ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF BUCHAN 97 



Adders ? Has any one ever seen an Adder swimming in the 

 water, and captured the specimen ? What do the young 

 Adders feed upon up to the time that their jaws are large 

 enough to swallow small mice and other mammals ? What 

 becomes of the young Adders from their birth to the time 

 they are fifteen inches long, for no one ever sees them ? 

 How long do Adders live ? What animals, if any, habitually 

 prey upon them ? Is there any evidence of the existence of 

 parental relationship in Adders ? 



In almost any other Order of animals in our fauna 

 with the exception of the Fish all such queries could be 

 answered without much difficulty. In the case of adders, 

 one has only to ask almost any question on their life-history 

 to get no answer. Surely, then, field naturalists (for they 

 only can find the solutions of such problems) might turn 

 their attention to this much neglected branch of Scottish 

 Natural History, always remembering that in the case of the 

 adder it is well to temper valour with discretion. 



ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF BUCHAN. 



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



( Continued from p. 50.) 



Artemisia vielgaris, L. -Though very abundant near the fishing 

 villages and towns in the north-east of Buchan, this is scarce 

 elsewhere, its preference for fields and sides of roads indicating 

 that man has aided in extending its range, and may have 

 introduced it into Buchan. 



Petasites albus, Gsertn. Well established near the Manse of Cruden. 



Mariana lactea, Hill. 93*, by the wayside in St. Fergus; probably 



a casual. 

 Cichorium Intybus, L. Several plants in a grass-field at Bonnyton- 



hill, Aberdour. 



Hieracium. This genus is very poorly represented in Buchan, the 

 only species at all common being H. Pilosella and H. vulgatitm : 

 and even they are hardly as common as I have seen them 

 elsewhere. 



H. anglicum, Fr., var. longibracteatum, F. J. Hanb. -93'", upper end of 

 Millden in Longside. What appears to be a weak form of this 

 was gathered in the Rinn of Afforsk in Gamrie, Banffshire (94). 

 42 D 



