230 Domestic Notices : — Ireland. 



been there since that time, none of them, that I have heard of, have added 

 much to our stock of knowledge. On the mountains and other places near 

 Killarney are to be found the following species of the genus ^axifraga : 

 viz. Geum JE. B., hirsuta E. B., serratifolia Haw,, polita Haw., elegans 

 Mackay MSS., gracilis MSS., Is'vis MSS., the affinis of Don, incurvi- 

 folia Don and Hooker, and others less rare. In the beautiful demesne of 

 Muckruss, near Killarney, I had the good fortune to discover Trichomanes 

 brevisetum in fruit, and, at the same tune and place, the beautiful Junger- 

 manni« Hutchins/o?, which has not yet been found in any other country. 

 I can also inform your readers, that, should they be botanists, and 

 ever happen to visit Cunnemara, on the western coast, they may see the 

 Menziesi« ^^olifolia, not found in Britain, growing abundantly all over that 

 wild but interesting country, and, I may now add, the Evica mediterranea 

 in prodigious quantity in one [)lace, the rare Eriocaulon septangulare in 

 many of its numerous lakes, and the Rhynchospora fusca in bogs ; on the 

 coast, J'rabis ciliata; and on Ben Baulbain, near Sligo, Ai'enaria ciliata, 

 not found in Britain ; together with many other rare and interesting plants. 

 I can also assure them that they will be as safe in travelling through Cun- 

 nemara as any where in England, and, should they be as fortunate as I was 

 both times I visited that countrj', they will meet with as much kindness and 

 hospitality as I have ever found in England or any where else. 



When in Cunnemara, they might safely venture across to the largest 

 island of Arran, which is only fifteen miles from Rounstone, where is an 

 excellent harbour, and near to which the &ica meditern\nea grows. There 

 they would see the rare and beautiful *yldiantum Capillus Veneris growing 

 frequently to the height of 18 in. or 2 ft. in the fissures of limestone rocks, 

 of which the island is principally composed ; and on a little island called 

 Straw Island, close by it, they would find Matthiola sinuata. Should they 

 find Mr. O'Maly, the prin-^ipal resident gentleman, at home, they may per- 

 haps, as I did twenty-five years ago, after spending a pleasant long day in 

 exploring the island, sit down with him in the evening to a good dinner, 

 consisting of roast beef, turbot, and other accompaniments, and a glass of 

 excellent claret ; and might then return home with somewhat different ideas 

 of the west coast of Ireland than they had formerly entertained. 



In 1806 I gave to the Dublin Society, for publication, a list of some of 

 the rarer and more useful plants found by me in two extensive tours in the 

 southern and western counties of Ireland ; and in 1804- 1 published a list of 

 the phaenogamous plants and ferns found by myself and others up to that 

 period. Since that time one or two genera and above twenty species have 

 been added to these lists, in which it will be seen that the number of genera 

 then found amounted to 374, and the species to 935 : the corresponding 

 British genera, including the Irish, then amounted to 457, and the species 

 to 1487. Copies of my list, with the particular habitats of the rarer species, 

 are very much at your service, for distribution among jour foreign or other 

 botanical correspondents. — James T. Mackay. 5. Cottage Terrace, Dubliny 

 Feb, 1. 1831, [We shall be happy to receive a few copies. — Cond.] 



* In the writings of Sir J. E. Smith and other botanists, the Irish 

 habitat given for this fern is " South Islands of AiTan, opposite Galloway." 

 The last word should be Galwa}-. The habitat given on the authority of 

 Professor Beattie, " by the banks of Carron, Kincardineshire," I fear is 

 incorrect. I forgot to state that my excellent and most intelligent friend, 

 Mr. Wilson of Warrington, has added lately to the Irish and British floras 

 the Hymenophjllum Wilsoni of Hooker ; and //ypnum flavescens, a new 

 species ; and has also added a new habitat of the vecy rare Dalton/a 

 fplachnoides. — J, T. M. 



