BOTANICAL NOTES AND NEWS 197 



The author enumerates under countries the localities from which 

 he has seen examples. Among these lands are Finland, Sweden 

 (many localities, as far north as Lapland), Norway (scarce), Denmark 

 numerous localities, including Bornholm), Northern Germany, 

 England, and Scotland. 



From Great Britain he has seen examples, chiefly from East 

 Scotland (Fife, S. Aberdeen, Elgin, Nairn, East Inverness, West 

 Sutherland, Shetland), and from Northern England in a district 

 around Yorkshire. True R. major he has seen from only one 

 British locality, in Sussex near Hastings, which agrees with its 

 occurrence at Calais in N. W. France. He suggests that perhaps 

 the only native species of Rhinanthus in Britain is R. minor. 



NOTE. With reference to the above I have seen this form of the 

 large Yellow Rattle in the counties of Kincardine (where it has 

 occurred plentifully among corn and in artificial pasture, but seems to 

 be very local) and Forfar, as well as in Fife, Aberdeen, Banff, and 

 Elgin, and always as a weed of cultivated soil. It certainly appears 

 to be a recent introduction into the counties around Aberdeen, 1\. 

 major not being recorded under any form from the North-east of 

 Scotland even in Professor Dickie's " Botanist's Guide to the 

 counties of Aberdeen, Banff, and Kincardine." It probably owes 

 its presence to mixture with seed of cereals or of other field crops. 

 -JAMES W. H. TRAIL. 



Saxifrag-a tridactylites, Z., in May. On the i5th of May I 

 received from Dr. T. F. Gilmour, Port Ellen, Islay, specimens of 

 the three-fingered Saxifrage, Saxifraga tridactylites, L., gathered by 

 him on the Machrie Links Golf Course near Port Ellen. The plants 

 were found in abundance " on rather bare, sloping, dry, sandy banks 

 facing the south." Fresh specimens were shown at the meeting of the 

 Natural History Society of Glasgow on 3151 May. In view of the 

 abundance of the plant where found, it is a little remarkable that 

 this should be but the second record of its occurrence in the West 

 of Scotland. The previous reference, as pointed out to me by 

 Prof. Trail, is in the "Annals" for 1898, at page 84, where Mr. 

 S. M. Macvicar, in his paper "On the Flora" of Tiree, mentions having 

 observed a single specimen. Mr. Arthur Bennett, F.L.S., who con- 

 firmed the identification of Dr. Gilmour's specimens, remarks : " I 

 rather expect it is its early flowering that causes it not to be re- 

 corded." 5. tridactylites is frequent on the East Coast of Scotland, 

 and is abundant on Dunnet Links, Caithness. 



