1861.] BOTANY OF BEN LAWERS. 303 



one of the rarest of Druidical monuments^ a chamber entirely 

 covered in, smaller certainly than the remarkable one near 

 Saumur, but excelling it in being subterraneous^ and (what is still 

 more important) solitary. This island is full of the Asphodel in 

 question. I was told that it grows on several of the other islands, 

 and that its white flowers (replaced where I saw it in June by 

 red fruits) are the glory in spring of this marine region. The 

 authors of the ' Flore de France ' enumerated four other locali- 

 ties, all in the west or west centre of France, but three of these 

 four have a mark of interrogation attached to them by the 

 authors. 



{To he continued.) 



BOTANY or BEX LAWEUS. 



Scarce Alpine Plants met with during a recent Ten Days' Ramble 

 among the Breadalbane Mountains. By James Backhouse, 

 Jun. 



Gentiana nivalis. This plant was found in great profusion on 

 Ben Lawers; not. as heretofore, scattered sparingly upon the 

 cliffs, but in hundreds ; as many as a dozen sometimes occur- 

 ring in a square yard. Though rather past its best, some of the 

 brilliant blue flowers were expanded in the morning sunshine. 



Woodsia alp'ina. Thirty-seven tufts of this Fern were counted 

 in about fifteen minutes. Some of the fronds were four inches 

 long. 



Phleum alpinuni. A solitary example was gathered from a 

 wet ledge on one of the peaks of Ben Lawers. In the same 

 vicinity — 



Veronica saxatilis and 



Erigeron alpinus w^ere luxuriant. 



Saxifraga cernua. Two fine specimens of this species were 

 gathered on the same mountain with expanded blossoms. Three 

 or four others had partially developed flowers, and several plants 

 were four to six inches high. It was very abundant, associated 

 with 



Draba rupestris and a 



Cerastium, which has long been confounded with C. alpinum, 



