HEPATICiE OF LOUGHBRAY, CO. WICKLOW. 357 



one. Both are interesting to the geologist, affording a remarkable 

 instance of a glacial moraine dam; and enormous boulder stones of 

 granite, many tons in weight, lie scattered about, and give evidence 

 of former existence of the ice-force as it descended fz'om the moun- 

 tains to the sea. 



It is the exposed part of the mountain which borders the upper 

 lake for upwards of two miles that presents to the hepaticist such 

 a ricb field for investigation (only equalled for its size by Killarney), 

 which forms the subject of this notice. It has been the favourite 

 resort of many bryologists. Taylor, in 'Flora Hibernica,' mentions 

 five species of liverworts from this locality. The late lamented 

 Dr. Moore frequently collected cryptogams here, and in 1873, with 

 the late Professor Lindberg, paid it a searching visit, with the 

 result, amongst others, of a very small quantity of the rare Nardia 

 sphacelata being collected by Lindberg, which had not previously 

 been detected in Ireland, and which he included in his ' Hepaticae in 

 Hibernia mense, Julii 1873, lectas,' wherein he states tbat Dr. Moore 

 had collected it there in 1869. We have no doubt that it lurks 

 amongst his specimens of Nardia emarginata and N. compressa, 

 collected by him in that year, a portion of which he sent to Professor 

 Lindberg. My own collecting of liverworts and mosses in this 

 locality extends over some years, often with Dr. Moore, and other 

 able bryologists. In July, 1887, when collecting there with Mr. F. 

 W. Moore, he gathered a plant which I had no difficulty in referring 

 to Nardia sphacelata, and it is interesting to note that it should fall 

 to the lot of Dr. Moore's son to verify the station for this rare 

 plant. Later in the season, Mr. Scully and I returned to the place 

 where he stated it was growing, and gathered it in abundance and 

 in fruit, associated with Nardia compressa and N. emarginata. They 

 quite carpetted a large rock over which the water more or less 

 trickles, and in winter time would form part of the bed of a moun- 

 tain stream. We distributed a portion of it to good authorities, 

 who stated that they had not seen it in a fertile state before, owing 

 probably to its dioecious habit. Its geographical distribution is 

 northwards through Scotland, Greenland, Finland, and Switzerland; 

 it is also reported from America, on the Catskill Mountains, New 

 York (Dr. P. Cleve), and on the Alleghanies (Sullivant). 



It will be obvious from the appended list that most of the plants 

 collected at Upper Loughbray are of a Scandinavian type. I 

 therefore sent all those which there could be any possible doubt 

 about to Mr. Errick Nyman, of Linkoping, Sweden, an accom- 

 plished student of the late Prof. Lindberg, wbo had tbe assistance 

 of Messrs. Kaurin and Kaalaas, two excellent Scandinavian and 

 Norwegian bryologists, to all of whom I tender my grateful thanks. 



Amongst my specimens of CepJialozia a small quantity of C. 

 leucantha Spruce was detected, but I have failed to find any more 

 in the same packet ; and a second portion, which I sent to Dr. 

 Spruce, only gave very young slender shoots of G. bicuspidata, 

 which may possibly have been mistaken for it. It has been 

 gathered in Scotland, and it will be interesting for some energetic 

 collector to verify the station, as in the case of Nardia sphacelata. 



