Hart — Flora of the Moimfains of Mayo and Galway. 697 



pedicelled to half an inch or more. The leaves and sepals are much 

 blunter than in any other Irish Saxifrages of the race, and the oyaries 

 more distinctly semi-included in the calyx, Tvhich points to another 

 character in the sepals being shorter : these latter are studded with 

 gland-tipped hairs. The petals are also smaller in proportion to the 

 sepals. The Connemara plant has not the "weak trailing shoots of 

 most of the S. hypnoides forms, and is, generally speaking, more dis- 

 tinct than any of them ; widely so fi'om the extreme plant S. sponhei- 

 mica, which mainly differs from S. Tiypnoides in the absence of bulbs 

 in the leaf axils. 



In my Eeport on the Macgillicuddy's Eeeks I have noticed the 

 distribution of this race of plants upon some of the Kerry mountains, 

 and on the Graltees in Tipperary. I have this year visited Ben Evenagh 

 in Derry, and the Cummeragh and Ejiockmealdown mountains in 

 AYaterford. >S. sponheimica (Gm.) is the plant which grows on these, 

 its typical form occurring on the Derry basalt. 



With regard to the Hieracia, to which I also paid particular atten- 

 tion, the following forms were gathered : — 



Hieracium anglicum (Fr.) ) H. vulgatum (Fr.) \ 



H. iricum (Fr.) j H. gothicum (Fr.) ) 



H. anylicum occurs frequently on the mountains as an alpine plant, 

 and rarely at low levels in exposed rocky places. H. iricum, in its 

 large, much-branched, very leafy form, is a plant of the glens and 

 intermediate stations, never occurring in alpine situations. It passes 

 into S. anglicum in intermediate stations, as above Doo Lough, oppo- 

 site Delphi, and on Benchoona, in a series of doubtful plants ; and 

 having gathered a number of specimens throughout the two counties, 

 I feel convinced that JS. iricum is merely a luxuriant lowland form of 

 S. anglicum. Typical H. iricum is rare in Ireland ; it occurs in Gal- 

 way at Kylemore and Benchoona. The Galtee form of H. anglicum, 

 as well as that gathered ou the Eeeks, is intermediate, while the com- 

 monest hawkweed in mountainous districts of Donegal is typical S. 

 anglicum. 



R. vulgatum is scarce, and I only met with it on Muckanaght, 

 where it passes insensibly into H. gothicum, which is, perhaps, the 

 alpine form ; it does not, however, occur vdth the alpine species. 

 Typical S. gothicum is best seen at Maumeen, amongst the alpine 

 plants. I met with neither of these in Kerry ; but both occur, with 

 intermediate forms, in Inuishowen, Co. Donegal. 



The vertical range of Saxifraga umhrosa calls for a note. In Kerry 

 it descends from the highest summits to sea level or low levels inland 

 constantly in the mountainous regions ; in the Galtee, Cummeragh, 

 and Knockmealdown mountains, it is thoroughly alpine in its general 

 elevation, and though not dependent on aspect as alpine plants usu- 

 ally are, it never descends lower than 1700 or 1800 feet. In 

 the Mayo and Galway mountains Saxifraga umhrosa occasionally 



