1 86 The Irish Nattirahst, September, 



NOTES. 



BOTANY. 



Flora of Burnt Ground at Howth. 



I was over the burnt area at Howth iu the August following the lire — 

 about a year after the extinction of the flora ; and though I took no 

 notes of the exact state of affairs, I can contribute a few facts. The lire, 

 as Mr. Adams has said, burned very deeply, often consuming the peaty 

 soil right down to the rock. Nevertheless, the flora was not quite exter- 

 minated. Dwarf vegetation on well-beaten paths had escaped to a small 

 extent; also little plants in cracks of bare rocks, which the fire passed 

 by. Several species of plants were seen in each of these situations, in- 

 cluding a frond or two of bracken, and several grasses which I cannot 

 now name. Seedlings of gorse were also seen in places of this kind. 

 By the way, as regards a point raised by Dr. Pethybridge. seedlings of 

 Ulex ciiropaiis can easily be distinguished from those of U. Gallii bv being 

 trifoliate, while those of U. Galiii have leaves consisting of a single 

 leaflet. This is a difference which I do not see mentioned in books, and 

 I cannot say whether it is invariable ; but it is true so far as m}- own 

 observation goes. I agree with Dr. Pethybridge, that so far at least as 

 perennial plants are concerned, the present scanty flora of the burnt 

 ground arises by survival rather than b}' immigration The recent con- 

 flagration on the hill should afford an excellent opportunity for studying 

 the regeneration of the flora during the next few seasons — an oppor- 

 tunity that was not availed of last time. 



R, lyi.ovD Praegkr. 



Dublin. 



The Biological Subdivision of Ireland, 



I have been much struck with the simplicity and excellence of the 

 scheme of subdivision proposed by Mr. Adams in the last issue of this 

 Journal, and the more I stud}- it the better I like it. The provinces of 

 Ireland form a four- told partition of the country which is con^•enient not 

 only on account of its familiarit}-, and its north-south-east-west character, 

 but also because it provides four fairl}- natural provinces The 40-fold 

 subdivision which I have employed, while not perfect, is also, 1 believe, 

 a fairly convenient one. Mr. Adams' linking up of these two by a 12-fold 

 division is, I think, particularly happy, especially in its applicabilit}- to 

 marine as well as to terrestrial life. A multiple scheme of this kind has 

 everything to recommend it. and I trust it will be universally adopted in 

 future work in Ireland. \^ a number of our naturalists would agree to 

 use it for distributional studies, I have no doubt that others would 

 follow suit. 



