2 i6 [ pr0c B.N.F.C, 



on the Hog Park side the members were fortunate in re-discovering 

 a fine colony of the shrubby tree, known as the Purging Buck- 

 thorn, Rhamnus catharticus, a plant which had come to be 

 regarded as extinct, through drainage, in the North-East of Ireland. 

 Except for the remains in bogs, however, there is little evidence 

 now of the forests of former days. What was known as the 

 " Great Oak of Portmore," and which grew in the Deer Park, was 

 blown down by a "big wind" about 1760, and when sold piece- 

 meal realised a sum of ^136. The trunk was 42 feet in 

 circumference, and it was 25 feet from the ground to the first 

 branch. 



The botanists of the party revelled in their opportunities on 

 this day. Lough Neagb, at Selshan, and the marshes, flats, bogs, 

 and drains lying round Selshan harbour form classic ground from 

 the botanist's view point. A very rich, and in some respects rare, 

 flora has been recorded therefrom. Some of the plants so 

 recorded had not, however, been seen since the early part of last 

 century, and consequently a special effort was made to re-discover 

 a few of the missing ones. The drought of the present season 

 favoured the search party, enabling them to traverse dried-up 

 marshes which are in ordinary seasons quite impassable. In 

 addition to the Buckthorn above-mentioned, the Blue Marsh 

 Vetchling, Lathyrus palustris, was re-found growing profusely, and 

 in full bloom, in the marshy meadows by the shore at Selshan 

 Bridge. The plants about this part of the shore are mainly of the 

 Reed-marsh and Alder-marsh type of association. Great groves 

 of the Reed-grass and of the Bulrush occupy the waters of the 

 shore line. Of this aquatic and marsh vegetation the rarer plants 

 noted were : — Thaliclrum flavum, Ly thrum Salicaria, Cicuta 

 virosa, CEnanthe Phellandrium, Lysimachia vulgaris, L. Nummul- 

 arza, Hydrocharis Morsus-rance, and Osmunda regalis. Among 

 the rarer Sedges collected were : — Carex canescens, C. Goodenovit, 

 and C. stricta. On a dry bank at Hog Park was noted the Rough 

 Chervil, and by the shore the Dog Violet. On the Denymore 

 side of the bay the Adder's-tongue Fern was found ; and in the 



