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a new departure for us but still with a focus on Ireland’s Wild orchids. Roscommon is almost universally limestone and is part of the large midland low lying plain of central Ireland with the Shannon River marking its eastern edge. A tall, narrow, county that makes up for its lack of height by a huge variety of Limestone and Bog country. Today we are studying a slightly elevated area of limestone south of Strokestown and west of Athlone This features many of the structures and erosion patterns so many of us know from The Burren in County Clare. Here in Roscommon these features are often buried under rough pasture or wild woodland like the hazel woods in among the karst hills of Clare.Today we are visiting Dysart and more particularly, Killeglan Special Area of Conservation. We have come to live
in Roscommon in recent years and have slowly come to appreciate its landscape and large views stretching into
the midlands. Killeglan is one these sites and has long been protected as part of a limestone countryside partially
emerging from a thin coat of soil..
Wonderful forgotten Roscommon places
Roscommon, is one of Ireland’s larger inland Counties. Hence no sea, no saltwater shores, few cliffs but a very varied and rich flora and fauna thriving on Limestone uplands with many SACs (Special Areas of Conservation, and other specific Nature Protection projects.
WildWest records and celebrates Nature, Habitat, Scenery on the western seaboard of Europe bringing you reports on how our wild communities (plants, animals,
insects etc) are surviving in Ireland and other western extremes.
6th June 2021
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Two groups of orchids growing separately. Two species. The
one on the Left is a Green Winged Orchid with its ‘cousins’ the
Early Prurple Orchid
Orchid Species
Early Purple
(Orchis mascula)
A very familiar early
orchid with its spotted
leaves and early
flowers identifying it
as an Early Purple
Orchid
Plant (RIGHT) is the
Green-winged Orchid
(Anacamptis morio)
Recognisable with
plain sturdy pure
green leaves. The spur
is largely horizontal
whereas the Early
Purple has an upward
pointing spur.
The identity of the
plant is clinched by the
green striped upper
sepals on the ‘hood’
over each flower.
A Charming Exotic.. Dense-flowered Orchid Neotinea maculata
But, NOW, an even more elusive and exotic plant. This one was recorded from this site in 2016 and, maybe, after that? It is typical of The Burren, probably its main haunt in Ireland. It does not occur in Britain but is ‘native’ to the warmer Mediterranean region so its occurrence in Roscommon, and in Ireland in general, makes this a very rare and unique part of our biodiversity.. Hence its familiar description as ‘’’ the Irish Orchid”. It is specifically a plant of dry limestone areas such as The Burren and Killeglan.
Location and Association:
Very near to where we park the car there is a water feature on the opposite (karst) side of the road. This is a dry valley (BELOW LEFT) with steep curving bouldery sides indicating strong flows of water at certain times, though we have never seen it except totally dry and hot. The bottom of the channel is only 1 to 2m wide, flat, and with a continuous cover of very short grass. This and the limestone environment is just the same as the facies in which it occurs in The Burren. Even there, though, it occurs in large numbers spread over a wide are of gently sloping sun-facing limestone pavement again with tightly cropped grass areas in between the bare karst limestone and the few bushes that survive in the more sheltered areas. The conditions at Killeglan, also, seem to meet the very specific needs of this species.Habitat and Occurrence:
We only found one specimen here to make this species’ rarity even more pronounced. Orchids produce abundant seed and this is dispersed by wind. Presumably this is how our specimen arrived in this specialised nook — though the role of water must not be ignored either? This site borders the road frontage of Killeglan SAC. It is the end of a steady slope leading towards that boundary road. The erosion and the size of the complex suggests that this ‘water feature’ can handle and disperse considerable quantities of water during times of flash flooding? How this little orchid survives these conditions may be due to small boulders crossing the channel and a dense mat of short grass throughout the area. This feature is not indicated on the Geology Survey of Ireland map nor are there any other water features reported from the SAC indicating that this area of conservation is a small area of uplift in the limestone. Water features abound outside the SAC and water tracing shows water movement underground from higher limestone features to the south east, particularly a quarry. The dryness of this habitat and its ability to cater with heavy rain are comparable to the way The Burren karst runs water away underground. These geographical features may pose a possible reason as to why this exotic little orchid survives here and in Clare and a few other places in Ireland but not in Britain — where karst features are rarer? Of course, we could have missed many more. Our purpose here was to record the the occurrence of Green-winged Orchids in the SAC over recent years. That involved much fieldwork and smaller orchids could easily have been missed during the process.
