TOPOGRAPHICAL BOTANY OF SCOTLAND 39 



TOPOGRAPHICAL BOTANY OF SCOTLAND. 

 By JAMES W. H. TRAIL, A.M., M.D., F.R.S. 



SINCE the publication, in 1883, of the second edition of 

 Mr. H. C. Watson's "Topographical Botany," and largely 

 under the stimulus given by that work, a great deal has been 

 done towards widening our knowlege of the flora of Scotland. 

 Attention was drawn to the almost total want of information 

 from several districts, and to the imperfect nature of the 

 records from others, even as regards common and easily 

 determined species, with the result that the larger gaps have 

 for the most part been filled. Doubtful records have been 

 confirmed, and some errors in former records have been dis- 

 covered and corrected. To determine whether a record 

 should be excluded as erroneous is, however, far more 

 difficult than to ascertain whether a new record may securely 

 be added to our lists, since a rare species may not be again 

 detected in its habitat, even when sought for ; or it may have 

 become extinct from some cause that is not apparent to us. 



Critical groups (e.g. Rubus, Rosa, Hieracium, etc.) have 

 received very close study of late years, and for such groups 

 the former records are not in full accord with the conclusions 

 arrived at by specialists. Most of the information gained 

 since 1883 has been published, chiefly in numerous papers 

 and shorter notes, some of which relate exclusively to the 

 flora of Scotland, while in others there are only occasional 

 references to Scottish plants, the bulk of the articles relating 

 to other districts. The thanks of all interested in the 

 Scottish flora are due in a very special degree to Mr. A. 

 Bennett for the unwearied assistance he has given to local 

 botanists in determining the critical species of their districts, 

 and for his ' Additional Records of Scottish Plants,' in 

 which he has brought together and put within our reach (in 

 the "Scottish Naturalist" from 1886 to 1891, and sub- 

 sequently in the "Annals of Scottish Natural History"), 

 year by year, the information scattered through our own 

 journal, the " Journal of Botany," the publications of Societies, 

 and occasional floras in book form. The value of the 

 ' Records ' is most appreciated by those that know them 



