34 
POPULAE SCIENCE EEVIEW. 
sake of tke brook; the Alpine astragalus {Astragalus alpinus), 
enlivening the turf with its purple clusters^, and armed with a 
fierce array of thorns^ as if defying any one to pluck them ! 
But we cannot stop to enumerate any more floral beauties 
of the Scotch mountains_, and must pass on to those of Wales 
and Cumberland. And here_, again_, we can only name a few 
plants^ well known it may be to some of our readers_, who 
remember climbing these mountains^ and have not forgotten 
their most impressive scenery. First on our list come two 
little willows^ only tvfo or three inches high^ Salix {reticulata 
and Jierhacea), well-known polar plants; then we have the 
pendent orange- cinque-foil {Potentilla alpestris), whose blos- 
soms are usually found beautifully blended with the white 
flowers of the Alpine cerastium {Gerastium alpinum). 
Two saxifrages^ Saxifrago muscoides, a moss-like looking 
plant with yellow flowers^ and Saxifraga nivalis with its 
obovate^ roundish^ crenated leaves and white flowers,, a hardy 
mountaineer^ which usually selects the loftiest summits for a 
habitat ; the Hairy Stonecrop {Sedum villosum) ; and the 
Alpine Fleabane {Prig er on alpinum), must complete our scanty 
catalogue of mountain plants ; enough,, however^ for our 
purpose,, as they show their Scandinavian and Arctic cha- 
racter. 
TV. The Germanic Type. This consists of plants very gene- 
rally diffused over the British isles^, and comminghng with all 
the others^ — all our common forest trees^ shrubs,, and flowers,, 
such as the oak,, elm,, birch^ alder, ash, bramble, wild-rose, 
yew, holly, poplar, hazel-nut, and the daisy, common heath (or 
ling), primrose, shepherd'’s-purse, clover, celandine, coltsfoot, 
dandelion, groundsel, sweet-scented vernal-grass, and meadow- 
foxtail, &c. We gladly leave out the botanical names in this 
instance, for the sake of some of our readers, and because, in 
the case of such common plants, we can be suflS.ciently accurate 
without them. 
Professor Forbes makes another group out of the chalk 
plants common to the south-east of England, and to the oppo- 
site coast of France ; but these plants must all be referred to 
the Germanic type, for they are by no means so restricted 
in their growth as the plants of the Asturian, Armorican, 
and Arctic types ; on the contrary, most of them are to be 
found in other parts of England where the soil is simply cal- 
careous. The attachment of these plants to chalk is an 
accident, and not an essential habit of the species.'’^ 
Now, what is the cause of these peculiarities in the phyto- 
geography of Great Britain and Ireland ? First, as to the 
Asturian flora on the mountains of Ireland. The question is, 
how did these plants get there ? No existing marine currents 
