90 COLONSAY 



tion of plants. Though the outcrop of the limestone rock 

 is restricted to such small areas that, as a factor in plant 

 distribution, it might be thought hardly worth considering, 

 yet it is interesting to note that certain alleged lime-loving 

 plants e.g., Carlina vulgaris, Orchis pyramidalis, Avena 

 pubescens, Thalictrum minus, Phyllitis Scolopendrum, Anthyl- 

 lis . Vulneraria have been found growing in the vicinity. 

 The neighbourhood is the principal station for Arabis hirsuta* 

 and Sisymbrium Thalianum, a plant showing locally a 

 partiality for old lime-built walls, has also been found here. 

 Comminuted shells supply to the sandy soil of the districts 

 bordering the sea an abundance of lime, and provide a 

 suitable growing medium for such calcicole plants as Orchis 

 pyramidalis, Gentiana Amarella, and possibly others of a 

 lime-loving nature. 



The irregular surface of the island, with its great variety 

 of soils, is such as to provide situations, within a small area, 

 suitable for many kinds of plants. In the bogs, the con- 

 sistency of the ground may vary in the compass of a few 

 square yards from a quaking quagmire to firm peat, each 

 kind of situation supporting different kinds of plants. 

 Plants of the Marshy Area (Balanahard bogs) Potentilla 

 palustris, Phragmites communis, Ranunculus Flammula, 

 Menyanfhes trifoliata, Lytlirum Salicaria, Juncus acutiflorns, 

 Agrostis alba, Carex Goodenowii, etc. Firmer ground 

 Eriophorum angustifolium, Erica Tetralix, Molinia varia, 

 Narthecium ossifragum, Scabiosa Succisa, Potentilla erecta, 

 Carex flacca, etc. 



Plants on Circumscribed Areas growing together 

 Shingly Shore (Meall-a-Chuilbh, at high-water mark). 

 Cnicus lanceolatus, Sedum anglicum, Potentilla Anserina, 

 Carex arenaria, Geranium molle, Rumex crispus, Plantago 

 Goronopus, Matricaria inodora, Geranium Robertianum. 

 Cliffs (Dreis-an-t-Sealgair, north shore). Ligusticum 



