32 " DUBLIN NATUHAJL U18T0ST SOCIETY. 



their discovery ; but I must say that in the case of these, as well as of those I 

 first submitted to your notice, the chief credit is due to my valued friend Mr. 

 Whitla, and not to me. I now proceed to the second portion of the task I have 

 undertaken for this evening, viz., to point out other habitats for some plants 

 commonly regarded as somewhat local ; and first I shall lay before you some 

 specimens of Orobanche rubra. On looking over the habitats of this parasite, 

 in Dr. Mackay's excellent work, I find he has given but two stations, namely — 

 decomposed trap rocks at Cavehill, Belfast, and basaltic rocks at Magilligan, 

 county of Derry. Of course it is not to be expected that any botanist, in pub- 

 lishing a Flora, can find room for all the known habitats of a plant; his doing so 

 would swell the work beyond all convenient proportion; and so it is not to be 

 inferred that he was ignorant of all other habitats save those indicated by him. 

 Still, it may not be amiss on an occasion like this to note any locality where a 

 plant comparatively rare may happen to be found. Persons in different parts of 

 the country then could have an opportunity of examining specimens in their na- 

 tive state. This Orobanche rubra which you have now before you, gentlemen, 

 we found among limestone rocks in the mountains above Ballyvaughan, a vil- 

 lage where I may remark, en passant, the naturalist may be sure of sufficiently 

 good accommodation. In every instance, and we examined the point most care- 

 fully, we found it parasitical on the Thymus Serpyllum. Indeed, I suppose the 

 question as to its being parasitical on this species of Thymus may be regarded 

 as definitively settled. I come now to the Helianthemum, of which you have spe- 

 cimens before you. In the " Flora Hibernica" the habitats given are — limestone 

 rocks, south isles of Arran, and southern coast of Cape Clear island. To these 

 may now be added that part of Burren which directly faces the isles of Arran, 

 it grows there on the cliffs, near enough to be washed by the sea spray 

 which in rough weather (if one may judge by the broken masses of rocks which 

 testify the violence of the surge that beats against those giant barriers) must 

 be driven some hundreds of feet inland beyond the face of the precipice. In the 

 same place we had the good fortune to discover some fine growths of that most 

 lovely of all our ferns, the Adiantum Capillus-Veneris. Here are some speci- 

 mens. I believe they differ slightly from the specimens found elsewhere, but 

 that may be owing to the peculiarly sheltered position in which they grew. The 

 recorded habitats of the Adiantum, I find, are three, namely — South Isles of Ar- 

 ran, Roundstone in Connemara, and Cahirconree mountain, near Tralee. On 

 looking through some old botanical works belonging to Mr. Whitla, I perceive 

 it stated, that formerly an immense quantity of this fern used to be brought from 

 Burren, for the purpose of procuring Capillaire. I doubt the truth of this 

 statement. If the fern mentioned had been Asplenium trichomanes, I should not 

 be surprised, for I never saw it in such abundance, or in such luxuriance else- 

 where. Among the other ferns observable in almost all directions, I may notice 

 Aspidium lobatum, Cystopteris fragile, and Grammitis ceterach. I have no doubt 

 that a close search would discover several other of our rarer ferns in this loca- 

 lity, so very rich in botanical wealth. It is almost unnecessary to say that the 

 Arbutus Uva-ursi and the Juniperus communis are to be found on nearly all the 

 mountains. So is the Dryas octopetala, which is so very plentiful that the 

 peasantry bring it in loads from the hills and use it as fuel. 1 found a few spe- 

 cimens marked by a peculiarity which I have not seen adverted to in any of the 

 books I looked into. It is, that the flower is polypetalous and sessile amid a 

 greater number of leaves than are usually found surrounding the flower stalk in 

 the normal specimens. Perhaps other gentlemen have observed the same devia- 

 tion from the general type, but it was quite new to me, and so I thought there 

 could be no harm in alluding to it thus. In Burren the plant most widely dif- 

 fused of all others is the Dryas. Next to it in this respect, at least at the time 

 when we paid our visit, seemed the Gymnadenia conopsea. In some places the 

 very air was laden with its delicious perfume. After it I should say the plant 

 most plentiful, particularly in the southern parts of Burren, when you enter it 

 from the direction of Moher, is the Geranium sanguineum, which, in the neigh- 



