A Trip to the Burren
The temperature was touching on 24ºC at this stage so vigorous climbing was not on my mind. My son was scaling the rugged slopes like some sure-footed mountain goat, and not much interested in the plants, but I contented myself with browsing the lower slopes.
The Burnet rose, Rosa Pimpinelliflora, was quite abundant and still sporting a few flowers mixed with the Hazel, Corylus avellana, and Stone Bramble, Rubus saxatilis, already producing lots of nice red berry's.
On the flat terraces not far from the road, large areas were covered with Mountain avens, Dryas octopetala; these had formed a beautiful picture in full bloom when I visited this spot in early summer. Now alas, even the beautiful fluffy flower heads had disappeared, dispersed in the wind to form new colonies for future generations to admire. A few plants of the Carline Thistle, carlina vulgaris, were scattered about the place among a large stand of Harebells, Campanula rotundifolia.
The abundance of orchids that grow on the Burren had nothing to show at this time but dead stocks, and the few that flower late in the season are not as plentiful and requires a dedicated search. Having visited the Burren every year to see the spring Gentians, Gentiana verna, and to search for the white form that I have been informed grows near Black Head, but which I have never found. I thought that I would make a quick search for the autumn gentian,Gentianella amarella. Back to the car and a short drive to the east where this plant is supposed to grow. This is a wetter area with much more hazel scrub intermingled with Potentilla, Potentilla fruticosa, St, Johns Wort, Hypericum pulchrum, and the Guelder Rose, Viburnum opulus. Bell Heather, Erica cinerea, and the common ling, culluna vulgaris, cover large areas where pockets of peaty soil had gathered in the holes in the rocks. But alas no Gentian; maybe gentians don't like me for some reason.
Back towards Blackhead and the little restaurant at Ballyvaughan, as some refreshments was now on the cards after expending all that energy. This little restaurant has a nice alpine garden and a view across the harbour into Galway Bay.
Lots of discussion among the patrons about the weather and how the plants were getting confused, with rain all summer, and then high temperatures in the middle of September. Never mind the plants I said, it is we who are confused, the
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