358 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxix. 



of the dune, especially on the lower ridges and the inter- 

 vening hollows at its north end. This plant is, indeed, 

 locally dominant in every region of the Culbin fixed dunes, 

 growing low and appropriating considerable stretches. 



Filago germanica shows an adaptation to different con- 

 ditions. At the north end of the dune it grows on bare, 

 open sand, and has the typical cushion growth of such 

 situations. But at the south end it is found on the leeward 

 slope, in a sheltered position, and here the stem is elongated 

 above the ground and is unbranched. 



A considerable portion of the eastern slope of the dune 

 near the south end is clothed with shrubs of Sambucus 

 nigra, Linn., which do not appear to be in a very healthy 

 condition and are the host of fungus and lichen. Beneath 

 and around these bushes the sand is bare and there Senecio 

 Jacobaea grows. 



Farther north the leeward side of the dune is covered 

 for some distance with a dense thicket of Cytisus scoparius, 

 Link. The ground vegetation consists chiefly of Galium 

 verum and Cerastium tetrandrum, with frequent Taraxa- 

 cum officinale, Weber ; Bellis perennis, Linn. ; Veronica 

 officinalis ; Plantago lanceolata, Linn. ; Luzula campestris ; 

 Alchemilla arvensis, Scop. ; and the moss Polytrichum 

 commune, Linn. One patch of broom is withered, and 

 beneath and beside it Urtica dioica, Linn., grows luxuri- 

 antly. The nettle is so often the first plant to colonise 

 an area which has been devastated by fire that the condi- 

 tion of the broom and the presence of Urtica suggest the 

 reason for this particular grouping. 



Another grouping of plants found on the fixed dune 

 includes Lychnis alba ; Cerastium vulgatum, Linn. ; Viola 

 canina ; and Senecio Jacobaea. 



Numbers of spurs from the dunes into the flats are 

 covered with Ceratodon purpureus, Brid., a moss which 

 does much in colonising and binding the sand. 



In the Scottish Act of Parliament which was passed 

 after the great Culbin disaster, bent, broom, and juniper 

 are mentioned as plants to be protected. Bent is the 

 commonest plant on the Culbins taken as a whole, its 

 habitat being the sandhills of looser material. Broom has 

 been mentioned as an inhabitant of the eastern fixed dunes, 



