432 NOTES ON THE FLORA OF BRAEMAR. {.^Cty, 



posed mucli in tlie same way as those of Ben-na-buird or Ben- 

 na-muic-dhui. On the bare summit ^are Juncus trifidus, Luzula 

 spicata, Carex rigidd, Salix herbacea'^'snid Sibbaldia procumbens f^ 

 In the northern, or, more correctly, the north-western corry, 

 that of Lochan-eun, the craggy rocks and precipices, from 3200 

 down to 2900 feet, produce all the plants mentioned above, to- 

 gether with many others, and espeQially^'tj/iop/iaZiMm supinum, 

 Veronica alpinct, Saxifraga 7'ivularis, and in various places Carex 

 leporina and Phleum commutatumf These plants, with the ex- 

 ception of Carex leporina, which occupies nearly^.a^JiQrigmit.al 

 ,belt, observe no particular order as to altitudinal arrangement, 

 and beyond the small lakes in the hollow below, which are at 

 the heights of from 2800 to 2050 feet, the vegetation ceases to 

 be alpine. On the east side of the mountain the precipices 

 descend from 3700 to 2500 feet, and in their ravines or fissures, 

 which are nearly perpendicular, with transverse rents giving to 

 the rock the appearance of being stratified, are ioun^ Cerastium 

 alpinum, Sibbaldia procumbens, Veronica alpina, Saxifraga rivu- 

 laris, Poa minor, P. laxa, etc. About halfway down the preci- 

 pices Mulgedium alpinum occurs, but very sparingly. Below 

 this, on the shelves or crags, the vegetation is more luxuriant 

 than elsewhere, in some parts indeed quite rank, and consists of a 

 multitude of species belonging to the lower regions, intermixed 

 with alpine plants. Among the latter ar§ Hieracium alpinum, 

 H. nigrescem, Salix Myrsinites, S. arenaria, and, at the very foot 

 of the rocks, a profusion of Cryptogramma crispa, a Fern by no 

 means common on the Braemar mountains. Descending from 

 the summit in a southerly direction, towards the Dhuloch, about 

 two miles distant, we find many of the plants already mentioned, 

 and some others besides. Near the lake is abundance of Cornus 

 suecica, and the crags above it yield many of the plants found on 

 Lochnagar, as well as Thalictrum alpinus, Erigeron alpinus, Sib- 

 baldia procumbens, and several more. Lochnagar is perhaps 

 most easily ascended from Castletown by following the course 

 of the Garrawault burn through the forest of Bealloch-bhui, till 

 the path emerges on the open moor, when the peak of Lochnagar 

 appears rising up about three miles distant. The forest of 



* It is interesting to compare with this Mr. Watson's hsts of the plants of the 

 summits of Ben-na-muic-dhiu and Ben-na-buu'd, as given in the introdiictory re- 

 marks prefixed to the first volume of the ' Cybele Britannica.' 



