ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL ASSOCIATION. 229 



his "Handbook," recently published, gives Lancashire and Cheshire 

 also as habitats, and the geographical range over Europe and Russian 

 Asia. 



Nanisms biflorus is the next plant I claim to be truly indigenous in 

 Ireland, though M. de Candolle considers it a doubtful native of Britain, 

 and places it in the list of species which he supposes may have been 

 introduced between the time of the Roman dominion in these countries 

 and the discovery of America, In his special observations on it, the 

 Dublin habitat is mentioned, where to all appearances it is truly wild. 

 It must, however, be taken into consideration, that in this country it 

 never grows tor from houses and demesnes, where it is just possible it 

 may have been originally cast out from gardens, being a plant of fre- 

 quent and easy culture, which seldom dies out in any soil after having 

 been once planted ; hence it is found growing at the present time in 

 nearly every old garden in the country. M. de Candolle states that 

 Italy and the South of France are the countries where it is truly indige- 

 nous, but Mr. Bentham in his M Handbook" gives it a wider range 

 over "Western Europe, chiefly Spain and Western Prance." Now 

 those positions on the Continent and peninsula of Europe afford strong 

 grounds for supposing this species of Narcissus to be at least truly 

 indigenous to the extreme west of Ireland. On the great Island of 

 Arran I found it growing in the fissures of rocks, at a short distance 

 from Allium Babingtoni (" Engl. Bot. SuppL"), now supposed by some 

 to be a variety of Allium Ampeloprasum, which, with Helianthemum 

 canum and Adiantum capillus-veneris, have all their chief centres in 

 Southern and Western Europe, and grow in company with Narcissus 

 hiflorus on the Island of Arran. I may further observe that I once saw 

 it growing in considerable quantities in a pasture-field in the Queen's 

 County, about six miles from Portarlington, at a considerable distance 

 from any house or garden, and apparently wild, thus establishing a con- 

 necting link of habitats through the centre of Ireland from east to west 



The foregoing are the two principal plants I have to remark on in 

 connexion with this country, but there are some others that require to 

 be briefly noticed, most of which are admitted to be natives by the 

 authors of our Floras, who probably did not give the matter much consi- 

 deration previous to the question having been raised. For example, 

 in the list of ten species which M. de Candolle supposes to hare been 

 introduced to Britain from North America, we have Senebiera didyma 



