Flora of Scottish Lakes. 
173 
1909-10.] 
Ranunculus aquatilis, Polygonum amphibium, Glyceria fluitans, Lemna 
minor, Callitriche stagnalis, the two last only in pools on the shore ; Carex 
rostrata, C. aquatilis, C. Goodenovii, C. hirta, on the sandy shores, and 
2 TOwin£ like C. arenaria on the seashore ; Alisma Plantago, A. ranun- 
culoides, Phalaris arundinacea, Veronica Beccabunga, Comarum palustre, 
Mentha sativa, M. aquatica, M. arvensis, Eriophorum polystachion, Myosotis 
palustris, Montia fontana. Iris Pseud-acorus, Menyanthes trifoliata, 
Radicula officinalis, Juncus effusus, J. lamprocarpus, J. acutiflorus, and a 
dwarf prostrate form of it with scarcely any rhizome, growing on the ex- 
posed sandy shores ; J. bufonius and its var. fasciculatus, Equisetum 
palustre, Pedicularis palustris, Mimulus Langsdorffii, Lysimachia nummularia, 
Galium palustre, Stellaria uliginosa, Cardamine pratensis, Angelica syl- 
vestris, Ranunculus Flammula and its var. pseudo-reptans, as well as 
intermediate forms ; R. reptans, R. hederaceus, Caltha palustris, Spiraea 
Ulmaria, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Spergularia rubra, Gnaphalium uliginosum, 
Sagina nodosa, Sphagnum acutifolium, Philonotis calcar ea, P. fontana, 
Climacium dendrioides, Bryum bimum, Hypnum falcatum, H. commutatum, 
H. scorpioides, H. cuspidatum and Hylocomium squarrosum. These mosses 
are most abundant at the marshy places on the south shore. Hepatics 
are quite scarce. 
The Isle of May is situated at the entrance to the Firth of Forth, and is 
about 5 miles from the coast of Fife. It can be reached most easily by en- 
gaging a sailing-boat from either Anstruther or Crail, according to wind and 
tide. The only inhabitants of the island are the lighthouse keepers and 
their families ; and there is no public communication with the island from 
the mainland excepting in the summer, when an occasional steamer from 
Leith may, if the sea is calm, land excursionists there for an hour or so. 
The island is a little over a mile long by about 1 mile wide, and consists of a 
mass of volcanic rock. Almost the whole of the eastern side rises from the 
sea at a gradual inclination (figs. 118 and 119), but the western side is pre- 
cipitous, and the black dolerite cliffs, which occasionally exhibit magnificent 
columnar structure, rise perpendicularly from the sea to a height of 150 feet 
(fig. 122). Thousands of sea-birds of various kinds find a congenial home 
upon this cliff. The countless little platforms that are formed by the ends of 
the basalt columns suit them admirably both as resting-places and as sites for 
nidification. The black cliffs are whitened by the droppings of the birds, and 
when seen from a distance of 2 or 3 miles, under the soft refulgence of the 
declining sun of a gentle summer’s eve, this side of the island presents a 
magnificent spectacle. 
I was induced to visit this isolated spot in order to investigate a small 
