VI INTRODUCTION. 



Author has to acknowledge the obligation which is due to Sir 

 WILLIAM J. HOOKER, and Dr. WALKER- ARNOTT for the use he 

 has made of their invaluable work; the names given in it are 

 followed, thus preserving unity in our nomenclature, so that 

 when the Student advances in the Science he will find but little 

 to alter in his course of study. 



The term ' * Clydesdale, " as used in the title, was that chosen 

 by a Society brought together by the late Mr. WILLIAM GOURLIE, 

 and this opportunity is gladly embraced to express a sense of his 

 worth as a gentleman, who was the soul of the Glasgow Naturalists 

 ever ready to soothe and soften by his charitable disposition 

 the asperities of our nature, and to lighten by his kindliness the 

 dull stream of existence. This Society contemplated the collec- 

 tion of the objects of Natural History belonging to the district, 

 and the recording of their localities. The present work may be 

 taken as a portion of the subject then proposed, confident that 

 the gentlemen then associated will kindly overlook the deficiencies 

 of this attempt. 



The district comprehended in this Flora embraces the valley of 

 the Clyde from the falls above Lanark on the East, to the Islands of 

 Cumbrae, Bute, and Arran on the West ; the Northern boundary 

 being the Campsie and Kilpatrick ranges, following the sinuosities 

 of the lovely Lochs on the Northern shores of the Firth. The 

 Southern boundary includes the hills above Hamilton, Calderwood 

 Glen, Cathkin, and Glenifier Braes, the hills above Greenock, 

 Inverkip, and Largs, ending at Port-Crawford. From numerous 

 localities those of easy access have been chosen, where the Student 

 on a Saturday evening, away from the busy haunts of man, can 

 seek the lonely dell 



" Where the Blue-bell and Gowan lurk lowly unseen." 



The visitant to our watering-places will find the term "Gourock 

 to Arran," denoting the plant as found generally at all the water- 

 ing-places on the Firth. To have noted the precise spot for each, 

 with several stations, would have left no room for description; it 

 is therefore hoped that sufficient has been given to enable the 

 diligent student of Nature to find the plants recorded. 



In 1813 the "Flora Glottiana" appeared, by THOMAS HOPKIBK 

 of Dalbeth, the founder of our Botanic Garden, and in 1831, 



