INTRODUCTION. xlv 
examine the influence exerted by lime ; this, however, will be 
found to be very widespread as Calcareous formations occur at 
intervals nearly throughout Kerry. 
The use of the terms Calcicole and Calcifuge as applied to 
plants is now so well understood that no explanation of their 
meaning need be given here. It is well, however, before 
enumerating the plants which show the predilection or aversion 
denoted by these terms, to repeat that the presence of an 
appreciable amount of lime in a soil exerts a repulsive influence 
on the Calcifuge group which is much stronger than the 
attraction which it exercises on the calcicole, and that in 
neither case is this aversion or attraction absolute. Thus 
Saxifraga umbrosa and Erica cinerea, two of the most pro- 
nounced calcifuge plants in Kerry may be seen occasionally 
growing among bare limestone rocks. 
Calcicole plants may also be found in non-caleareous dis- 
tricts on walls, bridges, ruins, &c., the desired lime being 
furnished by the mortar employed in their construction. Thus 
in one large non-calcareous area, the only station at present 
known for Ranunculus bulbosus, a plant decidedly calcicole in 
Kerry, is on a river bridge where two or three plants have 
been noticed for several years. Owing chiefly to the presence 
of comminuted shells, sandhills also contain the lime necessary 
for this group, and in one or two of the nine districts into 
which the county has been divided for the purposes of this flora, 
they form the chief calcicole strongholds. 
The following tables give the plants which show marked 
Calcicole or Calcifuge tendencies in Kerry :— 
CALCICOLE PLANTs. 
Ranunculus bulbosus  Anthyllis Vulneraria Origanum vulgare 
Aquilegia vulgaris Rubus saxatilis Calamintha officinalis 
Cheiranthus Cheiri Pyrus rupicola Parietaria officinalis 
Barbarea vulgaris Saxifraga tridactylites Spiranthes autumnalis 
Arabis hirsuta Pimpinella magna Epipactis latifolia 
Erophila verna P. Saxifraga Orchis pyramidalis 
Sisymbrium Alliaria Rubia peregrina Opbrys apifera 
Reseda Luteola Galium boreale Juncus glaucus 
Arenaria trinervia G. sylvestre Carex muricata 
A. serpyllifolia Asperula cynanchica C. divulsa 
Linum angustifolium Tussilago Farfara C. glauca 
Hypericum perforatum Primula officinalis Trisetum flavescens 
Geranium lucidum Chlora perfoliata Avena pubescens 
Euonymus europeus Lithospermum officinale Briza media — 
Rhamnus catharticus | Verbascum Thapsus Ceterach officinarum 
Ononis repens Linaria Cymbalaria Asplenium Ruta-muraria 
Trifolium striatum Verbena officinalis 
