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Transactions. 9 



April were tliey again seen. The primroses first appeared on 

 April 13 ; and four days later the first blossoming of t!ie wood 

 anemone, the butterbur, the barren strawberry, and the golden 

 saxifrage were recorded. 



The first record of a plant new to the county was made by Mr 

 J. Black. When we were tramping Sanquhar Moor one May 

 evening he plucked wliat seemed to be a very stout form of the 

 common cotton grass, Eriophorum angusti folium. Tliis on 

 examination we considered to be the variety elatui^ Koch, and on 

 referring to Mr Arthur Bennett it was confirmed. I subsequently 

 found it in a few other places, but nowhere so abundant or typical 

 as on Glenmaddie Craig, at an altitude of 1350 feet. Here also 

 I may state I found Drnha verna and Cochlearia officinalis, the 

 former being at a liigher altitude here than lias, as far as I am 

 aware, yet been recorded. Tlie next in order of time was Carex 

 Hornschuchinua, Hoppe, a var. oifulva, which is fairly abundant 

 on the moist clayey soils of the higher hills. When this Society 

 \-isited Lochmaben, two varieties of the creeping willow were 

 gathered. The one was the common var. S. argentea ; the otlier 

 var., S. ascendens, is new to the district. A fescue I have 

 previously recorded as Fastitca sciuroides, Roth, I iiave now deter- 

 mined to be Festuca Myurus, Lin. It is not uncommon. The 

 common com mint, Mentha arvensis, so well known about Dum- 

 fries, has not been observed in Upper Nithsdale, but is sparingly 

 represented by Mentha arvensis, var. nummularia. This season 

 I have made special investigation of our Hieracia, or Hawk weeds, 

 and I have no doubt, on fuller investigation, Dumfriesshire will 

 compare favourably witli most other counties. In our local list 

 we have only seven species recorded, viz. : — Hieraciiim Pilosella, 

 U. pallidum, II. nntrortnn, II. Iricunt, H. s)/lvatic2im, II. umhel- 

 Intum, and H. bareaJe. Of these //. pallidum has not been found 

 in recent years. Of the remaining six, Pilosella and horeah' are 

 no doubt common. //. muroruvi and H. sylraticum, as far as I 

 have observed, are errors. H. Iricum and unibellatum are no 

 doubt correct, though the latter must surely be found in other 

 places than Tynron and Sanquhar. In Sanquhar district, of 

 which I can only speak, tlie following are found : — //. Pilosella 

 is common ; H. vuhjattuii and //. tridentatum, likewise common, 

 have in the local list been named murortim and sylvaticum. II. 

 vulgatum, var. maculatum, is not uncommon in the woods near 

 Sanquhar ; and H. umbellatum grows on the Nith near Knocken- 



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