Oct., 1896.] • 249 



MEDICAGO SYI.VESTRIS IN IRHEAND. 



BY R. TJ.OYD PRAEGER, B.E^. 



In June, 1894, on a dry sand}^ bank at the southern extremity 

 of the Portmarnock dunes, opposite the village of Baldoyle, I 

 noticed among the close-cropped herbage the leaves of a plant, 

 apparently a Medicago or Trifolhim, with which I was not 

 familiar. A search revealed the fact that it grew on several 

 other dr}' banks in the vicinity, but no trace of flower or fruit 

 could be found. On looking up " Cybele Hibernica" and the 

 *' British Association Guide," I could find no plant recorded 

 from Portmarnock with which the short leafy shoots of my 

 plant appeared to correspond, so I went back at the end of 

 Jul}^ in hopes that it would then be in flower, but no appear- 

 ance of blossom could be detected. Walking into Malahide, 

 I found a large patch of the same plant on the sand-dunes 

 near the Baths. Roots from Portmarnock were brought aw^aj^ 

 and cultivated ; they grew vigorously, and in August of the 

 next year (1895) they came into blossom ; and at first sight, 

 judging by its large size and clusters of purple flowers, I took 

 the plant to be a form of Medicago sativa. But before the plant 

 had ripened its fruit, which in the Medicks furnishes the most 

 satisfactory specific criterion, it was accidentally cut down to 

 the ground, and the opportunit}" of critically examining it was 

 lost. I visited Portmarnock and Malahide again, but although 

 there was an abundance of leafy shoots, no flower or fruit had 

 been produced, or if it had, had been eaten down by the 

 rabbits. This year, however, the cultivated specimens shot 

 up, and flowered sparingly at the end of Jul3% and when the 

 fruit ripened in August I found it to consist of a pod twisted 

 in the shape of a single flat or slightly spiral ring, thus 

 corresponding exactly with Medicago sylvestris, Fries, a very 

 rare plant, known in Great Britain to grow onl}^ in sandy 

 or gravelh' places on one limited area, which extends into 

 the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridge. A fortnight 

 later, Prof. G. F. Fitzgerald, f.r.s., sent me specimens of the 

 plant in flower and fruit from Malahide for determination, 

 suggesting the name Medicago sylvcsfiis. I again visited 



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