Max. 1905,] | BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 87 
They are dripping-wet rocks, rising in shelves or narrow 
ledges, on which the rare Alpine plants grow. Gentiana 
nivalis is the most noteworthy. It is scarce, but Dryas 
octopetala and Erigeron alpinum are plentiful, likewise 
Saxifraga oppositifolia, Veronie, alpina, Potentilla rubens, 
Sedum roseum, Cerastium alpinum, with the Alpine form of 
trivialis and Luzula spicata, together with several rare species 
of Hieracium and Salix in abundance. Of carices, atrata, 
vaginata, capillaris, rigida, and pulla are the most frequent. 
Between this clay or slaty-black schist and an adjoining 
mass of chlorite schist there is a narrow dyke of red granitic 
friable rock, which is much weathered, and forms a large 
scree, through which a small stream percolates. In this 
gravelly bed Vhlaspi alpestre and Veronica fruticans, as well 
as the Lpilobia, alsinefolium, and anagallidifolium, flourish. 
Suxifraga nivalis is found on the chlorite schist on the other 
side of the gully. In this glen, at an elevation of 3000 feet, 
in moist, sheltered places, some of our lowland plants find 
a congenial home. Lychnis dioica, Geranium sylvaticum, 
Angelica sylvestris, and Geum rivale are the most conspicuous. 
The campion has very bright pink petals, and the geranium 
very dark purple, both much more vivid than in the same 
low-country plants. The plants themselves are strong, even 
rank. Alpine plants, in general, have brightly coloured and 
relatively large flowers. Their period of blooming is short, 
consequently the vegetative part is small, so that the energy 
of the plant is put into the flower. They are adapted to 
their environment, for dwarf plants are less liable to injury 
from storms of wind. They are more easily protected by a 
covering of snow, and they can better utilise the heat of the 
earth. Alpine plants are mostly perennials, so that the 
ripening of seed is not of so much importance. One notable 
exception is Gentiana nivalis, which is an annual. This may 
account for its scarcity in some seasons. Few plants may 
have had time to ripen their seed the autumn before. I have 
seen it several times in Ben Lawers. In some seasons one 
could count them by dozens; in others it took some searching 
to find one or two plants, and they were poor things, with a 
single bloom, and only one inch high. A few species of plants 
perpetuate themselves by means of bulbils or by becoming 
viviparous. Of the former the best example is Sazifraga 
