of the most elegant berries that the vegetable world can boast; shaped like an egg, and sparkling like a ruby. To this last genus belongs our domestic friend, the potato; said to have been first brought to Ireland by Sir Walter Raleigh, and thence introduced into England. Most species of the Solanum are poisonous, and the potato is so, in some degree, before it is exposed to the action of fire. The plant known by the name of the Deadly Nightshade (A'tropa Belladonna) is of another genus, contains a most virulent and powerful poison, and should never be suffered to grow in the public way. It has, indeed, on this account been so frequently eradicated, that it is now a very rare plant. It bears a large handsome purple flower, and is honoured with the appellation of Fair Lady. The generic name is derived from Atropos, one of the Fates. "How the same plant should come to have the gentle appellation of Belladonna, and the tremendous name of Atropa, seems strange, till we know that it was used as a wash, among the Italian ladies, to take off pimples and other excrescences from the skin, and are told of its dreadful effects as a poison,” observes Rousseau. The third section contains six genera, with flowers monopetalous and superior: of this number are "the gadding woodbine," with its honey-bearing trumpets; and the campanula, of which genus is the delicate little heath-bell, that nods on the summit of a stalk so slender as to appear supported by magical influence. Many persons call this the hare-bell, but the true English hare-bell is the English hyacinth (Scilla nùtans). These two plants have been frequently confounded by poets; but, according to Sir J. E. Smith, the little campanula, which we call the heath-bell, is the hare-bell of Scotland, while the harc-bell of England is the Scottish blue-bell. The fourth section has four genera; with flowers inferior, and four or five petaled. To this section belongs that beautiful genus, the violet. Hédera, the ivy, and Ribes, the currant bush, are the only two genera composing the fifth section; their flowers are five-petaled (pentapetalous) and superior. The sixth section has flowers without petals (apetalous); it contains three genera. This class and order, though it contains a great number of splendid and truly beautiful plants, and is remarkably extensive, is by no means the most important to mankind. Beauty, however, is not its only claim to consideration, as will readily be acknowledged; for it has a fee to purchase praise from every class of society: it is in possession of the tobacco plant of Virginia, of the coffee tree of Arabia, and of vines from various parts of the world: these will insure it respect, even from those who deny it to the elegance, the splendour, and the fragrance of its fine flowers. (To be continued.) ART. VII. Contributions towards a Flora Hibérnica. Being a List of Plants not before observed wild in Ireland: together with New Localities for a few of the more Rare Ones. By EDWARD MURPHY, Esq. A.B. Trin. Coll., Dublin. THE plants in the subjoined list were principally observed in a botanical and geological tour, which I made for the North-west of Ireland Society, in the summer of 1826. Circumstances have retarded, hitherto, the publication of the Catalogue drawn up for the Society, but their object in instituting researches of this nature being to make known the natural history of the district with which they are more immediately concerned, it will readily be conceded that the means best calculated to attain that end is to record, from time to time, any discoveries which may be made. My investigations were confined to the counties of Tyrone, Donegal, and Derry; and, having been undertaken in May, after the early phænogamous and most of the cryptogamous plants had disappeared, they were not by any means so successful as, under more favourable circumstances, it is reasonable to suppose they would have been. But, indeed, the north of Ireland, and particularly the portion of it above mentioned, is far from fertile in botanical treasures. The surface of Tyrone and Derry, with the exception of a few basaltic façades in the north of the latter, consists of a succession of low rounded hills, invariably covered to their summits with bog, and producing only a fatiguing repetition of the Erica, Eriophora, Scirpi, and Carices, common to such situations. Donegal, though possessing great variety of soil and surface, and the mountains of which, in elevation and the other requisites, are to appearance peculiarly adapted to the growth of alpine plants, is notwithstanding extremely unproductive. I have no hesitation in saying, that a greater number of rare plants may be found in one glen in Carnarvonshire than is afforded by this entire district. That other parts of this country however, are not uninteresting, in a botanical point of view, is abundantly evident in the great variety of plants observed by Mr. Drummond in the county of Cork, as well as in two or three autumnal excursions by the late Dr. Wade and Mr. M'Kay, a catalogue of all of which was published by the last-mentioned gentleman in 1825. In climates favourable to vegetation, the variety of plants is generally proportional to that of the soil and surface, and when it is known that scarcely a rock of any extent has hitherto been discovered, the prototype of which does not exist in this country, as it already is that its mountains exceed for the most part in elevation those of England, and are little inferior to those of Scotland, we may confidently premise that its botany will, when adequately investigated, be found equally respectable with that of the sister countries. The following Plants do not appear in Mr. M'Kay's Catalogue. Valeriana dentata. Ann's-brook, Meath. Phalaris arundinacea. Margins of lakes, ditches, &c.; common. This plant had been observed by