262 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxviii. 



iwwm Leucanthemum, Linn., and Conopodium denudatum, 

 Koch, together with a larger proportion of grasses, take 

 the place of some of the coarser plants of the lochside. 



The same associations are characteristic of the low-lying 

 fields and waste places at Toward Point, the chief difference 

 being in the addition of such plants as Daucus Carota, 

 Linn. ; Geranium pratense, Linn. ; Ononis spinosa, Linn., 

 already mentioned as bordering on the shore vegetation. 



Adaptations. — Concerning the adaptations to environ- 

 ment among the plants of the meadows and pastures, there 

 is less that calls for remark than among the maritime and 

 mountain species. The localities reviewed are typical of 

 those in which extremes are absent, both as regards ex- 

 posure and available moisture, and they are generally 

 favourably situated as regards quality of soil. Among the 

 plants named, therefore, a large proportion are representa- 

 tive of the group of Mesophytes or ecologically unspecialised 

 forms, showing no marked reduction or development of 

 stem and leaf, and without any special adaptations to fit 

 them for the conditions of their situation. The majority 

 of them are herbaceous perennials, persisting by under- 

 ground parts during the winter, more or less broad-leaved 

 during the period of vegetative growth. Annuals, such as 

 Spergula, Polygonum Persicaria, Stellaria, Gnaplialium, 

 and Galeopsis predominate in cultivated ground, but are 

 poorly represented in the closed vegetation of the meadows 

 and pastures, the two hemi-parasites, Rhinanthus and Eu- 

 phrasia, together with Cerastium triviale, Link, being the 

 only common annual species which, along with the biennials, 

 Gnicus palustris, Hoffm., and Cn. lanceolatus, Hoffm., main- 

 tain an assured position among the perennial plants. The 

 drawbacks to the annual and biennial habit are largely 

 compensated for in such plants as Spergula, and the two 

 above-mentioned species of Gnicus, by their adaptations for 

 wind-distribution by means of winged seed or pappus calyx. 

 This advantage is, however, also shared by perennials, such 

 as Hieracium Pilosella, Linn., and Salix with its arillar 

 hairs. The wide dispersal and usually scattered positions 

 of these wind-distributed plants are in marked contrast 

 to the densely clustered colonies of species with creeping 

 rootstocks, such as Iris and Juncus. 



