ORCSIDAGEM 135 



ton's locality covers all subsequent records. Not in all the 

 drains at Portmore, as stated in Cybele Hibernica, but abun- 

 dant in some of the drains at the south and west of the little 

 lake. 



£I.OBZ:a Michx. 



[E. CANADENSIS Mich. (Auacharis alsinastrum^aJ.). "Water Thymb. 



Eivers, lakes, dams, and canals— abundant. Fl. July and Aug. 



This American immigrant was, no doubt, introduced by means of 

 square timber imported into Belfast from Canada, but the exact date of 

 its appearance in our waters cannot be fixed with certainty. In Hooker's 

 Students' Flora it is stated to have been first observed in a pond at "War- 

 ingsto^vn, Co. Down, in 1836. Dr. Dickie is cited as authority, his note 

 on the subject having appeared in the Phylologist, vol. 5, 1854. This 

 statement seems improbable, and in Dickie's Flora of Ulster, published 

 in 1864, no notice is taken of it. The Anacharis is there referred to as 

 having appeared in the canal near Lisburn about the year 1844. 



Belfast was probably the original Irish centre of this plant, but it must 

 have been imported to England independently. If brought to Ireland 

 with American wood, as suggested above, it is easy to understand its 

 spread from north to south. The logs are launched out of the ship's 

 hold, and an incoming tide caiTies a sprig, or sprigs, of the plant above 

 the bridge, to pass thence into the freshwater of the canal ; or logs towed 

 up the river could carry water plants, or seeds, adhering to them. Once 

 in the canal the way was clear to Lough Neagh, and thence transport by 

 birds or other agencies was easy. 



The Anacharis has not yet made its way to Rathlin Island, but 

 stated in AlHns' Flora to have arrived at Cork about 1851. The follow- 

 ing localities are put on record, the better to enable botanists, at a future 

 time, to decide whether this plant holds the ground which it has gained. 



Lagan canal. Lough Xeagh, Portmore Lake, the Bann, Springfield, 

 and other mill dams about Belfast. BaUynahinch Lake, Lough Aghery, 

 the Quoile, Newry canal, and many other waters.] 



Order LIX. ORCKZDACSiE. 



ORCHIS Linn. 



1. O. mascula Linn. Early Purple Orchis. 

 Damp pastures, and heaths — conmion. Fl. mid. April till early in June. 

 Altitudinal range, from sea level to 1000 feet. 



