Arbutus 561 



an outlying station in Brittany. In Corsica, it is very common as a shrub in the 

 maquis ; but in some of the forests grows to be a considerable size, as in that of 

 Bonifatte near Calvi, where I measured trees 25 feet in height and i foot in diameter, 

 which were growing at 2000 feet altitude. In Corsica, a liqueur, called acqua vida de 

 bagui, is made from the berries. In Spain and Algeria, I noticed it as a shrub, growing 

 in ravines in the forests ; but in Italy it sometimes attains a considerable size. 



Thfe Arbutus is unquestionably wild^ in the south-west of Ireland, where it is 

 associated with other plants, which like it are Mediterranean in type and not 

 indigenous to other parts of the British Isles. It has been known to the Irish since 

 early times, and is called caithne (pronounced cahney) in Kerry and cuince in Clare. 

 The former name occurs in several place-names in Kerry, as Derrynacahney, the 

 "oak-wood of the Arbutus," two miles south-east of Crusheen ; Cahnicaun wood, 

 near the Eagle's nest, Killarney, which is coill caithneacan, the " wood of the little 

 Arbutus," in Irish; Ishnagahiny Lake, five miles south-east of Waterville, which is 

 uisge-na-geaithne, " Arbutus water," in Irish. The Clare name, cuince, is supposed 

 to occur in several place-names, anglicised as quin, which, however, often represents 

 a family name of another signification. Cappoquin, in Waterford, means the field of 

 the Arbutus, and Feaquin, in Clare, the wood of the Arbutus. The occurrence of 

 names like Quin, a parish in Clare, and Quinsheen, one of the islands in Clew Bay, 

 Mayo, may point to an extension of the distribution of this plant far to the north in 

 ancient times. 



At present, Arbutus Unedo is restricted to Co. Kerry and the extreme south- 

 western part of Co. Cork. In the latter county it is thinly scattered through the 

 woods in the vicinity of Glengariff, growing in company with oak, birch, holly, hazel, 

 and mountain ash, and attaining about 25 feet in height and 3 feet in girth. It 

 is said to grow here and there among the mountains to the west of Glengariff, and 

 was seen by R. A. Phillips at Adrigole, ten miles to the west, high up in the 

 mountains amongst rocks, and without the shelter of other trees. Phillips believes 

 that it does not now grow to the eastward of Glengariff; and he could not find it in 

 its former station, Ballyrizzard, near Crookhaven. 



The Arbutus has its head-quarters in Co. Kerry, in the Killarney district, being 

 particularly abundant and luxuriant on the islands and shores of the lakes generally, 

 where it forms a considerable part of the natural forest. At the base of Cromaglaun 

 mountain, near the tunnel on the Kenmare road, there is a wood composed almost 

 exclusively of Arbutus ; and it is also met with on the Cloonee lakes south of the 

 Kenmare River.^ 



About Killarney the tree is indifferent as regards soil, as it grows on limestone 

 on Ross island, on sandstone on Dinis island, and on slate, grit, and conglomerate 



' Its right to be considered an indigenous plant was contested by Smith, wlio, in liis History of the County of Kerry 

 (1756), states that it was introduced by the monks of St. Finnian, who founded the Abbey of that name on the banks of the 

 lake, in the sixth century. Babington, in Mag. Nat. Hist. ix. 245 (1836), says this idea is inconceivable as the tree grows in 

 isolated spots far up in the mountains, and is truly an aboriginal. All Irish botanists, and they are supported by authorities 

 like Sir J. D. Hooker and Prof. Fliche of Nancy, are agreed as to the tree being an undoubted native of the south-west of 

 Ireland. 



'^ There are six trees on the islands in Glenmore Lake near Dereen, and a few on the mountains beside the lake, accord- 

 ng to information I received when visiting Dereen in July 1907. 



