54 Phytogeographical Excursion in the British Isles. 
THE INTERNATIONAL PHYTOGEOGRAPHICAL 
EXCURSION IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 
V.— The Killarney Woods 
(Co. Kerry, Ireland). 
It was a great delight to be invited to join the “ I.P.E.” through 
the British Isles and my high expectations were fully realised. I 
have to thank my British friends for this wonderful summer. 
The present article is in reponse to a request from my friend 
Tansley to write a contribution for a souvenir-collection of im¬ 
pressions of the members of the party, and to choose any points 
which struck me most in the vegetation. Professor Cowles’ general 
impressions (New Phyt., Jan., 1912, p. 25) are exactly mine, and 
the points Professor Massart has enumerated as those which struck 
him the most vividly, affected me in exactly the same way. I shall 
not repeat these impressions, but rather pick out from the numerous 
interesting things we saw the woods of Killarney, in Co. Kerry, 
Ireland, which strike me as distinctly subtropical in character, and 
compare them with similar woods I have visited. 
We spent August 25th, 1911, a very enjoyable day, in the 
beautiful Oak-holly-woods near the Upper Lake of Killarney. The 
dominant tree is Quercus sessilifiom which reminds us that we are 
in north-western Europe. This is confirmed by a few of its 
associates such as Betula pubescens, Salix cinerea, Primus spinosa, 
Covylus , etc. But these are quite accessory, the striking feature in 
this deciduous oak wood being the glittering, shining, effect produced 
by the reflection of light which takes place in the second layer of 
the wood. The smaller trees and the shrubs in fact have shiny 
leaves, and you fancy yourself in the southern country of evergreen 
Laurel woods. The holly, Ilex Aquifolium, is the general dominant, 
and specially contributes to this effect. Frequently interspersed 
and locally even dominant we find one of the most interesting woody 
plants of Ireland, the strawberry-tree, Arbutus Unedo, directing our 
thoughts to the West Mediterranean. This species embellishes the 
Killarney woods, not only as a shrub of 3-5 m. in height, as we are 
used to seeing it in Corsica, but as a tree of considerable height. 
The largest tree I saw, I judged to be 10 m. high, and this had a 
circumference of 180 cm. round the stem, taken 50 cm. above the 
ground, and 110 cm. taken at a height of 1 m. Another laurel-leaved 
plant, Rhododendron ponticwn, catches your eye by its luxuriance. 
It is not native, but it spreads sub-spontaneously and evidently feels 
quite at home here. The many epiphytes give a nearly tropical 
aspect to the woods; the oaks bear epiphytically Poly podium vulgare , 
Geranium Robertiavum, Ilex Aquifolium and Saxffraga umbrosa. 
Even Rhododendron ponticwn ascends the lofty habitat of a branch 
of Prunus spinosa. Very striking also are the masses of the thin¬ 
leaved Hyinenophyllum tunbridgense and peltatmn ; and in this fern- 
sward we find a plant of Sedum album ! 
When we look at the luxuriant heathy undergrowth, other 
