1909-10.] Flora of Scottish Lakes. 161 



effluent, and^.a small submersed form of Alisma Plaiitago, growing in 18 

 inches of water, with delicate hnear-lanceolate leaves floating on the surface, 

 and linear submerged ones. 



The chief plants of the marshy zone along the south shore are — Equise- 

 tum limosum, Carex rostrata, C. Goodenovii, Heleocharis palustris, Iris 

 Pseud-acorus, Phalaris arundinacea, Spiraea Ulmaria, Comarum palustre, 

 Caltha palustris, Juncus effusus, etc., all of which grow luxuriantlj' (figs. 96 

 and 97). 



Burntisland Reservoir is a very irregularly shaped sheet of water about 

 I mile long, situated amidst picturesque surroundings 1^ miles north of 

 Aberdour, at an elevation of 290 feet above sea level, and lying between the 

 hills of Dunearn, Balcaui, and Cullalo. It was formed by the construction 

 of a short dam at the south-west end, where the maximum depth of 39 feet 

 occurs. Upon the south side, the loose rock and soil have been protected 

 by stonework, which in most places enters the water. Excepting a few 

 lichens and Bryophytes, no vegetation occurs either along this wall or at 

 the dam, but at other parts of the loch, marginal vegetation is generally 

 abundant. The shores, where bare of plants, are either gravelly or muddj^ 

 and the water, which is not peaty, has a slightly turbid appearance due to 

 the somewhat impure water of one of the affluents, and to the erosion of the 

 muddy shore by the waves. These matters, however, are about to receive 

 attention from the authorities at Burntisland who own the reservoir, and 

 the proposed alterations will, I fear, eradicate a number of interesting plants 

 from this locality. About the affluent at the east end there is a considerable 

 extent of marsh, which, near the water, is covered with Equisetum limosum 

 and Heleocharis palustris. From this place to about the middle of the loch, 

 where there is a large bay, the flat shore, which is usually exposed in the 

 summer by the falling of the water level, is sandy or muddy, and is covered 

 with vegetation. Littorella lacustris grows out of the water and for some 

 distance up the shore. Then there is a broad zone of Heleocharis palustris, 

 with which a few other species of plants are mixed. Above that a narrow 

 strip of Spiraea Ulmaria grows at the winter water level, and behind the 

 Spiraea there is a luxuriant grass meadow (fig. 98). The Spin^a, as is 

 usually the case with the Rosaceae, is a gross feeder, and grows uncommonly 

 well along this line, because the storms of winter deposit a supply of rich 

 detrital matter at that place. Similar conditions to those just described 

 for this piece of shore also prevail along the east side of the bay previously- 

 mentioned. The wide zone of Heleocharis is cut every summer, and dried 

 for use as bedding for cattle, but chiefly in order to prevent the dead stems 

 being washed into the loch during winter, as the decay of so large a quantity 



VOL. XXX. 11 



