14 2 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



inhospitable for lichens ; but Bhizocarpon geographicum and two species of 

 Gyrophora peculiar to high altitudes were found on the rocks there. 



At Louisburgh, Belclare, and Westport there are considerable woodland 

 areas with fine old trees ; and they yielded a rich crop of corticolous lichens. 

 There were scattered trees also at Achill and Castlebar, on which several 

 species were found. 



Though there have been a number of noted field liehenologists in Ireland, 

 very few specimens have been collected in our district. Carrington, Carroll, 

 Sir Thomas Gage, Miss Hutchins, Admiral Jones, Salwey, and T. Taylor 

 collected mainly in the south and south-west, in Cork and Kerry. We find 

 also records from Wicklow by Moore and Taylor ; from Donegal by Moore ; and 

 from northern Ireland by Thompson, Moore, and Miss Hutchins. Carroll and 

 Moore made occasional expeditions into Galway, and duly recorded their 

 finds ; but the chief collector in the western districts was Charles Larbalestier. 

 He found several new lichens which were determined by Ny lander and 

 published in various volumes of " Flora " from forty to fifty years ago. 

 Larbalestier long survived his fellow-collectors ; he died a few months ago 

 (April, 1911) in his native Jersey. Most of his work was done in 

 Connemara, at Kylemore, Twelve Bens, Killary Bay, &c. ; but he also 

 travelled up to Mayo and made a few records from Lord Sligo's demesne at 

 Westport. 



With these exceptions, the western districts, and more especially Mayo, have 

 been practically unsearched for lichens until the botanists of the Clare Island 

 Survey turned their attention to them. The first collection of any importance 

 in the district was made in the early summer of 1909 by Miss M. C. Knowles, 

 who then worked chiefly at the larger forms of Parmelia, Physcia, Cladonia, 

 Peltigera, &c. The specimens were sent to me at South Kensington to be 

 examined, and a number were found to be new, not only to the district, 

 but to the Irish flora. The committee owe a great debt of gratitude to 

 Miss Knowles, whose exceptional ability as observer and collector has so 

 greatly aided the lichenological survey. In the following spring Mr. W. West, a 

 skilled field-worker, took advantage of his stay on the island to collect a series 

 of rock and ground specimens. They were sent by him to South Kensington, 

 and have been incorporated in the lists. Mr. W. A. Wattam, Huddersfield, 

 went in June, 1910, to Achill and the Curraun peninsula, where he spent a 

 busy fortnight. He devoted most of his attention to the higher grounds of 

 Curraun, Glendarary, and Slievemore, where he made a rich collection of rock 

 specimens, including such mountain forms as Bhizocarpon gcograpliicuin, Ephcbe 

 pubescens, Gyrophora torrefacta, and G. cylindrica. At the summit of 

 Croaghaun Mountain he found Cladonia bellidifiora, an upland species, in great 



