I9I4- Praeger. — Rarer I) ish Plants in Citltivation. 231 
SOME NOTES OX RARER IRISH PLANTS 
IN CULTIVATION. 
BY R. LLOYD PRAEGER. 
At one time or another I have had in cultivation many 
of our rarer Irish plants, and possibly the following dis- 
cursive notes on them may be of interest to some readers. 
It may be premised that the soil in my garden in Dublin 
is light, loamy, and limy ; the plants never suffer from 
excessive moisture, but often from drought ; plants which 
naturally affect damp ground, such as Trollius, Meadow- 
sweet, Astilbe, Mimulus, speedily die out unless planted 
in tubs \\-ithout drainage ; while the limy nature of the 
soil precludes the cultivation of Heaths, Pyrolas, Ledums, 
and so on, except in specially prepared peat beds. 
To begin \\ith alpine and mountain plants, which are 
ahvays favourites ; man\' of these, such as Thalictrum 
alpinnm (from South Mayo), Alchemilla alpina (from Lough 
Ouler), Saxifraga aizoides, Sedum Rhodiola, Polygonum 
viviparum (from Ben Bulben), Oxyria digyna, Salix herbacea, 
Poa alpina (from Brandon) give no trouble, and make 
neat and ornamental plants. Draha incana, Arenaria verna 
and various Hieracia sow themselves freely — the last almost 
too much so. Dryas odopctala and Arctostapliylos Uva- 
ursi make large mats when established, but are rather 
slow to start on account of the difficulty of collecting 
small rooted plants. Saiissurca alpina (from Clare Island) 
and Vacciniiim Vitis-Idoca (from Mount Leinster) make hue 
clumps in peat, but my peat gets too dry iov Riihiis Chamae- 
7noriis (from Norway), and Saxifraga nivalis (from Ben 
Bulben). 5. Hirciilus (from Garron Point) and 5. stcllaris 
did well with me for some years in wet peat in a tub. Silene 
acaulis, a great difficulty in many gardens, will grow any- 
where with me. Saxifraga oppositifolia (from Ben Bulben) 
makes a large mat, much smaller in growth and with 
fewer flowers than most of the cultivated forms. Of 
Juniperus nana I introduced a small piece of a particularly 
prostrate form from Connemara ; it is now two feet high, 
growing quite upright with short spreading branches, and 
A 2 