Topography:
This SAC site is well chosen; its raised stony profile is unusual for the Midlands
though there are some similar plots outside the defined SAC. West of the site are
boglands and the callows before the R. Suck is reached. This plays a major part in
draining this central part of Ireland but Killeglan rises steeply from the river level
up to about 130m. at the highest point in this SAC. Altitude often plays an
important role as to where elusive orchids may, or may not, occur. Orchids like the
Dense-flowered can be evident from 50m up to 300m (in The Burren). Another
similar orchid, the Small White Orchid, seems to specialise in altitudes of 250 -
300m. in Cavan, Sligo and Clare. This distribution might suggest opportunity and
vulnerability. Wind feeding dispersal of seed and grassy nooks providing the
opportunity. Dells with a rich lime content provide the shelter and the nutrients
these plants need!
Features:
The Arrow in the photograph (ABOVE) shows the location where this specimen
grew. In mid channel, just behind a row of 5 small ‘stepping stones’. If you visit the
site this rocky feature stands out and provides the easiest way of entering the area.
The feature can be seen on online aerial photographs about 100m south of a gate
between two green (reclaimed) fields.
Climb to the top of the highest mound and notice the various channels. The one
shown here runs north east and drains through a small sump around the corner.
We suspect the 5 stones around the orchid may well survive temporary flooding
and this means of placing a record is far more accurate than any GPS. (Most
naturalists now carry digital cameras; upload this image to your camera and refer
to it when you are on site. (Or, contact us for further information.)
Associates:
In The Burren Mountain Avens are often associated with
the Dense-flowered Orchid. Just as in Killeglan Cowslips are
often associated with Green Winged orchids. If you go to
south Roscommon in mid May look out for those glorious
clumps of Cowslips right across the fields or in swathes
under trees. Is this Wall Rue a site marker too?
The Wall Rue fern (Asplenium ruta-muraria) is associated
with very dry stony limestone mounds — either natural or
man-made. These mounds have no soil and consequently
attract drought resistant plants that can survive in arid hot
niches where more leafy plants would quickly die.
Why record the Green Winged Orchids?
Green Winged Orchid was once widespread and common in traditional farming Ireland. But intensification and improvement has made meadows more lush and this has marginalised this species of Orchid. Of course such farming has benefited Ireland’s agriculture and our well being. But, thankfully there are pockets, such as this one, where various factors have combined to make it more practical to set aside an area for nature rather than clear the land… These pockets will form a link across the country where vulnerable species can survive. These sites are owned and cared for by farmers.Aerial View of Killeglan Special Area of Conservation.
Observations on Orchid Distribution 14th and 19th May 2021 at Killeglan
If we draw a line from the parking place, at the top right of image, diagonally
south westwards across the site we cover the major part of the Green-winged
Orchid distribution here. Areas east of the red and yellow walls were largely
fruitless (Our description.) The few scattered specimens were mainly under
bushes or near rocks to gain shelter. Similarly the zone north of the green wall
was explored in some detail but without success. The large area alongside the
road also proved negative but was searched less and was more eroded by
feeding of stock during the Winter. No animals were seen on the site during
either visit.
The altitude of the site also increases steadily along this line from 73m near
the road to 77m in the red zone, 82 - 85m in the Blue zone and 84 - 92m. for
the very few red flagged specimens on the far side of the yellow wall.
Pattern of distribution. There is often a reason for plant distribution. It can
be based on suitable soil conditions or also on climatic factors — like the way
the wind blows or the sun shines. The large blue cluster in the middle of the
site seemed to have favourable ground conditions with much short grass in
larger flat patches. This seemed to favour both the Green-winged and Early
Purple Orchids with very little discernible differences between where each
grew but often each species grew more comfortably in their own company!
What is the magic ingredient?
The SAC extends further west and south than shown in the aerial view above but became stonier with higher vegetation that suited a small dispersed population of Early Purple Orchids. Only two Green-winged Orchids were
found in this higher ground which was also more exposed and notably chillier with a steady breeze passing over the highest point of the SAC. Beyond this zone the ground fell away into the Callows and boglands of the Suck River
— a large flat area with a consistent altitude of 50m. This makes the SAC a notable upland, detectable by wind, and possibly providing down-drafts to deposit seed in sheltered areas for it to grow.
In this section we associate our specimens with the place in which they live. In
our field work we carry 2 cameras and 1 fairly accurate hand-held GPS. All
these gadgets carry clocks so it is very easy to associate an image of an orchid
with the place they were found. The Mountain Field is actually a group of small
fields where the ground levels off for a while after gaining 10 - 12 meters as you
walk up from the road. It is the centre of the blue flag area in the aerial view
above. Walking up the slope only a few examples of the Green Winged Orchid
were seen. On crossing the small wall into the first cluster of orchids we knew
we had hit the mother-lode and had a busy afternoon of photography and
mapping ahead of us. This site is now a remnant and one can assume that
when fields were small and land use was traditional, these orchids would have
been all over this limestone heartland. But they cannot grow in green fields
(unless fenced off) so they occur in pockets that for one reason or another have
been left natural — and nature fills them!
