plants of the high mournes

[LandyLiam]

lately while i've been walking uphill, gasping away with my head looking downwards in exhaustion, i've taken to looking at the plantlife to break up the journey a bit, and surprise surprise, there's a lot more than mud and heather up there!

so i've been taking snaps of the flora with a view to posting them here in the hope someone can tell me what it is (i.e. to save me buying a book  )

i'll start with an easy one then, any know what this yellow flower is spotted on the slopes on chimney rock mtn?

[Kayakgirl]

I know...I know... Daffodil

[LandyLiam]

bah, only cos you where there at the time 

ok now thats wet your appetite, whats this then?

[Kayakgirl]

Devil's matchstick

[LandyLiam]

need more details, latin names,  etc etc ....

that'll keep you up late tonight   

[LandyLiam]

maybe not, a quick google got the info

http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/plant_species/devils_matchstick

Devil's matchstick
(Cladonia floerkeana)
Also known as 'British soldier'.

A quirky lichen with red-capped branches (known as 'podetia'), this lichen usually grows between one and three centimetres in height.

Like all lichens, the Devil's matchstick is actually two organisms working together: a fungus and an algae in a symbiotic relationship.
Where to see it

Cladonia floerkeana has a fondness for dead wood so rotting logs and fence posts are a good place to start. It also grows on well drained soil with a high organic matter content such as that found on heath and moorland.
Distribution

This lichen is scattered throughout the UK, although more commonly found in the north and the west.
Did you know?

Lichens are very sensitive to air pollution: the more lichens you find in a place the cleaner the air!

the devils in the detail 

[LandyLiam]

last one for this evening then

[Samm]

It's a lichen. It's most likely that it's a Cladonia lichen. My guess would be Cladonia floerkeana, though I'm no lichen expert. The Cladonia lichens with the red tops tend to be called matchstick lichens.

More plants please :-)

[Samm]

Moss this time. More than likely Racomitrium lanuginosum. Never like to ID from pics, but it's a reasonable guess!

[LandyLiam]

well one more then

[Samm]

Possibly a Grimmia of some sort?

[Samm]

Or maybe a Campylopus.

[Eamonn]

bah, only cos you where there at the time 

ok now thats wet your appetite, whats this then?

The ones with the red tops are Devils Matchsticks and the Green ones are Pixie Cups

[LandyLiam]

The ones with the red tops are Devils Matchsticks and the Green ones are Pixie Cups

and there was me think they were just the same thing but not in bloom!

quick google got me some more info on them
http://www.voyageurcountry.com/htmls/floweringplants/plants/pixiecups.html

As a lichen this plant is composed of algae and fungus in a symbiotic relationship, where both plants gain benefit and neither are harmed by the relationship. The pixie cup looks like the name implies, a tiny cup (1/2 inch high) on the forest floor used by the pixies or wood fairies to sip the morning dew from. They are often found in close association with another lichen called "British Soldiers", because these have a bright red fruiting cap at the end of the stalk, making them look like the red capped British Soldiers of Colonial times.

[Eamonn]

Does anyone know what this is?