Aug.-Sspt., 1918, The Irish Naturalist. 113 



REAPPEARANCE OF LATHYRUS MARITIMUS 



IN KERRY. 



BY REGINALD W. SCULLY, F.L.S. 



The great rarity of the Sea Pea in Ireland and its 

 disappearance from its only known station, the Castlemaine 

 sand-hills of Kerry, for a period of almost three quarters 

 of a centiirv are enough to warrant more than a bald record 

 of its reappearance there in the present year. 



On July 28 last I was very agreeably surprised to receive 

 from my friend, Mrs. Jenner, an accomplished Kerry 

 botanist, fresh specimens of this long lost plant which had 

 just been sent her by the lucky finder, Miss Elsie Milliard, 

 who had discovered it growing in considerable quantity in 

 its old station. Two days later I w^as informed by Mr. 

 R. LI. Praeger that he too had received specimens, in his 

 case direct from the finder, and it is at his request that I 

 have put together the following notes on Lathyrus maritimus 

 in Ireland. 



The first Irish record appears in Dr. Smith's " History of 

 Kerry," published in 1756, where, on p. 380, he writes : — 

 " Pisum maritimum Ger. — English sea peas. They grow 

 annually on the S. point of Inch Island in the Bay of 

 Castlemain in considerable quantities ; they are also found 

 on the English sea coasts in like manner, in barren naked 

 cliffs of rocks, and among pebbles where no earth is seen 

 to give them nourishment, for the roots run to a great 

 depth, to find the earth. In tim^es of scarcity of provisions 

 they have aftorded great relief to the people of England, 

 who lived near the sea coast, and who having never observed 

 it, till necessity sent them to its stores, they then thought 

 it was sent by miracle for their support." 



The second notice occurs in a " Catalogue of Rare 

 Plants found in Ireland," published in 1806 by that 

 ■ distinguished Irish botanist, James Townsend Mackay. 

 He there states " I found this [Lathyrus maritifrius on the 

 sandhills, bay of Castlemain in August, 1804." Mr. William 

 Andrews appears to have been the next to gather the 



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