23S Mr. E. Forbes' Botanical Excursion to 



ornamented the road side in company with Cirsium serratu- 

 1 aides. My companion was delighted to find Scrophularia 

 rr /-//a, a plant much prized in his country. At Chapovano, 

 our destination for the nighty we found a tolerable village inn, 

 and after a hearty supper of omelettes we slept soundly until 

 4 o'clock on Wednesday morning, when we proceeded to 

 ascend the neighbouring mountain of the Stoddar. Our way 

 lay up a steep slope, so covered with rare and beautiful plants 

 that it resembled a garden run wild. All the colours of the 

 rainbow were represented amid the grass, for the richest plants 

 were in full flower. There were Lilium carniolicum and bul- 

 biferum, with their gorgeous flame-coloured petals ; the modest 

 pink of Hier actum incarnatum ; the bright yellow Biscutella 

 and Cineraria i the blue of Campanula carnica; Veronica pro- 

 strata and the Gladiole, with its brilliant purple blossoms. 

 Here and there Cytisus angustifolius waved its golden flowers 

 above our heads, whilst Aquilegia Sternbergii flourished in its 

 shade. Most of the plants I saw around me were new to me ; 

 for though the vegetation resembled generically that of the Va- 

 lerian Alps of Switzerland, specifically it almost entirely differed. 

 Every now and then however some well-known acquaintance, 

 such as Rhododendron ferrugineum or Tqfieldia palustris, re- 

 minded me of my alpine rambles. One of the rarest flowers 

 which there grew was Primula carniolica, but its time of flower- 

 ing was nearly over, and most of the specimens were in fruit. 

 After recovering: from the first shock of the novel and beauti- 

 ful florabefore me,myPo/^a/a-hunting propensities came into 

 full action. I sought and I found : for among quantities of 

 Polygala vulgaris I discovered a few stalks of Poly gala austri- 

 aca, and higher up the pretty plant grew in great plenty. It 

 delighted my friend as much as myself, being an addition to the 

 Flora of Carniola. Near the summit we found a new locality 

 for one of the rarest plants in Europe, the Pleurospermum Go- 

 laka, a native of these mountains only ; its time of flowering 

 had not yet come. The summit itself was covered with bushes 

 of Rosa alpina and Spartium radiatum, which only flourishes 

 on mountain tops where the winds prevail. The view from 

 the Stoddar is truly magnificent : in front the valley of Idria ; 

 behind the gigantic mountains of the Terglon, capped with 

 perennial snows ; far beneath and around, the thick forests of 



