A Flora of Rathfarnham Golf Club
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A Flora of Rathfarnham Golf Club. (RMMcMullen) The Chamomile Meadow E of 15th Fairway. (Cornflower, Corncockle, Corn Marigold, Ribbed Melilot, White Melilot and Chamomile together with various grasses) It occurred to me from time to time that some members of RGC might be interested in the diversity of native plants living within the 94 acres which make up our golf course. So, in June 2015 I did a survey of native plants and present this snapshot Flora which I hope may be of interest to some. I stress that this account only deals with native and naturalised plants. Native plants may be loosely defined as plants which made their way back into Ireland after the end of the Ice Age about 10,000 years ago without any deliberate help from man – they simply migrated northwards from warmer climes to the south as the ice retreated. Naturalised plants have been introduced deliberately by man for aesthetic or economic reasons and now live and reproduce quite happily here e.g. Beech, Japanese Knotweed and Rhododendron ponticum. Indeed, R. ponticum is so happy that it is out-competing our native Oaks in Killarney and is regarded as a great pest. Japanese Knotweed, too, is a growing menace to our native plants, colonising most aggressively. Another group of exotic plants introduced by man grow well here but do not for various reasons reproduce and colonise. Most of the splendid trees that were planted to beautify our fairways (Maiden Hair tree, Walnut and various conifers) belong in this category and 1 they are deliberately omitted from this short flora- only native and naturalised species are dealt with here. Nomenclature. The naming of the plants presents difficulties. The scientific names are universal across the world but are largely derived from Latin or Greek and are not widely known to the general public. The problem with English names is that the same plant is called different names in different parts of the country-e.g. Ulex europaeus is called Gorse but also Furze and Whins depending on the locality. Cleavers, Robin-run-the-Hedge, Sticky Back all refer to Galium aparine, the common hedgerow plant whose fruits stick to your dog! In the ‘New Flora of the British Isles- 3rd edition’ by Clive Stace (2010), it is proposed that all species be given a single English name so that there can be no ambiguity e.g. Ulex europaeus will hence forward be called Gorse in English. Whether this takes on with the general public is debateable! However, in this brief Flora I will follow Stace. (I will append at the end a list of the 190 native and naturalised species which occur within the confines of Rathfarnham Golf Club.) Grassland, including Fairways and Greens. The grasses which would grow naturally on well-drained near neutral soils of pH about 7, at this altitude, are Annual Meadow Grass, Yorkshire Fog, Crested Dogstail, Perennial Ryegrass, Common Bent, Cocksfoot, Soft Brome, Red Fescue, Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass and Rough Stalked Meadow grass, Sweet Vernal Grass and False Oat-grass. These species are still there and doing well in the various patches deliberately set aside between fairways and not mown. These oases of natural wild flower meadows are things of some beauty. 2 Wild grass area alongside 11th hole, dominated by Yorkshire Fog (Holcus lanatus) However, for fairways and greens one needs vigorous and finer grasses which can thrive even while being mown very tightly, very often. Most of the grasses mentioned above would be severely set back by such a savage regime and it is a constant battle by Mr Eddie Walsh and his staff to pamper and encourage the vigorous and finer grasses e.g. Perennial ryegrass, Common Bent and Red Fescue mainly. Rosette weeds such as Daisies, Dandelions, Plantains and low creeping plants such Slender Speedwell are ideally suited to invade and survive in tightly mown grassland. (Think of most of our own lawns!) The growing points of these species hide beneath the rotating mower blades and so can recover quickly. We are inclined to take our weed-free fairways and greens for granted but it takes real skill and judgement to maintain a regime of watering, fertilising and weedkilling to produce such uniformly fine fairways and greens. While the fairways and greens take up the bulk of the area of the golf club there is space for a number of habitats with their own distinct assemblage of plants. Ponds. The largest of the ponds, alongside the 14th fairway, has been much reconfigured and most of the fringing aquatic vegetation has been scoured away. Much of the original submerged Stonewort is still in place and colonisation of the fringes has already begun. Small amounts of the following species may be found, mostly on the S. bank and no doubt they will become fully established and will be joined by others. Brooklime Yellow Flag Angelica Meadow Sweet Common Horsetail Soft Brome Clustered Dock Fool’s Watercress Jointed Rush Watercress Hoary Willowherb There are seven other smaller ponds, five of which are connected by short streams and the aquatic vegetation of these is basically similar. The pond S. of the 6th fairway has the biggest fringe of marshy vegetation and over 50 species were recorded here. Rooted in the water or submerged were found Mare’s Tail, Bulrush, Lesser Bulrush, Yellow Flag, Small Pondweed, White Water Lily and Ivy Leaved Duckweed. 