TRANSACTIONS OF THE 8ECT10NS. 135 



understand the peculiarities of the Aberdeenshire flora. The British type compre- 

 hends those of almost general occurrence in England and Scotland ; the English, 

 those general in England and rare in Scotland, or absent from the northern districts ; 

 the Scottish, those which are rather general in the lower districts of Scotland, some 

 being found also in the north of England, but disappearing southwards ; the Ger- 

 manic, those confined mainly to the south-east of England ; the Atlantic compre- 

 hends species found principally in the west, and rare or wanting in the east ; the 

 Highland type comprehends those which characterize the mountains of Wales, 

 those of the north of England and of Scotland— some, however, descend to the sea- 

 shore in the north and west of Scotland ; in the Local type are included a few species 

 so partial in occurrence as not to come under any of the other types. 



The flora of Aberdeenshire includes only nine of the English, two of the Ger- 

 manic, and of the Atlantic type only one; plants of these types, form, therefore, a 

 very small proportion of the entire number, and are for the most part very local. Of 

 the British type there are 485 species, consisting of 353 Dicotyledons, and 132 

 Monocotyledons ; those of the Scottish type are 4" in number, comprehending 

 more than one-half of the British species referred to that type — some of these, as 

 Linnaa, Goodyera, Trientalis, &c, are very plentiful near Aberdeen and in the 

 lower district generally. Those of the Highland type are estimated at 100 in the 

 whole British Flora ; of these, eighty-nine species are found in Aberdeenshire, some 

 of which are confined to the inland districts, a few others descend even to the sea- 

 level. In the interior, at different altitudes, we meet with such plants as Thaliclrum 

 alpinum, Nuphar pumila, Aratris petrcea, Cerustium alpinum, Astragalus alphius, 

 Mulgedium alpinum, Arbutus alpina, Veronica alpina, and various interesting species 

 of Saxifraga, Hieracium, Salix, Juncus, Carex, and Poa. 



In addition, therefore, to many of the species which are widely diffused in Britain, 

 Aberdeenshire is characterized by a general intermixture of those belonging to the 

 Scottish and Highland types. 



The physical characters of the country, already indicated, are such that it presents 

 an excellent field for studying the distribution of the species in zones of altitude. 

 In many of the lower districts the British and Scottish types occur in fair proportion, 

 with occasionally a few of the Highland type ; as we pass to the interior, many of the 

 British and Scottish become rare, and finally disappear ; about the highest points the 

 species are few, and belong solely to the Highland, the flora becoming entirely 

 Arctic in character. Thus only seven species, all of that type, are found on the 

 extreme summit of Ben Muich Dhui, in the proportion of four Monocotyledons to 

 three Dicotyledons. 



The three zones of the Arctic Region in Britain, as defined by Mr. Watson in his 

 ' Cybele Britannica,' are on the whole well defined in Aberdeenshire, viz. the infr-, 

 mid-, and supr-arctic. In the first of these, embracing an elevation of 1600 to 

 2100 feet, the flora presents a mixture of British, Scottish, and Highland species; 

 in the second or mid-arctic, from 2100 to 3000 feet, the British and Scottish 

 types are rarer, and the more interesting species of the Highland prevail ; in the 

 supr-arctic, from 3000 to 4320 feet, Highland species are most general, and at the 

 extreme points, as already stated, they alone are found, and only a few species, — the 

 flora at such extreme elevations being, therefore, far more meagre than even in the 

 highest latitude of the Arctic zone known to us, Dr. Kane having found more than 

 twenty flowering plants in latitude 81° N. 



On the Temperature of the Flowers and Leaves of Plants. 

 By E. J. Lowe, F.L.S. 

 During the spring and summer of the present year, I have made some hundreds 

 of thermometric observations in order to ascertain the temperature of plants and 

 flowers in comparison with that of the air and of grass. For several months, grass 

 was always colder than flowers ; but when hot summer weather set in, the reverse 

 took place frequently. An extract from this series will show the state of the tem- 

 perature at different times : — 

 February 26th. Greatest heat on grass 50 o- 0, on Crocus vernus 54 0, 0, and on Crocus 



aureus 54 0- 5. 

 March 28th. Greatest heat on grass 61 0, 5, on Narc'ssui pseudo-narcissus 63°7« 



