30 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [February, 



Soutli, some of them quite new to us freshmen who botanized here 

 for the first time. The more interesting of these were Rubus 

 Chamcemorus, not in fruit nor in flower, but just in the transition 

 state, with its calyxes quite empty, the petals, like the last rose 

 of summer, " all faded and gone." A rarer and more interesting 

 species was noticed, not in great quantities nor of a large size, 

 viz. Cornus suecica, a plant which reminded us of the hills of 

 Forbes, near the old castle of Kildrummy in Aberdeenshire, where, 

 in 1820, we first observed this charming little object. There the 

 plants were more plentiful and of a larger size than those we 

 picked from the extensive table-lands which skirt the summits of 

 Ben Lawers. Another acquisition was Gnaphalium supinum/ 

 which grew profusely on bare, turfy, or earthy spots, or on dry 

 places, as stated by the late Wm. Gardiner. Saxifraga stellaris ^ 

 did not make its appearance till we had reached at least the alti- 

 tude of the lake. Solitary individuals of this species were occa- 

 sionally found near the bases of the mountains, probably washed 

 down by the strong currents which rush violently along the hol- 

 lows or drains in the upper parts, where it grows ; but its home 

 is far above that of the pretty yellow Saxifrage, the /S. aizoides, 

 which grows at the very bases of the hills and mountains. The 

 latter ornaments the glens. Wherever there is a plashy, springy 

 place, a drain, a ditch, or a mountain rill, there is this pretty 

 plant, its green, shining, fleshy leaves contrasting beautifully with 

 its deep yellow flowers. , 



Eriophorum vaginatum, E. angustifolium, with its variety E. 

 gracile, Juncus castaneu^, and some other Junci, not yet deter- 

 mined, were collected. Vaccinium uliginosum, which we expected 

 to find in these wet moory spots, did not occur ; it should have 

 been in fruit when we were there, about the middle of July. 



On approaching the steep rocks a little above the base of 

 Stoich-an-Lochan, the lofty eminence nearest to Loch-na-Gat, 

 we were conscious of being in a spot where the vegetation was 

 not only different from what we had hitherto seen, but was as 

 abundant as it was rare and beautiful. Cerastium alpinum, in 

 two very dissimilar and apparently distinct forms, covered the 

 green grassy sward with which the stones and rocks, the debris 

 of the mountain, are surrounded or partly covered. One of these 

 forms is bushy in its habit, of a hoary aspect, densely invested 

 with a shaggy or woolly covering, rather dwarfish in stature, and 



