Plants

Spring is the time when the woodland floor is at its most colourful. Look out for the first heralds of spring, the bright yellow celandine, and the delicate white flowers of wood anemone. The white, bell-shaped wood sorrel flower contrasts with the startling green of its shamrock-shaped leaves, and the creeping cover of yellow and green opposite-leaved golden-saxifrage is also common in ancient and long-established woods.

The scents of the wood in spring are almost as colourful as the sights, from the pungent culinary odour of wild garlic to the heady perfume of bluebells. Look out for plants that are associated with ancient woodland rather than recent or long-established woods. As well as most of the above, these include sanicle, woodruff, primrose, lords-and-ladies, and dog-violet.

The flora of Northern Ireland is generally poorer than that of Britian. Species found commonly in woods in England, Scotland or Wales may be rare or even absent, in Northern Ireland. Dog's mercury is associated with ancient woodland in parts of England but occurs rarely in Northern Ireland, and wood cranesbill is found only in the Antrim glens, particularly Glenarm.

However, its position on the Atlantic seaboard means that Ireland, including Northern Ireland, is rich in species that require damp, oceanic conditions. In the lush, green woods of the western counties, and humid gorges and river valleys elsewhere, mosses, lichens, liverworts and ferns abound. These woods are often likened to fairy glens and there is, indeed, something magical about them.