17G NOTES ON THE BOTANY OF NOBTHERN PORTUGAL. 



fully in another spot some two or three miles to the south of Oporto. 

 T hap si a villosa L. and Margotia laserjntioides Boiss. occurred under 

 pine-trees. 



Some very common plants in lanes, &c, close to the city were 

 Digitalis purpurea L., Armaria montanah., Galactites tomentusa'M.ch., 

 Reseda media Lej., and Echiitm plantagineum Li.; while Anarrhmmt 

 hirsutum Lk. occurred more rarely. Ferns were plentiful, including 



Adiantum Capillus Veneris L., ( Iheilanthes odora Sw., Aspleniinn 

 Adiantum-nvjrum, L. (always in the form or subspecies acutum), 

 Cystopteris fragUis Bernh., and Gymnogramma feptophylla Desv. 



The Skrra do Gerez. — This lies about sixty miles due north of 

 Oporto, and reaches to the Spanish frontier. The village of Caldas 

 do Gerez, celebrated for its hot springs which attract large numbers 

 of Portuguese and Brazilians during the season, forms a convenient 

 centre for exploring the district. It is easily reached from Oporto 

 by taking the train to Brage, where a carriage can be procured for 

 the remaining thirty miles or so of the journey. The road is an 

 excellent one, but I should imagine the hotels (which are apt to be 

 crowded) would be very noisy. Fortunately I had no occasion to 

 try the experiment. 



Like all the other serras of Northern Portugal, the Gerez is a 

 mass of granite. The mountains rise to a considerable height ; 

 the loftiest, Borrageiro, reaches 4750 ft. These mountains, which 

 in their higher portions consist chiefly of enormous boulders and 

 bare sheets of granite, are divided by deep and narrow valleys, well 

 supplied with most delicious water. Much of the old forest still 

 remains. 



The flora of the district is a very interesting one, but not so 

 numerous in species as might have been expected. In 1884 Prof. 

 Henriquez published a list in which he enumerates 353 species of 

 flowering plants and ferns. To this number I was able to make 

 about 70 additions. 



The principal trees and shrubs are Q iter cm pedunculate Elirh. 

 and Q. Tozzi Bosc, and Castawa vulgaris Lamk., which all reach a 

 large size; Acer Pseudo-platanm L., Arbutus Unedo L., Primus bid* 

 tanica L., and Pyrus communis L. 



Ferns are numerous and luxuriant : many of the tiny glens in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of Caldas being almost choked with 

 Wood ward ia rad 'team Cav. The fronds are often from ten to fourteen 



lis h. 



feet in length 

 On a wall at 35 



. It is generally accompanied by Osmund* rega 

 Bouro (half-way from Brags) I saw Cheiianikes 





lorn 



Sw. ; and on oak-trees, a little nearer Braga, some beautiful speci- 

 mens of Davallia canadensis Sw. 



Two plants peculiar to this serra are Iris Baissieri Henriq. and 

 Armeria WUfk&mnd Henriq, I had the pleasure of collecting 

 both. The Iris is a singularly beautiful plant, and will probably 

 before long become a favourite is gardens. It grows in grassy 

 places between 1900 and 2800 ft. The Armeria seems to be con- 

 fined to the summit of Borrageiro. 



Other noticeable plants, Agrostis t rune a tula Pari., a very remark- 

 able Carts t possibly new, which I found in one place on Borrageiro, 



