Dewberry

The dewberries are a group of species in the genus Rubus, section Rubus, closely related to the blackberries.  Unlike Blackberries they have separate male and female plants. Dewberries are common throughout most of Connemara and are mainly in dry grassland, hedgerows and in sandy places.     The fruits of this plant are edible.  The berries are sweet and edible. They can be eaten raw, or used to make cobbler, jam, or pie.  The blackberry-like fruits have less drupes or individual segments than those of Bramble but each segment is larger than on that plant.  They also have a blue-silver bloom like that on the Sloes of the Blackthorn plant.

Carrageen

It is a species of red algae which grows along the rocky parts of the Atlantic coast of Europe and North America.  It is found growing on rock from the middle intertidal zone into the subtidal zone.  When softened in water it has a sea-like odour and because of the abundant cell wall polysaccharides it will form a jelly when boiled. The jelly can hold 20 to 100 times its weight of water. Carrageen is common all around the shores of Ireland and Great Britain and can also be found along the coast of Europe including Iceland, the Faroe Islands, western Baltic Sea to southern Spain. It is found on the Atlantic coasts of Canada and has been recorded from California in the United States to Japan.  It is an industrial source of carrageenan, which is used as a thickener and stabilizer in milk products such as ice cream and processed foods, including lunch meat.  In Europe, it is indicated as  E numbers  E407 or E407b.  It is used in Asia for gelatine-like desserts, such as almond jelly.  In Ireland and Scotland it is boiled in milk and strained, before sugar and other flavourings such as vanilla, cinnamon, brandy or whisky are added. The end-product is a kind of jelly similar to pannacotta, tapioca, or blancmange.  In Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago it is boiled with cinnamon and milk to make a thick drink called Irish Moss that is believed to be an aphrodisiac.  In Venezuela it has been used as a home remedy for sore throat and chest congestion, boiled in milk and served with honey before bed.  Carrageen is commonly used as a clarifying agent in the process of brewing (beer), particularly in home brewing. A small amount is boiled with the wort, attracting proteins and other solids, which is then removed from the mixture after cooling.

Bracken

Abundant and sometimes very invasive on acidic moorland, pastures, open woods. Difficult to eradicate and can be poisonous to livestock if eaten in quantity. Bracken is a fern. It is deciduous and releases its spores in July / August.

Bog Cotton

Bog cotton  is a species of sedge. It is often found on peat or acidic soils, in open bog, wetland, heath or moorland. It begins to flower in April or May and then develop distinctive white seed-heads that look like tufts of cotton. Bog cotton fibres are brittle and not suitable for textiles but they have been used as a substitute in the production of paper, pillows, candle wicks, and wound-dressings. The plant is edible and has a reputation for being effective in treating digestive problem.

Bluebell

A native woodland  flower is to be seen from April each year . These  bulbous perennials have fleshy, glossy,  linear  leaves  which are  keeled and come from the root.   At the tip of the leaves is a little hood. The long  racemes or  spikes of four-to-fifteen, drooping, tubular, purplish-blue  flowers  are one-sided, the leafless stems curving over gracefully.  Bluebells bloom from April to May. The  fruits are egg-shaped  capsules with black seeds.   This is a  native  plant belonging to the family Asparagaceae.  Each native bluebell flower (14-20mm long) has cream  anthers and six backward curving  lobes.   The latter point makes it easily distinguished from its competitor, the  hybrid,   -  Hyacinthoides x massartiana  -  between the introduced Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica)  and our  native  Bluebell. This  hybrid  has non-curving  lobes and also differs in that its flowers are not in a one-sided  spike. The  anthers in the  hybrid  are blue. Bluebells bloom from April to May. The  fruits are egg-shaped  capsules with black seeds.   This is a  native  plant belonging to the family Asparagaceae.  

Blackthorn

Spiny shrub of roadside and hedgerow, blackthorn forms dense scrub cover where it is left untrimmed and ungrazed. It bears dense clusters of small white flowers, which contrast with the dark bark of its twigs, very early in the year. Blackthorn hedges can appear to be covered in white. After the flowers, the small oval leaves appear, and then in autumn the harvest of sloes develops. These look like small damsons, but are very sour and are not eaten directly by people, although birds take them. Sloes have traditionally been used for flavouring gin or poteen.  The use of blackthorn wood is mainly decorative, for example the manufacture of shillelagh walking sticks and tourist souvenirs.

