A Botanical Trip to County Antrim, 147 



From L,arne I went on round the coast, staying at Cushen- 

 dall, Ballycastle, and Giants' Causewa}- ; thence to Derry for 

 steamer to Glasgow. On the way from Portrush to Derry the 

 journey was broken for a few hours to visit Benevenagh. 



My longest stay was at Cushendall. Finding that a good 

 centre, and surrounded by fine botanising country, my quarters 

 also at ' The Glens of Antrim ' being everything that could be 

 wished, I remained there a week, which was longer than I 

 had intended, and so had less time for working the country 

 further on. Two days out of the week, however, it rained in 

 such torrents that out-door work was well nigh impossible, 

 The rest of the time the heat in the glens was almost tropical. 



The coast scenery of County Antrim is certainly very fine, 

 and would alone have repaid one for the trip. The contrast 

 between the white Chalk cliffs with their capping of dark 

 basalt and the deep red sandstone of Red-bay has a very 

 striking effect. The Giants' Causeway, so interesting to the 

 geologist, seemed rather barren botanically. 



With a flora so varied, including as it does a considerable 

 number of maritime forms, the luxuriant vegetation of the 

 glens with their wealth of ferns and other shade-loving plants, 

 and a cliff flora including several highland types, I was sur- 

 prised at the rarity, or total absence from the district, of many 

 species which are of common occurrence in the West of 

 England. The common Yew and the White Beam, which 

 form quite a feature in many of the wooded valleys of this 

 part of England, were conspicuous by their absence. Among 

 others of our common plants which I did not see in County 

 Antrim were Papavcr Rhccas, Malva moschata, Bryonia dioica, 

 Galium Mollugo, Lamium Galeobdolon, Tamtcs communis, &c. 

 Mr. Stewart tells me that one of the rarest plants in N.E. 

 Ireland is the Moschatell, which may be found here in almost 

 every hedgerow, and completely carpets some of the woods in 

 early spring. I also failed to notice any of the sub-erect Rudi, 

 but as they were not specially searched for they may have 

 been overlooked. 



The flora of the North-East of Ireland has been so 

 thoroughly worked that it is unlikely that I can add much, if 

 anything to what is already known. Mr. Praeger, however, 

 tells me that two species of Hicracium and a variety of another 

 species have not previously been recorded from the district. 



