THE SUBDIVISION OF lEELAND liii 



occupies 62 per cent, of the surface, and crops 27 per cent. The 

 flora is tolerably well known. Exploration has been chiefly devoted 

 to the valleys of the Nore and Barrow, which form the most promis- 

 ing part of the county, and yield a rich flora. The west, and the 

 coal-field in the north-east, are still almost virgin ground. 

 Flora 616 species. The best plants are : — 



Corydalis elaviculata, 5. Campanula Trachelium, 4. 



JDraba muralis, 4. Colchiciun autumnale, 2. 



The two last, which have a restricted south-eastern range in 

 Ireland, have their head-quarters in this division. 



12. Wexford. 



South-eastern. Area 901 square miles. Maritime, marine or 

 tidal waters forming two -thirds of the periphery of the county. 

 Shores generally low, sandy or gravelly. An undulating and fertile 

 county, composed almost entirely of older Palaeozoic slates, shales, 

 and grits, broken up by numerous narrow parallel intrusions of fine- 

 grained granitic rocks. The Carboniferous limestone is represented 

 only by a small area about Wexford town. Heathery hills are 

 numerous, and along the eastern margin rise the Mount Leinster 

 (2610 feet) and Blackstairs (2409 feet) chain, portion of the granite 

 back-bone of Leinster. The largest river is the Slaney, which flows 

 in a southerly direction across the county to the sea, its lower reaches 

 being tidal and edged with marshes. The lower estuarine portion 

 of the Barrow forms part of the western boundary. Lakes are 

 absent, and bogs and eskers likewise. A fertile county, having 

 55 per cent, of the surface under grass and 33 per cent, under 

 crops. Only 3 per cent, is returned as barren mountain land. 

 This division has been well though not uniformly explored, the 

 Kev. E. S. Marshall's recent examination of the interesting south- 

 eastern portion being especially thorough. The whole coast and 

 Barrow estuary are well known, but further work is needed in the 

 centre and north. 



Flora 689 species. Here the East Coast flora attains its greatest 

 development, and supplies many characteristic light-soil and maritime 

 plants very local in Ireland. Chara connivens is confined to this 



