September, 1901. 1 65 



A NEW IRISH SEDGE, 



CAREX IRRIGUA. 

 BY NATHANIEL COI<GAN, M.R.I.A. 



Eari<y in July last, on opening a box of fresh specimens of an 



interesting morbid growth of the Cranberry sent me by my 



friend, Dean d'Arcy of Belfast, who had just gathered them at 



Parkmore, Co. Antrim, I was puzzled by the appearance of 



some over-ripe plants of sedge which lay on top of the damp 



Sphagnum packing. An examination of the fruit and bracts, 



and leaves showed that they agreed closely with those of 



Carex irrigua (Hoppe), earlier named C. magellanica by 



L,amarck ; but, unfortunately, the material was too imperfect 



in other points to justify a positive identification in the case 



of a critical species. On inquiry I learned that these defective 



specimens of what seemed likely to prove an addition to our 



Irish flora, had been gathered by a very youthful botanist — 



the Dean's daughter, Ellinor, aged eleven. Her keen eye had 



detected the unfamiliar plant as she roamed over the bogs at 



the head of Glenariff on the 6th July last, and when the box of 



Cranberry specimens, gathered for me on the same day, was 



about to be closed, she insisted on having her sedges put in 



on top and sent off to be named. 



Ten days elapsed before we found an opportunity of following 



up the clue so unexpectedly put into our hands. Starting on 



the 1 6th July last by the early morning train from Belfast, Dean 



d'Arcy and I reached the Parkmore terminus of the Ballymena 



and Cushendall Mountain Railway by half-past eight, and, 



striking south across the wet bogs, in another half-hour found 



ourselves surrounded by the nodding and dancing fruit-spikes 



of unmistakable Carex itrigua. There were hundreds of 



plants, varying in size from 6 to 16 inches, and springing from 



a bed of Sphagnum, embroidered with the delicate runners 



and gem-like flowers of Cranberry. We found the sedge in three 



distinct stations, ranging from about 900 to 1,100 feet above 



sea-level ; and, judging from the aspect of the country around 



here, it seems probable that further search would lead to the 



discovery of other stations. In two of the three stations near 



Parkmore, the plant had already been noted by its first 



discoverer ten days earlier. 



a 



