INTRODUCTION. Ixvii 
furnish many suitable localities for the calcicole group. The 
Old Red Sandstone which forms so large a portion of South 
Kerry comes to the surface here where it forms the mass of 
Kerry Head, as well as the low cliffs along the southern shore 
of the Shannon estuary. 
Only one small pond of fresh water, about two acres in 
extent, is found in the whole of this barony, yet, small as it is, 
it furnishes the only Kerry station for Ranunculus hetero- 
phyllus, and, in addition, provides an inland locality for 2. 
Baudotit. Much the larger portion of this division is drained 
by the Smearlagh and the Brick, both of them tributaries of the 
Feale, a river which changes its name to the Cashen before 
entering the Shannon estuary about two miles south of Bally- 
bunnion. Woods are rarely seen and are usually planted. One 
of the most extensive in this division, Ballinruddery Wood on 
the rocky banks of the Feale above Listowel, yields Crepis 
paludosa and Festuca sylvatica, plants known only for one 
other station in Kerry. 
The only centres of population in the District are a few 
inconsiderable villages, such as Lixnaw, Ardfert and Bally- 
heige, the largest having less than 300 inhabitants. Some ten 
miles of the Tralee to Limerick railway lie within this barony, 
and on this track within the last few years two aggressive 
aliens, Matricaria discoidea and Linaria minor have made their 
appearance. 
Both the Calcifuge and Calcicole groups are well represented, 
but aquatic plants are not numerous and few of the rarer 
maritime species occur. True alpines, as the unfavourable 
character of the mountains would lead one to expect, are 
altogether absent ; so, too, are several of the most characteristic 
Kerry plants, such as Saxifraga Geum and S. umbrosa. Others 
like Carum verticillatum, Pinguicula grandiflora and Rynchos- 
pora fusca are quite rare, and although Bartsia viscosa and 
Euphorbia hiberna are still rather plentiful in several localities, 
both are much less abundant here than in the south of the 
county. ; 
Among the more productive botanical localities in Clan- 
maurice are Ballyheige and the mouth of the Cashen River on 
the coast, with Sleveen and the neighbourhood of Lixnaw 
inland. These inland stations are low-lying swampy tracts, but 
little above present tidal influence, and although from four to 
eight miles distant from the nearest sea produce such salt- 
loving species as Gnanthe Lachenalii and Scirpus maritimus. 
The Sleveen locality adds Potamogeton plantagineus and Chara 
polyacantha to the county flora, while about Lixnaw are found 
