NOTES ON THE FLORA OF SHETLAND 273 



Calluna as the dominant plant, especially in sheltered places ; no 

 species could be called subdominant, the intermingled plants 

 varied much as regards their relative numbers in different places. 

 Nardus was the most frequent grass, but it was not in tussocks; 

 other constituents were Anthoxanthicm, Scirpus ccesjntosus, Luzula 

 congesta, Jtmcus squarrosus, Empetrum, Potentilla sylvestris, Carex 

 panicea, Agrostis teiiuis, A. canina, Festicca ovina (viviparous), 

 Scabiosa succisa, Aira flexuosa, Molinia, Narthecium, with here 

 and there Bhincuithus, Euphrasia, and Galium saxatile. Scattered 

 amongst these plants all over the undulating moorland were 

 masses of Spliagnum acutifoUum, S. suhsecundum, S. cymhifolium, 

 S. rigidum, with greater or less patches of Polytrichum commune, 

 P. juniperinum, P. urnigerum, P.piliferum, Campylopus atrovirens, 

 C. brevipilus, C. turfaceus, Hypnum Schreberi, H. cupressiforme, 

 Hylocomium loreum, H. splendens, Dicanum scoparium, Aula- 

 comnium palustre, Nardia scalaris, Cladonia cervicornis, C. un- 

 cialis, C. pungens, C. cocci/era, C. furcata, and Cetraria islandica ; 

 whilst small stones were often covered with forms of Lecidea 

 contigua. 



Little mats of Epliebeia hispidula occurred on some of the 

 rocks. An association of plants which covered a large granite 

 rock in a small loch near Loch Eela consisted of a mass of seven 

 or eight square feet of Rhacomitrium lanuginosum, nearly two- 

 fifths of which was mostly covered with Empetrum nigrum, and 

 alongside it were large patches of Antitricliia curtipendula ; the 

 rest of the rock was covered with a mixture of Parmelia fuliginosa, 

 P. saxatilis, P. omphalodes, Lecidea geographica, L. contigua, 

 L. rivulosa, Pertusaria dealbata, Bhacomitrium aciculare, B. 

 heterostichum, and an Orthotrichum (not yet examined). On 

 another granite rock not far away there was an abundance of 

 Bliizocarpon confervoides ; w^hilst another mass of pure quartz 

 was completely covered with Lecidea rividosa. 



Eonas Hill, which attains an elevation of 1475 ft., latitude 

 above 60° 30' (further north than Bergen in Norway), was visited; 

 unfortunately a drizzling mist supervened which somewhat 

 hindered the investigation. I found it to be very barren ; it 

 consists of a great mass of red granite, which weathers very 

 rapidly, and hence is poor in vascular rock-plants, petrophilous 

 lichens, mosses, and such Hepaticae as Gymnomitria. The soil 

 formed by the weathered material also seems very unstable. 

 Outstanding rocks were few and had to be looked for. The 

 flattish and somewhat bare summit yielded (all the plants being 

 very dwarfed) : — Salix herbacea, Antennaria dioica, Thymus Ser- 

 pyllum, Plantago maritima (a variety which some would make 

 into another species ; I thought it might belong to var. lanata, no 

 plant being more than 1 in. high), Fcstuca ovina (viviparous), 

 Leontodon pratensis, Viola canina, Agrostis tenuis, Aira Jlexuosa 

 (large-flowered variety), Alchemilla alpina, and very little Juncus 

 trifidus and Luzula spicata. Other plants in fair quantity were 

 Bhacomitrium lanuginosum, Oligotrichum hercynicum, Andrccea 

 petrophila, Lecidea contigua, and Thamnolia vermicularis ; the 



