1 905-1906.] Fontiation and Flora of a SJmigle Island. 299 



ally part of the marshy grass moor common in this neighbour- 

 hood. The southern slope of Ben Donachain, immediately to 

 their north, is chiefly mountain pasture.^ When we first saw 

 the fields, in the summer of 1905, they were long narrow 

 strips, running down almost to the edge of the river-bank. 

 There were three hayfields close by the island ; and a little 

 farther off (and farther inland) a strip of oats and a potato- 

 patch. The hayfields contained quantities of the following 

 grasses : — Anthoxanthum odoratum, Agrostis vulgaris, Holcus 

 lanatus, Sieglingia decumbens, Lolium perenne ; a good deal of 

 Arrhenatherum avenaceum, and a few scattered plants of 

 Deschampsia csespitosa and Agropyron repens ; also a good deal 

 of Festuca ovina, and a few plants of a viviparous form of 

 this species. The commonest wild flowers in these fields were 

 Viola tricolor, Lychnis Flos-cuculi, Trifolium repens, T. 

 pratense, T. dubium, Anthyllis Vulneraria, Lotus corniculatus, 

 Potentilla silvestris, Scabiosa Succisa, Chrysanthemum Leu- 

 canthemum, Crepis virens, Hypochoeris radicata. Campanula 

 rotundifolia, Ehinanthus Crista-galli, Plantago lauceolata, and 

 Eumex Acetosella ; and there were a fair number of Orchis 

 mascula, Habenaria conopsea, H. bifolia, and Equisetum syl- 

 vaticum. The oats and potato patches being farther off, we 

 did not examine them so thoroughly ; there was a good deal of 

 Spergula arvensis and Polygonum Persicaria in one or other of 

 them, and the oats were full of Chrysanthemum segetum. 



The riparian strip. — The riparian strip, although rather 

 narrow, is varied in its nature. Opposite the island it is a 

 steep sandy and stony bank ^ with a few small bushes ; while 

 higher up stream it consists of a grassy and well - wooded 

 border some yards wide, dividing the fields from the river. 

 This upper part contains a variety of trees : — 



Upper part. — -Acer Fseudo-platanus, Prunus Padus, Pyrus 

 Aucuparia, Fraxinus excelsior, Alnus glutinosa, and Salix 

 aurita (?). In the shady grass below them, Mercurialis perennis 

 and Athyrium Filix-foemina are growing well, together with 

 a few plants of Anemone nemorosa, Hieracium crocatum, 



^ See map in ' Scottish Geographical Magazine,' vol. xxii. No. 6. 



^ This bank is formed of sand overlying a layer of shingle. Opposite the 

 eastern end of the island, this layer of shingle rises to within a foot of the 

 surface ; but it dips down westwards, and opposite the western end of the island 

 there is visible only the six-foot river-bank of sandy earth. 



