XXVII. An Account $Some Planfs newb d$avered in Scotland, By Mr. Tames Dick/"on, F. L. S.

Read Feb. 5, 1793.

L T H O U G H a very great number of Britifh plants are defcribed in the Flora Anglica and Flora Scotica, yet no per-

Eon can expea in thefe a complete catalogue of the plants of this kingdom; for, though their ingenious authors have done every thing in their power, yet, in a field fo efttenfive, much muit itill remain to be done. Large traAs in Scotland are itill unexplored by any naturalifi, and many plants being merely local, we muit wait for a more thorough and accurate examination of this king- dom, before we can fix the extent of the Britiih Flora.

Indeed the operations of Nature are fo dark and intricate, and her works Eo amazingly profufe, that it is much to be doubted whether we ihall ever be able, with the mofi 'Ecrupulous inveiti- gation, to afcertain the number even of Britiih plants, when we defcend to the minuter tribes. The fpan of human life will be found too fhort to meafure the vafi field of creation.

But thofe who intend to fearch for plants ought not to be dif- couraged a t their number, nor defpair of fuccefs though they tread in the footiteps of fome former naturaliit; for every praaical botanifi niuit remember fome infiances of his difcovering plants

8 in

MR. DICKSON'S A'count, &c. 287

in places he had often examined before; and' the f'mall plants are go numerous, and often fo crowded together, that we need not won- der if they efcape our moil minute obfervation. Where a choice of place can however be had, the wild and unexplored ought certainly to be preferred, though we fliould by no means over- look the land in cultivation. Numbers of plants, not formerly known to be annuals, are frequently found even among the fiand- ing corn: I once found in fuch a fituation five different genera upon a piece of earth half an inch {quare; they were the Phajunz Jubulatzsm, Phojum axillarc, Bryum trunrat u h , Jungermannia angu- lga, Rikcia glnuco, and BloJa pujla.

In England, where cultivation has made fo great a progrefs, we cannot expea to find h c h a variety of plants as in a wild moun- tainous country ; yet, within thefe thirty years, fome additions have been made to the Flora Aagfica, though not equal to the num- bers that have been added to the Flora Scotlca.

As the Highlands of Scotland abound with fuch a variety of foil and fituation, with high fnowy mountains, deep glens, dripping rocks, torrents of x.vater, and every other fcene that can a t t r aa the attention of the naturaliit, we may reafonably expeA that, a t fome future period, very large additions will itill be made to the Flora oE that country.

I have frequently made a tour through the Highlands, and ne- ver without diicovering fome plants. I am forry their number is as yet fo {mall, but they may ferve as it fpecimen of the botanical riches of the country, and induce fome other naturaliit to complete what I have only begun.

In a tour through the Highlands, in 1789, I difcovered the fox- lowing plants, which are mentioned in my Faj. Secund. p. 29. VERONICA alpina. Linn. Spec. Plant. 15. In montibus prop2 Gar-

VERONICA

I

way Moor, et in Bm Neyis.

288 MR. DICKSON'J Account of VERONICA faxatilis. * Linn. Sgppl. 83. in rupibus : Ben Lawers. PHLEUM alpinum. Linn. Spec. Plant. 88. in montibus prope Gar-

wny Moor. DRABA itellata. J..su. enzlm. 256. 1. 4 f: 3. Draba hirta Jacqu.

a@. 5. 9. 15. t. 432. (non D. hirta Linn.) in rupibus: Ben ... Lnwers.

HIERACIUM molle. Jacqu. a$. 2. p . 12. t . 119. in fylvis Scotia: auitralis.

HIERACIUM villoi'um. .tinn. Spec. Plant. 1130. in rupibus humi- dis : Ben Nevis.

HIERACIUM [picaturn. Allion. pedem. I. p. 218. f . 27. J: I. 3. in fylvis Scotize auitralis.

ERIGERON alpinum. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1211. in rupibus humidis: Ben Lawers.

SALIX RETUSA. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1528. in rupibus iiccis: Ben Lawers.

In a tour, in 1792, the following plants enriched my collec- tion.

VERONICA bum$@, r a c e m terminali, foliis tordato-hbrotundis

De&. Planta tota proitrata ; caules palmares et ultra, repentes, ra-

Folia cordato-fubrotunda, crenulata, fcabriufcula, approximata, inferiora petiolata, oppofita, fzpe terna vel quaterna, fuperiora plerumque i'efilia et alterna. Racemus terminalis brevis. Flores pauci, conferti, breviter pedunculati, laete czrulei.

The above Veronica is that which is mentioned in the FI. Scoha, p. 72. for 7. a@ina, and in the App. p. 1138. for a variety of the Y. jr-pyli'fofia: the firit it is not, nor do I think it can be the lait.

