Botany of the Craigmillar District. 135 



plete without reference to what is now widely known 

 in botanical circles as " the Arthur's Seat fern." 

 This fern, the Forked Spleenwort {Asplenium scpten- 

 trionale), is thus noticed by Woodforde in 1824: 

 " Basaltic columns in the King's Park, and frequent 

 in many other places in the King's Park ; rocks on 

 the south side of Blackford Hill, abundant." It 

 goes without saying that this delightful state of 

 matters no longer subsists. In these days of fern 

 mania it is only in a few inaccessible places on 

 Samson's Ribs that the Forked Spleenwort continues 

 to live ; and though still found on the Braids, it is 

 destined, no doubt, soon to share the same fate 

 there. 



Mention may now be made of some of the more 

 noteworthy plants growing at or near Duddingston 

 Loch. The first to claim attention is the Buckbean 

 or Bogbean {Menyanthes trifoliata), already mentioned 

 as found in this locality. This is undoubtedly one 

 of the handsomest of our native plants, with its buds 

 of a deep rose hue, and its corolla, when expanded, 

 thickly fimbriated or fringed on the inner surface. It 



