96 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



SCOTTISH PLANTS, CHIEFLY FROM SKYE, 

 PEEBLES, SELKIRK, AND KIRKCUDBRIGHT. 



G. CLARIDGE DRUCE, M.A., F.L.S. 



THE following notes have accrued chiefly from my three 

 visits in 1910 to Scotland, the first undertaken to see the 

 Holy Grass growing in its most southern station, the second 

 to gather Arabis alpina in Skye, whence it was gathered in a 

 fruiting condition by Mr. H. C. Hart, the author of the 

 " Flora of Donegal," in 1887. We spent four days in Skye, 

 and were rewarded on the last, a most beautiful day, not 

 only so far as the weather was concerned, but in most 

 romantic surroundings, my godson, Mr. T. H. Leach, being 

 the first to actually gather this great rarity in beautiful 

 flower, and in a situation which is probably a different one 

 from that where Mr. Hart gathered his examples, as it is at a 

 slightly lower altitude than the lowest height mentioned by 

 him. It is rather curious that it should not also have been 

 found on the stony cliffs of Sutherland or W. Ross. We 

 then stayed at Fort William in order to make notes on the 

 elevations to which plants ascend ; but the highest mountain 

 is by no means the best for this purpose, as the chaos of 

 rocks near the summit have very little vegetation ; and in 

 this inclement, year, with its great quantity of snow, few 

 results were obtained. The most interesting plant observed 

 after leaving Skye was Chcsrophyllum aureum, " one of Don's 

 reputed discoveries," growing in immense quantities at 

 Callander, and bearing evidence to the acumen of Poe, who, 

 in one of his romantic stories, tells how a letter of vital 

 importance to the owner, which was being searched for by 

 the most sleuth-hound kind of detectives, was put in a 

 conspicuous position on the mantlepiece, and thus evaded 

 the minute search in the most unlikely places made by 

 those in quest. The name aitreum given to the plant 

 perhaps has helped in concealing it, since the flowers are 

 pure white, in somewhat larger and more convex umbels 

 than those of sylvestre ; but the fruits have a yellowish-green 

 colour, while the leaves too have a greenish-yellow tint. 



My third visit, in September, was to Forfar and Arbroath. 



