THE FLORA OF IRELAND. 47 



readers must turn to the Cybclc Hibcrnica for the first records of the 

 pioneers of the last century. Praeger has found the " types " of distribution 

 of H. C. Watson unsuited to tlie Flora of Ireland and proposes accordingly, 

 in a paper now at press, to replace them by the following : — 



1. General Plants occurring throughout Ireland. 



2. Central Plants occurring in the Central Plain, (mostly calcicolc). 



3. Marginal Plants occurring near the coasts and on the hills bor- 



dering the sea, {calcifugc). 



4. UltoNIAN Plants occurring m Ulster. 



5. Lagenian Plants occurring in Leinster. 



6. MUMONIAN Plants occurring in Munster. 



7. CONNACIAN Plants occurring in Connaught. 



The Killarney Fern {Trichomanes radicans), so plentiful fifty years ago 

 as to be used for bedding for cattle, is now almost exterminated. The 

 Maiden-hair Fern {Adiaritiim Capilliis-'V eneris) occurs along the west 

 coast from County Clare northwards, and is quite a feature in the f ssures of 

 the limestone rocks of the Arran Islands, (Galway Bay). Many other in- 

 teresting ferns are to be found in the S.W. and other districts. 



The Flora of Ireland, as might be expected from the humidity of the 

 climate, is rich in mosses and liverworts. Of the 830 species which grow in 

 the British Isles, 540 or about two-thirds are found in Ireland. Alpine 

 species are not abundant or remarkable, but the S.W. of Ireland, especially 

 County Kerry, contains an interesting group of species which is character- 

 istic of the S.W. of Europe and some of which are found also in the West 

 Indies and South America. 



The liverworts {Hepaticae) of Ireland number 170 species; some 43 

 species and many varieties having been recorded, mainly by the efforts of 

 D. M'Ardle of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, since the publication 

 of the late Dr. D. Moore's paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish 

 Academy (Ser. 2, Vol. 2, 1876). Counties Cork and Kerry are especially 

 rich in liverworts, no less than 129 species having been recently recorded 

 from the Dingle promontory by D. M'Ardle {Proc. R.I. A., Ser. 3, Vol. 6, 

 No. 3, 1 901). 



Dr. Spruce, the explorer of the Amazon and the Andes, states that, 

 " when gathering mosses and Hepaticae (liverworts) on the slopes of the 

 Andes, he was reminded of the Kerry Mountains whose cryptogamic vege- 

 tation is the nearest approach in Europe to that of the tropical mountains." 



This is especially true of the Hepatics or Scale Mosses, a group which is 

 better represented in Kerry in number of species, in abundance and in 

 luxuriance of growth, than in any other portion of the Kingdom, or indeed 

 of Europe. 



Tortilla hibernica, Mitt. ; Daltonia splachnoides. Hook., and Tayl. ; 

 Hypnum canariense, Mitt. ; and Hypnum circinale, Hook., are mosses con- 

 fined in the' British Isles to the S.W. of Ireland, while a large number of 

 Hepatics are found in this district only in the British Isles, or confined 

 entirely to it, such as Leieiinea flava, Nees. ; L. diversiloba, Spruce ; L. 

 Holtii, Spruce ; Radiila Holtii, Spruce ; Bazyania Pearsoni, Stephani ; 

 Cephalozia hibcrnica. Spruce ; and Plagiochila e.xigua, Tayl. 



Ditrichinn vaginans, Sull., a moss, has only been met with in County 

 Antrim in the British Isles. 



Other rare and interesting species which grow in S.W. Ireland and form a 



