1g00-1901.] Flora of the Shores of the Firth of Forth, 203 
beyond. With that end in view I have made various ex- 
cursions between North Berwick and Bo’ness on the south 
side of the estuary, and between Elie and North Queens- 
ferry on the north side. It may be as well to state at the 
outset that I have no new or rare species to note. Yet it 
seems to me that the absence or abundance of common forms 
in a locality is interesting, in so far as that has relation to 
the distribution of species, with their altitude and area. 
The flora of the Forth, in my opinion, belongs to a very 
ancient period in the physical structure of our country. 
There is probably little or no difference as regards the plants 
now found on both shores and those present before the 
estuary ploughed its way up the land. Similarly, to take 
as an example that narrow strip of sea, the Strait of 
Gibraltar, which separates the continents of Europe and 
Africa, European forms are found on the opposite or 
African shore. 
In order to be more precise, I shall now refer to the 
locality and duration of a few typical species. Black 
mustard (Sinapis nigra, L.) flowers and fruits abundantly 
on Inchkeith, and also on the Leith shore. Last summer I 
saw a specimen growing on waste ground near Leith gas- 
works, a short distance from the spot where I had gathered 
it eighteen years previously. Another Inchkeith plant that 
is abundant on the south side of the island is the Scottish 
lovage (Ligusticum scoticwum, L.) Additional habitats are 
Inchcolm and the opposite rocky shore near Aberdour, 
where it has been apparently long established. Stray 
specimens may also be found on the south shore between 
Longniddry and Cockenzie. A specimen that I brought 
from Inchkeith in 1883 and planted in my garden has 
produced seed every season since then. The spread of the 
species is slow, the progeny growing near the parent. Last 
year a seedling came up twenty yards distant from the parent 
—the plant I now exhibit. The henbane (Hyoscyamus niger, 
L.) is abundant on one or two spots on Inchkeith, and I have 
also gathered specimens on Leith sands and at Granton. The 
sea tree-mallow (Lavatera arborea, L.) was at one time plenti- 
ful on the Bass Rock. The celebrated botanist John Ray 
(1628-1688), during his travels through Great Britain, 
