2 OECOLOGY. 



Below these moors, which are not cultivated and abandoned to the black- 

 faced sheep, grouse, and black game, there appears to be two distinct 

 formations which are, in practice, very difficult to distinguish from one 

 another. The one, originally dominated by Pinus sylvestris, probably 

 occupied a great many of the valleys and lower hills in both the extreme 

 North and extreme South of the area. Unfortunately the Old Caledonian 

 forest has long since vanished, though it is said to persist in the birch and 

 Pinus sylvestris forests at Auchnacarry and the Black Wood of Rannoch. 

 No observations of its limits in altitude or distribution have apparently been 

 made in our district. In the North the writer believes that these verv 



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nearly coincided with the "Highland Line " or Roman Wall. There were also, 

 doubtless at some time, Coniferous forests on the Dalmellington hills, and 

 probably also on the Mistylaw and Tinto ranges, but no exact work has been 

 done upon this subject, and the fact that the alpine flora, and no doubt also 

 the Pinewoods, migrated at least once southwards and northwards over the 

 British Isles, renders the problem an exceedingly difficult one to solve. 



The last formation, that of the oak, can be traced to a certain extent, from 

 historical documents. In Berghaus' Physikal Atlas, Nos. 47 and 48, the range 

 of this tree is given as extending much farther North than is here susfsrested, 



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but although the oak may flourish in favoured situations as far, or even 

 farther North than is there represented, it is scarcely possible that it could 

 form the dominant vegetation of the country beyond the Highland line. 

 Practically all woods are artificial in the West of Scotland, and cultivation 

 occupies a very large proportion of the whole area. 



Everyone of these four dominant formations is interrupted by all sorts of 

 rock, water, peat, and other associations. There is not space even to 

 enumerate the whole of these modified floras, but the following list of 

 typical localities may perhaps be useful to strangers visiting Glasgow with 

 oecological views. Of the seaside vegetations, which are particularly well 

 developed, the following are amongst the best localities : 



(1) The sand-dunes at Monkton Links and thence to Ardrossan. 



(2) Zostera meadows (Enaliden Vereins-Klasse) at Hunterston Point. 



(3) Marine Algae (Nereiden, etc.), at Millport, Cumbrae (this is also one of 

 the best places for flowering plants). 



(4) Estuarine swamps and muddy foreshore from Dumbarton to Bowling, 

 or at Langbank. 



(5) Freshwater lochs and marshes abound in the neighbourhood of 

 Glasgow. Perhaps St. Germains pond at Bearsden, and Possil Marsh 

 (walking to Lambhill from Possilpark station) are amongst the best 

 examples of " Rohrsumpfe " and " Sumpfemoore." Lochwinnoch valley and 

 the plain about Renfrew have been so well drained that only an occa- 

 sional willow tree or unhappy-looking Phragmites are left to show the 

 character of the former flora. 



(6) Deciduous woods are perhaps best developed at the classical locality of 

 the Falls of Clyde (the best walk is from Tillietudlem to Lanark). 



(7) The ascent of Ben Lomond from Rowardennan, or of the Cobbler from 

 Arrochar, will give a good idea of the Scotch moors and of the Alpine flora. 



(8) Calder Glen at Lochwinnoch may be visited as an example of a 

 particular sort of lynn or mountain ravine which is difficult to place in any 

 of Warming's categories. 



(9) The Peat mosses or Sphagnummoore are not very interesting in the 

 Glasgow district. Linwood moss or Garngad is perhaps one of the best. 



(10) The blaes and blackband heaps (e.g. at Anniesland Toll, Great 

 Western Road) are of great interest as they possess an artificial flora quite 

 distinct from the natural vegetation surrounding it. 



The map at the beginning of the handbook is divided by latitude and 

 longitude lines ; as explained above, each divison has its capital letter, A, B, 



