Photographs: the Burren, Co. Clare

Mountain Avens Dryas octopetala Leaithín Family: Rosaceae Flowering time: May-July. Procumbent dwarf shrub. Native. Long-stalked white flowers with 8 petals, golden stamens and oblong, sticky-haired sepals. The leathery dark green leaves are oblong, lobed and white-woolly underneath. Low carpeting growth habit. Height to 8cm Mainly found in Co. Clare and Co. Galway on mountain ledges, crevasses, calcareous grassland and limestone pavements. Very rare in Northern Ireland where it comes under the Wildlife (NI) Order, 1985

Mountain Avens, Dryas octopetala, Leaithín