PLANTS IX THE VALLEY OF THE GARNOCK. 247 



1,177 and 1.207 feet. From the north side of Black 

 Law. a feist one hill 1.525 feet high, a small stream 

 descends to the Garnock opposite Ladyland Moor; 

 and from the south side of the hill flows the 

 Pundevon. which joins the Garnock at the town of 

 Kilbirnie after a somewhat parallel course of three 

 miles. About the middle of the town the river also 

 receives the Paduff, another small stream flowing 

 nearly parallel to the Pundevon for a distance of 

 about 3J miles. About a mile north from Kilbirnie 

 these streams leave the porphyrites, of which the 

 hills are mostly built, and cut into the lower car- 

 boniferous limestone strata. From its source to 

 Kilbirnie the Garnock descends about 1.400 feet, 

 giving an average gradient for its bed of about 

 1 in 23 feet ; and for the rest of its course to the 

 sea the gradient is about 1 in 363. 



After leaving Kilbirnie the river meanders for 

 about four miles through a comparatively level 

 plain. This, as we have already indicated, occupies 

 the site of a filled-up lake, and when the Garnock 

 is in full flood it has all its lacustrine appearances 

 for the time restored. From Dairy to the mouth 

 of the Lugton, three-quarters of a mile below 

 Kilwinning, where the tidal area commences, its 

 course is a little more rapid, and for the most part 

 over boulder-clay. The only place where rock is 

 touched is at Dalsmrven. Below the mouth of the 

 Lugton, the Garnock is tidal for a distance of about 

 four miles, expanding into a considerable estuary at 

 Misk and Bogside. The characteristic plant of the 

 Garnock is certainlv Senecio saracenicus, L.. which 

 grows in great clumps, often from six to seven feet 

 in height, here and there along the banks. This 

 plant is rare in other parts of Scotland. On the 

 Clyde it occurs only at one place, and equally 

 sparingly on the Irvine. 



The Powgree, which rises on Cuff Hill, two miles 

 north-east from Beith. enters the Garnock near 

 Kilbirnie Railway Station. 



