128 Notes of a Botanical Excursion to Braemar. 



numerous variations in the size and division of the leaves, as 

 well as in the length of the peduncle, and along with them 

 grew a few specimens of Q. sessili/lora, which were at first 

 sight distinguished by their peculiarly broad leaves reflexed 

 at the margin. 



The number of alpine and subalpine species of phaneroga- 

 mous plants collected during the trip amounted to about 130. 

 The excursion occupied three weeks, during which the richest 

 alpine districts in Britain were examined. The discovery of 

 Carex leporina on Cairn Toul ; of Hieracium alpinum /3 longi- 

 folium and of Sonclms alpinus on Lochnagar; of Woodsia 

 hyperborea in several localities ; the finding of Luzula arcuata 

 on every mountain in the Braemar district ; and of Carex va- 

 ginata on all the hills visited, are facts which are interesting 

 to British botanists. 



In taking a general review of the nature of the country 

 visited, it may be remarked, that the rocks which produced 

 the greatest variety of rare species were the crumbling gneiss 

 and mica-slate rocks of Clova, Glenisla, and Benlawers. 

 The granitic rocks of the Braemar district often presented 

 large tracts of dry unproductive stony soil, and displayed 

 fertility only where moisture and the atmosphere had been 

 able to pulverise the rocks. 



It is curious to notice the occurrence of species such as 

 Oxytropis campestris and Lychnis alpina on single rocks in 

 Britain. The latter we have already stated to be serpentine, 

 and in the case of the former, the rock appears in some re- 

 spects to differ from those in its immediate vicinity. Luzula 

 arcuata seems to prefer the granite in the district visited, and 

 the same thing has been remarked in Sutherlandshire, where 

 it is found in the granite of Foinivan. Carex Vahlii grows 

 on gneiss, C. leporina on granite, while Astragalus alpinus is 

 common to both ; Alsine rubella and Myosotis suaveolens oc- 

 cur on mica-slate. The ordinary alpine species appear to 

 grow indifferently on granite, gneiss, or mica-slate. 



