Clare Tslanct Survey — Phanerogamic. 



10 3 



attention could be given to critical plants, and the time devoted to botany was 

 spent mainly in ecological work, in mapping, and in studying the influence of 

 man upon the flora. A certain amount of time was devoted each season to the 

 examination of remote or promising spots, and especially to the complete exami- 

 nation of the great precipice of Croaghmore. As a result, some 30 additional 

 species have been found, many of these being uncommon plants, and some of 

 them of high interest. The more important additions to the former list include 

 Cochlearia groenlandica, Saxifraga Geum, Erica mediterranea, Orobanche rubra, 

 Salix herbacea, Cephalanthera ensifolia, Cystopteris fragilis, Aspidium Lonchitis. 

 The total flora now stands at 393 ; a flora large, as are those of Inishturk 

 and Inishbofin, in comparison with the flora of the adjoining island of Achill, 

 or of the peninsula of the Mullet, as the following table will show : — 



— 



Area in 



square miles. 



Greatest 

 feet. 



I'lora.5 



Inishbofin, 1 .... 



4 2 



292 



379 



Inishturk, 2 .... 



01 

 -4 



629 



327 



Clare Island, .... 



6i 



1520 



393 



Achill Island, 3 



57 



2204 



414 



The Mullet, 4 .... 



45 



434 



348 



This high total is, no doubt, due to the diversity of surface of Clare Island, 

 as compared with the flatter, more wind-swept surface of the Mullet, and to the 

 smaller proportion of monotonous peat-bog such as dominates Achill. The 

 Inishturk and Inishbofin totals compare favourably with that of Clare Island, 

 The poverty of the Mullet, which has had the advantage of continuous 

 terrestrial migration, is remarkable. 



Looking at the flora of these outlying areas as a whole, we are struck with 

 the continuity of distribution of some of the rare or interesting species, and with 

 the discontinuity in the range of others. For instance, Saxifraga umbrbsa, 

 Sedum Bhodiola, Lobelia Dortmanna (except Clare Island), Jtmiperus nana > 



1 A. 6. Moke: Report on tlie Flora of Imsh-bofin, Gahvay. Proc. E.I.Acad., (2) Science, ii, 

 pp. 553-578. 1876. E. LI. Pkaegek : Notes on the Flora of Inishbofin. Irish Nat., xx, pp. 165-172. 

 1911. 



2 E. LI. Pkaegek : The Flora of Inishturk. Irish Nat., xvi, pp. 113-125. 1907. 



3 E. LI. Pkaegek : The Flora of Achill Island. Irish Nat., xiii, pp. 265-289. 1904. 



4 fi. LI. Praegek : The Flora of the Mullet andlnishkea. Irish Nat., xiv, pp. 229-244. 1905. 



'- That is, species and sub-species, according to the standard adopted in " Irish Topographical 

 Botany," which can be ranked as native or naturalized in these areas. Characeae in all cases omitted — 

 they are included in some of the above reports. 



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