282 TJie Scottish Naturalist. 



should be kept for it in Scotland. Apropos of naturalised plants, it is surely 

 time that Lupinus perennis should find a place in our Floras, as it deserves it 

 quite as well as the above-mentioned Potentilla norvegica and some others. 

 The Lupin is thoroughly established in Perthshire, Kincardineshire, Aberdeen- 

 shire, and Inverness-shire, and perhaps in other counties. Alchemilla con- 

 functa Bab. is considered to be merely "a sport" of A. alpina, but it seems 

 to merit at least varietal rank. 



Saxifraga caspitosa, which in the second edition was kept distinct from S. 

 hypnoides, is now ranked as a variety of the latter as the result of repeated 

 study of the various forms, the passage from one to the other being " undefin- 

 able." S. cemudy by the way, is said to rarely produce flowers in Britain, 

 but, of late years at least, we think it has annually been found in flower on 

 Ben Lawers, where, notwithstanding the raids of botanists, it seems to be 

 gaining rather than losing ground. 



One of the distinctions between Myriophylhim alUrniflorum and M. spicatum 

 is said to be that the former inhabits lakes in hilly and upland districts. From 

 central Scotland northwards M. spicatum is very much more local and rare 

 than M. alterniflorum, which, so far as our experience goes, is common both 

 in rivers and lakes, M. spicatum being confined to lakes and ponds. 



Epilobium anagallidifolium is very properly no longer recognised as even a 

 variety, though mentioned as a form of E. alpinum. Doubts as to the specific 

 distinctness of Circcea alpina from C. lutetianct are no longer expressed. Con- 

 sidering their close relationship and the intermediate forms (scarcely hybrids as 

 sometimes suggested) that occur, surely C. alpina ought not to be considered 

 to be more than a sub-species ? 



Astrantia major is admitted only as a naturalised species at Ludlow and 

 Malvern ; we have seem it in the same condition in several places on the 

 banks of the Tay. i'ivipiuella maforis given (without doubt expressed as to 

 its nativity) as occurring from Perth southwards. In Perthshire we think it is 

 certainly an introduced plant. 



Regarding Galium boreale, it is certainly much commoner and more luxur- 

 iant on the banks of streams than on "moist rocks in mountain districts," and 

 when on mountain rocks it is usually on the driest. 



Under Valeriana officinalis the usual two forms are mentioned, but the var. 

 V. sambucijolia is said to be " very local," whereas in Topographical Botany 

 it is reported to be the commoner. From Mid-Scotland northwards it is the 

 only form that has occurred to us. It is not certain that it is not specifically 

 distinct from the other, or V. officinalis proper. 



Scabiosa Columbaria is given as occurring from Perth southwards. It is 

 native in Forfarshire, but we do not know that it is to be found in Perthshire 

 The arrangement of the Composite, it may be mentioned, has been consider- 

 ably altered, and some plants formerly considered as varieties are now treated 

 as sub-species. One of these is GnapJialium norvegicum. This is said to 

 ascend to 1, 600 feet, but we have seen it at upwards of 3,000. Many of our 

 Scottish plants ascend to higher altitudes than those mentioned in the work 

 before us, but in many cases the observations recently made on the subject 

 have not yet been published. 



In the thistles it is to be noted that Cnicus is restored to generic rank, 

 while Mulgedium is considered as not distinct from Lactuca. By a slip of the 

 pen, the petioles of Arctium Lappa {A. majus) are said to be hollow instead 

 of solid. 



Arc tout aphylos alpina is given as occurring from Perth and Forfar shires 

 northwards, but it seems to be a very doubtful inhabitant of these counties. 

 Monotropa Hypopitys now takes the name of Hypopithys multipara. Doubt is 

 cast upon Lysimachia Nummularia being a native of Britain at all, as it is 

 said not to seed. Under Erythraa Centaurium five sub-species, instead of 

 three as formerly, are admitted. A var. pracox {G. uliginosa Willd.) of 

 Geniiana Amarella is mentioned, but how it is to be distinguished from G. 

 campestris by the characters given we are unable to perceive. Nyman admits 

 it as a sub-species, and gives Scotland as one of the countries in which it 

 occurs. 



