152 



Proceedings of Societies. 



In tlie University Herbarium (whicli now contains Dr Greville's algae) 

 there are specimens of Fucus disticJms from Faroe, sent by Professor 

 Hornemann, and from Newfoundland, sent by Bory in 1831, which appear 

 to correspond with the Irish specimens. 



IV. Notice of the Occurrence of Sagina nivalis (Lindblom), on Ben 

 Lawers. By Professor Balfour. 



In October last, Mr J. T. Bos well Syme, wrote to me in the following 

 terms : — " Will you be so kind as to look in your herbarium under Alsine 

 rubella, to see if yoa have got specimens of Sagina nivalis, Lindbl. 

 Under this name, I have this plant with the following label from the 

 Edinburgh Botanical Society, ' Alsine rubella, Ben Lawers, Perthshire, 

 Aug. 25, 1847. Dr Balfour.' I have come to the genus Sagina for 

 the new edition of English Botany, and I feel great doubts as to whether 

 or not I should include S. nivalis. Babington mentioned it in the third 

 edition of his Manual, but omitted it from the fourth and fifth." On exa- 

 mining the plants in my herbarium and my duplicates, I found that three 

 specimens of Sagina nivalis were fastened down on a sheet along with 

 specimens of Alsine rubella. The specimens of the former were put 

 together and quite distinct from the latter, implying that I had looked 

 upon them as peculiar. They are marked ' Ben Lawers, 1817,' and they 

 were gathered by me on the 25th August. There were only a few pupils 

 with me, viz., Mr Charles Murchison, Mr F. J. Ivory, Mr Gilby, Mr 

 Hewitson, Mr Hugh Balfour. Among my duplicates I could only detect 

 two specimens remaining, one of which I sent to Professor Babington. 

 I have no doubt that there are others which have been distributed, as a 

 number of duplicates were contributed by me to the Society. In my 

 notes of the excursion, I refer to our getting ^^.sme ruhella, and from 

 the indication given, I think that I know the particular locality. 

 Babington refers to the plant as having been gathered on Glassmeal, by 

 Mr Backhouse ; and Hooker and Arnott, in the eighth edition of their 

 " British Flora," mention Sagina nivalis as found in the Isle of Skye 

 and Clova. They say that the plant is distinguished from >S^. subulata, 

 by being almost quite glabrous. It is possible that their plant may be S. 

 saocatilis. The genera Alsine and Sagina are very nearly allied. The 

 chief characters are derived from the styles and valves of the capsule, 

 which in Alsine are usually three, while in Sagina they are four or five. 

 In Alsine rubella the sepals are distinctly 3-nerved, whereas in 

 Sagina nivalis they are obscurely 1-nerved. By this character the 

 plants can be easily separated. 



I now show the original specimens gathered by me on Ben Lawers on 

 25th August 1847. 



The following are the characters of the plant as given by Fries : — 

 Sagina nivalis, Lindbl. Caulibus caespitosis, foliis subulatis mucronatis 

 glabris, pedunculis brevibus strictis, sepalis quinque ovatis obtusis mem- 

 branaceo-marginatis petala integra vix aequantibus. Lindbl. " Bot. Not.," 

 1845, p. 66; Fries, " Summa Yeg. Scand.," 156,- Fries, ''Nov. Mant." 

 iii. 31 ; Sagina intermedia, Ledebour " Flora Rossica," i. 339; Spergula 

 saginoides, /3. nivalis, Lindbl. in " Phys. Sallsk. Tidskr./' 1838, p. 128 ; 

 Arenaria ciespitosa, "Fl. Dan.," t. 2289. 



The plant is found in moist places of the Dovrefeld. Gathered by 

 Lindblom at Sprenbacken inKundsho, above Kongsvold, and at Drivelveu. 

 It is a perennial, and flowers in August and September. The discoverer 



