THE FLORA OF THE NORTH-EAST 33 
maximum of sunshine, it presents a marked contrast to the corresponding 
area east of Spey. As few of the Morayshire hills rise above 2,000 ft., its 
Alpines are limited to those grown from seed washed down the river 
valleys. By way of compensation the flora of the ‘ Laich’ contains several 
species seldom found north of the southern counties of Scotland, and 
includes some 57 not recorded in the Flora of Banffshire. 
As the death of Dr. Gordon precluded the publication of a contem- 
plated second edition of his Collectanea, it is of interest to report that a 
Flora of Morayshire containing almost 1,000 species has been compiled 
under the auspices of the Moray Field Club, with its former secretary, 
Mr. J. J. Burgess, M.A., as editor.1 His collaborators are Rev. George 
Birnie, B.D., Speymouth, who contributes a chapter on Mosses, and 
Mr. Peter Leslie, M.A., B.Sc., formerly Lecturer on Forestry in Aberdeen 
University, who is responsible for Conifers, Fungi and Alge. Mr. Birnie 
had previously issued a Catalogue of Mosses for Vice-County 95, and the 
late Dr. Keith, Forres, several lists of local Fungi, but as little else dealing 
with the botany of Moray has been published in permanent form, the new 
volume should prove a welcome addition to the number of county Floras. 
It is hoped that the new Flora, for which the Prime Minister has written 
a foreword, will be published this year. 
Some of the rarer species found in that part of the Spey valley within 
Morayshire are Pyrola secunda, P. media, Carex aquatilis (Grantown) ; 
Arabis hirsuta, Agrimonia Eupatoria, Pimpinella Saxifraga, Galium boreale 
(Craigellachie) ; Linnea borealis, Ulex minor, Impatiens parviflora, 
Atropa Belladonna, Listera ovata, and the rarest of the wintergreens, 
Moneses grandiflora (Fochabers). Found there and near Brodie Castle 
(1792) for the first time in Britain, it still survives in three or four localities. 
Though entirely a Morayshire river, the Lossie has few places of 
botanical interest apart from Loch Spynie and the neighbourhood of 
Elgin. The area farther west is drained by the Findhorn. Unrivalled 
for the beauty of its scenery, that part of its valley which extends for 
seven or eight miles from the point where the river crosses the county 
boundary is the paradise of the artist and the nature lover. Nowhere in 
the county are the flowers so massive, their bloom so delicate, and their 
foliage so rich as on the banks of the Findhorn. Cothall, with its belt of 
limestone, and the woods adjoining, have long been known for such 
interesting plants as Geranium sanguineum, Saxifraga aizoides (at Sluie 
for 100 years), Agrimonia Eupatoria, Circea alpina, Sanicula europea, 
Eupatoria cannibinum, Carlina vulgaris, Lithospermum officinale, Neottia 
nidus-avis, Carex pendula, Melica uniflora, Equisetum hyemale. The 
Greshop Woods lower down yield Sisymbrium Sophia, Stellaria nemorum, 
Malva sylvestris, Adoxa Moschatellina, Echium vulgare, while across the 
river in Dyke Monotropa Hypopitys has twice been found in the beech 
- woods. 
Enough has been written to prove that the flora of Moray contains many 
species seldom found north of the Border counties of Scotland, and that 
the ‘ Laich of Moray ’ has a rich soil and a favoured climate. If emphasis 
were needed, we can point for confirmation to Elgin Cathedral and other 
1 Mr. Burgess died (February 28, 1934) since the above was written. 
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