Ix INTEODUCTION 



Flora 561 species — a characteristic Central Plain flora. Barest 

 species : — 



Viola hirta, 5. Senecio erucifolius, 5. 



Viola lutea, 5. Scrophularia umbrosa, 2. 



Hypericum hirsutum, 4. 



20. Wicklow. 



Eastern. Area 781 square miles. Maritime, Tvitli a coast-line 

 characterized by extensive shingle-beaches, broken only by a couple 

 of rocky headlands. The county is a mass of mountains. A great 

 core of granite runs north and south, and on either side it is 

 flanked by picturesque highlands of Silurian rocks. The greatest 

 elevation is attained by Lugnaquilla (8039 feet), and over a dozen 

 other summits exceed 2000 feet. "Wicklow contains a greater 

 area of high land than any other county in Ireland, no less than 

 26 per cent, of the surface being over 1000 feet elevation. No large 

 streams are found in this area, the greater portion of which is drained 

 by the Ovoca Eiver. The western slopes form the gathering grounds 

 of the Slaney and Liffey. Several beautiful lakes lie among the 

 hills. Low-level bogs and eskers are unknown. Extensive salt- 

 marshes occur on the coast, but elsewhere flat country is quite 

 absent. Only 12 per cent, of the surface is below 250 feet elevation. 

 Limestone rock is not found in the county, but in the north the lime- 

 stone drift has poured down from the Dubhn direction, and provides 

 a suitable soil for many calcicole species. Grass occupies 47 per cent, 

 of the surface, crops 19 per cent. ; barren mountain land no less than 

 24 per cent. The county is not yet by any means thoroughly explored. 

 Much work has been done along the coast, and in the north-east, 

 and the basin of the Ovoca Eiver is well known ; but regarding 

 large portions of the west and south we have still very little infor- 

 mation. There is a plethora of old records, copied from one work 

 into another, many of them of doubtful value. Even the gene- 

 ralizations of the " British Association Guide," 1878, are not borne 

 out by the facts, and have often to be discarded. But so much obser- 

 vation has been devoted to the more accessible and interesting parts, 

 that few plants remain to be added to the flora. 



Flora 720 species. The leading feature of the vegetation is the 