BlackBerry

The blackberry is common in Connemara.  The bush is characterized by its, prickly stems, leaves with usually three or five oval, coarsely toothed, stalked leaflets, many of which persist through the winter, white, pink, or red flowers in terminal clusters  and black or red-purple fruits with numerous drupelets adhering to a juicy core. Bramble or Blackberry comes in many forms   to  possibly several hundreds of micro species .  Blackberries are a fairly good source of iron and vitamin C. They have high nutritional contents of dietary fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K, folic acid (a B vitamin), and the essential mineral manganese.  They are eaten fresh in August and September.  (Folklore in the United Kingdom holds that blackberries should not be picked after Old Michaelmas Day (11 October) as the devil has claimed them, having left a mark on the leaves by urinating or spitting on them. There is some value behind this legend as wetter and cooler weather often allows the fruit to become infected by various moulds such as Botryotinia which give the fruit an unpleasant look and may be toxic).  Blackberries can be used  in preserves, conserves, jams, or jellies, baked goods, particularly cobblers and pies. Good nectar producers, blackberry shrubs bearing flowers yield a medium to dark, fruity honey. One US report placed blackberries were placed  at the top of more than 1000 antioxidant foods. They are known to contain polyphenol antioxidants, naturally occurring chemicals that can regulate certain beneficial metabolic processes in mammals. The astringent blackberry root is sometimes used in herbal medicine as a treatment for diarrhoea and dysentery. The seeds contain some oil which is rich in omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid) and -6 fats (linoleic acid), as well as some protein, dietary fibre, carotenoids, ellagitannins and ellagic acid.

Barna Woods

 Barna Woods are located 1 km east of Barna. Owned and managed by Galway City Council.   Barna wood is an old woodland. An 1830s ordnance survey map show its extent similar to the present day. The woods provides a valuable amenity resource for residents and visitors. Barna wood has a particularly high ecological value because it is linked to other habitats of high conservation importance on an international scale, as part of the Galway Bay Complex, Special Area of Conservation.  This conservation area covers marine and coastal habitats, as well as the mixed broad leaved woods.

Ash

Ash is the commonest tree in Irish hedgerows, and is also a traditional woodland species.
Ash is one of the last trees to come into leaf and is one of the first to lose its leaves in autumn. The seeds are clumps of winged keys. The pale dense timber makes good firewood and is also used for hurley sticks, snooker cues and furniture.

Ash Dieback disease (Chalara fraxinea) was confirmed in Ireland in October 2012 (on plants imported from continental Europe). As of 31 October 2014, there have been a total of 143 confirmed findings of the disease located throughout the country including four positive findings in nearby hedgerows.

What is it? Ash die back is a serious disease of ash trees caused by the fungal pathogen Chalara fraxinea (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus). It has spread rapidly across much of Europe. The disease can affect ash trees of any age and in any setting. The disease can be fatal, particularly among younger trees.   What does it look like? The wide range of symptoms associated with ash die back includes: * foliage wilt  to  black/brown leaves may be retained; * shoot die back with brownish to orange discolouration, often multiple shoots; and, * elongated angular stem lesions, often diamond shaped.  How can it spread? Many details associated with the biology of Chalara fraxinea still remain unclear. However, it is likely that plants for planting and wood are pathways for spread over long distances and the disease may be introduced into Ireland through the imports of ash plants and wood, including firewood, from continental European countries. What to do? Forest and land owners are asked to be vigilant for the disease and to report (with photographs, if possible) any sites where they have concerns about unusual ill health in ash, to the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: by email (forestprotection@agriculture.gov.ie); or, by phone (01-607 2651).  Please do not remove any plant material from a site containing suspect trees. Also, please observe the following hygiene measures on sites where the disease is suspected or where an ash survey is being carried out to help avoid its potential spread: * footwear: wash off all soil and plant debris from boots. Spray your boots with disinfectant and dispose of any used water onto an area where the water will not run into a watercourse. * clothing: check all clothing for any plant material. * tools and equipment: wash off all soil and plant debris, and disinfect and dispose of any used water onto an area where the water will not run into a watercourse. When visiting a forest: * do not remove any plant material from the site. * clean clothes and footwear of any plant material, including leaves, before leaving the forest.

Aspen

The one definitely native poplar is aspen (all other poplars are assumed to have been introduced).  Aspen will grow into a full sized tree. The leaves make a distinctive sound as they rattle gently in the wind, and they have a sweet smell in the spring. Aspen can be found in wet areas and around lake edges such as in Glenveagh, Co. Donegal. Poplars produce seeds on catkins, but also spread by suckers i.e. new shoots growing up from the roots. It is easiest to propagate aspen by cutting through roots and transplanting a sucker. A warning should be given about planting aspen in damp sites with good soil. They sucker very readily and may spread too far, taking over too great an area.