294 



late in the season," and therefore I did not include it in my list of 

 Fife plants published in a late number of the ' Phytologist.' I have 

 since, however, satisfied myself as to the plant. 



The proximity of this station to the castle-ruins renders it very 

 doubtful whether the plant may be indigenous, but it is thoroughly 

 naturalized at any rate, and therefore demands our attention. 



George Lawson. 



Dundee, August 12, 1848. 



Note on the Variety of Primula noticed at page 128. 

 By George Lawson, Esq. 



The variety of Primula vulgaris mentioned by Mr. Collins at p. 

 128 of the present volume of the 'Phytologist,' is by no means rare 

 in the cottage gardens of this district, being much cultivated in the 

 flower-border as a curiosity. 



George Lawson. 



Dundee, August 12, 1848. 



Remarks on the Naturalization of Plants in Britain. 

 By George Lawson, Esq. 



There was a time when the soil of Britain was not touched by 

 spade or plough, and when its flora was in a state of natural purity, 

 unaffected and unchanged by the commerce or operations of mankind. 

 When cultivation began, however, and was gradually extended, and 

 the nature of the soil changed, then in like proportion would the cha- 

 racter of the flora change. Many of the aboriginal inhabitants of our 

 primeval forests would decrease in numbers, and some of the rarer 

 species that were confined to a small area might be exterminated al- 

 together. Tn the place of these, other plants to which the changed 

 conditions of the soil were suitable, would spring up from the seeds 

 carried there by mankind and other causes ; and thus would take 

 place a change in our country's flora, of a real, and not of an artificial 

 kind. Perhaps there are not many (if there indeed be any) of the 

 common annuals of cultivated grounds but have had their origin as 

 British plants in this manner. 



Of late years various plants of exotic origin have been reported as 



