22 TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEKDINGS OF THE [Sess, lxv. 



alterations there may have been from the present, when flax 

 was cultivated in the West Highlands, as some weeds as 

 Cuscuta EpiUnum may have occurred which are now absent; 

 but it is probable that the introduction of seed from the 

 south brought with it some new plants. An improved form 

 of oats was introduced into the West Highlands after 1746, 

 but did not become general. Clover and ryegrass, which 

 were introduced as a crop into Scotland about 1700, were 

 not brought into the Highlands until about 1761, and this 

 would introduce new weeds. The presence of Trifolium 

 minus in many places must, I expect, date from this time. 

 This is at present a common plant on the coast, but in 

 the majority of its localities it is among sown grass or 

 near it, frequently dying out unless it reaches light 

 sandy ground. T. lujhridum, which is hardly more than a 

 casual, would also be introduced after this time. T. pur- 

 pureimi, a native of light sandy soils, especially on the 

 islands and on the basalt, was also probably introduced, or 

 at least had its distribution extended on other soils, by this 

 means. The introduction of Campanula rotundifolia into 

 many places in the schistose formation, and such plants as 

 Oaliuvi mollugo and Briza media, would take place. 



Kitchen gardens were first made in the West Highlands 

 in 1734, and from this time must date the introduction of 

 a few annual weeds into the country, as the little disturbed 

 ground of the former gardens for perennial flowering plants 

 would bring with them few extraneous forms. As an 

 instance of a species spreading from kitchen gardens, I 

 have noted Sisymbrium officinale, which spreads from gardens 

 to waste places, and then along roadsides. Its introduction 

 is due to accidental mixture with other seeds, as it was not 

 used in the Highlands for its medicinal and carminative 

 properties. Brassica campestris, B. Bapa, B. nigra, and 

 B. alba, which are now to be found in many places remote 

 from cultivation, especially along the shores of sandy 

 ground, must date their first appearance to about this 

 time, as no species of this genus were cultivated in the 

 Highlands before this. B. siriapis, the common char- 

 lock, is still a local plant in many parts of the West 

 Highlands, and is not established so firmly as in many 

 parts of the south, but it may be an older introduction. 



