On the banks of the Crooked Lake

On the banks of the Crooked Lake

Recently, I explored the botanical habitats around Camloch in South Armagh

There is a great deal of life outside right now. Our wildflowers are out and going through their seasonal succession, and even late-leafing trees such as oak and ash are now in flower and starting to leaf.

On the eastern bank of Camloch, the reality of Spring is very evident. Tucked under the soon-to-flower hawthorn, greater stitchwort, a beautiful and delicate white star-shaped flower, grows in abundance. Thick blackthorn thicket, coloured green, blue and purple with the combination of moss and lichens on the branches, and the wildflowers seeking refuge underneath. Blackthorn thicket is renowned for being essentially impenetrable, especially for large herbivores. It is in this dense thorniness that a tree nursery can exist. Hawthorn saplings rise happily despite deep shade, and bluebells, wood sorrel and primroses brighten up the understory.

Blackthorn thicket gives way to more open hazel stands, which were probably much more extensive historically. Under these more open conditions, other plants associated with ancient soils can be found including barren strawberry, pignut and yellow pimpernel. Such variety in an unassuming piece of ‘scrub’. I also spotted a lovely queen garden bumblebee (Bombus hortorum) foraging on the primrose.

Small streams that filter their way downhill toward the loch are interesting interfaces between terrestrial, semi-aquatic and aquatic plants. The huge moss Fontinalis antipyretica (characterised by strongly keeled leaves on stems more than 15cm long – Ireland’s largest aquatic moss) waved within the small stream which was buffered by a huge mound of blinks (Montia fontana). Where the stream became more shaded from old overhanging May trees, the semi-aquatic and common liverwort Chiloscyphus polyanthos textured the in-stream rocks and pebbles with ruffles of lime green.

At a different site, on the now disused grounds of St Jude’s Church just outside Camloch village, I spotted two stunning wildflowers that I do not see often. Cowslips (Primula veris) and Red Campion (Silene diocia). It is within the walls of this roofless church that certain species can survive, away from constant mowing which would otherwise kill them off before their peak glory in Spring. It is a beautiful site, but one that is increasingly rare and I hope to change that in the Newry area by encouraging people to mow less. Church grounds are a perfect way to do this, since they are largely undisturbed.

Image: Yellow Pimpernel growing under hazel stand

Image: Fontinalis antipyretica growing in a small stream