The Scottish Naturalist* 309 



the climate at that altitude, they do not feel at home, but be- 

 come dwarfed and stunted, so that the alpine flora is there able 

 to contend successfully with them. This it is not able to do on 

 the lowlands, and hence takes refuge, both by choice and of 

 necessity, on the hills, as we mentioned before — never descend- 

 ing, as a rule, below 1500 or 2000 feet of altitude. This peculi- 

 arity constitutes their title to be classed as alpine plants in our 

 country. As a rule, they are exceedingly dwarf, scarcely rising, 

 higher than the mosses with which they are surrounded, growing 

 in dense tufts, or creeping along the surface of the rocks. The 

 flowers are large comparatively to the size of the plant, and of 

 bright, sometimes intense, colours. 



2. I shall now touch on some peculiarities and anomalies of 

 distribution. 



The number of species of flowering plants and ferns in Britain 

 is estimated variously at from 1425 to 1680, according as some 

 are reckoned as sub-species or varieties. The proportion of 

 these that are strictly alpine according to the foregoing defini- 

 tion is comparatively small, being under 100 — in fact, they only 

 number 91 species, or about six per cent of the whole British 

 flora. Of these 91 species of British alpines, %% are natives of 

 Scotland, 45 are natives of England and Wales, while only 25 

 are natives of the Irish hills. With the exception of 6 or 8, all 

 are natives of arctic Europe or Scandinavia, while 46 at least 

 are also found in the Polar regions. 



It will thus be seen that only three species of the British alpine 

 flora are absent from Scotland. One of these is the Saxifraga 

 umbrosa, or London Pride, which is found in Britain only on 

 the Irish hills, and is a member of the Asturian flora formerly 

 mentioned. A second is Lloydia se?-otina, a small bulbous plant 

 with white flowers, found only on some of the Welsh mountains. 

 Its distribution is pretty extensive, ranging from the European 

 Alps to the Himalayas and North America. The third and last 

 species absent from Scotland is the lovely Gentiana z'ema, in- 

 habiting the Teesdale Hills in England, and the hills of Mayo, 

 Galway, and Clare in Ireland. Its centre of distribution is the 

 European Alps. 



The distribution of the alpine flora in Scotland is confined to 

 the Grampian range, and principally to two localities in that 

 range — viz., the Clova and Caenlochen mountains in Forfarshire, 

 and the Breadalbane mountains in Perthshire, — in each of which 

 counties 73 out of the 88 Scottish species are found. Lochna- 



