26 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HEPATICA IN SCOTLAND 
The insular conditions, mainly the moist equable climate 
and large rainfall, reach their maximum on the western 
border of the Highlands and in the Islands, and are in fact 
in large measure confined to that district. There we see 
a flora mostly resembling that of the west coast of Norway, 
but nowhere else on the Continent, except in a small 
degree in parts of the west coast of France, and probably 
also of Portugal; and in the latter countries the resemblance 
is caused rather by the presence of a few particular species 
than by the general flora. Throughout the greater part of 
Scotland the insular conditions have only a slight effect on 
the flora, and are seen in the presence of a few Western 
species, and of a few Southern species which require the 
absence of such low temperatures as are seen in the more 
central parts of Europe. The peculiarity of our western 
Highland flora is the presence of a group of plants belong- 
ing to genera, or even individual species, of tropical or 
subtropical type, in close proximity to subalpine or even 
occasionally to alpine species. This is seen in a much 
smaller degree on the west coast of Norway, and occurs 
nowhere else on the Continent. To our northern latitude, 
with its insufficiently heated soil, is due the absence of a 
few Central European species, also of several South European 
species, the latter almost wholly belonging to the thalloid 
group, especially to the Ricciucee. 
The alpine flora is similar to that of the mountainous 
regions throughout Europe, but wanting in some of the 
higher arctic-alpine species. The resemblance is closer to 
that of the mountains of Scandinavia than to that of the 
southern half of Europe, but the difference is not great. 
The almost entire absence of limestone on our highest. hills 
probably also accounts for the absence of a few arctic-alpine 
species which are found on the Continent. 
The different views taken by botanists of the status of 
various plants are apt to cause some divergence when 
comparing the number of the species in countries. We 
may give 261 as the number of species known from the 
whole Britannic flora, and we find that 225 have been 
found in Scotland, 211 in England with Wales, and 178 in 
Ireland. The main difference between the Scottish flora 
