26o • The Irish Naturalist, October, 



Another feature of Lecale was the frequency of small rock- 

 basins filled with marsh with a floating felted covering, in 

 which local rarities, such as Jujicus obttisiftortis, Cladium 

 Marisais, Carex teretiuscula, and C. filiformis grew in 

 surprising profusion. In the southern half of the Ards a 

 good many such basins occur, but the felty covering is not 

 developed to such a marked degree. Some of the basins are 

 still occupied by open water ; others are silted up; others, again, 

 have been drained. As a result J. obtusifloi'iis is rare ; Cladium 

 and C teretiuscula were seen in only one station each ; and C 

 filiformis was not found. Riimex Hydrolapathum and Scirpus 

 pauciflorus^ both common in lyccale, Stellaria palustris^ and 

 Chara polyacantha^ were not seen in the Ards; against these, 

 Ceratophyllitm demersicm^ Hydrocharis Morsus-ra^ice and Typha 

 angustifolia, absent from Lecale, are common in the southern 

 Ards. As to the Ards lakes, lyough Cowey, the largest, is 

 excellent ground, and yields an interesting flora: the enormous 

 forest of Typha angustifolia which surrounds it is alone worth 

 going to see. Ballyfinragh lyough has been partially drained, 

 and proved totally unproductive. Ballyherly Lough looked 

 more barren still, but redeemed itself to some degree by 

 yielding Cei'atophyllum to the dredge. As regards plants of 

 light soils, pastures, &c., Lecale is locally remarkable for the 

 abundance of Poppies, all four British species being present ; 

 in the Ards only P. dubium and P. Rhceas are found, the latter 

 quite sparingly. Lecale likewise 3 ielded Teesdalia mcdicaulis^ 

 Cardiacs crisptis, Lcontodoft hirtus, Orchis pyt am Ida lis, not found 

 in the Ards : the Ards can set against these Ge^anizim 

 colii77ibinu7n, Vale^ianella Auricula^ Carex divulsa, unknown 

 elsewhere in District XII. 



In County Down, peat bogs were never a conspicuous feature, 

 but in old days a string of large bogs stretched down the Ards 

 peninsula, and no doubt an abundant bog flora prevailed in 

 this extreme eastern part of Ireland. By the time that botanists 

 came on the scene — a hundred years ago — the Ards bogs were 

 already much reduced by turf-cutting. They continued to 

 dwindle rapidl}^, so that by botanists still living Djvsera ariglica, 

 Vaccinium Oxy coccus, and A7id7omeda Polifolia, have been 

 seen (now nearly forty years ago) in one spot only, the Wolf 

 Island bog, north of Carrowdore. At the present time Wolf 



