Flora of Berwickshire. 23 



in pairs, exhaling the most delicious almond// smell. 

 Wherever the Linncca grows, Goodyera 7'epens, creeping 

 Goodjera, a very curious orchid, is not far ofif. In the 

 grand old pine woods of Glenmore, near Cairngorm, some 

 members of the Scottish Alpine Botanical Club found the 

 Linncca growing among the heather, and on examining the 

 ground I gathered stately specimens of the Goodyera close 

 to it. The same is to be seen at Mellerstane. Where 

 this Linna^a grows in the Highlands, it is generally among 

 the heather, which hides its beauty ; not so in the south. 

 Chaillu, in his interesting book The Land of the Midnight 

 Sun. describes the pleasure he felt, when travelling in Lap- 

 land, when he came upon the ground covered with the 

 Linncea and the air perfumed with its sweetness, for 

 whether we examine the beautiful pink-spotted little bells 

 or smell their perfume, they are equally to be desired. 

 Listera cordata grows in great profusion at the east end of 

 the Mellerstane Wood, and Blechnum horeale grows to a 

 size I have never seen elsewhere, and is most ornamental. 

 Goodyera is most plentiful at the east end of the Linnsea 

 wood, seeming to grow on the rotten bark and debris of 

 the pines. In Gordon bogs thei'e is a great feast for the 

 botanist. Ly thrum Salicaria, purple loose strife, with 

 large spikes of flower, is growing at the side of the moss 

 holes ; while Stellaria glauca, with its fine large flowers, 

 trails over the sedges and rushes. Nuuicrous Carices and 

 grasses, with creeping willows, are everywhere ; and on the 

 <lry banks by the side of the railway Vicia angustifolia 

 (Roth.), (flowers in pairs), was discovered by Captain Norman, 

 R.N., and myself a few years ago. The moss holes are full of 

 good aquatics, and to do them justice would require to be 

 carefully dredged. Utricularias, Potamogetons^ and Sparga- 

 niums are to be obtained. But a complete list of the 

 Gordon plants may be seen in the Proceedings of the Ber- 

 wickshire Naturalists' Chcb for 1880, page 293. 



The Merse, or lower part of Berwickshire, may be roughly 

 stated as situated between the Lammermoors and the River 

 Tweed. The county is of a beautifully undulated character, 

 the elevations running as a rule east and west, which is 

 well observed by the character of the roads — those running 

 north and south being very hilly, wliile the east and wesv 



