126 The Scottish Naturalist. 



euphorbia in great abundance, and for the first time in my life. This- 

 fungus is said in " Cooke's Handbook" to be common. It may be so in 

 England ; but many a day, in winter and in summer, I had previously 

 searched the north east of Scotland for it in vain. Advancing onwards 

 through pasture lands I observed very fine specimens of Hypnutn patienti<z 

 Lind., a moss common enough in some districts, but totally absent from 

 others; while on the dykes were fair supplies of Ortholrichum saxatile 

 Wood; Ptychomitriiun polyphyllnm, and Grimmia trichophylla. Within the 

 Craighall grounds, about a quarter of a mile or so below the house, and 

 close to the carriage drive on the right hand, there is a wettish broken clay 

 bank, which was covered with the beautiful red cups of Peziza irechispora, 

 a fungus, we believe, only recently discovered to be Scottish; and close by 

 this, careful search brought to light Puccinia chrysosplenii. This has been 

 regarded hitherto as one of the great British rarities, but there are now 

 several localities in the north-east of Scotland in which it has been detected. 

 On and about the same bank there are also two rather important mosses, viz., 

 Barframia calcarea, var. major, indicating the presence of lime in a greater 

 or less degree, and Dicranella Schreberi. This latter is almost unknown 

 between the Tay and the Dee, and every station in which it has been met 

 with deserves to be carefully noted. Further on, as we passed by a most 

 tempting-looking burnside, we came upon Phlebia merismioides, which we 

 had seen before only in the neighbourhood of Forres. It is not so beautiful 

 nor so rare as Phlebia radiata. We here gathered Peziza tuba, Polyposis 

 nidnlans, P. amorphics, and last of all Psilopeziza myrothecioides B. and Br. , 

 a new species figured in the Annals of Natural History, and first gathered 

 by ourselves in Banffshire. This burnside seemed full of rarities, but we 

 had no more time to devote to it, so we hurried on past the house to have 

 a glimpse of the real rocks. At the north base of the rock on which Craig- 

 hall House is perched, the vegetation at once assumes a distinct sub-alpine 

 character. Somewhat unexpectedly we came upon large masses of Saxi- 

 fraga hypnoides, a plant remarkably abundant and variable on the. Clova 

 mountains, but a great stranger below 700 or 800 feet. On the Buchan 

 coast I have met with it in several places within a few yards of the tide 

 mark, but on that cold coast still more alpine plants such as Saxifraga 

 oppositifolia may be seen. In Forfarshire Saxifraga hypnoides occurs in 

 the Den of Airlie, and I have met with it still more to the south, but not 

 at so low an altitude. Associated with it here at Craighall are two mosses 

 and a Jungermannia, usually met with only on the hills, viz., Barframia 

 gracilis Floerke, Encalypla ciliata, and Jungermannia trichophylla. A 

 little farther on, the rocks in slope, height, and exposure, are all that could 

 be desired ; but they want that shade, and moisture, and soft character 

 which is so essential to the existence and luxuriance of cryptogamic plants. 

 Huge masses of Madotheca platyphytla, Meizgeria pubescens, and M. jurcata, 

 Anomodon viticulosa, Homcdothecium sericciim, Antitrichia airtipcndula, 

 Cynodontium Jh-untoni, and other mosses and Jungermannia} of the baser sort 

 made me feel rather disappointed. Further on a hasty and fruitless search 

 of a yard or two of the river for Cinclidotits fontinaloides deepened the dis- 

 appointment. And so as my time was up we abandoned botanizing for 

 the day. Loth to depart, I thought I might just have a look at the trees, 

 which I had hitherto very much neglected, and so turned to the nearest. I 

 observed a somewhat peculiar dark green patch at its base. It bore the aspect 



