BOTANICAL NOTES AND NEWS 187 



BOTANICAL NOTES AND NEWS. 



The Plants of the Flannan Islands. In the "Annals" No. 55, 

 187, 1905, Ur. Trail enumerates the specimens brought by Mr. 

 Eagle Clarke from these islands. 



The following additional species were gathered by Mr. W. ]. 

 Gibson on Eilean Mor in July 1899. They were kindly sent to me 

 by Mr. A. Somerville, with a request to name them and return to 

 Mr. Gibson. 



They add nine species to the thirteen given by Dr. Trail, viz. : 



Lychnis Flos-cuculi, L. 



Cerastiiun tetrandum, Curt. 



C. glomeratum, Thuill. 



Sagina maritiina, Don. 



Spergularia neglecta, Syme. 



Plantago maritiina, L., var. minor, Hook and Am. 



Atriplex hastata, L. 



Rumex Acetosa, L. " Tufts of this were growing beside the Puffins' 

 burrows and nowhere else. ' Martin Martin, Gent.,' who visited 

 the Western islands about 1695, says that the Fulmars (Fidmarus 

 glacialis] of St. Kilda eat it. If the Puffins do so also, it forms a 

 good illustration of how plants are spread by birds " (W. G. in ////.). 

 The Rev. N. Mackenzie, in "Notes on the Birds of St. Kilda," 1 

 does not mention that they eat the sorrel, but remarks, "but prefers 

 those places where there are steep grassy slopes with tufts of earth 

 or sorrel," i.e. to make their nests. 



Poa annua, L. 



Festuca rnbra, L. 



Of Matricaria inodora, L., M. Gibson remarks, "Growing in 

 great profusion on upper slopes of cliffs. The Chamomile odour 

 was very pronounced in the fresh plants." This is rather surprising 

 as Mr. Gibson's specimens are inodora, not Chainomilla. 



Armeria maritiina, "The leaves of this seem to form the 

 greater part of the short close sward " (W. G. /;/ lift.}. Mr. Gibson, 2 

 speaking of Eilean Mor, remarks "The top slopes considerably to 

 the south-west, and is covered with a close mat of short grass, 

 decorated with sea -pinks and diminutive buttercups and ragged- 

 robins." 



Accounts of the birds (with photos of Eilean Mor), by Mr. Eagle 

 Clarke, will be found in the " Annals " for 1905, pp. 8, 80, and 243 : 

 of the Diptera, p. 218; Coleoptera, p. 20, and Spiders, p. 120. 

 ARTHUR BENNETT, Croydon. 



1 "Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist." 78 (1905). 

 2 In " Chambers's Journal," ii. 796 (1899). 



