XXX INTRODUCTION 



of Atlantic gales, harbour a poor flora compared witli the more 

 stablemoss-grown sand-hills fringing the Irish Sea. 



Plants of sandy and gravelly Soils. — As stated in the last 

 paragraph, sandy and gravelly soils are rare in Ireland, except on 

 the sea-coast. The xerophytic flora is in consequence poor and local. 

 In the south-east and east, chiefly on the low grounds of Wexford, 

 Kilkenny, Carlow, Wicklow, and Dublin, the light-soil flora reaches 

 its maximum. All over the Central Plain, the eskers alone furnish 

 a habitat. Clinging to their winding ridges, we find Anthriscus 

 vulgaris, Erigeron acre, Carlina vulgaris, Carduus pycnocephalus, 

 plants which in Ireland are characteristic of the coasts. A gravel- 

 pit in the Central Plain often contains a galaxy of gay light-soil 

 plants not to be seen elsewhere in the neighbourhood — Poppies, 

 Hyoscyamus, Verbascuni Thapsus, Lychnis vespertina, Centaurea 

 Scabiosa. Towards the west coast the eskers are often more 

 clayey, and the gravel-pits less productive. 



Plants of the Bogs. — The great red bogs of the Central Plain 

 are a striking feature of Irish botanical geography. Their flora is 

 restricted, and possesses a character of its own ; and is quite distinct 

 from the flora of the marsh. The marshes of the Central Plain 

 are generally limy, and yield a proportion of calcicole species ; on 

 the bogs, on the contrary, no trace of lime usually exists — the 

 Characea and Pondweeds of the bog ditches, for instance, are beauti- 

 fully free from incrustation. The most characteristic plants of the 

 Central Plain bogs are — 



Drosera anglica. Vaccinium Oxycoccus. 



Andromeda Polifolia. Rhynchospora alba. 



These seldom occur in any other situation. A few additional 

 plants have, in the Central Plain, their characteristic habitat around 

 the drier edges of the bogs, especially where turf-cutting has assisted 

 drainage : — 



Betula verrucosa. Osmunda regalis. 



Cares Pseudo-cyperus. Lastrea spinulosa. 



I extract from my notebooks two typical lists of plants of the 

 red bogs ; each list comprises all the higher plants found within a 

 ten-foot radius. 



