134 ^^^ Irish Naturalist. 



" Half-way down, 

 Hangs one that gathers Samphire, dreadful trade ! 

 Methinks he seems no bigger than his head." 



Ill Shakespeare's time the gathering of Samphire was a regu- 

 lar trade, and in Smith's " History of Waterford " there is a 

 description of how the people gather it, hanging by a rope 

 several fathoms from the top of the impending rocks, as it 

 were in the air. 



There is an old story connected with the plant. A ship was 

 wrecked on the Sussex coast, and a small party were left on 

 the rock not far from land, but the}^ found the sea was rising 

 higher and higher, threatening their place of refuge. An 

 officer who possessed some botanical knowledge, seeing a plant 

 of Samphire growing on the rock, told them they might sta}^, 

 trusting to that little plant, for the sea would rise no further, 

 as Samphire, though alwa3'S growing within the spray of the 

 sea, never grows where it can be submerged. They believed 

 him and were saved. The Golden Samphire, Inula cjdthvioidcs^ 

 belongs to the Composite^, and is a rare plant, only found on 

 the south and east coasts in Ireland. On Dalke}^ Island it 

 occurs sparingly near the Martello Tower, and is noted from 

 this locality in the *' Cybele Hibernica." 



Aspleniu7n mariiium now occurs sparinglj^, though it was 

 once plentiful on the island ; it is frequent around the Irish 

 coast, and is often found some distance inland. 



The lyiverworts are few but very interesting. Lophocolea 

 bidentata is abundant about the bases of the moist rocks, and 

 Frullania dilatata is often found creeping over the bare rocks. 

 Anthelia J2cratzka7ia, L^impr., grows in the crevices of the moist 

 rocks (sterile). This rare plant is an addition to the Irish 

 Flora. I first found it on the cliffs near the Bailey lyighthouse, 

 Howth, in October of last 3'ear. I sent it to Dr. Spruce ?s a 

 form of Cephalozia divaricata ; he reminded me of the tristi- 

 chous arrangement of the leaves, and said it was probably 

 A.juratzkana, but that the specimens were too young for cer- 

 tain determination. I afterwards collected it in fruit, which 

 settled the matter of identity. I have also gathered it this 

 year on Ireland's Kye. The geographical distribution of the 

 plant is interesting. It is found on the summit of Warschneck 

 mountain, in Upper Austria, at an altitude of 2,200 feet 

 (Jtwatzka) ; in Lapland at Pitensis, on Tjidtjalsk mountain 

 {Lindbcrg, 1856); in the Grimsel Alps, Switzerland (^Schiviper^ 

 1847); on moist rocks below the summit of Ben Nevis (fertile) 

 {Mr. W. W^^5/, August, 1880). A full description of the plant 

 will be published in my forthcoming list of Howth liverworts. 



The following vSpecies of Fungi were collected by Dr. 

 McWeeney : — Agariais {Psalliota) campestris, Marasviius 07''e- 

 ades, Lycopa^doii ccelatum, L. gemniattun, Verticillium na7iuvi 

 (on AIaras77iius^, IIysteriu77i aru7idi7iaceu77i (on grass stems and 

 leaves). 



