1913-14.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 263 



4. Woods. 



Extent and Distribution. — The area under woods, both 

 natural and planted, consists of about 300 acres situated 

 chiefly along the shores of the loch, in the lower part of the 

 Inverchaolain Glen, and on the west side of Glen Fyne. It 

 comprises various detached blocks and strips, as well as 

 ornamental grounds, and, with the exception of one young 

 plantation in a sheltered corrie, the woods nowhere reach 

 an altitude of more than about 500 feet. At Toward Point 

 the land under trees is an escarpment known as " Toward 

 Bank," and a few acres of plantation. 



Natural Woods. — The natural woods of Finart and 

 Brackley are composed chiefly of birch, hazel, rowan, oak 

 and ash, with an occasional intermixture of gean, alder, and 

 elm. These woods straggle up the hillsides with picturesque 

 broken outlines, assimilating with the landscape and con- 

 trasting sharply with the angular and rigid forms of the 

 enclosed plantations. None of the trees attain to any great 

 size, and none of the species are deep shade-bearers ; in 

 addition, the woods have been much thinned, and thus the 

 shade is nowhere deep. Except for an acre or two, enclosed 

 to create cover for game, they are open to the hill sheep, 

 and the ground vegetation, which is close-cropped, differs 

 little from that of the hill-pastures and moorland bogs into 

 which the woods gradually merge without any distinct 

 boundary line. In the enclosure in Finart Wood just 

 referred to, the natural undergrowth has come up, and 

 consists of the same species as the woodland vegetations 

 about to be described. 



Plantations. — These consist chiefly of : — 



(1) Mixed broad-leaved and coniferous trees. 



(2) Pure coniferous. 



(3) Ornamental grounds. 



(1) The mixed woods, which constitute the bulk of the 

 planted area, contain such trees as larch, Scots pine, spruce, 

 ash, sycamore, and oak ; and since they are not close-planted, 

 a considerable amount of undergrowth finds sufficient light 

 and air to grow up. This includes Rubus fruticosus, Linn. ; 

 Rosa canina, Linn.; Corylus Avellana, Linn.; Lonicera 

 Periclymenum, Linn. ; and Primus spinosa, Linn. 



