30 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



subject, it is to be hoped that the place of these hill-forms 

 of Sagina will be put on a more satisfactory basis. As my 

 name has been mentioned by Mr. Bennett in his note, will 

 you kindly allow me to add a few observations as a slight 

 contribution to the subject under discussion ? 



With reference to the plant mentioned as having been 

 gathered by Mr. J. Backhouse on Glas Mhol in 1847, I am 

 not at all sure that it is not a form of .5". uivalis. There is 

 a specimen in the British Herbarium, Edinburgh, collected 

 by Mr. F. M. Webb on Ben Lawers, 2Oth July 1877, 

 apparently from the station for Arenaria rubella in the 

 western ravine, which specimen, judging from its loose habit 

 and the broad leaves forming the barren rosette, has very 

 much the appearance of a plant that has been growing on 

 loose soil, such as that at the edge of the stream on Glas 

 Mhol, where, indeed, a plant almost identical in appearance 

 to this is to be found. 



Professor Babington, in the " Journal of Botany," vol. 2, 

 pp. 340-342, describes the plant (S. nivalis) ; but it is quite 

 apparent that the material at his command was too scanty 

 to form the basis for a satisfactory definition. Had he 

 examined the six specimens gathered by Professor Balfour 

 in 1864, now in the Brit. Herb., Edinburgh, I am convinced 

 he would have modified his description considerably. In 

 the case of plants grown on the Breadalbane range, and also 

 on specimens from Norway, there appears to be a central 

 stem or rosette of larger leaves, and this is clearly seen on 

 some of the plants on the sheets of the Brit. Herb., Edin., on 

 my own specimens from Perthshire, and on about a dozen 

 of those I brought from the Dovrefjeld this year. As to 

 whether the plant is of lax or csespitose habit seems to 

 depend entirely on its stage of developement and age, and 

 on the situation in which it is found. This is very clearly 

 shown on the six specimens above referred to as having 

 been collected by Professor Balfour in 1864. The peduncles 

 are always very short and curved before flowering (S. 

 ccespitosa, Vahl (?)) ; but, as in most other Arctic species, the 

 peduncle develops rapidly and stands erect after flowering. 

 Pentamerous flowers may be found, but the great majority 

 of those I have examined are 4-partite. In other respects 



