I900-] Praeger. — Notes on the l^hncrick Flora. 261 



O'Brien and I drove twelve miles to that favoured spot, long 

 famous for the Irish Elk skeletons and prehistoric remains that 

 it has yielded. Only two plants of R. maritivius had been seen 

 by Canon O'Brien, and I feared the plant might prove to be 

 merely sporadic, but to our great satisfaction we at once found 

 it, growing in profusion about the boat-house under Grange 

 Hill, and saw it later at several other points round the lake, 

 so that its claim to native rank cannot be questioned. 

 Previous Irish records sum up as follows :— Kilcoleman, Co. 

 Cork — Carroll (prior to 1872, not seen since?); Lady's Island 

 Lake, Co. Wexford, 1883 — Hart; Garristown, Co. Dublin — 

 Ogilby and Moore (last seen in 1883, now extinct?). The 

 discovery of a new station is therefore eminently satisfactory. 

 While gathering R. inaritinius my eye fell on Ceratophyllum 

 demersuni, growing in the shallow water by the lake edge, and 

 later it turned up choking, in its immense luxuriance, a broad 

 drain near the old castle at the north-east end of the lake. 

 This was a most welcome find, the plant being local and rare, and 

 unrecorded from District VI. Nor were the rarities of Lough 

 Gur yet exhausted, for at a number of places round the lake 

 margin T gathered Nastttrtiiim sylvestre, hitherto unknown in 

 this part of Ireland, being confined to four rivers in the south- 

 east, and one (Erne) in the north-west. Chejiopodium rubru7tt 

 was also a welcome find, growing among both species of Bide7is, 

 which fringe the lake in great profusion, and Ranunculus 

 circi7iatus was fished out of the water. We sampled one of the 

 rocky limestone hills which rise about the lake. ChcErophylkim 

 temulum was the best plant found. The site of a former lake 

 adjoining Lough Gur on the south-east, now largely swamp 

 and bog-hole, yielded Leni7ia polyrhiza, stated by Harvey to be 

 common about Limerick (" Flor. Hib.", 1836), but apparently 

 not seen since ; also Car ex teretiuscula. The clear spring-fed 

 bog-holes here, filled with CharacecB, were a pleasant change 

 from the dirty pea-soup-coloured waters of Lough Gur. I 

 pushed on to a worked-out bog, full of deep holes, lying south 

 of the lake. The pools 3delded a fine haul of CharacecB^ 

 including C. polyacantha, also Potamogeton coloratus, P. 

 obtusifolius, Sparganium minhnum, and other additions to the 

 Limerick flora. We drove back to Limerick delighted with 

 our day's work. 



