glossy green leaves, oval at base and spear-shaped higher up the stem. Sepals of milkwort are distinctive: there is an outer set of three small green sepals and then an inner set of two wide flat deeply blue ones. These are rather like a pair of wings enclosing the flower tube of three fused blue petals. The centre petal is fringed and whitish at the tip and protrudes beyond the blue sepal “wings.” The fruit is a two celled heart-shaped flattened capsule hidden by the sepals. Flowers: May-August
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde
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Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)
Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)
YELLOW RATTLE (Rhinanthus minor) Clusters of yellow rattle spread across the dune grasslands of Bull Island, Dublin at a height of about 30 cm. They are conspicuous firstly for their lovely yellow flowers and then later for their brownish papery seed rattles. Yellow rattle has a sturdy black spotted stem and paired dark green leaves which are sharply toothed and 10-15 mm long. There is a lighter green triangular toothed bract under each flower on the loose spike. The calyx is a pale green tube, veined and partially inflated, with the bright yellow flower projecting at the tip. Two joined petals form the upper lip of the flower and the shorter lower lip is 3-lobed. Seeds form in a rounded capsule surrounded by the increasingly inflated calyx which turns red-brown. When the seeds are ripe, they break loose and form the rattle inside the calyx. This flower is becoming increasingly rare in hedgerows but is very plentiful on the island. Flowers: April-August
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde