1857.] TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 83 



than it does in the estimation of the botanist. The vales^ with 

 few exceptions, are well wooded, and the Sycamores, the Maples, 

 and especially the Ashes, are very fine. 



The common Elm in Scotland is Ulmus montana ; the usual 

 English form of this tree, U. campestris, we never saw as a 

 hedge-shrub, which it frequently is in England. The Scottish 

 Pine is often a grand and picturesque object where it has ample 

 room for development; but the loveliest of Scotland's trees is 

 the pendulous or weeping Birch. This tree, as an element in 

 the picturesque, is seen to tlie greatest advantage both in the 

 Trosachs and about Taymouth. 



It is said that the Pine is the monarch of the Scottish woods, 

 as the Oak is of the English ; yet the Oak is not absent in Scot- 

 land; and the Wallace Oak at EUerslie, the native place of Sir 

 William Wallace, with many other celebrated trees of this kind, 

 is not unworthy of mention among the more famous Oaks of 

 England. Some of the Pines of Scotland are picturesque ; and 

 the dark masses of Pine forests and plantations always harmonize 

 well with the sombre hue of Highland scenery. But the Birch 

 is a lovely object, whether seen individually or collectively, and 

 it harmonizes well with the scrubby Oak abounding in the cop- 

 pices which clothe the abrupt elevations that enclose the Scot- 

 tish glens. 



As a botanical station, Ben Ledi, close to Callander, is de- 

 spised or ignored by botanists in general. Its name does not 

 once occur in the annals of British plants, numerous though 

 they be. Yet it is not quite barren. A couple of specimens, 

 which would confer celebrity upon any mountain in England, 

 were in the possession of the post-mistress of Callander : Lastrea 

 Lonchitis and Buxbaumia apJiylla are the plants intended. 



The beginning of July is rather too early a period for seeing 

 the beauty or for collecting the gems of the Scottish Flora. This 

 time of the year nearly corresponds with midsummer in the south 

 of England, and midsummer is too early for seeing the floral 

 treasures of the mountainous parts of the south and south-west 

 parts of the British Isles. The most experienced of Scottish 

 botanists recommend the summer from the middle of July to the 

 middle of August as the best time for seeing the greatest number 

 of Scottish alpines in flower. Every experienced botanist knows 

 that a district or locality must be visited several times in a sea- 



