Bibliographical Notices. 478 



tainous at its upper end, although it widens greatly near the coast. 

 If it is thought undesirable to neglect the county boundaries, Mr. 

 Watson's vice-counties of North and South Aberdeenshire might 

 well be adopted, although they are not altogether free from the ob- 

 jections to which we have adverted. 



Taking Mr. Watson's floral types as a guide, Dr. Dickie arrives at 

 the following results relative to the Aberdeenshire flora : — 



"1. British. — Most of these constitute our common plants, almost 

 everywhere diffused, and many of them familiar to all as ordinary 

 weeds. Some of this type, however, though abundant in more 

 southern parts of Britain, become scarce here, and may be ranked 

 among our rare species ; such are Ranunculus auricomus, Arabis 

 hirsuta, Arenaria trinervis, Bidens cernua, Lycopus europasus, 

 Listera ovata, Malaxis paludosa, Alisma ranunculoides, &c. &c. 



" 2. English. — Of this type comparatively few reach us, and some of 

 them, though now extensively spread, very probably may have 

 been introduced along with seeds of agricultural plants. 



"3. Scottish. — Plants of this division are well represented in this part 

 of Scotland, being 58 in number, and therefore about five-sixths 

 of the British species, so designated, occur here. Most of them 

 are abundant, and several are species highly prized by southern 

 collectors. A few examples may be mentioned : Rubus saxatilis, 

 Trientalis europcea, Linneea borealis, Pyrola media, Pyrola 

 minor, Goodyera repens, Listera cordata, &c. Three of them, 

 Linneea, Trientalis, and Goodyera, may be specially noted as 

 very widely distributed and abundant here. 



" 4. Germanic. — There are only eight examples of this type in our list, 

 and they are mostly rare or local plants ; the total number of 

 such in the British Flora being estimated at more than 190. 



" 5. Atlantic — Sedum anglicum and Scilla verna are the only repre- 

 sentatives ; the latter confined to the north-western part of our 

 coast, on the borders of the Moray Frith. 



" 6. Highland. — The plants belonging to this division are estimated at 

 about 100 species in the whole British Flora; of these eight- 

 tenths are found in our list. Many of these are very local, and 

 entirely confined to the higher districts. A few of them reach 

 the coast, and are found almost at the sea-level, viz. Sedum Rho- 

 diola, Saxifraga oppositifolia, Saxifraga hypnoides, and Poly- 

 gonum viviparum. Some others appear at a lower altitude along 

 the course of the Dee and Devci'on ; such have probably been 

 transported by floods; viz. Oxyria reniformis, Epilobium alpinum, 

 Alchemilla alpina, &c. Among the more interesting of this type, 

 found in the interior, and usually very local, may be mentioned 

 Astragalus alpinus, Mulgedium alpinum. Arbutus alpina, and 

 various species of Saxifraga, Hieracium, Salix, Juncus, Carex, 

 and Poa. 

 " We can now form some idea respecting the characteristic features of 



the Flora. The plants belonging to the Enghsh, Germanic, and Atlantic 



types constitute but a very insignificant part of our native vegetation. In 



addition to the more common species, constituting the British type, there 



is a general intermixture of Scottish forms, and in particular localities the 



Highland type predominates." 



In addition to the flowering plants, we arc furnished with a very 

 Ann. &; Mag. N. Hist. Scr. 3. Vol. vii. 31 



