292 JUNCACE. [Juneus. 
‘tuft on a rough foot track by the riverside between Black- 
stones bridge and Glencar Hotel, 1913 : R.W.S.—V. At about 
900 feet on the roadside north of Connor Hill, 1913 : Praeger. 
—VI. About two dozen plants in a locality near the Upper 
Lake, Killarney, 1894—still there in much the same quantity, 
1914: R.W.S. 
From sea-level, to 500 feet in the Coomeelan valley, to 
550 feet near Derreen and Kenmare, to 650 feet in the 
Slaheny valley (R.W.S.), and to about 900 feet on Connor 
Hill (Praeger). 
First recorded for Ireland in 1889: R.W.S., Journ. of Bot., 
p. 335. 
This member of the small group of American plants 
present in Ireland has like Sisyrinchium angustifoliwm fallen 
under the suspicion of having been introduced. It occurs 
in dry or moist soil, especially on paths and tracks, almost 
throughout North America, and appears to have spread 
rapidly thence as an introduced plant over the greater portion 
of Europe. It has been known as such in Great Britain, 
since 1863, and it is perhaps owing to its having escaped 
observation in Ireland until 1889, that it has been regarded 
as a similar introduction there. That it should have re- 
mained unobserved in Ireland so long, however, is probably 
due to the fact that most of the localities known for this 
plant lie off the beaten tracks to which botanists, as well as 
tourists, generally adhere, and that unless the plant occurs 
in some abundance, it is easily passed over. The Rush, 
certainly, has not been noticed in situations so remote from 
possible sources of introduction as has the Sisyrinchium, 
but in the United States and Canada it shows a predilection 
for just the stations in which it is usually found in Cork and 
Kerry, such as roadsides and foot-tracks. There has been, 
moreover, nothing in the behaviour of this plant in various 
Kerry stations, in some of which it has been under observa- 
tion for a period of over 20 years, to strengthen the suspicion 
of introduction. In one of the outlying localities given 
above—near the Upper Lake, Killarney—the tufts of this 
Rush were carefully counted in 1894, the first year the plant 
was noticed there, and found to be 24 in number, they were 
last counted in 1914, when they numbered 22; so, for a 
period of twenty-one years, the plant has remained practi- 
cally stationary, not alone in quantity but also in the extent 
of ground covered, although there was nothing in its sur- 
roundings to prevent its expansion over a much larger area. 
Frequent visits were made to the locality during this period 
