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®ur Britiab plante 



By F. T. Law, F.R.M.S. 

 Plate XL 



IN his rambles through different parts of the kingdom in search 

 of wild flowers, the observant botanist, e'en though he be 

 a novice in his science, and not deeply read in the profuse 

 botanic lore of these later times, cannot fail to remark, not only 

 the diversities in genera and species of plants found in different 

 localities and upon varying soils, but the peculiarly distinct types 

 of plants which are seen in the lowlands and upon the higher 

 hills of our country ; and the variation from these again in those 

 small groups which, if it be his good fortune to visit the south- 

 western counties of England, and of Ireland, he will find in those 

 districts. 



Although it is now about forty-five years since the late Professor 

 E. Forbes drew the attention of the scientific world to these 

 interesting facts, and fifteen since the Rev. Hugh Macmillan, in his 

 delightful "Holidays in the High-Lands" appealed to a wider and 

 more general class of readers, we believe that comparatively few 

 are acquainted with the attractive subject. Little more than an 

 outline can be given in this paper. For fuller details reference 

 should be made to the Rev. H. Macmillan's book. 



Four well-marked groups of plants are to be found in the 

 British Isles, all of them having their origin in other lands. 

 Indeed, it has been said that among the fauna and flora of Great 

 Britain only two forms— the Common Red Grouse, and Neottta 

 gemmipera^ an orchid growing in the south of Ireland — are 

 peculiar to the islands. 



The great majority of our plants — those of the lowlands, 

 variable as they appear when growing upon the chalk, the clay- 

 lands, or upon limestone ; whether they seem to be little akin as 

 they are found in our meadows, by our streams, in the woods, or 

 upon the lower ranges of hills — have all a common origin. They 

 are identical with forms abundant in central and western Europe, 



