Webbs An Irish Flora

NOTES ON THE TEXT

xxv Overall there are 118 families included in this edition – a reduction from the 132 of the previous edition – though the number of species and subspecies included has risen to 1543. Those printed in bold-face type are accounted for in the keys. The remaining species and hybrids, which are mostly difficult to discriminate or are imperfectly naturalised, are printed in italics and are not taken account of in the keys, but are appended to the full description of that species to which they are most closely allied. The description of each species consists of a number of parts, listed here as A–H. (A) Scientific name(s) This is the current scientific name of the plant, printed in bold-faced type, preceded (in certain cases) by conventional signs indicating that the plant has been introduced to Ireland (whether deliberately or accidentally) by human agency. * indicates certainly introduced. † indicates probably or possibly introduced. Species bearing neither mark are considered native to Ireland. Other scientific names under which the same plant has been known follow in italic type, in parentheses. They include not only genuine synonyms, but also names that have been applied erroneously to Irish plants. In some cases the names in the text are at variance with those in the Flora Protection Order 1999. In general, we follow the scientific names used by the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) in their BSBI 2007 list, available at http://www.bsbi.org.uk/ taxonomy.html. On occasion, our taxonomic opinion indicates that another name is more appropriate and we have used that. (B) Common name in English The Common name in English follows next in bold-faced type. With regard to English names, only those that have some currency in speech in Ireland have been given: invented book-names have been mostly omitted and it is far better in these cases to refer to the plant by its scientific name. We have decided not to adopt the more formalised structure for English names advocated by a number of British authors and ridiculed by others. Common English names used in Ireland present a difficult problem because the names used may not correspond to those used in Britain. In general, we follow Scannell & Synnott (1987). NOTES ON THE TEXT xxvi NOTES ON THE TEXT (C) Common name in Irish Next follows the Irish name, in italics, if such a name exists. As in previous editions , Irish names are given for a selection of species only, though in this edition the number has increased to 255. The approach taken has been to include Irish names for all those species assigned one in the previous editions, with the addition of names for a number of common species which were – or are – in widespread currency, and for all species listed under the Flora Protection Order 1999. Though a range of Irish names have been – or are – used throughout the island for any one species, we have used the official one only, as listed in Census Catalogue of the Flora of Ireland (Scannell & Synnott, 1987), whose list is based mostly on Ainmneacha Plandaí agus Ainmhithe (Roinn Oideachais, 1978). In a number of cases, the Irish name used in this book differs from that used in previous editions. These differences arise principally from orthography and, where this is so, we have conformed with the official list used by Scannell & Synnott (1987). Irish trees and Irish wild plants exhibit a rich diversity of local plant names in Irish, many of which are more descriptive, often poetic, than the standard, official name. As is the case with common English names, there may be a wide range of names applied to any one species, reflecting regional and local differences, but the official list aims to provide a standard that can be used by a wider audience than amateur and professional botanists. (D) Time of reproduction The time of reproduction, indicated in bold-faced type, by figures that represent the months in numerical order follows next. Thus, 6–8 is printed for a plant that normally flowers from June to August. There is, of course, much variation in the period of flowering according to the weather and latitude; furthermore, many plants in Ireland flower intermittently throughout a mild winter; and, finally, flowering times are likely to advance significantly as global warming takes effect. (E) Description Then follows the description which, it should be remembered, applies to a typical plant. Every kind of aberration may be expected in occasional, abnormal individuals...