160 



will spare the beautiful Lathyrus, and refrain from extirpating it in 

 what is probably its only Scotch locality. 



106. Having remarked thus on the external relations of Arran to the 

 botanical geography of the surrounding lands, we might pass on to 

 speak of its internal aspects, and notice the several floras of the 

 mountain, the glen, and the shore, the moor, the wood, and the 

 marsh ; in other words, to distribute the plants according to their 

 respective botanical stations. By such an examination, however, no 

 new facts or principles of peculiar interest would be elicited. A 

 little experience will enable the student to frame such a classification 

 for himself. 



Most of the rare plants of Arran are to be obtained on or near 

 to the coast, some decking the bright sands, as the Brassica 

 Monensis, the purple Mertensia, or oyster plant, as it is called 

 from the flavour of its leaves, and the lovely Calystegia Soldan- 

 dla, with its creeping stems and flowers of delicate pink ; some 

 dwelling in the salt marsh and wet grounds that lie between the old 

 sea cliff and the present tide-mark, such as the Oenantlie Lachenalii, 

 Triglochin maritimum, and palustre, the pretty little Glaux, the 

 blue Aster, and several others. Here, too, though not properly 

 maritime plants, we often find the handsome Parnassia, and delicate 

 Anagallis tenella, Samolus Valerandi, Orchis latifolia, and in the 

 drier spots, Geranium pratense and Erythrcea linearifolia. The 

 bare rocky crags and promontories, which here and there diversify 

 the generally accessible coast of the island, are gay with the brillian^ 

 white, yellow, and pink flowers of Sedum Anglicum and acre, Silene 

 maritima and Spergularia marina; the succulent Cotyledon fixing 

 its roots in the rock clefts, and the glossy green of the sea spleen - 

 wort, Asplenium marinum. The curious sea cliff which lines the 

 coast of the island in almost every part, marking the level at which 

 the sea stood in some former age, is in most places thickly covered 

 with a natural growth of oak, ash, birch, hazel, and other trees, and 

 is kept moist by the numerous streams that trickle down its face, or 

 precipitate themselves in cascades from its edge. The shade and 

 humidity thus produced render its vegetation luxuriant and varied ; 

 and we find many interesting species growing on or near this line of 

 irregular cliff, some hanging from its wooded sides, some springing 

 rank in the wet caves that pierce it, and some inhabiting the stony 

 and marshy ground at its base. 



Here, among others, occur Veronica montana, Hypericum And- 

 rosaemum, Geranium sanguineum, Sanicula europaea, Eupatorium 

 cannabinum, Lycopus europaeus, Listera ovata, Hdbenaria chlor- 



