Clare Island Survey — Phanerogamic/,. 10 19 



herbaceous plants grow several feet in height, and one may see banks covered 

 with grand hedges of Osmunda 5 feet high (Plate IV., fig. 2). In the 

 rneadowland the most conspicuous plant is Lythrum Salicaria ; and Equisetum 

 maximum is unusually abundant, extending also to exposed ground, where it 

 attains a height of only a few inches. Gnicus pratensis, also remarkably 

 abundant over the island, reaches its maximum in the meadowland, where it 

 frequently bears branched stems with several (2 to 8) heads of flowers. On 

 accoimt of the moist climate and the peaty soil, species which would be usually 

 reckoned as marsh plants, such as Anagcdlis tenella and several of the above, 

 are common ingredients here. In drier spots Vicia Cracca forms large 

 tangled beds of greyish foliage and blue blossoms. Brambles are common 

 along banks and walls in this area, but, though embracing interesting species, 

 are apparently in no great variety (see the notes later on, p. 28). 



Without doubt much of the ground now occupied by this kind of vegeta- 

 tion has been artificially prepared, partly by the clearing away of original 

 scrub, and partly by the draining of wet ground. 



The only place where a marsh flora is developed in any quantity is round 

 Lough Avullin, lying in a sheltered hollow 75 feet above 0. S. datum. Around 

 this little lake four zones of vegetation are conspicuous : — 



(1) Grasses with much Juncus effusus. 



(2) A dense broad fringe of Menyanthes trifoliata with much Galium 



palustre, and in addition Ranuncidus repens, Lotus uliginosus, 

 Potentilla palustris, Cnicus -pratensis, Eleocharis palustris. 



(3) Equisetum limosum, Phragmites communis, Garex ampullacea, Spar- 



ganium ramosum (on the edge or in 1-2 feet of water). 



(4) Nuphar luteum and Potamogeton natans (in 2-8 feet of water). 



Woodland Vegetation. 

 As stated elsewhere (p. 40), it would appear probable that before man's 

 influence made itself felt, scrub occupied a good deal of the steeper and more 

 sheltered places on the low grounds. The best fragment of the primitive 

 woodland now remaining occupies a rocky slope north-west of Portlea (Plate 

 IV, fig. 1). It consists of fairly dense scrub 4 to 8 feet in height (one 

 Birch attains a height of 10 feet !), low and spreading, many of the trees being 

 very old. The constituent species are Corylus Avellana, Eetula pubescens, 

 Rex Aquifolium, Pyrus Aucuparia, Quercus sessilifiora, Salix aurita, S. cinerea, 

 Myrica Gale, Lonicera Periclymenum and Eubi. These shelter a good shade- 

 flora : — Ranuncidus Ficaria, Oxalis Acetosella, Viola Riviniana, Conopodium 

 denudatum, Saniada europaea, Primula vulgaris, Scilla nutans, Lastrea 

 dilatata, L. Filix-mas, L. aemula, and in spring the luxuriant foliage and bright 



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