Galeopsis ladanum (Broad-leaved Hemp-nettle) first record for Wexford

Been looking at pictures on google and went back today to check my plant I had named as Galeopsis angustifolia (Red Hemp-nettle) the other day. As I had expected my plant is Galeopsis ladanum (Broad-leaved Hemp-nettle), a species new to me. Also the first record in Ireland for a long time.

I had two plants on the margin of a stubble field at Craan Upper, if they hadn't been flowering I would never have noticed the plants. Both had their tops cut off when the crop was harvested. Compared with  Galeopsis bifida (Bifid Hemp-nettle) and Galeopsis tetrahit (Common Hemp-nettle), which both have stiff prickly hairs to the touch, Broad-leaved Hemp-nettle feels soft to the touch, the flowers are more than twice as large as the other two hemp-nettles.

 Above: one of the Broad-leaved Hemp-nettles in the stubble field. Below: margin of stubble field where the Broad-leaved Hemp-nettle was found.

 Below: looking across stubble field to margin where the Broad-leaved Hemp-nettle was seen.

Mentha x piperita (Peppermint)

 Peppermint is a hybrid between Mentha aquatica (Water Mint) and Mentha spicata (Spear Mint). Not a common mint in Wexford. I was surprised to find a large stand in a brackish marsh in Wexford Harbour yesterday. It is my favourite mint, always puts on a good show at this time of year. At this site it was growing with Carex disticha (Brown Sedge) and Persicaria amphibia (Amphibious Bistort).