THE WILD FLOWERS OF THE WEST OF IRELAND. 



299 



THE WILD FLOWEES OF THE WEST OF lEELAND AND 

 THEIE HISTOEY. 



By E. Lloyd Praeger, B.A. 



[Read April 19, 1910.] 



In the course of a lecture on Eock Gardens, which I had the honom- 

 of dehvering before this Society last year, I referred to the natural rock 

 gardens of the district of Burren in the county of Clare, and to the 

 remarkable flora which colonizes the bare limestone hills of that region. 

 Y/hat I said on that occasion seems to have excited some interest, as 

 I received subsequently more than one letter from members of the 

 audience concerning the Burren and its plants. I have therefore 

 ventured to think that a rather fuller description of that very remarkable 

 botanical region, the West of Ireland, may prove of interest. It 

 may perhaps be thought that a lecture on botanical geography, 

 rather than on a horticultural subject, is not altogether suit- 

 ajble for this Society. But I do not think the contention can be 

 sustained. He is indeed a poor horticulturist who is content merely to 

 cultivate his rare species without wishing to know where they come 

 from, under what conditions they grow naturally, and what has been 

 their history and their migrations since the distant period of their appear- 

 ance. In studying our native British plants we find ourselves faced by 

 many of the great problems relating to the vegetation of the world ; and 

 in this connection the West of Ireland is of especial interest, as there 

 we may collect evidence of long-past plant migrations of a quite dramatic 

 character, which give us some idea of the great changes of fortune which 

 the flora of these islands has undergone. 



The vegetation which we find clothing any area is the result of two 

 main factors. The first of these is the past history of the region, espe- 

 cially as regards changes in the distribution of land and sea, and of 

 temperature, which have permitted or prevented the migration of 

 species. The other is its present condition as regards meteorological 

 and edaphic (soil) conditions. Before we attempt to trace the history of 

 the flora of an area, therefore, we must first know the history of the 

 area itself. If we wish to understand the composition of the 

 assemblage of plants which we now find in the valleys and on the hills 

 of our islands, our first inquiries must centre round the geology of the 

 country. We must build up our land before we can build up its flora. 

 In this connection we must flrst of all realize how closely connected 

 Ireland and Great Britain are both with each other and witli the Conti- 

 nent. Both stand on the continental shelf, and the depth of the water 

 which cuts them off is as nothing compared with the abyss which yawns 

 on the westward and which extends across to America. A comparatively 



