INTRODUCTION. XXXIX 
Wicklow lies a degree further north. Again, Clare on the west 
coast, lying practically in the same latitude as Wicklow, has 
a total of 47 to the latter’s 36, although its elevated land is 
comparatively scanty and nowhere rises higher than 1,746 feet 
to Wicklow’s maximum of 3,039 feet. Still further north, 
Galway in the west has a total of 65 to Down’s 49 on the east 
coast, although the latter county lies about a degree further 
north and contains mountains rising to 2,796 feet compared 
to Galway’s highest of 2,395 feet. 
Pass following are the Highland Type plants present in 
erry :— 
Thalictrum alpinum Hieracium anglicum Carex aquatilis 
Subularia aquatica H. iricum Deschampsia alpina 
Draba incana Polygonum viviparum Poa alpina 
Alchemilla alpina Oxyria digyna Aspidium Lonchitis 
Saxifraga stellaris Salix herbacea Asplenium viride 
Sedum Rhodiola Juniperus nana Lycopodium alpinum 
Galium boreale Carex rigida Isoetes lacustris 
Saussurea alpina 
It is important to note that 8 out of these 22 plants, or rather 
more than a third of the group, lose their strictly alpine 
character in the county, as indeed they do elsewhere in west 
Ireland, and descend to sea level or nearly so ; thus— 
Subularia aquatica descends to 50 feet in Caragh Lake. 
Sedum Rhodiola 38 actual sea-level in several places. 
Galium boreale ” 65 feet by the Killarney Lakes. 
Hieracium anglicum iss 70 feet on rocks by the Killarney Lakey, 
H. iricum as ditto ditto 
Juniperus nana 9 ditto ditto 
Carex aquatilis ie 55 feet by Caragh Lake 
Tsoetes lacustris ss sea-level in Waterville Lake, &c 
Another member of this group, Sazifraga stellaris, finds its 
lowest level for Ireland in the county, descending to 450 feet 
in Cottoner’s valley on the west side of the Reeks. 
The chief characteristic, however, of the Kerry flora, and one 
that gives it an exceptional interest, is the presence in the 
county of several native species peculiar in the British Isles to 
Ireland. Six of these plants are found in the county, often in 
great abundance, and although they all spread beyond its 
boundaries, Kerry may be regarded as their headquarters in 
Treland ; they are— 
Saxifraga Geum Pinguicula grandiflora 
S. umbrosa Sisyrinchium angustifolium 
Arbutus Unedo Juncus tenuis 
