256 The Scottish Naturalist. 



Easter, and then due south to the Den of Fowlis (still following 

 the county march, which here assumes a zigzag form), round by 

 Balrudery, and on to Invergowrie — thus describing an area 

 from east to west as a crow flies of about 1 5 miles in length, 

 and from 2 to about 5^ miles in width. 



In the district thus denned we have several distinct botanical 

 regions. In the highest grounds there are a few spots still re- 

 taining their old heather-clad appearance, but which from 

 repeated burnings, and over grazing by sheep, are becoming less 

 year by year. In such places the characteristic plants are 

 Viola lutea, Genista anglica, Polygala, Trientalis, Trollius, 

 Pinguicula, Parnassia, Polygonum vivipanmi, &c. Below this 

 region come the " Braes of the Carse," rocky and gravelly, and 

 intersected by shady "dens," in which Paris, Geranium 

 lucidum, &c, flourish, while on the " Braes" and their rocks 

 Geranium sanguineum, Viola hirta, Dianthus deltoides, Potentilla 

 argentea, Lactuca virosa, Lychnis viscaria, &c, find a congenial 

 habitat. We next have the Lower Carse, or flat ground, which, 

 though strictly an arable country, and tenanted chiefly by the 

 common field plants, with a few casuals more or less common to 

 all corn-growing districts, has still a few odd corners left where 

 Pyrola, Listera, &c, grow. Finally we have the banks of the 

 Tay, the stronghold of many aliens now thouroughly natural- 

 ized — various Asters, Mimulus, &c. — replaced farther down 

 where the water becomes brackish, by Aster tripolium, Glaux, 

 Spergularia maritima, &c. 



There are perhaps many districts of equal extent in the county 

 which can boast of a much larger flora, for the Carse, being 

 in a great measure composed of highly cultivated arable clay land, 

 and devoid of marshes, lakes, or water of any great extent — 

 with the exception of the Tay, which, from its being a tidal river, 

 and a large portion of it brackish, possesses few aquatic plants — 

 and having moreover no very high land, 900 to 1000 feet being the 

 maximum, is destitute of many species that are found in more 

 favoured districts ; still, as will be seen, the list is by no means 

 an insignificant one, represented as it is by 68 orders containing 

 457 species (besides 21 varieties), and if we add 20 more species 

 said to grow in the Carse (but which have not as yet come 

 under my notice), we have little short of 500. I may remark 

 that among the species mentioned I have not ventured to 

 enumerate any of those in the Genus Rosa or the Genus Rubus. 

 It would be taking up too much space to enter at any great 



