2023 County Report for Co. Sligo

Eamon Gaughan

• 22,968 records were collected for Sligo. Recording took place during all months of the year. On many of the outings, monads with few or no previous records were selected. This resulted in about 140 taxa new to a hectad (native or archeophyte). In particular the Sligo part of the hectad G21 near Ballina (which had only 5 previous records) was visited three times in May and June resulting in 15 taxa new to the hectad.

Highlights include

• Botrychium lunaria (Moonwort) was found on the Benbulben Plateau in June.
• 25 flowering spikes of Neotinea maculata (Dense flowered Orchid) were found on Knocknarea in May. This orchid was first found in Sligo in 2019.
• New sites (mostly new hectads) were found for many rare or locally uncommon species. These include the natives; Equisetum X tracheodon (Mackay’s Horsetail), Potamogeton coloratus (Fen Pondweed), Eriophorum latifolium (Broad leaved Cotton grass), Juncus subnodulosus (Blunt flowered Rush), Carex canescens (White Sedge), Erophila glabrescens (Glabrous Whitlow grass), Bromus racemosus subsp. racemosus (Smooth Brome), Salicornia fragilis (Yellow Glasswort), Atriplex praecox (Early Orache), Catabrosa aquatica (Whorl Grass), Cerastium semidecandrum (Little Mouse-ear), Phleum bertolonii(Small Catstail), Hypericum humifusum (Trailing St John’s Wort) and the aliens; Veronica agrestis (Green Field Speedwell), Chaenorhinum minus (Small Toadflax), Epilobium pedunculare (Rockery Willow herb), Mycelis muralis (Wall Lettuce), Thlaspi arvense (Field Penny Cress) & Chicorium intybus (Chicory).