218 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OP GLASGOW. 



The next plant on his list to which I shall refer 

 is one that suggests the thick coatings of thatch, 

 which then gave kindly roofs to the villages and farms 

 about Glasgow. Sempervivum tectorum is nowadays 

 a very rare i^lant with us, but in 1813 it was found 

 " on housetops frequent." I need hardly say that the 

 cause in this case is that thatch-roofs have nearly 

 become things of the jDast. 



With the exception of Riibiis and Rosa, nearly all 

 the Rosacece of Clydesdale are to be found in his list. 

 Among others, he records the introduced Spircea 

 salicifolia as occurring "at Cartland Crags, seemingly 

 indigenous"; and the hybrid Geum inter^nediuTn, 

 of which he says : " except the colour of the petals, 

 and the smaller size of the plant, there seems no 

 specific difference between this and the rivale" He 

 has a simple and easy method of dealing with Rosa 

 and Ruhus, which was indeed the good old way in 

 the botany of these days. Of Rosa he recognises 

 only three species — arvensis, ruhiginosa, and canina. 

 Similarly, Ruhus only includes idceus (the raspberry), 

 corylifolius, fruticosus, saxatilis, and Charncemorus. 

 The simplicity of this makes one regret the enforced 

 complexity of more recent times. 



Glaucium luteum Tvas then plentiful on the shore 

 at Helensburgh, where it does not now make its 

 appearance at all. It is, however, a very erratic 

 plant, appearing and disappearing in a somewhat 

 unaccountable manner, without much regard to the 

 stations botanists may have assigned to it. 



As to the Poppies, his entries are at first sight 

 somewhat inexplicable. Pajoaver dubiuin, the Long 

 smooth-headed Poj)j)y, he gives as "in sandy fields 

 occasionally." That is not now an uncommon plant 

 with us. Papaver Rhoeas, the Corn Rose, is stated 

 " to occur amongst corn frequent." Patrick, too, 

 states that it is frequent in cornfields. Here, as in 

 the instances mentioned before, we appear to have 

 a weed that has forsaken us. I cannot account for 

 the Corn Rose having become so rare, except by 



