an outlying station in Brittany. In Corsica, it is very common as a shrub in the maquis; but in some of the forests grows to be a considerable size, as in that of Bonifatte near Calvi, where I measured trees 25 feet in height and 1 foot in diameter, which were growing at 2000 feet altitude. In Corsica, a liqueur, called acgua vida de bagui, is made from the berries. In Spain and Algeria, I noticed it as a shrub, growing in ravines in the forests; but in Italy it sometimes attains a considerable size.
The Arbutus is unquestionably wild[1] in the south-west of Ireland, where it is associated with other plants, which like it are Mediterranean in type and not indigenous to other parts of the British Isles. It has been known to the Irish since early times, and is called caithne (pronounced cahney) in Kerry and cuince in Clare. The former name occurs in several place-names in Kerry, as Derrynacahney, the '"'oak-wood of the Arbutus," two miles south-east of Crusheen; Cahnicaun wood, near the Eagle's nest, Killarney, which is coill caithneacan, the "wood of the little Arbutus," in Irish; Ishnagahiny Lake, five miles south-east of Waterville, which is uisge-na-geaithne, "Arbutus water," in Irish. The Clare name, cuince, is supposed to occur in several place-names, anglicised as quin, which, however, often represents a family name of another signification. Cappoquin, in Waterford, means the field of the Arbutus, and Feaquin, in Clare, the wood of the Arbutus. The occurrence of names like Quin, a parish in Clare, and Quinsheen, one of the islands in Clew Bay, Mayo, may point to an extension of the distribution of this plant far to the north in ancient times.
At present, Arbutus Unedo is restricted to Co. Kerry and the extreme southwestern part of Co. Cork. In the latter county it is thinly scattered through the woods in the vicinity of Glengariff, growing in company with oak, birch, holly, hazel, and mountain ash, and attaining about 25 feet in height and 3 feet in girth. It is said to grow here and there among the mountains to the west of Glengariff, and was seen by R.A. Phillips at Adrigole, ten miles to the west, high up in the mountains amongst rocks, and without the shelter of other trees. Phillips believes that it does not now grow to the eastward of Glengariff; and he could not find it in its former station, Ballyrizzard, near Crookhaven.
The Arbutus has its head-quarters in Co. Kerry, in the Killarney district, being particularly abundant and luxuriant on the islands and shores of the lakes generally, where it forms a considerable part of the natural forest. At the base of Cromaglaun mountain, near the tunnel on the Kenmare road, there is a wood composed almost exclusively of Arbutus; and it is also met with on the Cloonee lakes south of the Kenmare River.[2]
About Killarney the tree is indifferent as regards soil, as it grows on limestone on Ross island, on sandstone on Dinis island, and on slate, grit, and conglomerate
- ↑ Its right to be considered an indigenous plant was contested by Smith, who, in his History of the County of Kerry (1756), states that it was introduced by the monks of St. Finnian, who founded the Abbey of that name on the banks of the lake, in the sixth century. Babington, in Mag. Nat. Hist. ix. 245 (1836), says this idea is inconceivable as the tree grows in isolated spots far up in the mountains, and is truly an aboriginal. All Irish botanists, and they are supported by authorities like Sir J.D. Hooker and Prof. Fliche of Nancy, are agreed as to the tree being an undoubted native of the south-west of Treland.
- ↑ There are six trees on the islands in Glenmore Lake near Dereen, and few on the mountains beside the lake, according to information I received when visiting Dereen in July 1907.
