The Scottish Naturalist. 301 



THE FLOWERING PLANTS. 



At the mouth of the Tilt the flood gravels have formed flat 

 haughs or terraces covered with a short springy turf and adorned 

 with numerous wild-flowers. Here are to be found various 

 plants which are not usually met with so far inland in the High- 

 lands, such as the Maiden Pink {Diaiithiis deltoides) with its 

 lovely pink blossoms, the soft woolly heads of the Hare's-foot 

 Trefoil {Trifolium arvefisc), the purple flowers of the little Milk- 

 vetch [Astragalus hypoglottis), &c. A little further down the 

 Garry, and just outside of our district, Saxifraga tridactylites, a 

 very rare plant in Perthshire, occurs along with the alpine Poten- 

 tilla maculata. 



On ascending the Tilt as far as Blair Castle, the character of 

 the vegetation will be found to have altogether changed. Here 

 many of the most conspicuous plants have no pretension to be 

 considered as natives, as they have either been purposely planted, 

 or, what is as likely, escaped from cultivation. One of the most 

 striking of these is Valeriana pyre?iaica, which occurs in great 

 beds on the banks of the Bannavie ; and amongst others are 

 Ca7npanula persicifolia, C. rapuuculoides^ ^ Linaria cymbalaria, 

 Convallaria majalis, &c. Soon, however, the naturalised plants 

 disappear and a rich native flora reigns undisturbed. The rarest 

 of all the plants of this, or, indeed, of any part of the Glen, is 

 Polygonatum verticil latum, which, though not abundant, still 

 keeps its ground, and is not likely to be exterminated. Few 

 people, I imagine, know the exact places where it grows, and as 

 it has no conspicuous flower it is likely to escape the notice of 

 any one save an enthusiastic botanist, who will probably treat it 

 with due respect. 



In the drier parts of the woods Melampyrum sylvaticum grows 

 in large beds, the pale-flowered form which I described in this 

 magazine some years ago being nearly as common as the usual 

 darker-flowered form. In the depth of the wood the curious 

 Herb Paris {Paris quadrifolia) makes large beds, as does the 

 pretty-flowered but strong-smelling Wild Garlic {Allium ursinum) 

 on the banks of the river. 



In this part of the Glen ferns of course abound, but only in- 

 clude the common species. On one spot on the banks of the 

 Bannavie is the largest bed of the Oak Fern {Polypodium dry- 

 opteris) that I ever saw. A steep precipitous bank, 25 or 30 feet 

 high (if not higher), is completely clothed for some distance 



