Pethybridge & Praeger — Vegetation South of Duhlin. 151 



developed often as a rather narrow fringe above the upper limits of the 

 farm-land, where also the glacial deposits thin out. 



Were the operations of man and grazing animals to cease, however, 

 it is probable that the limitation of the association to these driftless 

 islands would be short-lived. We find, for example, in good grass fields 

 near the Scalp, and elsewhere, serious invasions of Ulex europceus into 

 the surrounding pasture, and in some of these the influence of grazing 

 on the form of the invading bushes is very well seen.^ 



The substratum here is usually a thin friable soil, derived from 

 the weathering of the granite ; this substratum is not peaty. The 

 vegetation is very rough, 5 to 10 feet in height, with small trees 

 and climbing shrubs intermixed, and lanes and patches of grass. The 

 trees represented are mainly Cratcegus Oxyacantha and Ilex Aqui- 

 folium ; the climbers Ruhus^ Rosa, and Lonicera Periclymenum. Pteris 

 Aquilina is a frequent ingredient, often contesting the ground with the 

 Gorse. In the undergrowth, Teucrium Scorodonia, Galium saxatile, 

 Viola Riviniana, Veronica officinalis, Agrostis vulgaris, and on rocks 

 Sedum anglicum, are abundant. Also a fair number of shade plants, 

 such as Primula vulgaris, Scilla nutans. Arum maculatum, which shelter 

 among the loose shrubby tangle. 



The following roughly-classified list, made from a number of 

 observations, will convey an idea of the flora of the Ulex europceus 

 ground : — 



Trees and shrubs : — 



TJlex etjkop^us. Fraxinus excelsior. 



U. Gallii. Ilex Aquifolium. 



Prunus spinosa. Salix aurita. 



Crataegus Oxyacantha. 



Climhers a7id scramblers : — 



EuBTJS FEDTicosus. Stellaria Holostea. 



Rosa canina. S. graminea. 



Shade plants : — 



Anemone nemorosa. Primula vulgaris. 



Oxalis Acetosella. Scilla nutans. 



Hedera Helix. Arum maculatum. 



1 Since the above was written, the hand of man has repelled the particular 

 invasions referred to. 



