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Show 340 ISLAND LIFID. (PART II. Two other species are, so far as the European Flora is concerned, peculiar to Britain, being natives of North America., and they are very interesting because they are certainly both truly indigenous, that is, not introduced by human agency. These are,- (1) Sp1'ranthes 'romanzoviana, an orchid allied to our ladies' tresses, widely distributed in North America, but only found elsewhere in the extreme south-west corner of Ireland; and (2) Erioca·ulon septangulare-the pipewort-a curious North American water-plant, found in lakes in the Hebrides and the west of Ireland. Along with these we may perhaps c]Rss the beautiful Irish filmy fern-Trichomanes radicans, which inhabits the Azores, Madeira and Ca.nary Islands, tho southwest of Ireland, Wales, and formerly Yorkshire, but is not certainly known to occur in any part of continental Europe (except perhaps the south-west of Spa.in), though found in many tropical countries. We may hero notice the interesting fact that Ireland possesses no less than twenty species or sub-species of flowering plants not found in Britain, and some of these may be altogether peculiar. As a whole they show the effect of the pre-eminently mild and insular climate of Ireland in extending the range of some south European species. The following lists of these plants, with a few remarks on their distribution, will be found interesting:- LIST OF IRISH FLOWERING PLANTS WHICII ARE NOT FOUND IN BRITAIN. 1. Ifelianthemum guttatum. Ireland, near Cork, and on an island off the coast of Galway (also Channel Islands, France, Italy). 2. A1·ena1·ia ciliata. S. W. Ireland (also Auvergne, Pyrenees, Crete). A variety of this species has been recently found in Pembrokeshire. 3. Saxifmga umb1·osa. W. Ireland (also N. Spain, Portugal). 4. , geum. S. W. Ireland (also Pyrenees). 5. , hirsuta. S. W. Ii·eland (also Pyrenees). 6. Sax(fraga hirta (hypnoides suh. sp. ). S. Ireland, apparently unknown on the continent. 7. Imtla salicina. W. Ireland (Middle and South Europe). 8. E1·ica medite?oranea. W. Ireland (W. France, Spain, Mediterranean). 9. , maclciana (tetmlix sub.-sp.) W. Ireland (Spain). 10. Arbutus unedo. S. W. Ireland (S. of France and Spain). 11. Dabeocia polifolia. W. Ireland (W. of France and Spain). 12. Pingittcula gmndijl'J1·a. S. vV. Ireland (W. of France, Spain, Alps, &c.). 13. Neotinea intacta. W. Ireland (France, S. Europe). CDAP, X\'1.] TilE Blll'l'ISII ISLES. 3'11 14. ~..-pimnth es 1·omanzoviana S. W. Irclalld lN orth America). 15. (Sisy1·inchium berrnudianum. W. 1 roland? introduced; (North America. ) 16. Potanwgeton long,folius ( lucens. var.) W. Ireland, unique specimen ! 17. , lcirlcii (natans sub.-sp. ). W. Ireland (Arctic Europe). 18. E1'iocaulon septangular·e. vV. Ireland, Skye, Ilebrid0s (North America). 1D. Carex buxbaumii. N. E. Ireland, on an island in Lough Ncagh (Arctic and Alpine Europe, North America). 20. Calamag?·osti.s str·icta ( var.lloolceri). On tho shores and isl ancls of Lough Neagh. The species occurs at one locality in Cheshire (Germany, Arctic Europe, and North America). We find here nine south-west European species which probably had a ·wider range in mild pregla.cial times, and have been preserved in the south and west of Ireland mving t.o its milder climate. It must be remembered that during the height of the glacial epoch Ireland was continental, so that these plants may have followed the retreating ice to their present stations and survived the subsequent depression. This seems more probable than that so many species should have reached Ireland for the first time during the last union with the continent subsequent to the glacial epoch. The Arctic, Alpine, and American plants may all be examples of species which once had a wider range, and which, owing to the more favourable conditions, have continued to exist in Ireland while becoming extinct in the adjacent pa.rts of Britain and Western Europe. As contrasted with the extreme scarcity of peculiar species among the flowering plants, it is the more interesting and unexpected to find a considerable number of peculiar mosses and Hepaticre, some of which present us with phenomena of distribution of a very remarkable character. For the following lists and the information as to the distribution of the genera and species I am indebted to Mr. William Mitten, one of the first authorities on these beautiful little plants. LIST OF Tim SPECIE:S OF MoSSES AND fiEPATIOJE WHICH ARF: PECULIAR TO '!'liE BmTisn IsLES (on NOT FOUND IN EunorE ). (Those belonging to non-Eu1·opean genera in Italics.) MossEs. 1. Systcgium mnlticapsularo .. . .. . Central and South England. 2. , mittenii............... South of England . . 3. Campylopus shawii ............... North Britain. - 4. , setifolius............ Ireland. |
