86 REPORT 18G1. 



My only desire is that we may all heartily concur in doinor all that is in our 

 power to" render this and other" institutions conducive to the increase of the 

 knowledge, the happiness, and the comforts of the people. 



Botany. 



Notice of some Bare Scotch Plants. By Professor Baifouk, F.B.S., F.L.S. 



Some Scotch plants, especially Alpine species, are restricted in their localities 

 from causes which are as yet imperfectly known. Pecidiarity of soil and exposure 

 may in some measure accoimt for the restiiction ; hut this does not seem to be 

 sufficient. Some of the restricted species are common to Britain and Scandinavia 

 and the moimtaius in southern Em'ope ; and they have been looked upon as out- 

 posts of a flora which existed in the comiti-y when it was united geologically with 

 other European countries. The author had lately ^"isited some of the localities 

 referred to. He exhibited specimens of Sar/ina nivuUs, a Scandinavian plant which 

 was gathered by himself in Beidawers in 1847, and supposed to be a ^ ariety of Ahine 

 rtibeila. Mr. Syme, -wdthin the last year, when examining- plants for his edition of 

 Sowerby's British Flora, happeucd to fall in with some specimens of the above 

 plant, as gathered by the author, and pointed out that it was a plant new to 

 Britain. He took occasion to visit Benlawers in August, and he gathered numerous 

 specimens of the plant. He also foimd it on Biunain, or, as it is sometimes called, 

 Stobiimain, a moimtain rising to the height of 3800 feet, near Ben More in Perth- 

 shire, and at the head of the Braes of Balquiddar. This is an interesting addition 

 to the British Flora. Another station visited was the mountain called the Sow of 

 Athole, in Invemess-shire, the locality for Phijllodoce ccerulea, one of the rarest 

 British plants. The plant had been nearly eradicated by a nurservanan many years 

 ago, and it was feared that it had disappeared ; the plant, howe'\er, still exists on 

 the hill, although not in large quantitj\ Among other plants confined to single 

 localities in Scotland he exhibited the following: — TJiki^pi alpestre, Canlochan, 

 Forfarshire ; Ltjcluiis alpitta, Little Gilrnnnoch, Forfai'shire ; Arenaria Norreijica, 

 Unst, Shetland ; Lathi/ruf! nigcr, Pass of Killicrankie ; Latlu/rmindritimun, var. B., 

 Unst, Shetland ; Oxi/tropis cmnpestris, single rock in Glen Phu, Clova (this plant 

 is found also on the southern Alps of Europe) ; Pt/rus fcnnica, Island of AiTan ; 

 Saxifrof/a cenma, Benlawers; Pin;jttmda cilpina, Black I^och, near Nairn; Con- 

 vallaria verticillatu, near Blairgowrie : Eriocaidon septan (lulure, Isle of Skye ; Carex 

 Grahami, single rock in Clova ; Saxifrcif/a ccespitosn, Ben Aa'ou, Braemar ; Moiio- 

 tropa hypopitijs, Cawdor Woods ; Mcocliaris Watsoni, near Tayulone, Argyleshire ; 

 Eriophonim alpwitm, Durness, Sutherlaudshu'e ; Kobresia can'cina, Perthshire ; 

 Trichomanes radicans, Island of Arran. 



The following plants were also exhibited as restricted to a few Scotch loca- 

 lities : — Drnha nqiestris, Akine rubella, O.ri/fropis Ilallcri, Astrar/alus alpinus, 

 Sa.tifraf/a Hirculus, Saxifraf/a rividark, Midf/edium af/Hnion, Gentiana nivaUs, 

 Mi/osotis alpestria, Bartsia alpina, AJiu/a pyramidalk, Orchis pi/raiiiidalis, Juticnii 

 castaneus and biglumis, Luzidu arcuata, Carex rarijlora, rupcstris, leporina, Vahlii, 

 vaginata, Poa minor, Cystopteris montana. 



On a Curious Form o/ Aquilegia vulgaris. 

 % Professor Buckman, F.L.S. , F.G.S. 

 In the usual flower of the Columbine each petal is so spurred as to produce a 

 form not imlike a cornucopia. In the example under notice, the claw and limb of 

 each petal are so entirely flat as to give the flower the fonu and appearance of 

 some oi the more showy-coloured species of Clematis. This accidental fonn, so far 

 assimilating itself with clematis, anemone, and others, gives rise to the following 

 consideration : — Is not the patent rmspun-ed foi-m of Cohmibine its nonual con- 

 dition, and the spurred form a result of cidtivatiou ? • 



