250 DUBLIN UNIVERSITY 



take of supposing that certain plants~are indigenous, whilst, in reality, 

 they are of foreign origin, or even hybrids, produced by the ingenuity of 

 gardeners. The older collectors were especially liable to fall into this error. 



It is scarcely necessary to remark that we want to obtain an account 

 of the true native plants of Ireland for the purpose of completing the 

 geographical distribution of the vegetation of Europe; and that the idea 

 of there being any national credit attaching to the possession of a rich 

 Flora is utterly devoid of foundation. Our object in such researches 

 should be the extension of our scientific knowledge, which is quite in- 

 compatible with such ill-judged love of our local habitation. 



It seems exceedingly desirable to ascertain the distance to which the 

 plants belonging to what is sometimes called the Germanic Flora have 

 spread towards the west of Ireland. This can only be done by the for- 

 mation of lists of plants for each of the twelve provinces, and, still better, 

 of the thirty-seven counties and vice-counties. We also want informa- 

 tion concerning the limits of the districts inhabited by the Asturian Flora, 

 of which traces are found in the two provinces which I have called North 

 and South Atlantic. Are any of the plants belonging to it found in the 

 counties of Clare or Donegal ? The former county, lying between the 

 two provinces, is an exceedingly likely locality for them ; and the latter 

 is a mountainous district, concerning the botany of which we seem to 

 know next to nothing. 



In conclusion, allow me to remark, that it is very desirable to pre- 

 serve a scrap of each plant from every province, or even county, so as 

 to afford a security against errors, which are almost sure to arise in the 

 transcription of lists of names, and especially of numerals. Mr. "Watson 

 has largely done this for Great Britain, and the Association might do it 

 for Ireland. 



Dr. E. Perceval Wright, F. L. S., read the following — 



ADDITIONS TO THE PLANTS OF IRELAND SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF " FLORA 

 HIBERNICA." BY J. T. MACEAY, LL. D., A. L. S. 



1. Ahj8sum minimum {Be C.). — First found by Mr. F. Darley and 

 myself on a dry, sandy ditch-bank, near the farm-house, Portmarnock, in 

 1817 ; but as it could not be found for several years before the publica- 

 tion of ' ' Flora Hibernica, " I did not insert it. I, however, found it again , 

 in considerable quantity, in a sandy field, near the same place, in 1837. 



