1886-87.] the Scottish Alpine Botanical Club. G9 



more luxuriant than I had ever observed it before. I am 

 not aware of any record of S. rlvularis having been found on 

 either of these hills previously. The late Professor Balfour 

 in 18G7 visited Corry Arder, the great corry on Creag 

 Meaghaidli, but did not find this rare Saxifrage. An account 

 of his excursion is given in vol. ix. of the Transactions of this 

 Society. 



11. Saxifraga ccespitosa. — This rare species was found 

 sparingly on one of the mountains in Glen Spean, but in much 

 greater quantity than it had ever been found in Scotland on 

 any previous occasion. This undoubtedly was the " find" of our 

 excursion, and forms an important contribution to the botany 

 of Scotland. The plant was first picked by our Vice-Presi- 

 dent, Mr Boyd, and afterwards by the other members pre- 

 sent. This is one of the very rarest of our alpine plants, 

 and it has seldom been gathered in Scotland. Mr Baker 

 writes me to say that there is in the Bower Herbarium at 

 Kew a "specimen mentioned as collected on Ben Nevis by 

 Mr Joseph Woods." I suppose this is the authority for Ben 

 Nevis being mentioned as a station for this rare Saxifrage. 

 " There is no date to it," adds Mr Baker. I can find no 

 record of this discovery by Mr Woods in any of the 

 authorities I have consulted. 



There appears to be considerable confusion in our floras 

 about this plant. Hooker regards it as a sub-species of 

 S. hypnoicUs. Babington mentions it, and makes several 

 varieties of it, and records as stations Caernarvonshire, Aber- 

 deenshire, and Kerry; I suspect, however, that they con- 

 found several varieties of hyynoides with the true ccespitosa. 

 Bentham, on the other hand, who cannot be accused of any 

 tendency to subdivide species, not only makes it a distinct 

 species, but gives a very excellent drawing of the true plant. 

 He says it is " a high northern and Arctic plant. In Britain, 

 only on some of the higher Scotch mountains, such as Ben 

 Avers and Ben Nevis"; and adds, "High alpine forms of 

 hypnoides liave frequently been mistaken for this plant." 

 He says it is very near to the hypnoides, " but never emit- 

 ting the weak procumbent barren shoots of that species; the 

 leaves broader, more obtuse, and more frequently lobed, and 

 the calyx divisions also obtuse. The short leafy stems are 

 crowded into dense tufts; the flowering stems, from 2 to 3 



