30 Mr A. D. Webster's Notes on [sess. li. 



Lloydia scrotina (Eeichb.), or, as it is commonly called, the 

 Mountain Lloydia, is a small and fragile plant, that to the 

 British botanist is of particular interest, not only from its 

 extreme rarity, but as being one of the few lingering repre- 

 sentatives of the lily family in this country. To those who 

 have not seen living specimens of the plant, allow me, by 

 throwing aside botanical parlance, to say that it may readily 

 be recalled to mind by inserting a flower of Wallace's saxi- 

 frage {Saxifraga Wallacci) amongst the foliage of a month- 

 old garden onion. Earely have I seen the Lloydia of a 

 greater height than -about 4 inches, with two or three 

 rounded leaves and a small white flower, the interior base of 

 the perianth segments of which are marked with yellow. 



The flower stem is usually shorter than the leaves, thread- 

 like, delicate in a^^pearance, and surmounted by a single 

 flower. The bulb is small, club-shaped, and covered with 

 greyish membranous scales. This pretty plant has several 

 stations, three at least, in Carnarvonshire, and in one or two 

 of these it is yet fairly abundant, although much less so than 

 in years gone by, for the enthusiasm of collectors has caused 

 this plant-relic of the glacier period in Wales to be hunted 

 to the almost inaccessible crags and ravines of the wild 

 Snowdon range of hills on which it occurs. Botanists need 

 not mourn, however, over the chances of this rare plant 

 being for many a year yet to come, if ever, expunged from 

 our flora, for its inaccessible position ensures its safety. 

 Extermination by the rude hands of plant collectors has 

 caused it to disappear from various localities, hampers full 

 having been collected, often at the peril of the individual's 

 life. This is the more to be regretted, as it is well known 

 tliat even under the most careful management it languishes 

 and ultimately dies out. The favourite haunts of the Lloydia 

 are the damp, not dripping, chinks and crevices of the almost 

 perpendicular rocks, where thoroughly decayed vegetable 

 matter is largely commingled with fine rocky dcibris. On one 

 occasion I noticed several rather dwarf specimens growing on 

 the almost roundf^d top of a huge lichen-covered boulder 

 amongst the small qumitity of soil that had from time to 

 time accumulated on its ridged and rugged surface. It seems 

 oil the wliole to prefer a northern aspect. Although when 

 brought under cultivation Lloydia survives for a few years. 