V. humi-

crenulatis, caulibus repentibus.

dicantes, ramofi.

&me Plants d$overed in Scoflund. 289

Y. hum$fa I never found but upon very high mounti&s, and under wet ihady rocks, where the 7, jrpY$ooliu never occurs ; be- fides I have cultivated them both together in the garden for three years, and they always kept very different. Dill. G$ AH, p. 67. has a V. nummularia folio, and Pluk. Pbyf. jab. 233. f. 4. V. pra- tenfis nummularia folio, flore coeruleo; but I doubt neither of them is the F. hurnfufa. ERIOPHORUM polyitachion. Culmis teretibus, f o l b prank, fpicis

pedunculatis. Linn. S)es. Plant. 76. VuiLl. Par$ tab. 16. f. 2, Leers Fl. Herb. t. I. f: 5. The figure given by Vaillant is a good one.

E. po&/achion of HudC Lightf. Curtis, Withering, 8c . is not the above.

I found this firit in bogs in Northamptonfiire, afterward's neat: Dunit able, Bedfordihire, and in Yorklhire, Cumberland, and very commonly in Scotland,

ER~OPHORUM angufkifolim. Culmis teretibus, foliis canaliculato- triquetris, {picis pedunculatis. Hofln. FZ. DeutJchZand. p. 19.. Yaill. Par$ tab. 16. f. I. Curtis, Ffor. L d .

This is our common Eriophorum, and has been miftaken for the E. polyJtachion of Liizn. Limeus, no doubt, confounds the two together, and refers to the figure in fiil!. tab. 16. f. I. only as a variety of his poZyJ&ion; but if he had ever feen both plants to- gether, I have no doubt bur he would have made them di i t ina Qecies.

T h e following particulars may ferve to ihew in what this differs from the E. PolyJlachron.

I. T h e root of that is not creeping.-2, The culmus is very ere&.-- VOL* 11. P P 3. TOu

299 MR. DICXSON’S Account of

3. T h e leaves ihort and flat.-4. T h e fpikes many, upoii flender footfialks, and peiidulous.-5. T h e involucrum ihorter than the fpike. ERIOPHORUM alphum. Linn. Spec. Plant. n. b u d by Mr. Brmt~g

and Mr. Don, in a mofs about three miles eait of Forfar, in the h i re of Angus.

A fpecimen of this was prefented to the Einnean Society foine time ago by Mr. Tcafdale. GENTIANA nivalis. Linn. Spec. Plant. 332. Ben Lawers. SIUM repens. Jaq. Fl. A@. t. 260. Wet places in the fouth of

Scotlalid. SAXIFRAGA cernua. j5h.m Spec. Plant. 577. Amongit the rocks on

the hmmit of Ben Lawers. STELLARIA ceraitoides. Linn. Spec. Plant. 604. Smitgs Plant. 16.

t. 15. Ben Nevis. ASPLENIUM alternifolium: Murny, SrJt. Yegetab. edit. 14. Jaq.

Mfi, 2. t. 5 . f. 2.

POLYPODIUM dentatum, nova fpecies *. A figure and defcription of this will be given in my third Fafciculus. Rocky mountains of Scotland.

Rocks in the fouth of Scotland.

I found the following, not defcribed in the Fl. Scotica, but in the Flora Anglica. PHAL ARIS arenaria. <Sea-coafi, near Preitonpans. LYSIMACHIA thyriiflora. Woods in the fouth of Scotland. DROSERA anglka. Near Fort Augufius. BARTSIA alpina Rocks to the eafi of Malghyrdy.

* P.dentatum. Fa& PI. cryp. 3. p. I. it. 7. f: 1.

CAREX

f i m t PlaBts &overed in Scotruna.

CAREX recurva. South of Scotland. CAREX brizoides. South of Scotland. SAGINA apetala. About Invernefs. ACROSTICHUM ilvenfe. Lhn. Rocks of Ben Lnwers.

This plant has been made a new Acr@ichm by my friend Mr. Bobon, under the name of A. a&inum; and by Dr. Witbering, PO&-. podium alpinurn. I believe it is a Pohpodium, but at the fame time I am confident it is no other than the Linnean A. iZven.a: I compared it both at Sir Jofeph Banks’s and a t Dr. Smith’s, and can find no difference bBt in fize, the Scotch plant being fomewhat the fmaller ; but thofe who are acquainted with ferns will be fen- fible how different they appear, according to their age or places of growth. I have no doubt, therefore, but the Linnean A. iZvnz (&@n’s) and that I found in Scodand are one and the fame

X XVIIT. Rr