4 Phillips and Praeger^-The Ferns of Ulster. 



in summer we can explore the Athyriums and Lastreas and Blechnums in our 

 woods and on our mountain sides, in winter the evergreen fronds of Poly- 

 stichum and Scolopendrium peep at us through the leafless hedges and wave 

 luxuriantly in all our glens, inviting us to take up bag and trowel and go 

 off Fern-hunting. We may add that we shall be very happy to give all the 

 information in our power concerning this branch of botany to anyone asking 

 it, or to name fronds sent to us, or to receive notes of new localities for 

 species. 



The district to which this list refers is bounded to the southward by the 

 frontier line of Ulster, with the exception of the south-east and south-west 

 corners, where in each case a slight encroachment has been made on an 

 adjoining province. In the south-west a detour has been made in order to 

 include the famous botanical region of Ben Bulben, in the extreme northern 

 corner of Oo. Sligo ; and on the south-east our line has been drawn so as to 

 include the Carlingford Mountains, in Co. Louth, which botanically, and in a 

 less degree geologically, belong to the Mourne Mountains, in Co. Down. As 

 regards the distribution of species in this area, few general observations can 

 be made. Asplenium marinum and Adiantum Capillus- Veneris occur only along 

 the coast line ; the former being recorded from all our maritime counties, and 

 growing in all suitable situations along our shores ; the latter being confined 

 to a limited area in Donegal.* Polystichum angulare haunts the low fertile 

 districts in the east of the province, and is almost entirely unknown among 

 the barren mountainous districts of Donegal and Fermanagh. In these 

 latter, however, the Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis, occurs most plentifully, 

 luxuriating in the rich peaty soil that surrounds the numerous lakes in those 

 regions. Polystichum lonchitis and Asplenium viride are confined to the 

 western counties ; Ophioglossum loves the rich pastures of Down, Antrim, 

 and Armagh. As Ulster plants, three of our Ferns are confined to Donegal ; 

 and it is a very strange thing that these three species, which are found only 

 in the bleakest and most northern of all our counties, should be all southern 

 plants. Ophioglossum lusitanicum is a plant of the Mediterranean coasts and 

 the Canary Isles, whose only other British stations are Kerry and Guernsey. 

 The Killarney Fern, Triehomanes radicans, principally haunts, as a British 

 species, the shadiest rocks in the south and south-west of Ireland; and the 

 Maidenhair, Adiantum Capillus- Veneris, makes its home in southern Europe 

 and the north of Africa, occurring also on the south coast of England and in 

 the south-west of Ireland. Some of the species, again, seem ubiquitous— 

 Athyrium Filix-fcemina, Polystichum aculeatum, and Lastrea Filix-mas are 

 examples — occurring equally in damp shady woods and glens, on open hedge- 

 banks and roadsides, and on storm-swept mountains, where they flourish 

 among the stones and rocks. 



Of the 46 British and 33 Irish species of Ferns, our province yields 32 — 

 * With the exception of a few plants found in Leitrim. 