Mr. M‘Kay, but was omitted in his list by mistake. Potamogeton perfoliatum. Canals about Dublin, and in rivers and lakes; common in the north. P. gramíneum. Lakes in Fanet, Donegal. A Scandix odorata. Way-sides and plantations; common. This plant may have been introduced; but the like remarks will apply to many received as indigenous. Polygonum vivíparum. Northern declivity of Benbulben mountain, Sligo. Pýrola rotundifolia. Glen-Idra, Derry. Arenaria vérna. Magilligan, Derry. A. trinervis. Strabane Glen, Tyrone, and Glenade mountain, Leitrim. Rubus Chamæmòrus. Plentiful on Glen-Garro mountain, Tyrone. Subulària aquática. Lough Carban, a little north-west of the Gap of Barnesmore, Donegal. Ervum tetraspérmum. Ann's-brook, Meath. Aspídium Lonchitis. In a glen east of Lough Esk, Donegal, and on Glenade mountain, Leitrim. New Habitats for Plants before observed. Scírpus aciculàris. Canal at Strabane, and margin of Lough Foy, Derry. Seslèria cærulea. On all the calcareous mountains of Leitrim and Sligo. Pòa alpina var. vivípara. Benbulben, Sligo. E'lymus arenàrius. Bundorn and Aranmore, Donegal. Galium boreale. Magilligan, Derry. Centúnculus mínimus. Rosses and Fanet, Donegal. Rhodiola millegràna. With the last. Drósera longifolia. Flow bogs; common. Phellándrium aquáticum. Canal near Dublin. Oxýria reniformis. Benbulbén, Sligo. Pýrola mèdia. Ards, &c., Donegal. Chrysosplènium alternifolium. Ballylast, Tyrone. Saxifraga oppositifòlia. Calcareous mountains of Leitrim and Sligo. S. aizoides. With the last. Silène acaúlis. With the last two. Rubus suberéctus. Common in Leitrim. R. saxátilis. Ards, &c., Donegal. Papàver cámbricum. Benbulben, Sligo. Trollius Europæ'us. Convoy and Lough Gartan, Donegal. Thlaspi arvénse. Magilligan, Derry. Dràba hírta. Limestone mountains of Leitrim and Sligo; plentiful. Geranium sylvaticum. In a field adjoining Dunluce Castle, Antrim. Hypéricum Androsæ'mum. Of common occurrence in this district. Eriocaulon septangulàre. Abundant in the lakes of the Rosses, Donegal. Lycopodium alpinum. Aghla and Barnesmore mountains, Donegal. Isöètes lacústris. Lakes in the Rosses, Donegal. ART. VIII. On the Natural Order of Plants, Dicotyledonea, Anonàceæ. By Mrs. E. BowDICH. It is one of the peculiar beauties of the natural system, to be so frequently able to recognise the general qualities of a plant, by merely referring to the name of the order to which it belongs. The physiological portion of botany places it among the most important of those studies furnished by nature; and the mere repetition of long names, the counting of petals and stamina, &c., are, by uniting them to the uses of plants, raised into a science which benefits mankind. The family of Anonàceæ, composed of trees and shrubs, is one of the most natural of the different orders, and presents, not only a strong similarity of appearance, but a remarkable analogy in the qualities of its species. Its existence is mostly confined to that portion of the globe contained between the tropics; it is eminently beautiful, and not less useful to the natives of the countries to which it is indigenous. Almost all the individuals classed in it possess a strong aromatic or pungent odour, which is shared by the roots, the bark, and even the leaves. The period of its discovery is not exactly known; but the Anòna squamosa is mentioned by Oviedo in his work on America, published in the year 1546. In 1548, we hear of the Ethiopian, or Malaguetta pepper; and, in 1648, three or four of the Brazilian species were described. Rheede mentioned the Malabar species in 1703; since that, one has been discovered in New Holland; and, still more recently, Palisot de Beauvois speaks of several belonging to Africa. There are, probably, many more hidden in the immense forests of that continent, of which we have so imperfect a notion. The flowers of the Anonacea vary in form, but the petals are generally thick and coriaceous; they are mostly red, white, and yellow, and none have yet been discovered of a blue colour. The genus Kadsura is the only example of dentated leaves; and these leaves, when steeped in water, yield an abundant mucilage, used by the Japanese in the fabrication of the paper made from the Broussonètia papyrífera. The women of Japan also rub it on their hair before their heads are shaved. The genus Anòna, mentioned by Oviedo under the name of Guanabanus, but established as the Anòna by Linnæus, bears fruits, each of which consists of a many-seeded berry, so formed by the junction of several one-seeded berries. They are generally good to eat; but are said to be unpalatable to Europeans at first. We have heard, however, of their being sought with avidity after one trial. The A. muricata, coming from South America, and the western coast of Africa, yields what the English call the sour-sop, which is a large oblong fruit, filled with a white, watery, and acid pulp, enveloping many large, shining, black seeds. It is very cooling and refreshing, and reckoned wholesome. The A. squamosa, from both India and Africa, bears a beautiful green berry, the size of a small pine-apple, and resembling it in form. There is so much saccharine matter in it, that the sugar, oozing through the rind, crystallises on the outside, and gives it a very pretty appearance. It is extremely luscious in taste. The A. reticulata gives us the custard-apple, which is about the size of one of our largest apples, and is filled with a yellow creamlike pulp, and in flavour is very similar to a newly made custard. It is indigenous to the Caribbee Islands, and grows in Africa and Malabar; it has also succeeded in the Island of Madeira. The fruits of the A. paludòsa (fig. 196. a), A. palús tris, A. longifòlia (e), and A. glabra, are also much esteemed for their edible properties. Those of the A. Cherimòlia (b) are reckoned among the best fruits of Peru, and have an agree |