THE HIGH ALPINE FLORA OF BRITAIN 109 



while the plant is in flower, by water trickling from the melting 

 snow shortly above ; also on the northern declivity of the adjacent 

 Red Cairn Hill, in a spot upon which the snow probably lies till 

 July," and which is at an elevation of iioo m. ("Cyb. Brit." 

 i. 413). On the eastern precipice of Loch-na-gar, and on the 

 west side at the height where Carex leporina grows (Dickie, 66). 

 Northern precipices of Cairn Gorm, at 1190 m. (A. Ley, 1874, n. 

 541, in Herb. Brit.). Cairn Toul, at iioo m. E. S. Marshall, 

 1886, in Herb. Brit.). Aonach Beg, above 915 m. (E. S. 

 Marshall, 1896, in Herb. Brit.). Stob-Coire-an-Easain, at 1037 

 m. (E. S. Marshall, in "Journ. Bot." 1897, 67). 



73. Saxifraga ccespitosa, L. A rare plant found high up on 

 alpine rocks. Messrs. Groves (" Bab. Man." ed. 9) omit any reference 

 to Scottish mountains, except the vague area " Aberdeenshire." 

 Mr. E. S. Marshall ("Journ. Bot." l.c.\ however, says, "The true 

 plant was obtained on one of the Glen Spean mountains, very scarce 

 and small ; we believe that the locality is one in which it was met 

 with by some Scottish botanists a few years ago." This locality 

 is in Inverness-shire. In Herb. Linn, one specimen under this 

 name is from Idwal Lake in Caernarvonshire ; the other specimen 

 is quite a different plant, without any note about its origin. The 

 Linnean description is somewhat vague, and may be applied to 

 several distinct plants. 



74. Saxifraga nivalis, L. First recorded as a British plant " on 

 Snowdon hill," 1666 (Merrett, "Pinax Rerum Nat. Brit." in), 

 where it is found on alpine rocks. Found in clefts of alpine rocks 

 up to the summit of Ben Lawers (" Fl. Perthsh." 142), where its 

 usual position lies between 732-915 m. ("Cyb. Brit." i. 408). 

 Stob-Coire-an-Easain, at 1037 m. (E. S. Marshall, in "Journ. Bot." 

 1897, 67). "On rocks on Ben Lawers" (G. Don, 1794). 



75. Saxifraga stellaris, L. This plant reaches the highest point 

 possible in the British Isles ; it grows at the base of the cairn erected 

 on the summit of Ben Nevis, where John Sadler in 1876 found a 

 single very small plant ("Trans. Proc. Bot. Soc." Edinb. xiii. 53 

 [1878]): "At a short distance above the spring, or about 3500 

 feet, phanerogamic vegetation and soil almost wholly disappear, 

 only lichens and a few mosses are seen on the large blocks of 

 porphyry with which the upper part of the mountain is covered." 

 Common in the Silurian area. Found in alpine marshy places up 

 to the summits of Ben Lawers and Ben Alder (" Fl. Perthsh." 142). 

 Brought down by water in the Breadalbane district to 90 m. above 

 sea-level. First recorded as a British plant under the name of 

 "Cotyledon hirsuta sive Sedum petra^um hirsutum" in 1641, "upon 

 the moyst Rockes at Snowdon "(Johnson, "Merc. Bot." ii. 19). 

 Beside the cairn on the summit of Ben Macdhui (Dickie, p. xxiii., 

 but not referred to under the species on p. 64). " Flowering close 



