40 
FLORA OF FORFARSHIRE. 
Frequent along the coast from Will’s Braes to Montrose. 
Near Kettins, Mr James Gibb. 
The most handsome of our native species, and, when cul- 
tivated in circular clumps, forms an elegant border ornament 
in gardens. 
Gc. phceum, L. Dusky or Brown-flowered Crane’s-bill. H. 
66, B. 60. — F. May, July. P. 
Very plentiful in the Den of Mains, but probably intro- 
duced at some remote period as well as the Doronicum , 
which grows along with it. I have found there a white- 
flowered var., and it is likely that the plant mentioned in the 
Brit. Flora , as being found on the Sands of Barrie, had 
been from this station, as the latter is not the kind of place 
for such a plant to grow in, and I never observed it in that 
vicinity. 
To some of my southern readers the term Den may re- 
quire explanation. In the east of Scotland it is applied to 
deep hollows or ravines formed by streams, and the rocky 
banks of which are very generally planted with trees. The 
shade afforded by these is conducive to vegetation, and we 
consequently find in such places a great exuberance of 
flowers, as well as ferns, mosses, and other cryptogamic 
plants. 
The Den of Mains (or Mains of Claverhouse) is a small 
ravine formed by a stream that falls into the Dighty, a little 
to the west of the toll-bar on the Forfar road. On the south 
side of it stands the old Castle of Mains, said by some to 
have been built in the twelfth, and by others in the six- 
teenth century. The old oaks, and other trees around the 
Castle, indicate considerable antiquity ; and particularly a 
magnificent beech on the south side, which is of great dimen- 
sions, and is popularly known as “ The muckle Tree o’ the 
Mains.” The old church-yard of Mains or Strathdighty 
occupies the bank on the north side, conjointly with the 
garden of the schoolmaster, and the stream is crossed by an 
old one-arched bridge, which connects the two banks of the 
ravine. At the base of the rocks beneath the Castle there 
issues a clear spring of delicious water, surrounded with 
golden saxifrages. It is called Sinavey, and is said formerly 
to have been so overshadowed with trees and shrubs, that 
the sun never shone on it. A little below the Castle, the 
