GENERAL REMARKS. 309 



such a southern latitude, to descend even to a level with the 

 shore ; while to decorate with her warm and showy blossoms the 

 sandy links of our coast, the Geranium sanguineum has left her 

 " alpine or limestone pastures." The Tragopogon major, as a na- 

 tive plant, was first discovered in Berwickshire, nor is it yet 

 known to grow in any other part of the kingdom. Trifolium leu- 

 canthum, Senecio tenuifolius, Euphorbia esula, Veronica, filiformis, 

 Aspidium aculeatum, and its variety angulare, are all late additions 

 to the British or Scotch Floras, and among the most interesting 

 for their rarity. 



There are some plants of frequent occurrence with us which 

 are esteemed rare in Scotland. Cnidium silaus, so common in 

 Berwickshire, would appear to be confined to the Border, for it 

 has only been detected besides in the adjacent county of Rox- 

 bxirgh. Cemstium arvense is found near Edinburgh sparingly, 

 and not elsewhere in Scotland, except on the banks of the Tweed, 

 where, from its mouth upwards to Kelso, it is a rather common 

 flower. Scabiosa columbaria. Primula elatior and veris, Viola hirta, 

 Hordeum murinum, Lactuca virosa, and Carex curta, all accounted 

 rare in the Flora Scotica, are some of them far from uncommon, 

 and the three latter are abundant with us. On the other hand, 

 the following, which are said to be frequently met with in the 

 north of England, and in the south or lowlands of Scotland, must 

 be esteemed amongst our rarest plants, viz. Galium boreale, Sym- 

 phylum tuberosum and officinale, Adoxa moschatellina, Bidens cernua, 

 Cnicus heterophyllus, Myrica Gale, Asplenium ruta-muraria, and 

 Cystea fragilis ; and we do not possess at all Poa aquatica and 

 tiemoralis, Stellaria nemorum, Myosotis sylvatica, Aspidium thelypteris 

 nor even the vulgar weed Anthemis cotula, though all of them are 

 accounted at least not uncommon in districts similar to ours in 

 soil and climate. 



In regard to the distribution of our phsenogamous plants, I 

 have but a few remarks to make. On traversing our shores to 

 the south of the Tweed, it is obvious enough that, on the links, 

 or where the shallow soil lies immediately above limestone, the 

 herbage is short, even, and close, unless the sand is so loose as to 

 permit the growth of few other grasses than of the bent. This 

 herbage is profusely enamelled with many pretty flowers, such 

 as the Erodium, the Pimpernel, the Cerastium arvense, the purple 

 Astragalus, Galium verum, Erythrcea littoralis, Ononis, and the 



