150 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF AILSA CRAIG. 



Plantago maritima, Linn.— Fl., old sea-cliffs, scarce. 



P. Coronopus, Linn. — Fl., old sea-cliffs and gravel beach. 



Rumex crispus, Linn. — Frequent above the shore. 



R. Acetosa, Linn. — FL, very common. 



R. Acetosella, Linn. — FL, rare. 



Urtica dioica, Linn. — Abundant all over. 



U. urens, Linn. — Scarce; at south end. 



Scilla nutans, Lin. — Fr., fl., abundant, and 3 feet long at places. 



Juncus squarrosus, Linn. — At Garry Loch. 



Luzula campestris, DC. — Fr., rare. 



Anthoxanthum odoratum, Linn. — Fr., scarce. 



Aira prsecox, Linn. — Fr., all over the island. 



Holcus mollis, Linn. — FL, frequent. 



Poa annua, Linn. — FL, scarce. 



Festuca ovina, Linn. — FL, frequent. 



Pteris aquilina, Linn. — Common, all over rock. 



Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum, Linn. — Very rare. 



A. marinum, Linn. — Very rare. 



Polypodium vulgare, Linn. — Scarce, small. 

 Mrs. Fingland (A. VI.) writes :• — -Anyone who visits Ailsa Craig 

 expecting to find there a second, if a smaller, Arran will be 

 quickly disillusioned. The extreme rankness of the vegetation 

 first attracts attention ; a closer look discloses the fact that the 

 species are few and common-place. If Arran is a veritable 

 paradise for plants, Ailsa, especially in the neighbourhood of 

 the landing-place, resembles rather the river-bank near a small 



manufacturing town The usual explanation offered 



for the rankness of the vegetation is the presence of the sea-birds 

 in such immense numbers ; but what can account for the paucity 

 of species ? ... Is the reason in any small degree geological ? 

 . . . . The nearest approach to Ailsa geologically that I can 

 find is the tiny point of granite called Rockall, 250 feet in 

 circumference and rising 70 feet above sea-level, which stands 

 on a sandbank in the North Atlantic 160 geographical miles west 

 of St. Kilda. Is this bank (about 150 miles long and 50 miles 

 broad within the 200-fathom contour-line) the debris of some 

 lofty granite mountain-range of which this lonely rock is the only 

 remaining fragment, a range belonging to some worn-down 

 palaeozoic continent, as Ailsa is believed to belong to old Silurian 

 land? Now if Ailsa belongs to the eruptive area of the south of 

 Scotland does its flora in any degree resemble that of Merrick and 

 Cairnsmore ? And if, as is believed, the granite of Arran has 