WEST Habitat (Above)
This isolated specimen was at the western edge of the cluster where
numbers of records were starting to decrease rapidly. This was a
healthy individual plant. Looking over the wall, west and south,
showed bigger wilder fields with less open sheltered short grass
that this species loves.
Referring back to the records map it can be seen that very few
specimens were seen and marked. Unfortunately, failure to get
results does lead to a reduction of effort! West of this point
conditions looked similar but orchids (Green Winged) were very
rare. A pair of horses may have contributed to the reduced
numbers though there were more Early Purple Orchids here than in
other parts of the SAC.
NORTH Habitat (LEFT).
Image shows the most northerly specimens. The first clue to their success in this location lies in how lush the grass and foliage is and the number of significant bushes and trees that are present. Both of these factors can help in providing a moist facies on an otherwise exposed and hot bare limestone upland. Perhaps these plants are marginalised and their true habitat is rich mixed natural grass land and woodland edges? The white Mountain Everlasting (Antennaria dioica) are often found in limestone grassland. It seemed to be associated with the Green Winged Orchids on this site? On comparing these images with the aerial view shown above it can be seen that these 3 little fields look greener than most other areas of the SAC. However, there may still be many Green Winged Orchids still waiting to be found both in the blue zone and in the whole SAC. LEFT: These plants were certainly thriving here when we visited them. Many specimens were smaller than these two which looked very comfortable with their buds just emerging from the tight tube formed by sturdy upright leaves. It is like the early leaves were guiding the emerging plant up through the grass until they could manage to break through and let the full delicate flower emerge!
EAST Habitat (Above)
There are actually 7 specimens in this photograph but we have
reproduced the image to show the landscape more than the plants, but
this is a rich location for many budding orchids.
The photograph seems to indicate that boulders have been removed
from the site presumably to make ‘better’ grassland. In the absence of
grazing during the Summer, this policy seems to also cater perfectly for
the needs of the Green Winged Orchid.
This site is on the tip of the eastern bulge in the bottom half of the blue
location diagram above. All the pictures shown in this panel represent
the furthest part of each compass point that a large group of flowers
were found in these mountain fields.
SOUTH outpost
This healthy pair marked the southern tip of the Green Winged
stronghold. They were in long grass and were part of a good
population that suddenly vanished at the bottom of the blue zone.
Fields to the south were well searched, looked suitable on the
ground, (and from the air) but no further numbers were found.
Further south, beyond the Yellow Wall, the grass looked greener and
was studied but no Green Winged Orchids and only a few Early
Purple orchids were encountered.
So then it was time to head back to the car and our delightful find of
The Dense-flowered Orchid, a great rarity for this part of the
country!
In their own Place/Habitat — The Mountain Field
The 4 corners of the Blue Zone:
Images from the edges of the Blue-flagged group; they are intended to show the
environmental condition at the margins of this colony of the Green Winged
Orchids and focuses more on the habitat and associated vegetation. The first
obvious factor in these images is the good growth of grass and the comparative
absence of visible stone. Also, while many of the small walls are broken, they still
do provide some shelter in this relatively flat land for the species to germinate
and settle over many years. There seem to be more bushes and greener grass in
this area; look at the aerial view above!
Green Winged Orchid (Anacamptis morio) is abundant here and
these images display the plants as we came across them plotting
their position one by one to get a baseline figure for the numbers of
specimens in this particular population at this time.
A common
association in an
undisturbed
habitat,
Wherever you
see Cowslips you
may come across
Green Wings. So
keep a weather
eye out for
distant clumps of
yellow!
One of the paler colour forms found here. No white or biscuit
forms were seen with mauve to deepest glowing Plum red as in
the specimen Far Right (a bit washed out by the day)!
Sharing its affinity with the Early Purple
Orchid this plant protects its developing
bud with a tube of tightly wrapped leaves.
Unusual pattern on lip makes this plant
different, Normally a simple track of parallel
dots down the centre of the labellum serves as
a landing strip for fertilising insects.
The deeper plum variant; it looks darker on
a bright day when it is breaking out of the
low grass.
A newly emerging flower with protective leaves, closed flowers and
open flower-head.
Leaves greener and opening up to the Sun. Labellum drooping down but
striped hood at top of flower a strong protective structure.