3 Iris (Iris pseudacorus), Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) and Watermint (Mentha aquatic) by pond S. of 6th fairway. The marshy surrounds of the pond had the following species. The other ponds linked to the pond above are generally poorer in species mainly because the unstrimmed margins are narrower but a few additional species have gained a foothold e.g. Reed Canary-grass, Cuckooflower, Ragwort, Marsh Foxtail, Small Pondweed, Herb Robert, Rough Stalked Meadow Grass, Common Water-starwort, Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill, Common Mouse-ear, Spear Thistle, Common Sorrel, Jointed Rush, Ox-eye Daisy and Branched Bur-reed. The pond between 6th fairway and 6th green is mown tight to the pond wall and so has no marsh species on that side. Ivy-leaved Duck-weed, Small Pond-weed, Stonewort, Branched Bor-reed and Curled Pond-weed grow submerged. This is the only pond to have Curled Pond-weed. The small pond in front of the 7th tee box has a small population of Common Spotted Orchid on the left hand margin, some Yellow Water-lily and a fine specimen of Branched Bur-reed just opposite of toilet block. Also fringing the pond are four species of Rush, three types of Dock, Angelica, Meadow Sweet and two Sedges. 4 Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii),together with Iris, Meadow Sweet and CommonHorsetail Branched Bur-reed (Sparganium erectum) in pond in front of 7th tee. 5 The ‘Chamomile Meadow’ The ground E of the 15th fairway, alongside the stream, was much disturbed and landscaped. A wild flower mix was sown and it germinated to give a spectacular splash of colour. Corn Cockle, Corn Flower, Corn Marigold, Ribbed Melilot, White Melilot and Chamomile are the principal constituents and it will be interesting to see how they will withstand competition from our native wild plants. A single specimen of a very rare poppy, Papaver hybridum (Rough Poppy), was found and photographed. Did this arise from a long dormant seed brought to the surface by earth movements or was it part of the wild flower mix? The ‘New Flora of the British Isles’(Clive Stace) describes its habitat as ‘arable fields and waste places; formerly widespread in BI except Scotland, now much less common and more or less confined to E and S England on calcareous soils’. The ‘Flora of Co. Dublin’ (Dublin Naturalists Field Club)(1998) has the following entry- ‘Extremely rare. An endangered species in Ireland, legally protected under the Wildlife Act of 1976. The two latest records are from ‘a housing estate to the west of Malahide’ (1985) and ‘still on the margin of a barley field on the Portrane peninsula’ (1985 –‘Still there 2001’). All records for Dublin prior to 1985 are confined to Skerries, Portrane, Sutton, Howth, Raheny, Baldoyle , Portmarnock, and St Douloughs. There are no Dublin records from south of the Liffey. On balance it would seem that its provenance is the wild seed mix but if so, why such a miniscule proportion of the mix? Or, did only one of many such seeds germinate and establish successfully? This poppy is pretty scarce in England too but the seed mix was simply labelled ‘packed in England’ so it might have been harvested from further afield. 6 Rough Poppy ( Papaver hybridum ) with Chamomile (Anthemis austriaca) Disturbed Ground Ground which has been disturbed by human or any other activity- digging, traffic, drainage channels, heavy machinery, pathway construction, etc. - becomes available to plants which soon move in and try to become established. The first colonisers are mostly annual plants whose seeds germinate rapidly, flower and produce seeds all in one year. Indeed, some may produce two or even three generations in the same season. Most also produce vast quantities of seed which are easily trans ported either by means of parachutes e.g. Groundsel, Willow-herbs or else have very small and light seeds which can be transported quite large distances by the wind e.g. Poppy and Bitter Cress. Many of these seeds can remain dormant in the soil for many years only to germinate when the ground is disturbed again. Poppies, Charlock, Wild Turnip, Petty Spurge, Shepherd’s Purse, Ivy Leaved Speedwell, Scarlet Pimpernel and Common Field Speedwell growing on disturbed ground adjacent to the ‘Chamomile Meadow’ most probably arose from seeds brought to the surface by the heavy machinery used to landscape the area.