Mar. 1911.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 167 
stagnina), the Marsh Fern (Lastrea Thelypteris), and the 
Milk Parsley (Pewcedanum palustre) on which the fine 
Swallow-tail butterfly feeds. Even Wicken Fen shows a 
tendency to dry up, though there has been very little 
perceptible change during the last thirty years, as the 
pumping-engines keep the water at about the same level; 
we cannot, anyhow, shut our eyes to the fact that plants 
of the dry land, such as Convolvulus seprwm and Solanwm 
Dulcamara, have entered the Fen from the enclosing banks 
and are doubtless signs of what may happen in the time 
to come. In the more open spaces Ophioglosswim is not 
uncommon, and Hpipactis palustris still occurs rarely, 
though Menyanthes and Myrica are almost wanting; on 
the other hand, Valeriana dioica, Carduus pratensis, 
Lysimachia vulgaris, Lychnis Flos-cuculi, Orchis imear- 
nata and Hydrocotyle vulgaris are plentiful enough, as are 
many other species of the more ordinary marsh plants. 
In Scotland the vegetation of a corresponding area 
cannot be so simply defined. Lowland bogs, often enclosing 
a piece of water, are in striking contrast with the “mosses ” 
and “flows” of the moorlands, while swampy land on the 
sides of streams occurs at all kinds of elevations. Thus 
there is not the same uniformity of plant-life as in the 
Fens, which lie at or even below the level of the North 
Sea. A Cranberry “moss,” for instance, bears little re- 
semblance to an alpine swamp or a marshy loch-side, and 
all these differ widely in their characteristic flora. Yet m 
the limited space at our disposal we may hope to point out 
some important differences between the Fens and Scotland 
in general. 
Cladiwm is a rare west-coast plant in Scotland, where 
its place is practically taken by Carex acutiformis (= palu- 
dosa) at the water-sides. The latter is not uncommon in 
Cambridgeshire, but OC. riparia is much more abundant, 
especially near the Fen. In the whole Level C. inflata 
(=ampullacea) is a rare plant, while it is plentiful in the 
North, and becomes even more so as we ascend the hills. 
North and South furnish plenty of Carex flacca (=glauca), 
C. panicea, C. fulva, C. flava, and other common sedges, 
but the forms of C. Goodenovii (=vulgaris) are as scarce 
in our alkaline soil as they are common in the more acid 
