ON THE PLANT REMAINS IN THE SCOTTISH PEAT MOSSES. 337 



I. Isle of Skye. — (a) Peat in the South-East of the island North- West of Broadford. 



(b) The basaltic plateau on the Eastern side of the island near 



Portree. 



(c) The basaltic plateau on the Western side of the island near 



Loch Bracadale. 

 II. Outer Hebrides. — The North- West region of North Uist. 



III. Caithness-shire. — Between Altnabreac and Scotscalder, on the Highland .Railway. 



IV. Easter Ross. — The hill district lying to the West of the Kyle of Sutherland. 

 V. Inverness-shire. — The Spey-Findhorn Watershed. 



VI. Inverness-shire. — The Findhorn-Nairn Watershed. 



Southern and Central Skye. 



(One-inch Ordnance Survey — sheets 71, 80.) — Three different areas were investigated 

 during the field work in Skye: (1) The peat lying to the North- West of Broadford, 

 below Beinn na Caillich and Beinn Dearg, in the South-Eastern part of the island. 

 (2) Peat situated on the basaltic plateau on the Eastern side of the island, a few miles 

 from Portree. (3) Peat on the Western edge of the basaltic plateau in the neighbour- 

 hood of Loch Bracadale. 



(1) Peat lying on the North and East of Beinn na Caillich. 



The peat here occurs at 50-700 feet above O.D., on gently sloping ground, with the 

 granitic cones of Beinn na Caillich and Beinn Dearg, rising to 2400 feet in the west. 

 The surface of the moss is in strong contrast to that of the hill-top and hill-side peat 

 in the Northern and Eastern Highlands, and even to many of the hill mosses in the 

 Outer Hebrides. Instead of the deep furrows and high banks of denuded peat, the 

 surface of the moss is smooth and closely covered with vegetation, consisting mainly 

 of Calluna vulgaris* Salisb., Myrica Gale, L., Erica Tetralix, L. (scanty), Erio- 

 phorum vaginatum, L. , abundance of Drosera intermedia, Hayne ; Phalaris 

 arundinacea, L. (not abundant), and Sphagnum, — a type of plant association very 

 similar to that covering large areas on the mosses lying at 300 feet in Kirkcudbright- 

 shire and Ayrshire. The general depth of the peat varies from 5 to 9 feet, and it rests 

 upon a stiff grey clay, containing many stones and large quantities of grit in the upper 

 layers. The sequence of the strata is the same over the whole of this area, all the 

 sections showing three distinct zones. 



Dominant Plants. 



1. Recent peat, formed chiefly from Scirpus and 



Calluna. 



2. Phragmites. 



3. Betula alba, L. 



Secondary Plants. 

 1. 



2. Scirpus, sp. 



3. Corylus Avellana, L. (abundance of nuts). 

 Alnus glutinosa, Gaetr. 



* The nomenclature of Hooker's Student's Flora of the British Islands, third edition, has been followed throughout. 



