Dec, 1896.] 201 



ON THK FI,ORA OF THE OX MOUNTAINS, 



CO. SI.IGO. 



BY NATHANIEL COI^GAN, M.R.I.A. 



Towards the middle of July last, after a few days spent in 

 botanizing along the cliffs of Ben Bulben, it occurred to my 

 friend the Rev. C. F. d'Arcy and myself that the remainder of 

 our holiday in Sligo might be most profitably given up to a 

 survey of the Ox Mountains. Whether viewed across the bay 

 from the plateau of Ben Bulben or studied in its representation 

 on the one-inch Ordnance maps, this line of mountains 

 appeared to us anything but promising. Its elevation was 

 too small and its contours too gentle to warrant any strong 

 hopes that it would prove rich in alpine species. But we 

 knew that it w^as almost virgin soil to the botanist, and 

 that however poor the flora might appear on close examina- 

 tion, it could hardly fail to afford materials for an interesting 

 comparison with the exceptionally rich district we were about 

 to leave behind us. 



We broke up from our very pleasant quarters in a farm- 

 house by the waterfall in Glencar, on Monday, the 13th July 

 en route for the Ox Mountains. Sending on our baggage by 

 road we took boat across Glencar lake, climbed the range 

 forming the southern boundary of the glen, and descended 

 to Sligo early the same evening. On our way we made a 

 rather careful examination of this southern mountain flank 

 of Glencar, as it appeared to us to lie outside the limits of the 

 Ben Bulben district proper so thoroughly explored by Messrs. 

 Barrington and Vowell in 1884 (^). Nameless on the Ord- 

 nance map, three of the prominent points in this range, with 

 heights varying from 1,450 to 1,500 feet, we found to be 

 locally known as Lug-na-Gall, Meenaphuill and Faughrey, 

 the last being the most eastern and highest of the three. 

 Along this line there is a considerable extent of limestone 

 cliff with a due north exposure and reaching in some places 

 to over 1,400 feet. The result of our examination of these 

 cliffs was not altogether disappointing. We could find, indeed, 

 no trace of what we most of all hoped to find, Areyiaria citiata 



(1) Report on the Flora of Ben Bulben, by R. M. Barrington and R. P. 

 Vowell— /'ri?^. R.LA,, 1885. 



A 



