western Ireland and Britain are among a handful of places on Earth where temperate rainforest can form. this thread is a mini guide to some of the things you can find there: 
1) trees drenched in mosses and ferns. hyperhumid conditions mean that plants don't need to rely on soil for moisture, releasing them to carpet leaning tree trunks and snakey branches
2) lichens- lots and lots of lichens, a few of which are found nowhere else in the world. some of the big leafy ones turn nitrogen from the air into fertiliser for their host trees
3) anddddd more lichens for good measure. when you look closely each branch is a lil alien world
4) tiny translucent ferns called filmy ferns. they mostly grow on tree trunks and rocks, although the rare Killarney fern prefers to hide in dark, damp crevices and overhangs along streams
5) other tiny, delicate plants called liverworts. they reach their peak diversity in temperate and tropical rainforests, and we have a good few rarities
6) bluebells grow outside the temperate rainforest area, but favour our Atlantic coasts. W Ireland has some specialist rainforest flowers that Britain doesn't, such as St. Patrick's cabbage, kidney saxifrage and strawberry tree
7) variability- our temperate rainforests are not just one thing. there are flowery ash-hazel woods, mossy oak-birch woods, gnarly pine woods and more
at their best, our temperate rainforests are tangley oases of life harbouring a diversity of rare species, some found nowhere else on Earth. and there's still more to discover- just last year a cloud forest fern was found growing in Kerry!
