568 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



XXXII. — FlTETHEE, PtEPOET ON THE FlOEA OF SoUTHEEN DoNE&AL. 



By Henet Chichestee Hakt, B. A. 

 [Eead, February 22, 1886.] 



Mr explorations of 1885 were chiefly in soutli-west Donegal. The 

 new ground I examined was that of the Boylagh barony, and from 

 head-quarters at Glenties and Ardara. I also examined the lime- 

 stone country^ south of Brown Hall more carefully. My list of addi- 

 tions will show that it merited this attention. The most interesting 

 piece of work was the finding a new site for several of our rarest 

 alpine plants at Alt Mountain, south of Ardara. Saxifraga ahoides, 

 Thalictrum alpinum, Saussurea alpina, and the parsley fern ( Crypto- 

 gramme crispa)^ the last not before known in Donegal, grow here. I 

 paid special attention to the pond-weeds, in which Donegal is rich, and 

 I was rewarded by finding P. prcdlongus, P. gramineus, and P. nitens, 

 all rarities in Ireland, and desiderata in Donegal. A more unex- 

 pected "find" was that of Atropa leUadonna, looking as native as the 

 most captious critic could desire ; but, alas ! forbidden by the iron laws 

 of Geographical Distribution to be considered so. I visited Eathlin, 

 O'Beime's Island, the extreme west of the county, and numbered up 

 about eighty -five species, none of which are in the least degree inte- 

 resting. Trifolium medium and Beta maritima may, perhaps, be men- 

 tioned. This islet is storm-swept, and utterly devoid of shelter, being 

 about two or three miles round, and about the same distance from the 

 "Country," as the Tory Islanders call Ireland. We found storm- 

 petrels' nests on the island, and two contained addled eggs and young 

 birds. The parents had been feeding the latter on limpets and beetles. 

 Mr. Arthiu' Brooke, who accompanied me on several of my expeditions, 

 has obtained in the neighbourhood of Ardara dunlins' eggs, and at 

 Lough Eske those of the merganser. He informed me, also, of Mr. 

 Heardman's having taken the eggs of the red-throated diver on the Dun- 

 glow Lakes. Teal also breed there frequently. To my friend, Arthur 

 Brooke, and other gentlemen whose courtesy and hospitality were of 



^ The following species may be mentioned as characteristic of the limestone coun- 

 try mentioned above : — Sesleria cserulea, Juniperus communis, Antennaria dioica, 

 Campanula rotundifolia, Hieracium iricum, Corylus avellana, Eubus saxatilis, Hy- 

 pericum perforatum, Ilex aquifolium, Solidago yirga-aurea, Thymus sei-pylliun, 

 Euonymus europceus, Melampyrum pratense, Pi-unus communis, Sanicula europrea, 

 Agrimonia eupatorium, Juncus obtusifolius. It is worthy of notice that the prevail- 

 ing belief that Rhododendrons and Azaleas will not grow on limestone does not hold 

 good in Donegal. At Brown Hall, Lough Eske, Ardnamona, and else\N'hcre, the 

 ordinary out-door species thiive to perfection on limestone. 



