20 Common Urban Plants in Ireland

20 Common Urban Plants in Ireland Leaflet produced by Phoebe O'Brien based on species seen during a Heritage Week walk in August 2017 Annual Meadow-grass Bramble (Rubus fruticosus) (Poa annua) There are in fact many different species of bramble growing in Ireland but they are very The small Annual Meadow-grass has white hard to tell apart. If you look into the centre looking flowers, with folded hairless leaves of the flower you can see the female which are sometimes wrinkled. This grass reproductive organs, looking like a small can be found in flower all through the year. brush. Each will swell and make a fruit so It has small roots. there will be a cluster of fruits in the blackberry. Bittersweet Butterfly-bush (Buddleia (Solanum dulcamara) davidii) Bittersweet has purple or white flowers Butterfly-bush, has tube-like flowers which with protruding yellow anthers. This plant attract insects. It can spread quickly, and be looks a lot like a potato plant. It is very invasive. Its woody roots can penetrate poisonous and will produce fruits which old stone walls. turn red in late summer. 1 Creeping buttercup Dandelion (Taraxacum spp.) (Ranunculus repens) Similar to the Daisy there are lots of small flowers in the Dandelion, but each is tongue- There are two very common buttercups like rather than star-like. Take one apart and found in towns. Look at the leaves and the look for the pappus, the hairs which will flower stalk to be sure which one you have. make the dandelion clock. The leaves are all The flower stalk of Creeping buttercup is low to the ground in a rosette. ridged but that of the Meadow buttercup is smooth. Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) Daisy (Bellis perennis) Figwort has really square stems and has regularly arranged Everyone knows daisies, but did you know small red flowers. Break a leaf that they are lots of tiny flowers held in one and sniff quickly and you might head? Look closely and you can see the star- catch a funny smell. like top of each floret in the yellow centre. 2 Greater plantain (Plantago major) Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) Greater plantain is one of two Groundsel is another flower in the Daisy very common plantains which family, whose tiny florets have no have strong parallel veins tongues. It flowers year round. It also has through their leaves. Its a pappus so it makes small clocks. The relative Ribwort Plantain has bracts around the flower head have little narrower lance-shaped leaves. black dots. Both have many tiny flowers. Great willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) Herb-Robert (Geranium robertianum) Great willowherb is hairy and tall. Like all willowherbs its Flowers in the Geranium family all have a flower parts are in fours, but strong smell and this is no exception. The this one has a four-lobed five pink-petalled flowers will make a long stigma too. It could be confused beak to catapult the seeds when they are with Rosebay whose bright ripe. To distinguish it from other pink flowers are held in a dense geraniums look at the leaves. Herb-Robert arrangement at the top of the has three main sections to its leaf, each of stem, rather than singly. which is lobed. 3 Ivy-leaved toadflax Pellitory-of-the-wall (Cymbalaria muralis) (Parietaria judaica) Look closely at the small flowers; they have This plant has such insignificant flowers a yellow and white furry throat and a spur. that it is almost unnoticed but it grows When they make a seed they will sense and prolifically on walls around towns. Once turn away from the light so that they plant you recognise its leaves you will see it the seed back into the wall. everywhere. It is a relative of nettles and the common garden escape Mind-your- own-business. Nettle (Urtica dioica) Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber) Nettles have separate male and female plants. If you are brave look closely with a Red Valerian is a non-native plant which hand lens to see the tiny flowers, seeds on like Butterfly-bush likes to grow into old female plants and stinging hairs which are stone work, and sometimes breaks it! Take nearly bigger than the flowers. off one individual flower and you will see a tiny spur or pouch which can fill with nectar. 4 Shepherd's-purse (Capsella Smooth Sow-thistle bursa-pastoris) (Sonchus oleraceus) Shephard’s-purse is one of many small Unlike the dandelion Sow-thistles have annual and biennial members of the several flower heads and leaves up their Cabbage family commonly found in cracks stalks. The stalks are tall and hollow but in the pavement or in flowerbeds. They all have latex if you break them. Their florets have four white petals but this one is easy are quite pale yellow and sometimes their to recognise because it has heart-shaped leaves become purple. The Smooth Sow- seedpods. thistle has no hairs or spikes. Silverweed (Potentilla anserina) White clover (Trifolium repens) Silverweed leaves look like feathers, but hunt around and Did you know that White clover you may find a flower which is in the pea family? So too are looks like a buttercup. Turn it plants like Gorse/Furze. Their over and you will see that they flowers have a big upper petal have twice the number of sepals called the standard, two small as petals, a feature often seen in petals to each side called the the Rose family. wings and a fused boat like keel that contains the reproductive parts. Photographs: P. O’Brien and C. Seale Supported by the Heritage Council To learn more visit www.bsbi.org/ireland @BSBIbotany . BSBI Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland - Irish section 5 .

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