6 



Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



Here again the nuniber of the gi'oiip in. Ireland is so large — close 

 on 400 altogether — that we may restrict our analysis to those plants 

 which are of purely English type. Of such plants, 135 are included, 

 q,ccording to our standard list, in the Irish flora. But of these, no less 

 than 44, or 33 per cent., are reckoned in Ireland as possibly, probably,, 

 or certainly introduced. Here, in fact, we come upon the home of 

 the large section of our vegetation which owes its presence in the 

 country to the operations of man — the weeds of cultivation, and light- 

 soil plants. And while 44 represents the number of doubtfully native 

 plants of this type which have estallished themselves in Ireland, the 

 number which occur in this country more or less sporadically would 

 largely increase this figure. For our present purpose, however, we 

 are concerned only with the balance of 91 species which are reckoned 

 indigenous in Ireland. The maximum in any county-division is 63, or 

 69 per cent, of the Irish list, in Dublin ; the minimum 18, or 20 per 

 cent., in Monaghan. A map constructed according to the principle 

 laid down gives the following result : — 



Fig. I. — Distribution of " English " plants. 



This map shows clearly how the English type plants reach their 

 maximum along the east coast in Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford, as 

 we should expect them to do from considerations of position, soil and 

 climate. Their great abundance in Clare is a remarkable point, ta 



