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8.

23rd May 1948. 

After a blazing hot week Sat. 22nd dull, dry & chilly;  rain started sometime during night of 22nd 23rd & fell heavily till 10 A.M. with slight NE wind, then became almost fine with misty rain blowing in the wind.  Called for MWR de V Graham at 52 Leeson St. in car at 10.30 A.M. & drove to Ballyman Glen, on DU-W1 boundary, S. of The Scalp to collect Orchis traunsteinerioides cf Pugsley.  I discovered this plant in this spot in 1920-21, one evening when the late J. de W. Hinch was "showing me round" shortly after we came to live in Dublin, & in my opinion it is simply a local form of O. purpurella Stephenson & what Pugsley  also called O. majalis v. occidentalis of western Ireland.  It grows here [[strikethrough]] only [[strikethrough]] mainly on the Wicklow side of the stream;  where also grow many other nicer plants, such as Carex paniculata, Eriophorum latifolium, Selagniella selaginoides, &c. 

Having collected specimens of O. traunsteineroides for Desmond Meikle and Mr. Summerhayes of Kew, we drove on in fine weather to the Devil's Glen, arriving there about 12.45, with sun almost 
   
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9.

23.5.48, cont.  Devil's Glen, Co. WI., cont.

out & things beginning to dry.  Walked slowly up glen to Z road & started to have lunch when heavy & thick rain came on & lasted half an hour & wet everything, making sweeping impossible in most places for remainder of day.  On passing through Little Bray noticed that Djouce & War Hill & even entire summit of Tonduff were snow covered & quite white over about 2,000 ft.;  & later from top of Devil's Glen saw that the big hills were all snow-covered & a party we met in the glen informed us they had driven over the Feather Bed & passed Sally Gap in a snow-storm.

After lunch searched for insects with sucker under leaves of trees in open above the ruined lodge at top of wood & here between road & river (i.e. between foot of Z & gate).  Graham took a ♀︎ sawfly, black & yellow, which he later ran down to Harpiphorus lepidus & new to Irish List, while near gate I took amongst other things 3♀︎♀︎ of Aspilota vernalis miki & Graham 1♂︎ & 1♀︎ of same.  The Glenmore (S.) side of the glen now almost stripped of trees, for fuel, & the branches & even some trunks thrown into the river