1886-87.] opening Address. 1 1 



note of the climate, soil, and the elevation at which the plant 

 grows. 



There is another department of British Field Botany that is 

 attracting much attention, and that is, its Scandinavian flora. I 

 think it is to Mr Arthur Bennett of Croydon, Surrey, we are 

 most indebted for drawing attention to this interesting feature, 

 which is most likely to be studied with success at those parts 

 of the British coast nearest to Scandinavia. We may therefore 

 expect new discoveries to be made on the east and north-east 

 of Scotland, and I trust some of our members may be fortunate 

 enough to help on this work by obtaining new records for our 

 metropolitan district. You are doubtless all aware that the 

 flora of our country is not endemic, or peculiar to our insular 

 position, but has been nearly all derived from the European 

 continent. In a paper read before you in 1884, I had occasion 

 to refer to the introduction of the Continental flora to these 

 islands, but at that time I Avas not fully appreciative of the 

 number of Scandinavian plants we have representatives of 

 in Scotland. While it is principally in the north-eastern 

 counties and the Orkney and Shetland islands that we may 

 expect the best results, we may perhaps find plants that will 

 surprise us much further south. This knowledge should inspire 

 each botanist who has time and health with a new energy. 

 Month after month new discoveries are being made that quite 

 surprise us, as it is no new ground that is being gone over, but 

 the old beaten tracks. Now it is Caithness, then Sutherland, 

 and so on, until it seems doubtful what other well-known field 

 is next to add new plants to our Scottish flora. I might con- 

 tinue this subject much further, but I feel I have said enough 

 to let each of you see there is work for you to do, and that old 

 Scotland is still a mine of botanical wealth. How this work 

 can best be done, is well worth the consideration of every 

 botanist. I wish we had a good herbarium in connection with 

 our Society, so that members could always have a series of 

 good type-specimens within their reach, and critical specimens 

 could thus be determined with some certainty. It might be 

 well to begin a collection as soon as possible ; and if the gentle- 

 men do the hardest part of the outdoor work, perhaps the ladies 

 might assist by drying and mounting the plants on paper. 

 In conclusion, let me ask you to be enthusiastic. Equip 



