THE BOTANY OF THE BAREOW. 13 



Euonyvms and Viburnum are frequent and characteristic. In heavy 

 ditches parallel to the river Carex acuta, C. stricta, C. disticha, and 

 M yriophijllum verticiUaUim are not unfrequent. (-. stricta forms 

 large tussocks, from which the pale flowering stems spreads out as 

 the fronds from the crown of a shield-fern. In these wet meadows 

 and ditches, swamps in winter, the plants noted were Carex fulva, 

 which forms the main herbage, Juncns (jlaucus, Listera ovata, Samo- 

 lus Valerandi, Geum rivale, CEnantlie Pliellandrium, Solanum Dulca- 

 mara, Nuphar lutea, Fotamo(jeton pectinatus, and Stellaria glauca. 

 The latter is very local in Ireland, but it occurs in many places 

 here and elsewhere along the Barrow. Catahrosa aquatica and 

 Botrychium Lunariu occurred along here also, and in the stream 

 Nasturtium amphibium begins to be frequent. Bromus commutatus 

 also occurs. Opposite Lea Castle Carex vesicaria is abundant, 

 while Lysimacliia vulgaris, Myosotis palustris, Tlialictrum viajus, 

 Hippuris, Alchemilla vulgaris, Fotaviogeto7i pectinatus, and P. lucens 

 are frequent. Here I first met a very handsome species, Scirpus 

 sylvaticus, which is very local in Ireland. Twayblade is extra- 

 ordinarily abundant along the riverside banks. The Barrow here 

 is only of ordinary beauty ; Lea Castle is, however, an imposing 

 ruin. Between it and Portarlington Pyrus Aria, Crepis jxdudosa, 

 Alnus glutiiiosa, Epilobium, hirsutum, Alopecitrus geniculatus, Sym- 

 phytum, vulyare, and Tragupugun pratense are prevailing species, and 

 those previously mentioned mostly occur again. At Portarlington 

 I rested for lunch. By the railway banks I noted Orchis jnjrami- 

 dalis. Here for a space the river lies entirely in District III. ; the 

 county boundary and it part company for one mysterious mile. 

 Carex vesicaria, C. acuta, Myriophyllum verticillatum, and Scirpus 

 sylvaticus all still aj)pear. The water-lily is all the yellow Xupkar. 

 The river is here much prettier, winding amongst timber and 

 wooded slopes. Elodea canadensis was noted, as well as Valeriana 

 officinalis and Alliaria officinalis. The abundance of Tragopogon 

 pratense is quite unusual. On the left bank of the river here, about 

 a mile above Portarlington, I gathered Campanula Trachelium, one 

 of the rarest Irish plants, and found elsewhere only by the Nore in 

 Kilkenny. There was not much of it here, where it occurs a few 

 yards from the river on steep banks amongst brambles and under 

 trees. With it occurred Uanunculus auricomus. The locality is 

 near the point marked Barrow Bank House on the map. Easj)berry 

 occurs along here, and nearer to Kilnahown Bridge Sium angusti- 

 folia, Carex ronota, and C. sylvatica. Dogwood is also abundantly 

 established. Here I gathered a sportive hose-in-hose Geum rivale, 

 which produced a pretty effect. I was now in Garryhinch, a 

 beautiful place, but subjected evidently to extensive inundations. 

 Stagnant inlets and deep slime -pits abound near the water and 

 amongst the trees, but the vegetation is most luxuriant, and here 

 Scirpus sylvaticus grows in the greatest profusion with the Lysimachia, 

 Thalictrum, and Myriophyllum already mentioned. Here, too, 

 Aquilegia vidgaris occurs as a native. Rusa arvensis adorns these 

 woods also, and a little past Garryhinch Leontodou hispidum is a 

 prevalent weed. Towards Mountmellick I met ^Eyupudium Poda- 



