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FLORA OF THE CROAGHGOEM RANGE, CO. DONEGAL. 

 By H. C. Hart, B.A. 



The Croaghgorm or Bluestack range of mountains lie north 

 and west of Barnesmore Gap and Lough Eask, reaching nearly to 

 Glenties. The group is about seven miles across ; in it -are several 

 small tarns, as well as one good-sized lake, Lough Belshade 

 (1050 feet). The highest points are — Bluestack, 2219 ft.; Lavagh 

 More, 2211 ft. ; Croaghgorm, 2118 ft. ; Silver HHl, 1979 ft. ; and 

 Gaugin Mount, 1865 ft. 



The formation of this range is of Silurian age : schists and 

 sandstone for the most part, but in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of Bluestack and between it and Lough Eask the rock is granite. 

 At Lough Belshade the scenery is precipitous and beautiful, and 

 in other places picturesque glens and shady ravines render the 

 exploration very agreeable. I spent three days amongst these 

 mountains, in which time I traversed them in all directions. 

 Mention of the rarer plants met with will be found in the ' Journal 

 of Botany' for 1881, pp. 233-240; in the present paper I give the 

 results for which I undertook detailed examination of the district, 

 namely, the vertical ranges of the different species upon the 

 mountains. Cultivation ascends to from six to seven hundred feet 

 above sea-level, and since the lowland flora is of no special interest 

 I include plants observed above that level only. 



Li the higher ground thus examined I met with 158 species. 

 Of these the following eleven belong to Watson's Highland type: — 



Thalictrum alpinum, L. Juniperus communis, L., rar. 



Sedum Rhodiola, DC. nana. 



Saxifi'aga stellaris, L. Asplenium viride, Huds. 



Hieracium anglicum. Fries. Lycopodium alpinum, L. 



Vaccinium Vitis-Idaea, L. L. selaginoides, L. 



SaUx herbacea, L. Isoetes lacustris, L. 



Watson's northern type plants are few, considering the 

 latitude : — 



Crepis paludosa, Moeiich. Pinguicula vulgaris, L. 



Drosera anglica, Huds. Empetrum nigrum, L. 



Antennaria dioica, /*'. JU-. Polypodium Phegopteris, L. 

 Lobelia Dortmanna. />. 



Thalictrum alpinum, which grows here freely, was the rarest 

 Irish plant observed. Lycopodium aljnnum is common, especially 

 on the granite, but it is not confined to it. A careful search for 

 holly fern, which has been recorded from here, proved unsuccessful 

 (see ' Journ. IJot. ' 1881, p. 240). 



