26o 



The Irish Naturalist. 



Deceiiibei", 



Plants of the Cavan Lakes. 



Last August I spent a little time in the lake country lying between Cavan 

 and Belturbet. There are innumerable small lakes here, all drained by 

 the River Erne, which flows as a broad winding sluggish stream through 

 the country, often assuming a lake-like form. The botany of this Upper 

 Erne district is little known, though David Moore did some exploration 

 about Belturbet, and three of the rarer plants which I iowwdi— Hydt ocharis 

 Mors2is-ra7i(E, Carex Pseudo-cypents, and Lastren Thelypferis — already stood 

 recorded from the district in his name. Of the plants I mention, some 

 dozen are new to Cavan, and half a dozen to the Erne basin. 



Of species frequent about this lake country, Ranunculus Lingua, 

 My7-iophyllti77i spicatvm, Callitriche auiuninalis, Cicuta virosa. and Potainogeton 

 heterophyllus^ are worthy of mention. The following also occurred each 

 in several stations— latifolium, S angustifolhwi, Hydrocharis Morsus- 

 ranee, Cladium Mariscus, Carex teretiuscula, C. P&eudo-cyperus. The little 

 Bun Lough, south-east of Belturbet. proved a productive spot. Here 

 grew Rumex Hydrolapathum, [unats ohhtsiflorus, Sparganiuvi minimum, Ckara 

 polyacantha. In drains extending thence to Tonawally Lough Lemna 

 gibba, rare away from the sea, was present in vast quanity ; and along a 

 hundred yards of the eastern shore of the lake Lastrea Thclypteris 

 flourished in greater profusion than I had seen before, forming a 

 miniature forest thirty feet in breadth, with a height of up to two feet. 

 Annagh Lough yielded, in addition to other plants, Potamogeton Zizii and 

 Isoetes lacustris, both new to Cavan. The following may also be men- 

 tioned : — Polygonum plentiful by one of the arms of Lough 

 Oughter ; P. r^/zVt', Shantemou L-, and a puzzling form which Mr. Bennett 

 is inclined to refer to the same species is abundant b) L. Oughter, west 

 of Devon Cottage ; /uncus diffusus—hy Shancorn Lough (the fourth Irish 

 station) ; Potamogeton obtusifolius var. fluviatilis Lange and Mort., Beaghy L ; 

 Carex filiformis, lake-side north of Devon Cottage ; Glyceria plicata, Tona- 

 wally Lough. 



The Mints of this district are varied and puzzling. Mr. Bennett made 

 the following determinations -.—M. hirsuta var. nederheimensis Strail 

 Shantemon L. ; saliva V2ir. faludosa, Annagh L. : M. gentilis, Lough 

 Oughter. 



R. L1.OYD Praeger. 



Dublin. 



Epilobium alsinefolium in Co. Leitrim. 



Mr. Praeger's note on Epilohium alsinefolium in the Irish Naturalist for 

 October suggests a long delayed notice of an incident regaiding its 

 discovery in Glenade. Mr. R. P. Vowell and I were botanizing together 

 on the cliffs in the beginning of July, 1884, having received a small 

 grant from the Royal Irish Academy for exploring the Ben Bulben range. 

 Mr. Vowell drew my attention to a couple of large beds of an Epilobium 

 which was not in flower. I pulled a few bits and threw them away, 



