FREFAGE. vii 



have not been disregarded. It will be seen that the authority quoted for 

 the occurrence of a species in any locality is the observer who first col- 

 lected or noted the plant in that locality. The rule of priority has been 

 followed in this respect, and the refinding of a plant in a previously 

 known station is not mentioned here. This practice has only been 

 departed from in the case of a few very rare species, concerning which 

 it is desirable to have the most ample details. As respects rare plants all 

 known stations are quoted here, but with regard to the more common 

 such a course would have made the book too voluminous, and only the 

 more important are given. No special localities have been assigned to 

 such plants as are ubiquitous, or nearly so, in their distribution. 



As regards the Counties of Down and Antrim it may be stated that 

 their plants are fairly well known : in fact no equal area in Ireland has 

 been better worked. That there are portions of these counties _ even yet 

 unvisited by the botanist is, however, the fact, but the opening up of 

 remote districts by railways, and the multiplication of local observers 

 wiU doubtless bring to light ere long some plants at present overlooked, 

 and extend the range of others. The County of Derry is, however, less 

 known to the botanist, and were it not for the existence of the botanical 

 notes of the late Dr. David Moore that county could not have been in- 

 cluded in this Flora. Those notes were made during the years 1834, 

 and 1835, and considering the shortness of the time are marvellously full. 

 Nevertheless much remains to be done in this county before its botanical 

 features are thoroughly known. 



The sequence followed in this Flora is, as regards the higher plants, 

 mainly that of Babington's Manual, as most convenient and natural. 

 The Musci have been, as far as possible, arranged in accordance with 

 Braithwaite's British Moss Flora, but that magnificent work being, at 

 present, only partially completed some discordance may ultimately 

 appear. 



As to nomenclature the rule of priority has been observed, and where - 

 ever it required the substitution of a less known name this has been 

 done. Complaints of inconvenience will, of course, be made on this 

 head, but such rectifications are not only proper, but inevitable, and the 

 more quickly they come the less will be the inconvenience. Persisting 

 for convenience sake in the use of well known, but bastard, names is be- 

 queathing a debt to our successors, who will have to meet it, and with 

 interest too. Further, there has been an attempt here to retain, in all 

 cases, as authority for the species, the name of its earliest describer ; 

 want of access to some original works has prevented this point being 

 more marked. There, doubtless, woiJd be fewer creations of unneces- 

 sary genera, and less shifting of plants from one genus to another if the 

 new combination did not include the name of the shifter. 



This work, such as it is, could not have been completed without the 

 assistance of many kind friends who have taken an interest in its pro- 

 gress. Mr. A. Gr. More, F.L.S., wno stands at the head of Irish 

 botanists, has often been consulted. His critical knowledge of plants, 

 and his excellent judgment in matters pertaining to botany are well 



