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more easily visible close to the path. We also saw large quantities of Dryopteris aemula and
Hymenophyllum tunbrigense along with most common ferns of the region.
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photo: A.M. Paul
Dicksonia antarctica – mature plants and sporelings at Derreen Garden
We dispersed to our various lodgings and later met up for dinner at ‘White Sands’, the
house where most of the party were staying and which was to become our unofficial HQ for
the next five days. Here we enjoyed a wonderful meal prepared by Karen Munyard and Gill
Smith and chatted in splendid comfort until quite late.
O’Sullivan’s Cascade, Killarney (Tuesday) Alan Ogden
The party assembled at a road junction near Killarney at 10.00a.m. to drive a short distance
to the beginning of a walk along a track to O’Sullivan’s Cascade on the north-west side of
Lough Leane. We parked our cars by a farm track and stream (00/896902) where there was
already a lush assemblage of ferns: Osmunda regalis, Dryopteris aemula, D. dilatata,
D. filix-mas, D. affinis subspp. affinis and borreri, Athyrium filix-femina, Blechnum spicant,
Polypodium interjectum and the ubiquitous Pteridium aquilinum. Equisetum telmateia had
also been spotted by the roadside. We continued to see specimens of most of these ferns as
we walked about 2.5 miles to the cascade (00/915884).
The track passed through an area where large moss-clad boulders covered the ground
beneath large holly trees, making a surreal scene. Many of the boulders were also covered
in mats of filmy fern, mainly Hymenophyllum tunbrigense though we did find smaller
quantities of H. wilsonii. There were remains of a row of buildings made of rocks and
swathed in moss, too decayed to guess at their purpose. It was hard to imagine people
finding a living in this wet, rocky place. Gametophytes of Trichomanes speciosum were
found in a dark dripping cavity, raising hopes of finding the sporophyte by the cascade.
Walking down a very long flight of giant steps we came to the shore of the lough where the
boulders formed a suitable place for us to have lunch. Some people can’t sit still for long
and Steve soon found quills of Isoetes floating near the shore and Equisetum arvense
growing in the shingle. Some of the mossy boulders supported small colonies of
Polypodium vulgare and a single plant of Osmunda regalis was seen. There was evidence of
recent activity of large deer in the woods.
After lunch the cascade was explored enthusiastically, indeed, Steve took a tumble into a
large bramble patch from which he was painfully extracted. Sadly, the Killarney fern was