OBSEKVATIONS. 



3oa 



the summits of the Grampians is 

 Trichoslomum hmuginosum. I met 

 with it in fine fruit in several of the 

 mountain corries both on lien Venue 

 and lien Lomond. The Crowberry 

 [Empctruiii uii/ruin), the bei'ries of 

 which are sought after by the Ptarmi- 

 gan and IMack Grouse, was here grow- 

 ing in plenty. It is not uncommon 

 on the moors around Huddei'sfield. 

 The Cloudberry {Rubus Chamamorm) 

 was abundant in alluvial soils on the 

 mountain sides, though the berries 

 were still green. I'he beautiful 

 yellow Saxifi'age [Saxifraga aizoides) 

 was clustering round every spring 

 in company with the Starry Saxi- 

 frage, (S. stellaris) the latter often 

 growing among tufts of moss. The 

 petals in these species are respec- 

 tively marked with red and yellow 

 spots. Another of the Saxifrages, 

 (S. opposUifollaJ with its rich purple 

 flowers, was nearly Over, though I 

 gathered several late blooms from 

 sheltered places. Four of the six 

 British Lycopods put in an appear- 

 ance on the summit of Ben Venue : 

 the least (L. Selaginoldes) I found 

 growing among Hypnwi and fruit- 

 ing plentifully. This species is, 

 I believe, hardly known in the 

 south of our island. The Mountain 

 Sorrel {Oxyria reniformis) grew plen- 

 tifully on the side facing Loch 

 Katrine. I am surprised that this 

 succulent-leaved sorrel is not more 

 frequently seen in our kitchen gar- 



dens, as it readily adapts itself to 

 lowland cultivation. The Rose- 

 I'oot {fiadiola rosea) was growing out 

 of the clefts of the rock. The otto, 

 for which this plant is known, ex- 

 ists in kernels imbedded in the 

 pulpy stem, and the perfume when 

 these are bruised, is very powerful. 

 My attention was first drawn to this 

 circumstance by Mr. Guthrie, the 

 gardener at Fixby Park. On de- 

 scending I came upon vast tracts 

 of spongy ground covered with the 

 Sweet Gale (Mijrica G(de). This 

 plant, I learned from an intelligent 

 sheep farmer in the neighbourhood, 

 is very injurious to the young lambs 

 in the spring of the year, inasmuch 

 as astringency is communicated by 

 it to the milk of the ewes, that are 

 apt to feed upon the budding leaves; 

 and mortality not unfrequently pre- 

 vails in consequence at this season 

 of the year. I noticed a singular 

 little Carex, growing with the Gale, 

 known by the name of Carex pidi- 

 caris ; the fruit thereof is brown and 

 refiexed when ripe, and has some 

 resemblance lo a flea, as the name 

 imports.— Peter Inciibald, Storthes 

 Hall, Jan. lOth, 1805. 



Boletus cyancscens.'^' — The occur- 

 rence of this species during the past 

 autumn appears to me a fact of too 

 much importance to pass unrecorded. 



* The substance of a paper read before 

 the Society of Amateur Botanists, (Lon- 

 don), October, 1864. 



