580 THE BOTANY OF THE ALMOND. [October, 



quarters of a mile^ when I arrived at that noted bog in Methven 

 parish, where Scheuchzeria palustris is found, the only known 

 station in Scotland for this singular-looking plant. This bog, 

 or rather, two contiguous bogs, consists of a larger and a smaller, 

 the latter of extent about a quarter of an acre, the former five or 

 six acres at least. The following plants I found in the bog : — 

 Scheuchzeria palustris, plentiful; Cicuta virosa, in the sedgy 

 ditch at its southern edge, frequent; Carex limosa, sparingly; 

 C. vesicaria, plentiful ; C. stellulata, abundant ; Rhynchospora 

 alba, sparingly; Getiista anglica and Molinia ccerulea, on semi- 

 peaty soil near its margin, plentiful ; Lastrea dilatata, scattered 

 here and there in the larger bog, while in both grew Vaccijdtmt 

 Oxycoccus, covering the entire surface wherever found. Two 

 varieties of berries seem to grow here, the common egg-shaped 

 and mottled form, and the other rather larger, between apple- 

 and pear-shaped, and destitute of spots, the upper surface red, 

 the lower yellowish-greeu. I could perceive no difference Avhat- 

 ever in the form of the leaves or stems of either, only the differ- 

 ence in the colour and form of the two was very striking. The 

 time now drawing near when the train would be due at Almond 

 Bank station, I left the bog, and arrived in time, got in the car- 

 riage, and was in Perth in a quarter of an hour. 



The season being too far advanced, most of the flowering 

 plants were gone to seed (in fruit), so that my expectations in 

 regard to the Almond were not realized. I went up that river 

 chiefly in search of Ferns, but the most of these plants seemed 

 to occupy the southern side, while I took the north. However 

 there was little room for regret, as all the Ferns I saw on the 

 right bank, among the trees and rocks, appeared to be the com- 

 mon sorts, viz. Pohjpodium vulgare, Lastrea Filix-mas, and 

 Athyrium Filix-foemina. There is no pathway along the right 

 bank of this river above the " Auld Brig " (at any rate, as far as 

 I went), the rocks forming, in many instances, an almost per- 

 pendicular wall, sixty to seventy feet in height. Below the old 

 bridge (about a hundred yards), in a hedge near its left bank, 

 grows the Turritis glabra, nearly extirpated;" I went myself, in 

 the end of June, and only could procure a fe;w stunted examples. 



From the "Auld Brig" of the Almond to the new, a distance 

 of about two miles, the ground on the south side of the river is 

 fertile and level, on the north side high and rocky. I only 



