NOTES ON THE FLORA OF WESTERNESS 37 



of which type specimens are preserved in the Herbarium of 

 the Linnean Society. It was referred to Poa laxa by 

 Sir W. Hooker, in the " Flora Scotica," and was considered 

 to be identical with the plant from Lochnagar gathered by 

 Geo. Don, which Babington thought was P. laxa, but which 

 Boswell Syme erroneously named Poa stricta. The Loch- 

 nagar plant I have named Poa alpina, var. acutifolia, in the 

 "Journal of the Linnean Society" for 1903, p. 421-9; but 

 I hesitate to refer the Ben Nevis plant to the same variety 

 until I have seen it in the living state. 



Should any botanist who reads this have any specimens 

 of Poas from Ben Nevis, I should much value the loan of 

 them for examination. It is possible that one of the 

 meteorological observers might succeed in finding what I 

 was unable to discover, for when we were there the most 

 promising-looking gullies were full of snow, and I saw no 

 alpine Poa of the kind I wanted. The day spent in working 

 the great corrie was bitterly cold ; fierce squalls of rain came 

 on at frequent intervals, and the tops of the cliffs were 

 hidden in cloud. Plant life was very backward, Cornus 

 siiecica and Silene acanlis being still in flower. The corrie, 

 although of considerable extent and toilsome to work on 

 account of the quantity of sharp loose stones, is distinctly 

 poor from a botanical point of view, and especially so after 

 one's experience on the neighbouring hills of Aonach Mhor 

 and Aonach Beag. The Hawkweeds were few in number and 

 in poor condition. The best alpines there are Ccrastiinn 

 arcticuni, C. trigynuni, Veronica alpina, Juncus castancns, and 

 Carex saxatilis. 



A day was spent in Glen Nevis ; but again no alpine 

 Poas were obtained ; but one addition was made to the 

 county flora in a small brook at the lower part of the glen, 

 where CaltJia radicans grew in a similar situation to those 

 where I have elsewhere found it, namely at low elevations, 

 at the base of lofty hills, in muddy soils where permanent 

 moisture and nearly complete shade are the prevailing con- 

 ditions of its growth. Carum verticillatum is a plentiful and 

 characteristic feature of the glen, which also affords Scdnin 

 roseum at a low altitude. 



The district round Fort William has been much worked 



