Spring has sprung and it is time to properly venture outside again. Whether this involves going for an evening walk in your local park or for long hikes on the mountains or in woodlands, you will always come across some flowers. This is why I decided to give you a little summary of plants that are starting to flower and are easily identified.
The plant that signals spring to me is Lesser Celandine. It starts flowering as early as December and lets me know the worst of the winter is over. I love its yellow star-like flowers. If you look closely at its flowers, which have 8-12 petals, you will see they are darker yellow in the centre and reflect light. This is due to the presence of starch grains underneath the surface reflecting light. Its leaves are dark green, fleshy and heart-shaped. This plant can be found mainly in woodlands, but I have found it underneath trees at the side of a road and in many park around Dublin.
In the last two weeks a lot of tree buds are starting to burst into leaf. Horse chestnuts are one of the earliest to leaf and the earliest to lose their leaves. As the leaves unfold, you can also see the flower stem and buds emerging. To me they look a little like baby birds emerging from their eggs, stretching their wings. Just when the leaves have fully expanded, the tree starts to flower. They are like little candelabras and are usually white with a hint of pink. Usually they are in full flower around May, but I’ve already seen one starting to flower.
Another tree that is starting to show signs of spring is Blackthorn. It flowers on bare branches, before the leaves, which are oval and toothed, come out. This tree can be seen all around the country. The whole tree is a mass of white flowers. Once you look close up, you can see the brilliant white five petalled flowers with many stamen protruding from the centre of the flowers.
Wood sorrel has white, bell-shaped flowers with pink, nearly see-through veins and a golden centre. Its leaves are a classic shamrock shape: three heart-shaped leaflets which fold at night. They are usually found in old woodlands. I found this plant in flower on both Killiney Hill and in Cabinteely Park.
Gorse flowers almost all year round, but February to May is its peak flowering period. The spiky shrubs are covered in yellow pea flowers which smell like bounty bars to me (some people say it smells of coconut or vanilla). A good place to see gorse is on Rochestown Hill.
Primroses can be found in ditches and damp woodlands. They have crinkled leaves and pale yellow flowers with 5 petals and a darker centre; each flower emerging from the base of the plant on its own stalk. They can have two different types of flowers, thrum eyed or pin eyed. Thrum eyed flowers have their stamen above the stigma, whereas in pin eyed flowers this is the other way around. This picture shows the difference perfectly. Photo credit.
Ramsons- These are sometimes called wild garlic. They are only showing long broad leaves at the moment. In the next week or so they will start flowering in globular clusters of white, star-shaped flowers. Ramsons are usually found in patches in deciduous woods and can be identified by the smell of garlic when you pass them or if in doubt, crush or pick a leaf; the garlic smell will give you a good idea it is wild garlic. It can be used in cooking and especially wild garlic pesto. You have to be 100% sure you have identified it correctly though, as lily of the valley also has similar leaves (without the garlic scent) which are highly toxic if eaten. Another plant that looks a little like it, and grows in the same habitat, is the poisonous lords-and-ladies, which has arrow-shaped leaves, but the young leaves can look similar enough to ramsons. To tell them apart, look at the vein pattern on the leaves; ramsons have parallel veins, lords-and-ladies have a net of veins. And smell the leaves, if its garlicky, it is more than likely ramsons. There is lots of ramsons in Shanganagh Park.
Three cornered garlic is another plant in the garlic family. Unlike ramsons, three-cornered-garlic isn’t native, it was introduced about 300 years ago. It is edible and adds a lovely garlic flavour to any dish. It has long three-sided leaves, hence the name. Its white flowers are bell shaped with with a green line running down the tepals. It can be found in many parks including Marlay Park and Killiney Hill.
Alexanders are one of the first umbelifers to flower and easily distinguished from the rest. Apart from the flowering time, you can identify it by its glossy green leaves and yellow, nearly green flowers, which smell like wild celery. This is not a native plant and was believed to be introduced into Ireland by Alexander the Great, hence the name. It is now naturalised and can be found along many beaches and coastal areas.
Colt’s foot flowers look like dandelion flowers when you initially see them. They are in the same family (the daisy family). If you look closely you can see a difference in flower structure: Dandelions only have ray florets, whereas colt’s foot has ray florets (outer ones) and disc florets (inner ones). They are easily distinguished from dandelions by looking at the flower stem; Colt’s foot flowers have pinkish brackets, like little triangular sheaths, on the flower stem. If you look carefully you might see the shield shaped leaves starting to appear. These usually appear after the flowers open.
Wood anemone is a very delicate little woodland flower. There are various anemones which can be found in woodlands around Ireland, but this is the only native one. It has 6-7 white petal-like sepals, making it easy to tell apart from the non-native White Anemone (Anemone appenina var. albiflora) which has 9-15 sepals and is found in the same habitat. The leaves of wood anemone are deeply lobed and a whorl of three leaves can often be found on the flowering stem. I found this example in St. Anne’s Park, Raheny.
If you want to know more about any of these flowers, feel free to send me any questions or even pictures of plants you would like help identifying. You can also come on one of my walks to learn more or ask me questions in person.
Wildflower Walks Ireland 