124 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [8ess. 



flora consists of plants common to the district, and need not be especially 

 enumerated, nothing of particular interest being noticed. 



Loch Brack is a mile N.E. of Barscobe Loch, and is similar to it in 

 general features, but smaller. Between the grass moor and the water a 

 narrow zone of stony shore overgrown with Juncus acutiflorus intervenes 

 more or less all around the loch ; at the base of these plants quantities 

 of Scapania sub-alpina find a congenial habitat. There are also a number 

 of commoner Brj^ophytes upon the shores, and an average number of 

 common Phanerogams occur, but nothing of special merit was observed. 



Loch Howie is 2 miles N.E. of Barscobe Loch, and is larger than 

 it, being f mile long by ^ mile wide, and lying S.W. and N.E. The 

 surface is 757 feet above sea level, and the maximum depth is 39 feet. 

 In general features it; again, resembles Barscobe Loch. At the S.W. end 

 there are a few plants of Phragmites communis ; these also occur, but much 

 more abundantly, at the N.E. end, but they are all small specimens, none 

 standing more than 3 feet above the water. There is also a small 

 association of Scirpus lacustris at the N.E. end. Carex filiformis is very 

 abundant at this loch, occupying situations that are usually taken up by 

 Carex rostrata. Besides a number of common plants, no other features of 

 interest were noted here. 



Loch Skae is a small oval loch about I mile long, situated |- mile 

 E. of Loch Howie, at an elevation of 864 feet above sea level. The 

 maximum depth is 35 feet. The general flora is similar to that of the 

 three lochs just mentioned, but the physical features are difl'erent. The 

 surrounding moors have more heather and peat ; the scenery, particularly 

 on the east, is rocky and wild, the hill rising steeplj^ above the loch ; the 

 water is a little more peaty, and the east shore is rocky or stony. Isoetes 

 lacustris, Utricularia intermedia, and Potamogeton polygonifolius appear to 

 be more abundant here than at the other three lochs. The rocks on the 

 east shore are overgrown Avith mosses, chiefly Hypnum cupressiforme and 

 Rhacomitrium aciculare. There are associations of Phragmites communis, 

 Carex rostrata, and C. filiformis. 



The chief plants more or less common to the four last-mentioned lochs 

 are — Littorella lacustris, Lobelia Dortmanna, Isoetes lacustris, Nitella opaca, 

 Juncus fluitans, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Utricularia intermedia, 

 Potamogeton lucens, P. natans, P. polygonifolius, Castalia speciosa, Glyceria 

 fluitans, Scirpus lacustris, Equisetum limosum, Phragmites communis, 

 Heleocharis palustris, Menyanthes trifoliata, Carex filiformis, C. rostrata, C. 

 Goodenovii, Juncus lamprocarpus, J. acutiflorus, J. effusus, Hydrocotyle 

 vulgaris, Ranunculus Flammula, Carum verticillatum, Mentha sativa, 



