THE SUBDIVISION OF IRELAND Ivii 



The number of lakes is unequalled in any other part of Ireland ; 

 almost one-ninth of this entire division is under water. Along 

 the Lough Corrib shore, from Oughterard to Galway, a broad 

 belt of Carboniferous limestone extends, having a rich flora. Else- 

 where the exposure and the inhospitable rock and sodden boggy soil 

 are unfavourable to a large variety of plant life, and only here and 

 there a patch or ridge of Boulder-clay produces an oasis of crops and 

 green meadow among the brown heather. Grass 47 per cent., 

 crops only 11 per cent. ; peat bog 7 per cent., barren mountain land 

 as much as 24 per cent. Flora well known, though work has been 

 very local ; but the large unexplored areas are mostly wild and 

 barren. The east is the best known portion. 



Flora 665 species. Here we are in the head-quarters of the 

 Heaths that form a leading feature of the Cantabrian group ; and 

 other representatives of both the calcifuge and calcicole groups of 

 the West Coast plants enhance the high interest of the flora. Four 

 plants are confined to this division : — 



Erica Mackaii. Carex trinervis. 



Potamogeton Kirkii. Deschampsia discolor. 



Eare or characteristic plants are numerous : — 



Thalictrum alpinum, 5. Orobanche rubra, 5. 



JELeliantbemum guttatum, 2. Epipactis atro-rubens, 4. 



Helianthemum yineale, 2. Habenaria intacta, 5. 



Vicia Orobus, 4. Naias flexilis, 3. 



Potentilla fruticosa, 4. Eriocaulon septangiilare, 7. 



Saxifraga umbrosa, 11. Calamagrostis Epigeios, 3. 



Asperula cynancbica, 8. Acliantum Capilhis-Venen's, 6. 



Hieracium argenteum, 4. Aspidium Lonchitis, 6. 



Erica mediterranea, 2. Lycopodium inundatuin, 3. 



Dabeocia polifolia, 3. Isoetes ecbinospora, 4. 



Gentianaverna, 5. Pilularia globulifera, 3. 



17. Galway NE. 



Western. Area about 840 square miles. Inland, save for a feAv 

 miles of coast-line in the SW., where it borders on Galway Bay. 

 Excepting a couple of insignificant patches of Old Red, this is 

 entirely a limestone area, and is almost devoid of hills, two 



