14 UPON THE FLORA OF THE SHETLAND ISLES. 
Kobresia 'seirpina, Carex atrata, Aira alpina, Poa alpina, P. casia, 
Polytrichum Lonchitis. 
Others not British, as Ranunculus glacialis, R. montanus, Arabis 
alpina, Lepidium alpinum, Alchemilla fissa, Epilobium nutans, Orchis 
sambucina, Carex Lyngbyei. 
And, finally, those that are eminently boreal :— Ranunculus nivalis, 
Papaver nudicaule, Draba Lapponica, Saxifraga tricuspidata, S. palmata, 
Angelica Archangelica, Kænigia Islandica. 
The flora of the Orkneys numbers 390 species, 312 of which 
are indigenous to the, Shetlands; there are, therefore, 78 Orcadian 
species not known in Ultima Thule ; 22 of these, given in lists No.1 and 
No. 2, are common to the Orkneys and the Feroes, and the remainder 
thus attain their northern limit of distribution, through the chain of the 
isles- of Great Britain, in Orcadia. By reference to the catalogue of 
Shetland plants, 60 indigenous species and 11 varieties are indicated as 
unknown in the Orkneys, though present in the more northern pro- 
vince. Of the varieties, Cerastium latifolium, B. Edmonstoni, and La- 
thyrus maritimus, B. acutifolius, are peculiar to Unst. It is to be 
noted that the former species belongs to the alpine-boreal type; and 
the variety has been referred to a no less eminent alpine-boreal species, 
C. glaciale. 
The flora of Shetland, in its present revised form, numbers 364 
indigenous species, and 14 marked indigenous varieties. With the 
following exceptions, all are generally distributed throughout Central 
Europe, and are found in Great Britain. The exceptions are Ceras- 
tium Edmonstoni, Lathyrus acutifolius, which are restricted to the 
island of Unst; Arenaria Norvegica, also confined to that island (the 
most northern and eastern of the Shetland group), but elsewhere 
only known in Scandinavia. The only boreal plants are Oherleria 
sedoides, Arenaria Norvegica, and Saussurea alpina ; Geranium pheum 
is doubtfully native. Even alpine forms are poorly represented in 
these isles, and the majority of these are confined to Ronas Hill. Of 
the six Saxifrages, S. stellaris, S. nivalis, S. rivularis, S. cespitosa, 
S. oppositifolia, and S. hypnoides, which range from Scotland to the 
Feroes, Iceland, and Greenland, only 8. oppositifolia is a Shetland plant 
(yet occurring at the opposite extremities of the mainland), 
I will conclude this paper by a correction rendered necessary by a ` 
better acquaintance with the floras of the Shetlands and Orkneys, of 
