Clare Island Survey — Phanerogamia. 10 23 



characteristic plants are Potentilla Tormentilla, Salix aurita, Orchis maculata, 

 Narthecmm ossifragum, JSriophorum angustifolium. Mosses are abundant, the 

 leading species being Bicrannm majus, Hylocomium loreum, H. proliferum, 

 and species of Sphagnum. 



Alpine Vegetation. 



Lastly, reference must be made to the flora of the great sea-scarp of Croagh- 

 more, which forms a precipice 1,500 feet high descending into the Atlantic. 

 This scarp consists, in its upper part, of ranges of cliffs, with very steep grassy 

 slopes between ; below are almost sheer cliffs, rising from the sea to a height, 

 at some spots, of nearly 1,000 feet. The alpine vegetation concentrates on the 

 upper ranges of cliffs, from 1,000 to 1,400 feet. This part of the precipice can 

 be explored best by the aid of two little sheep-tracks, which run in from the 

 east edge of the cliff, and became known to us as the "1,000-foot path" and 

 the " 1,200-foot path." (Plate I. The 1,000-foot-path is illustrated in Part 23, 

 Land and Presh-water Mollusca.) They lead along the scarp, and one 

 can work one's way out again at the west end. The 1,000-foot path starts 

 from a little ledge that forms a conspicuous feature on the steep edge of the 

 hill, as seen from the east or south-east. Ten plants of Watson's Highland 

 Type are found on the Croaghmore scarp : — 



Silene acaulis. Oxyria digyna. 



Saxifraga oppositifolia. Salix herbacea. 



Sedum Ehodiola. Aspidium Lonchitis. 



Saussurea alpina. Asplenium viride. 



Hieracium anglicum. Selaginella selaginoides. 



With these some other interesting species occur — Saxifraga Geum, not pre- 

 viously known in northern Europe outside Kerry and West Cork ; Saxifraga 

 decipiens (Plate VI., fig. 2), elsewhere in Ireland known only from Slieve 

 Mish, in Kerry ; the northern var. procumbens of Hypericum pulchrum ; and 

 Cystopteris fragilis. Croaghmore forms the only island-station for almost 

 all these, and also for a few other plants, such as Anemone nemorosa, 

 Polygala vulgaris, Bulus saxatilis, Geum rivale, Campanula rotundifolia. 



Among the characteristic concomitants of the alpine plants at 1,400 feet 

 are : — 



Eanunculus acris. Jasione montana. 



Viola Eiviniana. Primula vulgaris. 



Cerastium triviale. Pinguicula vulgaris. 



Hypericum pulchrum. Thymus Serpyllum. 



Oxalis Acetosella. Carex glauca. 



Saxifraga umbrosa. Hymenophyllum nnilaterale. 



Angelica sylvestris. Lastrea dilatata. 



