362 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxix. 



a gall, which causes many large scarlet excrescences. 

 Scattered individuals of Viola canina, Galium verum, 

 and Taraxacum officinale are found on the slopes where 

 these fixed or partly fixed dunes rise to windward into 

 shifting dunes. 



Reversed Sequence. — The usual sequence on the 

 Culbin Sands, passing from the sea-coast inland, is : 

 Ammophila arenaria on the shifting dunes ; then Carex 

 arenaria and Juncus squarrosus on the more settled 

 sand ; Erica cinerea and Calluna vulgaris on the quite 

 fixed dunes ; then, say, Betula tomentosa on the dune- 

 marshes. But near the shore of the Moray Firth, between 

 the " Bar " and " Buckie Loch," Mr. R. C. Davie tells us 

 there is an example of a reversal of this general sequence. 

 Betula tomentosa grows quite close to the sea; next, to 

 landward, are Erica cinerea and Calluna vulgaris ; then 

 is found Juncus squarrosus ; then Carex arenaria ; and 

 lastly Ammophila arenaria. This occurs on the flat 

 seaward portion of the dune remains, from which all 

 movable sand has been blown away. 



3. Dune-Marshes. 



If true littoral salt-marsh is to be found only at Find- 

 horn Bay, inland dune-marsh is less local in occurrence. 

 These marshes lie on all four sides of the high "white" 

 dunes of the Culbin Sandhills proper. For the most part 

 these low-lying areas offer a more or less dry surface in 

 August; but in the wet seasons they vary from marshes 

 to rather extensive though shallow lochs. One, at least, 

 of them is shown on maps as a loch. In every case their 

 flora is at all seasons indicative of a marshy or, at any rate, 

 a moist habitat. 



The flora of these " lochs " will be sufficiently exhaus- 

 tively treated if that of the four most important is dealt 

 with. These lie roughly at the four points of the compass 

 relatively to the Culbin Sandhills proper. They are : — 



(a) Buckie Loch, on the north, the largest. 



(b) West Loch Basin, containing several sheets of water. 



(c) East Loch. 



(d) South Loch. 



