-32 The IrisJi Natujalisl. I^ebruary, 



o- 



liOTAXICAL NOTES, CHIEFLY FROM LOUGH MASK 



AND KH.KEE. 



\\\ r. ij.ovd prakokr. 



Lough Mask. 



Although it ivS one of the largest of Irish lakes, Lough 

 Mask has been but little explored botanically. The lake lies 62 

 feet above Ordnance datum. It measures about nine miles 

 from north to south, and two to five from east to west — not 

 including the tw^o long narrow arms which run westward into 

 the mountains from the south-west corner. The eastern shore, 

 formed entirely of low Carboniferous limestone, belongs to 

 East Mayo, while the w^estern side, stretching along the foot 

 of the bare slopes of the Partry Mountains, consists of Silurian 

 slates and Carboniferous sandstone, and lies half in West 

 Galway, half in West Mayo. The only systematic botanizing 

 carried out within the region is that of Marshall and ShoolbredT 

 along the southern shore of the lake, with Clonbur as centre. 

 Long before, in the sixties, F.J. Foot had collected desultorily 

 on the shores, as recorded by More"; and a herbarium com- 

 posed largely of plants from the east shore, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Ballinrobe, made by Mrs. D. D. PerSvSe in 1892-4, 

 helped me materially when compiling East Mayo records for 

 '' Irish Topographical Botany.*' A recent attempt to write a 

 brief note on the botany of Lough Mask proved such a failure, 

 owing to lack of information, that I included that lake in the 

 itinerar}^ of a hurried tour in the West last Jul}^ designed for 

 the gathering in of gleanings in several districts. 



Reaching Ballinrobe on July 17, daylight allowed of a brief 

 reconnoitering of the ground, from the mouth of the Robe 

 River northward. Next da}^ was devoted to the islands. A 

 high wind rendered operations difficult, and compelled a run 

 for shelter in the evening, but not before a sufficient sampling 



^ E. S. Marshai.Iv aud W. A. SHOOi^BRiiD : Irish Tlauts observed in 

 July, 1895. /^//r;^. /)V., xxxiv., 250-258. 1896. E. S. Marshai^i, ; Irish 

 Plants collected in June, 1896. Ibid,^ 496-500. 



-A. G. More: Recent Additions to the Flora of Ireland, /ourn, Boi. 

 xi., 115-119, 142-148. 1S73. 



