INTRODUCTION. li 
the form of the shore or margin have much greater influence on 
its vegetation than its actual height above sea level. Thus the 
shallow Lough Nageeha at the base of the Kerry Paps, about 
1,000 feet above sea level, is, in a dry summer, a stagnant mass 
of Characee, with Isoetes, Littorella and one or two other plants ; 
again, the shallow lough near the source of the Ferta river at 
about 1,450 feet on Teermoyle, Glenbeigh Mountains, is also 
filled with aquatics which include Subularia, Elatine hexandra, 
Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Callitriche hamulata, Apium 
inundatum, Lobelia, Menyanthes, Utricularia minor, Littorella, 
Potamogeton natans, P. polygonifolius, Isoetes lacustris and 
Nitella opaca. On the other hand, the deep Loughs Managh 
at 1,080 feet, and Erhagh at 1,414 feet, both in the Horse’s 
Glen, Mangerton, are almost barren, although portions of their 
margins are suitable for plant life. The shallow Glas Lough 
at 1,550 feet on the Purple Mountain is also filled with vegeta- 
tion, while the deep Lough Googh at 1,590 feet on the Reeks 
and little more than two miles distant, contains only Littorella, 
Potamogeton polygonifolius, P. pusillus and Isoetes, all very 
sparingly. 
Above 2,000 feet aquatic vegetation in Kerry becomes very 
scanty and few of the species just mentioned ascend so high. 
The Punch Bowl on Mangerton at 2,206 feet appears to be 
quite barren, but two or three plants are known to occur in 
lakes as high or even higher both on Brandon and on the 
Reeks. Of the Kerry aquatics, Iscetes lacustris ascends the 
highest, being found in Lough Cummeenoughter at 2,338 feet 
on the Reeks (Hart) and also in the uppermost of the Coomac- 
knock Lakes on Brandon at about 2,300 feet ; it is accom- 
panied in this latter lake by Myriophyllum alterniflorum. 
Next to these two aquatics in climbing ability appears to come 
Potamogeton polygonifolius which occurred in the same group 
of lakes with ripe fruit at about 2,200 feet. The range of 
aquatic plants in Kerry, however, is still not fully ascertained 
and would, no doubt, repay further investigation. 
VIII. Drvision or THE County FOR BoTaNicaL PURPOSES. 
As elsewhere pointed out in this Introduction, the deeply 
indented coast line of the county, the direction of its mountain 
ranges and the small size of many of its river-basins, combine 
to prohibit the adoption of a natural division of the surface for 
displaying the distribution of the Kerry flora. In selecting an 
artificial arrangement, it has been thought best to take advan- 
tage of the existing division of the county into nine Baronies. 
