214 ^'^^^ Irish Naturalist. [August, 



Stysaniis Ulmarice. This bog is one of the few east coast 

 stations for the Royal Fern ; from our carriage we can see fine 

 clumps of green fronds tipped with golden-brown fructification 

 A stop at Dunleer enables us to note a large Galiuvi, either 

 Mollugo or sylvestre, growing abundantl}^ on the edge of the 

 line just south of the station. We turn eastward now, to 

 avoid the high ground that stretches seaw^ard from Collon, 

 and are soon rushing down hill into Drogheda, with the two 

 spires of Termonfeckin on our left, and beyond them the shim- 

 mering expanse of the Irish Sea. As we cross the loft}'' Boyne 

 viaduct, we glance to the right at the busy town, built on the 

 high steep river-bank, and the line of steamers in the water 

 far below ; and to the left, where marsh}' meadows and 

 brackish lagoons fringe the river. Bej^ond them lie the 

 yellow sandhills of the coast, and the open sea. Interesting 

 ground for the botanist, is this estuary of the Boyne. The 

 sandhills yield Festiica unighimis and Ce7itu7iculiis and Filago 

 minima and Cuscuta Trifolii ; the salt-marshes Trifoliwn 

 fragiferum^ Artemisia maritima, and abundance of Cheno- 

 podium rubriim^ which is apparently very rare in Ireland in 

 stations which are above suspicion ; the great Island of Aran 

 is the only other place where I have seen it in which it 

 appears undoubtedl}' native. 



As w^e pass into Drogheda Station Savibucus Ebulus is 

 noticed growing on the east side of the railwa3^ When we 

 get under way again our course lies south-east, and at I<ay- 

 town we strike the coast. We cross on a new bridge the 

 Nanny River, where Zostcra oiana grows in the soft ooze, and 

 pass along close to a beautiful 3'ellow beach backed by sandy 

 and swampy ground. Here the tall blue spikes of the Viper's 

 Bugloss brighten the landscape ; it grows mixed with Dyer's 

 Rocket and coarse Burdocks. This spot is the most northerly 

 point to which I have succeeded in tracing that very local plant 

 Senccio erucifolius. It grows b}^ the railway at this place, 

 and again at Laytown Station, and is abundant southward as 

 far as the further end of County Dublin. The late Dr. Moore 

 has recorded it from. " between Drogheda and Dundalk," which 

 furnishes an interesting extension of range ; and I wish that 

 some botanist more keen-eyed than myself, would verify this 

 record, which I have vainly tried to do. The locality is 

 exceedingly indefinite. 



