■1913-U.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 249 



and only a small proportion of the land is under cultiva- 

 tion ; and although a portion of the Toward ground is 

 feued, and is therefore left out of consideration for the 

 present purpose, this amounts only to about 30 acres. The 

 native vegetation has thus, on the whole, been little inter- 

 fered with ; and in order to consider it from the ecological 

 point of view, it may advantageously be divided into the 

 following main groups or types of vegetation — a method 

 of classification into which it very naturally falls : — 



1. Seashore. 



2. Moor and hill-pasture. 



3. Meadows and arable land. 



4. Woods and plantations. 



5. Fresh water. 



6. Marine. 



1. jS - 



Beginning our observations near the mouth of Loch 

 Striven, and walking up the loch to the northern boundary 

 of the estate, we notice that the shore consists of stretches 

 of shingle interrupted here and there by rocks projecting 

 into the sea. and by flat stretches of salt-marsh. The 

 character of the shore therefore causes the occurrence of 

 three distinct associations of plants, overlapping in the case 

 of some individual species, but in the aggregate quite 

 distinct from one another. These associations fall naturally 

 under the headings of (1) Shingle. (2) Rocks. (3) Salt- 

 marshes. 



1. SHINGLE. — Along the upper edge of the shingle, just 

 above high-water mark, an almost unbroken fringe of 

 characteristic plants continues from one end of our area of 

 observation to the other. This association is composed 

 of Matricari "•,»</. Linn. 1 : Atriplex patvla, Linn.: 



Rumex crispus, Linn. ; Galium Apa/rine, Linn.; Potent Ma 

 - vna, Linn.: Stellaria media, VilL ; Tussilago Farfara, 

 Linn.; Sonchus arvensis, Linn. As one advances further 

 up the loch, the exposure to wind becomes less, and the 

 water of the loch presumably less salt than in the more 

 open parts of the sea. A corresponding change in the 

 vegetation occurs: SiJ<:ne maritima, With., and Arrl 



1 The species are enumerated in approximate order of frequency. 



