Vol 6 - Dumfriesshire & Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian ...

Transactions. 21places north of Poi't-William Glaucium luteum, Malva moschata,and a prostrate form of Vicia sylvatica are most conspicuous, andsouth of Port-'William Crambe maritima is in plenty. I saw onefield almost covered with wild carrot and another with bugloss.Of ferns, the Parsley Fern, Green Spleenwort, and Cystopterisfragilis seem to be absent. The Royal Fern, now rare, wasformerlj' very plentiful about Mochrum Loch, &c., but it hasshared the fate of many other rare native plants—almost completeextirpation. A person told me that in her youth it was cut anddried to cover potatoes, &c., as brackens are commonly used, butthat it had been carried off in cartloads by fern vendors. MrDruce did not notice Raiiinicu/iis bulbosus in the county. Hypericumdubium is the most common St. John's wort, and Epilobiumobscuruin the most common willow herb. The typical plants ofthe county are Lepidiuin Sinithii, CEnanthe Crocata ("hech-how")Carum verticillatum, and Jasioiie niontana. The Kock Rose isvery rare and so is Golden Rod, so common in our sub-alpineglens. Swine's Cress is very common, though very rare in theStewartry. Some of the shore plants become scarcer as weproceed up the Solway Firth, while others seem to increase inabundance. For instance, Scilla verna, the vernal squill, soabundant in spring on the heughs of the west coast, does notoccur to my knowledge east of the River Dee. Gemnininsanguineiim, on the other hand, seems to increase in frequency aswe go eastwards, until we find it in plenty at Almorness.Erodium cicutarium is very rare in the Stewartry but veryplentiful in such sandy spots as Port-Logan and Moureith Bay.ScuicUaria minor has been recorded from only one or two stationsin Kirkcudbrightshire, whereas it is frequent in damp placesbetween Glenluce and Port-William. I could easily point outother differences in the frequency, rarity, or absence of plantsfrom the two Galloways, but the above will suffice.I have compared the lists from Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire,and I find that while nearly seventy plants recordedfrom the Stewartry have not yet been found inthe " Shire," onlyabout twelve plantsin Wigtownshire have not yet been noticedin Kirkcudbrightshire. These are Sagina maritima, Spergularianegiecta, Erodium maritimum, Carduus tenuijlorus, Bartsia viscosa,Thymus chamcvdrys, Lamium intermedium, Euphorbia para/ias,Equisetum maximum, Iso/epis savii, and Caucalis nodosa. Themost of these should be in the Stewartry. Those in Kirkcud-