264 Some Rarer Plants of Gorebridge District. [Sess. 



lY.—SOME OF THE RARER PLANTS OF THE 

 GOREBRIDGE DISTRICT. 



Bt the Rev. D. W. WILSON, M.A. 

 {Read Feb. 28, 1906.) 



The district of Qorebridge supplies a variety of conditions 

 providing a diversity of habitat for plant life. The soil varies. 

 There are belts of clay, — stretches of a light and friable 

 mould, — sandy beds, mossy lands, and marshy tracts. There 

 is a river like the South Esk, streams like the Gore, and big 

 sheets of water like Gladhouse and Edgelaw. There are rail- 

 way banks whose sunny slopes favour vegetation, and which 

 by means of artificial causes furnish a deposit for plant-life 

 new and hitherto unknown to the district. There are mea- 

 dows, sheltering woods, deep bosky glens, and mountain-ranges 

 such as the Moorfoots and the outlying spurs of the Lammer- 

 moors. The variety of soil, situation, elevation, and exposure 

 is very great indeed. These conditions perhaps form the 

 explanation why the district of Gorebridge has long deserved 

 a well -merited fame for wealth of plant -life. There the 

 botanist can roam, sure that many things will present them- 

 selves to his observation which are full of interest, and if he 

 be patient and arduous he may even discover more than one 

 floral treasure. This last summer I was led to search our 

 district more thoroughly than I had ever done, and I now 

 proceed to give you the benefit of my labours. I select the 

 rarer plants, and propose to make a few remarks concerning 

 their more interesting and distinctive features. 



Eranthis hyemalis flowers with us in February. The 

 flowering - season of different flowers varies greatly. The 

 necessities of fertilisation determine the length of the season. 

 Some species are ephemeral, open only for a single day, and 

 then fade and fall, such as the Spergula arvensis. Others 

 open in the morning, close in the evening, and open again the 

 following morning, but wither away in the course of the after- 

 noon. Of this, the poppies furnish a characteristic example. 

 But the Eranthis, owing to the season of its blooming, re- 



