BOTANY
spicuous flowers. Its distribution is curious. It grows
on the mountains of Southern and Central Europe and
in Scotland, which is its northern limit. Dr H. Mac-
millan, in his ' Holidays on High Lands,' suggests that
this may be one of the plants growing in Scotland
before the immigration of the Scandinavian species.
Plentiful on Ben Lawers.
Sagina nivalis, Fr. (Alpine Pearlwort). Very rare;
Perth, Forfar.
Astragalus alpinus, L. (Alpine Milk Vetch). Very
rare; Forfar, Aberdeen.
Oxytropis campestris, D.C. (Pale Yellow Oxytropis).
One of the rarest of British plants; Forfar only.
Dryas octopetala, L. (Mountain Avens). The hand-
some white flowers, an inch in diameter, are succeeded
by a remarkable cluster of seed-vessels with awns two
inches long. This favourite mountain flower is found
in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland.
Sibbaldia procumbens, L. Named by Linnasus in
honour of Sir Robert Sibbald, who, in 1684, published
'Scotia Illustrata,' one of the earliest works on the
natural history of Scotland. In it he gives a figure
of this plant. Widely distributed, but in the United
Kingdom confined to Scotland; on Ben Lawers so
abundant as to form in places a green sward instead of
grass.
Alchemilla alpina, L. (Alpine Lady's Mantle). One
of the commonest Scottish mountain plants. The
flowers are inconspicuous, but the shining, silvery
foliage is remarkably beautiful; Ireland, N. of Eng-
land, but not found in Wales.
Saxifraga oppositifolia, L. (Purple Mountain Saxi-
frage). Though the foliage is not so pleasing as that
of the moss campion, the purple flowers, which are
about the same size as those of that species, are even
more beautiful. They begin to open as early as April,
and some may be found all through the summer.
Widely distributed over the globe, and from Wales
northwards one of our commonest alpine plants.
Si nivalis, L. (Alpine Clustered Saxifrage). Wales, N
of England, Scotland, Ireland. S. rivularis, L. (Alpine
Brook Saxifrage). Rare; Inverness, Aberdeen, Perth.
8. cernua, L. (Drooping Alpine Saxifrage). This
small, slender plant has a wide range of distribution,
being found in the Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and
America, on the Himalayas and the mountains of
Central Europe, but in Britain on the top of Ben
Lawers only. Every collector knows the spot, and the
plants are now few and diminutive. Even forty years
ago Hooker and Arnot said, ' Now almost extinct;'
yet it still holds on. It would, however, be well if all
who search for it would follow the example of an Eng-
lish doctor who visited the mountain a few years ago.
He would not gather a single specimen, but in pres-
ence of this rare plant he lifted his hat. It seldom
flowers, but reproduces itself by means of small red
buds borne in the axils of the upper leaves.
Cornus suecica, L. (Dwarf Cornel). It is instruc-
tive to contrast this alpine plant, 3 inches high, with
C. sanguinea (the Dogwood of our shrubberies), which
attains a height of 6 feet or more ; Yorkshire, the
Cheviots, and the Scottish Highlands.
Erigeron alpinum, L. (Alpine Fleabane). Perth.
Forfar.
Onaphalium, supinum, L. (Dwarf Cudweed). On
the tops of the Scottish mountains as far south as
Ben Lomond. G. norvegicum, Gunn. (Norwegian Cud-
weed). Very rare; Aberdeen, Forfar.
Mulgedium alpinum, Less. (Blue-flowered Sow-
thistle). This rare species is a giant among alpine
plants, attaining a height of 4 feet ; Aberdeen, Forfar.
Saussurea alpina, D.C. England, Wales, Scotland
Ireland.
1C46
Of the genus Hieracium many beautiful alpine
forms occur on the Scottish mountains.
Phyllodoce {Menziesia) ccerulea, Bab. Found in
Britain on the Sow of Athole only — if indeed it still
exists.
Loiseleuria {Azalea) procumbens, Desv. (Trailing
Azalea). A small, much-branched, evergreen under-
shrub, clinging close to the ground, and bearing numer-
ous minute pink flowers; the Scottish mountainSj
especially those of Forfar. Not found in England,
Wales, or Ireland.
Oentiana nivalis, L. Most alpine plants are per-
ennial, but this is annual. Some specimens do not
exceed an inch in height, but in favourable situations
it attains a height of 6 inches. On account of its
rarity and the beauty of its blue flowers it is in danger
of being exterminated by collectors ; Perth and For-
far only.
Myosolis alpestris, Schmidt (Alpine Forget-me-not).
The large blue flowers greatly surpass in beauty those
of the lowland species of this genus. Rare; N of Eng-
land, Perth.
Veronica alpina, L. (Alpine Speedwell). Rare;
mountains of the Scottish Highlands.
Bartsia alpina, L. N of England, mountains of
the Scottish Highlands.
Betula nana, L. (Dwarf Birch). A bush 1 to 3
feet high ; N of England, the Scottish mountains.
This is the birch of the Arctic regions.
Salix lanata, L. (Woolly Willow). This rare and
beautiful willow is a shrub 1 to 3 feet high, with large
woolly leaves ; Aberdeen, Perth, Forfar.
The following four species of Willow are also confined
to the mountains of Scotland: — S. lapponum (L.), S.
Arbuscula (L.), S. Myrsinites (L.), S. reticulata (L.),
while S. herbacea, L. (Least Willow), the smallest
British shrub, is found on the tops of the highest
mountains in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
Of the genus Juncus (Rush), three alpine species
found in Scotland, but not elsewhere in the United
Kingdom, may be mentioned — J. trifidus (L.), J.
castaneus (Sm.), J. biglumis (L.)
Luzula arcuata, Wahl. (Mountain Wood-rush). The
smallest and rarest of our Wood-rushes, and perhaps
the most characteristic plant of the Cairngorm moun-
tains, on whose tops it forms a sward.
Of the genus Carex (Sedge) the following three
species are also confined to the Scottish mountains: —
C. rupestris (All.), 0. lagopina (Wahl.), 0. alpina
(Sw.)
2. The Mooes. — These are very extensive, but their
vegetation, consisting chiefly of rushes, sedges, grasses,
heaths, and mosses, is rather monotonous. However,
in August and September nothing can surpass the
beauty of the Heather in flower. In the United King-
dom there are ten different plants popularly known as
heaths; of these Scotland has only four, and one —
Menziesia — is so rare that practically we have only
three. First, the Common Heather or Ling {Calluna
vulgaris, Salisb.); second, Fine-leaved Bell Heath
{Erica cinerea, L.); and third, Cross-leaved Bell Heath
{E. Tetralix, L.). All these three are occasionally
found with white flowers, so that the white heather
eagerly sought for by tourists in the Highlands is not
a different species. Indeed, on the same branch one
twig may be found with white flowers and another with
them coloured.
Ling reaches an elevation of over 3000 feet; the two
Bell Heaths over 2000. In boggy places among
sphagnum and heather the rare and pretty under-
shrub Andromeda polifolia, L., with its large, waxy,
urn-shaped, rose-coloured flowers, may occasionally be
found. The much commoner creeping plant Vaccinium