Hart — On the Botany of the Gattee Mountains. 393 



an intensely-dark hue ; and the sombre colouring of the lofty cliffs 

 above give quite an arctic character to the scene. 



In order to point out to a botanical friend the chief points of inte- 

 rest \;pon the Galtee Mountains, I would ask him to accompany me 

 upon a long and arduous walk, from Massy Lodge at the western 

 extremity of the range to Caher at the east, and to visit on our way 

 each of the lakes and the cliffs, slopes, and river beds upon either 

 side. 



At about 700 or 800 feet above sea-level cultivation has ceased to 

 affect the flora, and we no longer meet Avith any species introduced 

 by the agency of man. If we ascend Thumpadour, 2570 feet on 

 Ordnance Map, my botanical friend will be no doubt much disap- 

 pointed at not gathering a single plant of interest. To the east 

 of this summit lies a considerable depression, so that this first point 

 is an isolated outlier of the range. Encouraged by this reflection 

 we cross this valley, and ascend Corrig-na-binnian, 2712 feet. On 

 the way up, Saxifraga stellaris is met with ; and on the northern 

 bluffs, below the summit, S. hirta (vars. affinis and platt/petala), a cha- 

 racteristic plant of these mountains, may be seen. On the northern 

 side of this summit there is a considerable valley, Glan-cush-na- 

 binnian, in which, at about 1500 feet below the summit, Meconopsis 

 cambrica may be gathered ; it grows here in several places by the 

 stream above Stone Park. Here, too, we find Scolopendrium vulgare, 

 a couple of plants by a waterfall, the only place it appears to occur 

 on the mountains ; Carex ovalis also grows in this valley, elsewhere 

 met with only at Lough Muskry, and below Lough Curra. Ad- 

 vancing eastward from the last summit to the heights above Lough 

 Curra, and descending about 200 feet on the north of the ridge, we 

 may gather Symenopliijllmn tunbrigense ; and on cliffs a little below 

 the point marked 2544 feet on the Ordnance Map, about half a mile 

 west of Lough Curra, we first meet with Asplenium viride and Cysto- 

 pteris fragilis. These two ferns become abundant and luxuriant 

 around and above Lough Curra. In one place here, too, grows the 

 rare Arabis petrcsa, whose only previously-known habitat in Ireland is 

 Glenade Mountain, in Co. Leitrim. It grows here in small quantities 

 •upon one bluff, facing east of north, at an altitude of about 2600 feet, 

 above and to the west of Lough Curra. There were neither flowers 

 nor pods upon this scarce little crucifer, but a comparison with living 

 specimens in the College Botanic Grardens enabled me to identify the 

 plant. This was the most interesting plant observed upon the 

 Galtees. 



Besides the species already named, several other alpine plants 

 abound around Lough Curra, especially at and for about 100 feet 

 above the lake — as Oxyria reniforrnds, Sedum RJiodiola, Saxifraga stel- 

 laris, Cochlearia officinalis (var. alpina), and in smaller quantities Hie- 

 racium anglicum. The lake itself contained no aquatic plants, except 

 Litorella lacustris — not even Callitriche hamulata. These cliffs are 

 more alpine in character than those around the other lakes, contain- 



