238 



The Irish Naticralist. 



November, 



the two islands. The cultivated ground is in each case con- 

 fined to a few sheltered slopes and depressions. The salinity 

 of the conditions is shown by the occurrence of Cakile as a 

 weed in potato fields, of Agropyron junceumow cottage roofs, and 

 of Asple?iimn ?narimim and Spergulajia rupestris on old walls. 



The extensive sands which form so conspicuous a feature 

 of North Inishkea have only a sparse semi-covering of vegeta- 

 tion, consisting mainly of Agropyron ju7iceu7n and Potentilla 

 Anserina, dotted in places with curious dense bosses of 

 Arvieria marithna, which attain a diameter of two to three 

 feet and a height of a foot and a half As the ground rises, a 

 close sand-sward is developed, consisting largely of Galium 

 verum, Achillcea Millefolium, Lotus comiculatus, and Plantago 

 la7iceolata, with a curious stemless form of Dauctis Carota, 

 bearing a single terminal umbel close set among the little 

 rosette of root leaves. On the western or ocean side Plantago 

 sward of the type described by me from Clare Island and 

 Achill Island, is a conspicuous formation, and yields, among 

 other plants, the tiny unbranched var. simplex Duby of 

 Lcontodon autumnalis. The 230 foot hill on South Inishkea 

 allows of the presence of a stunted heath association. While 

 its seaward face is in possession of Plantago sward almost to 

 the summit, on the other sides Callu?ia, Erica ci7ierea and 

 E. Tetralix, Scabiosa succisa, Jasio7ie, Triodia, Pote7itilla 

 Tor}ne7itilla, Polygala serpyllacca^ Viola Rivi7iia7ia, Ru7nex 

 Acctosella find their only Inishkea habitat. On the north 

 island are several tiny lakelets. Owingto exceptional drought 

 these were all dry, but most of their flora still recognizable. 

 The largest of these, the brackish Doon I^ough, presented a 

 surface of mud and weeds full of great eels^, half of them dead 

 in fantastic attitudes, half still writhing — a weird sight worthy 

 of the Dore Dante. This lake yielded Sclrpus Taber7icB7nonta7ii 

 and 6*. 7nariti77ius^ as well as the hydrophytes found in the 

 tv/o other lakelets on the island — namely a batrachian 

 Ra7m7iculus {P. Ba7idotii\ MyriopJiylluin spicatu77iy Pota7}iogetoii 

 pecti7iatus, Chara Jragilis, and C. hispida. The cultivated land 

 is, on the north island, mostly sandy, on the south mostly 

 peaty. Potatoes are almost the only crop grown, but a little 

 rye, barley, and turnips may be also seen. The only native 

 plant which is cultivated is Salix vi77iinalis, of which a few 



