2022 County Report for Co. Armagh
John Faulkner
VCR’s Report, VCH37 (Co. Armagh), 2022. John Faulkner
This year can be summed up as a decent sprinkling of interesting records in a matrix of ordinary ones. These two categories divide very unequally between my own (nearly all of the matrix) and those contributed by others (about half of the interesting ones).
- Much of my work has been targeted tetrad bashing in squares with few post-2000 records.
- After this year’s work, there remain fewer than 50 to be recorded to complete the coverage needed for the projected Flora.
- As expected, many of these under-recorded tetrads proved to be in intensively-farmed areas with no semi-natural vegetation, and relatively little botanical interest away from the road verges and occasional minor watercourses.
- My thanks are due to members of BSBI and/or Co. Armagh Wildlife Society who have sent me records and photos of orchids and other rarely encountered species.
- Thanks also to BSBI referees who have confirmed some identifications for me.
- Particular thanks to Robert and Stewart Rosell for taking me along the Lower Blackwater River on a recording trip by canoe.
- The total number of records made was 8,200.
Interesting Finds
Utricularia australis (a Bladderwort), Tynan Lake. Known from this site previously as U. vulgaris s.l..
Ranunculus lingua (Greatrer Spearwort), Reedy Flat, Lough Neagh. A new site, and possibly the only one in the v-c where the species survives.
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (Grey Club-rush), Reedy Flat, Lough Neagh. New site.
Typha angustifolia (Lesser Bulrush). Introduced at Ballylane Lough.
Parentucellia viscosa (Yellow Bartsia). One plant on the road side of a suburban hedge in Portadown. The only native species recorded for the first time in 2022.
Several introduced species recorded in wild situations for the first time in the vice-county: Ambrosia artemisifolia, Bidens connata, Cotoneaster sternianus, Erinus alpinus, Festuca trachyphylla, Helminthotheca echioides, Koenigia campanulata, Nymphoides peltata, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Parthenocissus triscuspidata, Phedimus hybridus, Setaria pumila.
