pdf 31 MB - BSBI Archive

NOTES ON SCOTCH PLANTS. 45
It was first described by L, Lfestadius as a species, i.e., Calmnagrostis
boreaUs, in ' Anamarkningar om Vegetationem i Karesuando
och Enoutekis.' I am indebted to Mr. Arthur Bennett for a copy
of the following description:— "Arista subdorsali, laua corolla
brevior, caulis foliatus. Panicula stricta patens, folia radicalia
dilatata, aspera, stricta, elongata. Cum C. stricta maximam similitudinem
habet. Differt autem arista subdorsali, hoc est infra
apicem, supra medium corolla fixa, brevissima ; pilis corollam
non aequantibus ; longiora autem quam strictae. A C. epirjejos, cujus
formam depauperatam primum putavi, differt glumis duplo brevioribus
non acuminatis, et a C. strigosa eadem nota." When I
gathered it, a specimen was at once sent to Mr. Arthur Bennett,
and, in answer to my query if stricta, he replied, " Yes, or borealis"
and later on leaned to the latter name, which has been kindly
decided by Prof. Hackel. So far, it appears to be recorded for
Europe only for Finmark, Lapland, West Bothnia. It has also
been found in Greenland. Its Scotch locality is a wide extension of
its range. If considered as a D. tieglecta, it is even then a rediscovery
for Scotland, since the marsh near Forfar where George Don
originally found the plant so-named has been dredged, and the
plant lost about the time that Eriophorum alpinum ceased to exist.
*• Phragmites vulgaris Trin., as the var. unifiora Dum. In Kin-
taU, 105.
Alopecurus genicidatas L. A glaucous form grew at Kinlochewe,
105.
*PJdeiim pratense L. Dingwall, 106.
Holcics lanatus L. Ascends to 2200 ft. on Ben Slioch.
'^Agrostis canina L., var. scotica Hackel in lit. A. canina L. occurs
abundantly as a large-flowered moorland plant about the base of
Ben Eay, W. Koss, 105, and is plentiful on the mountain itself.
At about 1500 ft. elevation it is accompanied with, or replaced by,
a dwarfur plant, which is found not only upon the quartzite screes,
but also on the summit-ridges. This plant puzzles me not a little,
and to see it in good condition was the special object of my northern
tour. I gathered a good series, and even then felt undecided whether
to put it under A. rubra Wahl. or A. canina. Sj)ecimens were sent
to Prof. Hackel, and he kindly wrote :— " Your Agrostis is in some
degree intermediate between A. canina and A. rubra (the existence of
such intermediate forms has already been mentioned by Berlin (Ofvers.
Stockh. E. Acad. Fcirhandl. 1887, p. 71), but he gave no name to
any of them. I should like to name your Agrostis A. canina var.
scotica, and, like A. canina, it offers two subvarieties, i.e., aristata
and iinitica. The true rubra differs from it by its flat radical leaves,
strongly-tufted growth, without runners, &c. From A. cajiina
gennina your var. scotica differs by the lower culm, much greater
spikelets, depauperate panicle, &c." The awnless form was as
frequent as the type. The plant was abundant, and ascended to
yOOO ft. A. canina is stated in the 'Student's Flora' to ascend to
1500 ft, in Derby. The same plant occurred, although much less
frequently, on Ben Slioch, but its comparative scarcity on that
mountain may bo explained that the former is forest, the latter