Erica tetralix
The Ballyhoura Mountains have been listed as a Special Area of Conservation. The blanket bog occurs in most of the flatter areas and features such species as heather ("Calluna vulgaris"), with deergrass ("Trichophorum cespitosum"), hare’s-tail cottongrass ("Eriophorum vaginatum"), common cottongrass ("Eriophorum angustifolium"), bilberry ("Vaccinium myrtillus") and crowberry ("Empetrum nigrum"). The wet heath is dominated by heather, cross-leaved heath ("Erica tetralix") and bilberry accompanied by a range of mosses and liverworts. The dry heath is more species-rich, with bell heather ("Erica cinerea"), green-ribbed sedge ("Carex binervis"), tormentil ("Potentilla erecta"), bent grasses ("Agrostis" spp.) and mosses such as "Hypnum jutlandicum".