DISTRIBUTION OP BRITISH PLANTS. 337 



This is a long and rather singular introduction, perhaps, 

 to a list of some few of our British plants ; but it will be 

 with a new and deep interest that we shall now read over 

 their names, and next time we meet with them we shall, at 

 all events, find them more suggestive than they were to the 

 unreflecting mind of Peter Bell. 



As a proper mark of respect to the most ancient group of 

 the British flora (No. I.), we will first look through the list 

 of flowers supposed to be of Spanish origin, which charac- 

 terize the mountainous districts of the west and south-west 

 of Ireland, as modified by Professor Forbes from Mr. 

 Hewett Watson's ' Remarks on the Geographical Distribu- 

 tion of British Plants/ It must be borne in mind that in 

 all the five different groups only those species are included 

 which, by their peculiarities, give a distinct character to 

 each. Those which distinguish this ancient Irish flora are 

 very few in number, though widely spread. 



Of these few plants the majority consists of Saxifrages 

 and Heaths. There are no less than six different species 

 of Saxifrage : Saxifraga umbrosa, S. elegans, S. hirsuta, 

 S. Geum, S. hirta, and S. affinis. The first-named of these, 

 Saxifraga umbrosa, is very familiarly known to us all under 

 the name of London Pride, though with regard to its sub- 



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