1909-10.] Flora of Scottish Lakes. 173 



Ranunculus aquatilis, Polygonum ainphibiuin, Glyceria fluitans, Lemna 

 minor, Callitriche stagnalis, the two last only in pools on the shore ; Carex 

 rostrata, C. aquatilis, C. Goodenovii, C. hirta, on the sandy shores, and 

 growing like C. arenaria on the seashore ; Alisma Plantago, A. ranun- 

 culoides, Phalaris arundinacea, Veronica Beccabunga, Comarum palustre, 

 Mentha sativa, ]\I. aquatica, M. arvensis, Eriophorum polystachion, Myosotis 

 palustris, Montia fontana. Iris Pseud-acorus, Menyanthes trifoliata, 

 Radicula officinalis, Juncus effusus, J. lamprocarpus, J. acutiflorus, and a 

 dwarf j)rostrate form of it with scarcely any rhizome, growing on the ex- 

 posed sandy shores; J. bufonius and its var. fasciculatus, Equisetum 

 palustre, Pedicularis palustris, Mimulus Langsdorffii, Lysimachia nummularia, 

 Galium palustre, Stellaria uliginosa, Cardamine pratensis, Angelica syl- 

 vestris. Ranunculus Flammula and its var. pseudo-reptans, as well as 

 intermediate forms ; R. reptans, R. hederaceus, Caltha palustris. Spiraea 

 Ulmaria, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Spergularia rubra, Gnaphalium uliginosum, 

 Sagina nodosa, Sphagnum acutifolium, Philonotis calcarea, P. fontana, 

 Climacium dendrioides, Bryum bimum, Hypnum falcatum, H. commutatum, 

 H. scorpioides, H. cuspidatum and Hylocomium squarrosum. These mosses 

 are most abundant at the marshy places on the south shore. Hepatics 

 are quite scarce. 



The Isle of May is situated at the entrance to the Firth of Forth, and is 

 about o miles from the coast of Fife. It can be reached most easily b}' en- 

 gaging a sailing-boat from either Anstruther or Crail, according to wind and 

 tide. The only inhabitants of the island are the lighthouse keepers and 

 their families ; and there is no public communication with the island from 

 the mainland excepting in the summer, when an occasional steamer from 

 Leith may, if the sea is calm, land excursionists there for an hour or so. 

 The island is a little over a mile long by about ^ mile wide, and consists of a 

 mass of v^olcanic rock. Almost the whole of the eastern side rises from the 

 sea at a gradual inclination (figs. 118 and 119), but the western side is pre- 

 cipitous, and the black dolerite clifts, which occasionally exhibit magnificent 

 columnar structure, rise perpendicularly from the sea to a height of 150 feet 

 (fig. 122). Thousands of sea-birds of various kinds find a congenial home 

 upon this cliff". The countless little platforms that are formed by the ends of 

 the basalt columns suit them admirably both as resting-places and as sites for 

 nidification. The black cliffs are whitened by the droppings of the birds, and 

 when seen from a distance of 2 or 3 miles, under the soft refulgence of the 

 declining sun of a gentle summer's eve, this side of the island presents a 

 magnificent sjDCctacle. 



I was induced to visit this isolated spot in order to investigate a small 



