XI 

 FLOWERS OF THE FAR NORTH 



THE wild flowers of one corner of Scotland are 

 so exceptional in their interest, so character- 

 istic of their haunts, that they ask to be treated 

 apart; especially as they are so shy at crossing 

 their very narrow boundaries, and are so seldom 

 visited in districts which offer less attraction to the 

 many. 



The north-east dip of sandstone which forms the 

 county of Caithness is mainly of rough moorland, 

 rising very little above sea-level. It passes under 

 the shallow Pentland Firth, to be continued, in a 

 certain broken way, in the sandstones of Orkney. 



This whole district, though northern, is not 

 highland ; the climate, though on the Polar side of 

 us, is rather milder than our own ; the wild flowers, 

 though boreal, are neither alpine nor arctic. 



A few of the hill plants come down the slopes, 



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