Trinity 5 for Five

5 in Five – Video Flora of Ireland is a long-term project to showcase Ireland’s native plants and wild places. It is an ongoing series of short video episodes featuring five native species in five minutes produced by Trinity College Botanic Garden as a digital field guide to Ireland’s flora which is under increasing threat due to biodiversity loss, land use change, and climate change.

The idea was hatched by head of department Professor Jennifer McElwain while out walking within her 5km radius of home during the COVID lockdown. Their aim with this new video flora of Ireland is to present 5 plant species in five minutes in an engaging way that showcases Ireland’s plant diversity in their native habitats, whether a shingle beach, mountain bog or old city wall.

Most of us suffer from a condition called ‘plant blindness’. We simply do not see the immense diversity of plant life that is on our doorstep. Instead we are evolutionarily primed to see animals, as they may be a threat to our survival or a high protein meal. Plants, in all their extraordinary diversity, tend to meld into the greenness of the background.

5 in Five will call on the internationally recognised expertise of lecturers, professors and students in Trinity’s Botany Department and Botanic Garden to produce a regular episode of new plants and habitats from across Ireland.