The Scottish Naturalist. 199 



as most readers of the Naturalist will know, lies about midway between 

 Blairgowrie and Dunkeld, receiving the waters of the Lochs of Butterstone 

 and the Lowes, and discharging into that of Marlee. Its surface is 157 

 feet above the level of the sea, and about two miles in circumference. It 

 abounds in such interesting aquatic plants as Elaline hexandra, Sulndaria 

 aquatica, Lobelia dortmanna, Nupkar lutea, Nymphaa alba, several species 

 of Potamogeton, &c. ; and in addition, Stratiotes aloides, and, I believe, 

 Bidomns nmbellatus, though I have never found it. Its castle, which 

 stands on a small island near its western shore, is historically interesting, 

 as, if not the birthplace of the admirable Crichton, at least the place where 

 he spent the early years of his boyhood. 



In the course of our dredging operations — our dredger being a six-foot-rod 

 with a strong hook attached — we were so fortunate as to fish up a plant, 

 which was new to both of us, but a reference to Hooker's Manual, and 

 afterwards to Bentham's Illustrations, convinced us that we had added 

 Naias Jlexilis to the flora of Great Britain. 



We found the plant pretty generally distributed over that part of the loch 

 which we examined, viz., the north-west side, growing on the gravelly and 

 muddy bottom, generally along with Callitriche aiitumnalis or a C/iara, but 

 sometimes in patches by itself. As seen from the side of the boat, the loch 

 is so clear and limpid that plants may be seen and recognised through six 

 feet of water — a patch of it looks very like Callitriche, only somewhat 

 darker, and more diffuse. One peculiarity of its growth deserves to be 

 noticed. A considerable depth of water, five feet at least, seems to be 

 necessary to its existence, for nowhere did we find it on the shallow water 

 near the edge. True to its name, it appears, like the Water-Naiads of 

 ancient mythology, to avoid the curious gaze of mortals, and to delight in 

 the placid depths of its native pool. 



The question at once occurred to us, "Is it native?" At first we felt 

 disposed to doubt it, knowing, as we did, that other plants had been intro- 

 duced into the loch. It is a well-known fact that the Rev. Mr. M 'Ritchie, 

 who was minister of the parish of Cluny during the first thirty years of the 

 present century, was an enthusiastic botanist, and introduced, at least, 

 Stratiotes and Bidomns into the loch, and Typha latifolia into a pond near 

 by the church. Of course he would not intentionally, but it has been 

 suggested that he may, accidentally, have introduced it in seed along with 

 another plant. I incline to think not. On inquiring of Mr. Duff, the 

 intelligent and obliging gardener at Cluny Cottage, we learned that Mr. 

 M' Ritchie inroduced these plants from Wales. Now, when we consider 

 how irregularly Naias is distributed over Europe — in Sweden, North 

 Germany, and Ireland — it is just as likely to be native in the Loch of 

 Cluny as in Wales, from which it has never been recorded. As far as we 

 could learn, Mr. M'Ritehie never got plants from Ireland or North 

 America, where I believe Naias is common. On the whole, therefore, 

 at present I incline to consider it one of the native rarities of the Loch 

 of Cluny. — Abram Sturrock, Rattray, December, 1875. 



W 



NEW SCOTTISH FUNGI. 

 E are indebted to Dr. M. C. Cooke, editor of Grevillea, 

 for the following extracts from a paper on New British 



