38 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HEPATICZ IN SCOTLAND 
Gymnomitrium and Marsupella, with Nardia Breidleri, 
Plewroclada albescens, Anthelia Jwratzkana, ete. 
West HIGHLANDS 
There is comparatively little cultivated ground in the 
West Highlands, this being limited to a narrow fringe 
along the shores, and running along the bottom of the 
glens. The hills descend usually steeply to the shores, so 
that there is little drift, and the rock is close to the surface. 
The cultivated area hardly extends above 500 ft. alt., most 
being below 300 ft. alt., the parts above this being generally 
cultivation of former days. Most of the glens are narrow 
with steep sides, but in a few of the larger glens, as the 
Spean and Orchy, the sides are less steep for a considerable 
distance, there being a considerable amount of drift forming 
soil suitable for cultivation. The upper limit at which 
oats ripen in such glens is about 600 ft., the highest in 
Glen Spean being at Inverlair Farm about 600 ft., and at 
Achallader Farm, Glen Orchy, at about the same altitude. 
Mixed deciduous woods of oak, rowan, willow, and birch 
extend up to 600-700 ft. in ravines, the larger part being 
birch. This last tree forms patches of woods by itself in 
corries up to 1300-1400 ft. where sufficiently sheltered, but 
it is usually under 1000 ft. 
As in other parts, there are few Hepaticw in the 
cultivated districts, but the West Highlands differs from 
the East Highlands and from the South Lowlands in having 
its mountainous regions extending to the coast, the result 
being that within the same altitude as the cultivated region 
there is steep rocky, hilly ground with its hepatie flora 
composed in large part of subalpine species. In the East 
Highlands the subalpine species more seldom descend into 
the cultivated region, except in the inland glens which lie 
at the foot of mountains, and in peat-mosses and isolated 
hills. Also on the steep rocky hills, especially when 
isolated, several alpine species descend into the subalpine 
region. In a few instances alpine species descend into the 
subalpine region in the East Highlands, but in the West 
Highlands it is the rule on the steeper hills. 
The low-ground hepatic flora of the West Highlands, 
