1903. Prakger. — The Flora of Clare Island. 283 



gets steep or rocky, and some shelter is obtainable, Saxifraga 

 umbrosa, Lastrea csmula^ and Salix repefts at once appear, and 

 all three ascend to the top of the Croaghmore cliffs (say 1,300 

 feet). Cliffy places, and the rocky banks of mountain stream- 

 lets, supply a habitat for a few stunted Oak and Ash, Rowan, 

 Holly, and Birch ; and nooks in the same places afford the 

 only refuge of some woodland and lowland species, such as 

 A7iemone nemorosa, Geum rivale, Fraga^ia vesca, Poteiitilla 

 Fragariast7U7n, Ajuga reptans, Orchis mascula (to 1,200 feet), 

 Ca7'ex sylvaiica, Aspidhim a7igulare. Where the heathy ground 

 gets wet, Hypericum elodes and Eleocharis mullicaulis appear in 

 quantity, and bring with them abundance of Viola paluslris, 

 Drosera rotu7idi/olia, PoteiiHlla pahcstris^ Hydrocotyle vulgaris,^ 

 Me7iyanthes trifoliata, and Myosotis repe7is. The characteristic 

 Irish lowland bog flora, with Drosera a7iglica, Rhy7ichospora 

 alba, Andro77ieda Polifolia^ is absent as such, on account of 

 absence of suitable habitat ;■ but the two first-named plants oc- 

 cur, the former in two stations, the principal one being a float- 

 ing morass around Though lycinapoilbauty, with Carex li7nosa ; 

 the second sparingly in a patch of wet bog near I^ough Avullin. 

 The boggy marshes form a connecting link with the pools and 

 bog-holes, which yield Utricularia 7ni7ior and various forms of 

 Ju7icus supi7ius, Littorella lacustris, and several Characece. The 

 lakelets of the island are extremely few. I<ough Avullin lies 

 in a sheltered hollow, 75 feet above O.S. datum, and is actually 

 fringed with a tall growth of Phrag777ites and Sci7pus lacustris ; 

 elsewhere these two species appear as starved and usually 

 barren plants a couple of feet in height. Nuphar luteu77t grows 

 only here. Three little loughs lie in the hollow between 

 Croaghmore and Knocknaveen at 350 feet elevation — Creggan 

 lyough, L- lyciuapollbaut}^, and L. Merrignagh. They are 

 bleak and exposed. The third yields Ny77iphcsa alba^ and the 

 dredge revealed Nitella tra7isluce7is in the first and second. 

 Finally, there is a series of pools on the cliff near the Light- 

 house, which form the only habitat of Utricularia i7iterf}iedia, 

 and where Carex pa7iiculata may be seen growing one foot high. 

 Thk Mountain Fi^or a.— Finally, reference must be made 

 of the flora of the noble ridge of Croaghmore, 1,520 feet high, 

 which landward shows a steej) heathery slope, and on the 

 seaward face drops sheer down into the Atlantic in one pre- 