Labellum wide open, rotation of flower clearly seen and protective hood still
together unlike in the Early Purple where they would be wide apart by now!
Study of Green Winged flower in more detail:
As this species is not exactly common, when we get an abundant display in nice weather conditions we like to analyse features and differences of the species involved. Often this relates to colour but this population was unusually consistent and the more extreme colour variations were not seen at this site. The specimen (far RIGHT) was an exception with a contrasting pattern of purple and white between the sepals (top) and the lower petal — initially white (with green veins) — to provide a distinct pattern to the early flowers! Species identification from above: This species provides many many keys to identification but it is still possible to mix it up with a dark Early Purple Orchid and close examination is required to detect the ‘green veins’ on the upper Sepals. When doing a biometric analysis of a colony speed is often required. In a large field with few of the Green Winged Orchids, we have come to view the hood of both species from a standing height to clarify identification; this speeds things up! The Green Winged retains a tight enclosing ‘hood’ for most of the flower’s life whereas with the Early Purple the two lateral sepals are pointed and quickly separate pointing upwards like a joyous victory sign! This produces a tridactyl style pattern which is readily discernible from some distance away
Early Purple: 3 Sepals are
clearly seen and become
clearer as flower ages. The
forked shape identifies them!
Green Winged Orchid
Spur ends in a unified
Hood with the 3 Sepals
only indicated (ABOVE)
with a dotted line.
Separate Sepals
Unified Hood clearly visible in all three open flowers
seen here. The sepals carry the distinctive green
veins on the outside and inside of the the 3 sepals.
A mature specimen with sepals wide open. They still
combine to shelter the flower; the hood remains rounded
when viewed from above. The pollinia, and two upper
petals guarding them, are clearly seen in the lower flower.
A front view of a Green Winged Orchid flower. The feature it derives its name
from can be seen quite clearly on the 2 lateral sepals and to a lesser degree on
the upper sepal. The ‘Green’ veining appears green on the inside of the sepals
and on both sides of white or biscuit colour varieties but the lip is never striped.
Identifying 2 species from standing position by
the shape and pattern of their upper Sepals.
Don’t mind the colour; just look at the shapes.
BELOW: An Example of Colour Variation
One of the few examples at the Killeglan SAC showing significant
colour variation. The upper part of each flower is purple whereas the
lower part made up of lateral sepals is white with green lines. Bear in
mind that these flowers like many orchids go through a rotation as
the flowers emerge which means that the upper sepal is the dorsal
sepal — not the case with all orchid species.
Farewell to Killeglan:
Farewell to a lovely mysterious enthralling Roscommon habitat with so much of interest to engage us in the peace and quiet of a broad horizon. It has been absorbing getting to study this wild place — that not many will know — but where it would be a pleasure to get to know people involved in years to come. It is so important that we try and maintain our cultural and natural richness as inevitably Ireland develops more and more — if it is just as a place of research and tranquillity…Three Final Landscapes of this remote part of
Roscommon.
LEFT: A fine Hawthorn tree symbolising the start of Summer, as one of the larger clumps of Cowslips we came across starts to wither as Spring ends. A handy associate of the Green Winged Orchid, this plant marks the limey ground that orchids love — even when the limestone substrate is not visible. RIGHT: Rockier terrain as the gentler slopes to the north start to decline towards the Suck River to the West, a land of green fields and broad bogs reflecting the commercial Ireland of years past and years to come. It is great that there is time for both within such a short distance. Long may we cherish both sides, Nature and Prosperity.
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Safe for the next Generation…
As we left this site it was nice to look back and see the rocky hills behind and the road home ahead. But there was one more surprise — this little group all flowering together in a corner of the main colony. LEFT Even here it was hard to get 7 specimens in one shot. Small colonies do occur with up to 12 within a square metre. This resilience seems to imply that whatever may happen these rare and significant plants they may continue their own lives , safe in this sanctuary, for another thousand or more years. One wonders how they got here? Perhaps carried by wind into a place where the rocky ground made agriculture hard to undertake. How many people have looked at these little plants and put their own names on them? We call them Green Winged or Green Veined Orchids. The only Irish name we have for them is… Magarlín féitheach Interestingly this is the same name as given to the Early Purple Orchid, also abundant on these hills and very similar in general appearance though they are indeed separate species!
BELOW
Site Panorama:
From the southern border of the SAC this view looks North Westwards
across the Special Area of Conservation with the main area for the Green
Winged Orchid lying in the middle of the image where the ground is higher
and more level.
It is believed that this is the main area where this species grows in
concentrated numbers in this SAC and it is a place worth visiting in mid
May any year that suits you!
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