1907. Knowi^s & O'Brien.— Flora of Shanid. 189 



Mullough mills, Goldilocks grows sparingly in a wood; by 

 the edges of the stream Thalictrum Jlavum and Lysimachia 

 vulgaris', and in the stream itself Potamogeto?i densus, Elodea, 

 and Chara contraria. By the roadsides, the Dwarf Elder forms 

 a handsome and conspicuous fringe in many places, and the 

 Swine's Cress, Pimpinella ??iag?ia, Poppies and Vervain are 

 frequent. 



On the crags at Barracks, the Fennel and the Wallflower 

 are found ; and the Common Mallow and occasionally Tree 

 Mallow grow near cottages. We had hoped to find more of 

 the characteristic Burren plants on this limestone tract, but, 

 like all the botanists who have walked these crags, we were 

 doomed to disappointment. Mr. Praeger, in his exploration 

 in central Clare, found a full Burren flora as far south as 

 Ennis. Of the sixteen plants on his list we have only five — 

 viz., Arabis hirsuta^ Rubia peregri?ia, Euphrasia S a lis burg ens is, 

 Juniperus ?ia?ia and Ceterach officinarum. Mr. Stewart's list 

 has another, Asperula cynanchica, from Foynes. We gathered 

 this plant also somewhere in the barony, but unfortunately 

 we lost the locality, and have never been able to re-find it. A 

 diligent search has failed to reveal any of the others, and we 

 are inclined to agree with Mr. Stewart, who accounts for their 

 absence on geological considerations. It will be seen from 

 the geological map that the rock which forms Burren is the 

 Upper Carboniferous limestone, a rock which weathers into 

 tabular masses with deep clefts and fissures, in the sheltered 

 recesses of which these plants flourish. This Upper Carbon- 

 iferous limestone extends down through central Clare, forms 

 the islands in the mouth of the Fergus, and enters the barony 

 of Shanid at Dernish, three quarters of a mile east of Foynes 

 railway station, where it passes under the shales and grits, 

 which form the surface rocks of Foynes Island and the 

 western portion of the barony. It was on the outcrop of this 

 rock, which in its bedded structure and rich grasses most 

 resembles Burren, on the road west of Shanagolden, that we 

 had hoped to find some of the Burren plants, rather than on the 

 I^ower Limestone beds that form the crags. It is however, 

 covered with a tough grey till, an ice deposit from the lime- 

 stone area. This till abuts on the dark rocks of the hills 



