The ShamrockAuthor(s): R. A. PhillipsSource: The Irish Naturalist, Vol. 2, No. 9 (Sep., 1893), p. 251Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25520475 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 21:43

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The IrishNaturalist.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.58 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 21:43:56 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Notes. 25 1

bidge, from the stock grown in the College Botanic Garden, to meet the demands of English inquirers for the real Shamrock, was Trifolium moinus, as were also the plants purchased from an advertiser in the Co. Louth, as the "true Irish variety."-NAKHANIEI, COI/GAN, Dublin.

The Shamrock.-As Mr. Colgan, in his interesting paper of last month, was unable to include Kerry in his list of the counties using S'. mxinus as the Shamrock, it may be of interest to mention that as I passed through the Gap of Dunloe, Killarney, in the month of July, I noticed that this was the plant (then in flower) offered to tourists by the mountain guides. It may also be here stated that so far as Cork in concerned, not

withstanding the fact that Mr. Colgan was sent two other species from this district, T. minus is the true Shamrock; it is this is selected for St. Patrick's Day by everybody who is sufficiently observant to notice that there are more species of trefoil than one, and it is this that is sold in the shops and in the streets, being distinguished by its small leaves and by the absence of the white and black markings which usually occur on the foliage of T. repens and 7T. pratense. I have seen people wearing 7. repens ridiculed for decorating themselves with c" clover." I was rather disap pointed to find that the results of Mr. Colgan's painstaking investigation were not much more in favour of T. minus, as I have always looked upon that species as the Shamrock, even though many botanical works give the honour to 7. repiens. A fact which tends to show that T7. minus is regarded throughout Ireland as the national badge is, that the manu facturers of Christmas and St. Patrick's Day cards on which sprays of real Shamrock are mounted, so far as I have observed on cards made in

Belfast and Cork, invariably use this species.-R. A. PHILLIps, Cork.

Clare Plants.-We have received from Mr. Patrick B. O'Kelly, of Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare, a " Complete List of the Rare Perennial Plants and Shrubs of the Burren Mountains of Ballyvaughan," which has been compiled by its industrious author, not merely to assist the cause of science, but with ulterior motives of a pecuniary nature. Indeed, a pretty smart price is affixed to many of the "1 rare perennial plants," and notwithstanding Mr. O'Kelly's assurance that they are all " real gems of the first water," few of us would care to pay the sum of is. for specimens of such plants as Asperula odoraza, Carex stellulata, C. sylvatica, or Nardus stricta; or even a modest 6d. for Reseda luteola, J_uncus maritimus, or J. squarrosus. In passing, we may mention that it is with some surprise that we learn that Arabis thaliana, Chlora perfoliata, Erodiurm cicutarium, Gentiana campestris, Jasione monitana, Linum cathar/icum, and many similar plants are

perennials I It is of interest also to find enumerated in the flora of the Burren mountains, Lathy;us maritirnus, Lysimachia punctata, (Enothera odo rata, Narcissus major, and "SPrimula veris elatior "-the editor of the new edition of " Cybele Hibernica " will please note. The names of some of the Ballyvaughan plants strike us as infamiliar, such as Chiora aureum, Afe1tfnpyrum aquaticum, Rubia tinctoria, and Adiantum incisum. Are these additions to the British flora which Mr. O'Kelly has made, or are they new to science ? if the latter, they should be duly described. With the praiseworthy object of assisting in bringing our native plants more into cultivation in gardens, Mr. O'Kelly kindly volunteers to name any such plants which may be sent to him (return postage prepaid); but if the plants are returned labelled with such apellations as " Anemone nemorosa purpurea Livingrii," "Berberis vulgaris superbum," or " Trifolium repenspurpurea

folins, ") we fear that serious injury may be caused to the enquirer's nervous system. Space does not permit of our availing ourselves of Mr. O'Kelly's kind permission to publish his price-list in extenso in the pages of the Irish Natueralist; but those who are interested in native plants should certainly write for it, as they will find in it much novel information respecting the local flora.

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.58 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 21:43:56 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions