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FIS\92
TRAIL, J.W.H.
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Lodinburgh
Trail Memorial Volume |
THE MEMORIAL TABLET
James William Helenus I rail
HK Memorial Volume
ABERDEEN
PRINTED FOR THE SUBSCRIBERS
AT THE ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS
1923
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
PREFACE.
In the summer of 1919 a number of Professor James W. H.
Trail’s old students discussed the possibility of presenting him
with his portrait to mark their appreciation of his long and
distinguished connection with the University of Aberdeen,
which he had then served for over forty years, and their
personal indebtedness to his teaching and character. Only
preliminary discussions had taken place when his sudden
death in the September of that year brought the project to an
end. On the 5th of May, 1920, a meeting of a few of his old
students was held in the Forestry Department, and it was
decided that it would be fitting to replace the earlier proposal
by a scheme for the creation of a memorial. Steps were
taken to form a large and representative committee, with a
local executive, and in its name an appeal for funds was
issued to all Professor Trail’s former students and to his
professional colleagues and friends.
At a meeting of the subscribers held on the 29th of
March, 1922, it was decided that the memorial should take
a double form: that a mural tablet with a portrait plaque
should be executed which might find a place in the new
Department of Botany then being erected in the Chanonry :
and that a memorial volume containing unpublished work of
Professor Trail’s should be issued.
The design and execution of the tablet was entrusted to
Miss Alice B. Woodward, a reproduction of whose fine work
Vv
vi PREFACE
will be found in the frontispiece plate. The head is sur-
rounded by a wreath of oak leaves, acorns and galls, the galls
of Scotland having formed a favourite object of Professor
Trail’s studies. The decorative panel presents a dragon fly
and a water spider, representative of his zoological interests ;
and a bladderwort, representative of his work on the Scottish
Flora. The water spider was the subject of one of his earliest,
the bladderwort of one of his last contributions to biological
literature. The whole is flanked by two Brazilian palms, the
family which was the subject of his first important scientific
work after his return from the Amazon.
The principal item in the memorial volume is the “‘ Flora
of the City Parish of Aberdeen,” a work on which he had
been engaged for many years. The manuscript of the syste-
matic record was complete, though not revised for the press.
It -had been prepared for the Aberdeen Natural History
and Antiquarian Society, whose permission to publish was
obtained. The introductory portion was contained in four
manuscripts, some fragmentary, of different (and unknown)
dates, and none in finished form. Fortunately it was found
possible, by slight rearrangement and the deletion of a single
sentence, to combine them into a connected account. In this
a good many repetitions occur, but it was thought better to
accept the disadvantage entailed than to attempt extensive
editing. Here and throughout the volume, which has been
prepared for the press by various members of the Committee,
editing has been restricted to minor corrections, and slight
modifications necessary to secure uniformity. It may be
noted that some of the changes, eg. in the Links, which
Professor Trail dreaded have now taken place.
Professor Trail’s other manuscripts passed to the Univer-
sity Library. Among them was a fragment of an “ Autobio-
graphy,’ and this the Library Committee gave permission
to print. It has been supplemented by Mrs. Trail, and is
included in the ‘‘ Biographic Sketch.”
PREFACE vii
The block of Parson Gordon’s map of Aberdeen was
kindly lent by the proprietors of the Aberdeen Press and
Journal.
In this issue of Professor Trail’s own work the subscribers
believe they have found the most suitable memorial to a man
whose earnest work for Aberdeen University and for science
has had so much influence on the many hundred students
who passed through the Botany Department during the
years from 1877 to 1919. Their appreciation may be ex-
pressed in the words of the inscription on the Memorial
Tablet—
‘““ He knew and loved the realm of living nature
and inspired successive generations of students
with his desire for deeper knowledge.”
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE : : : ; - ¢ . : 5 . : * Vv
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH . 6 4 : ; meee 0 0 1
CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY . . 5 5 : 0 - 33
FLORA OF THE CITY PARISH OF ABERDEEN—
INTRODUCTORY . 2 5 : : ; : : : a
SYSTEMATIC RECORD . . é : : . : : 4 OY
INDEX TO GENERIC NAMES c : : : : 0 . 327
mca
ey re
fees iS
eet
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE MEMORIAL TABLET , ° ° ° ° ° . Lrontispiece
JAMES W. H. TRAIL, 1905 . é : 3 6 : To face page 16
ABERDEEN IN 1661. : 6 . . é . 50 332
xi
BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH.
Some notes found among Professor Trail’s papers form the
groundwork of this short sketch. They have evidently been put-
together for his children, and with no idea of publication. To some
of his friends and old students, however, it has seemed that they
should not be lost, giving, as they do, an account of student life
before the New Regulations, and also allowing a glimpse of the man
himself with his ideal of work and his love for the University of
Aberdeen to which he was bound by so many ties. His mother
passed her girlhood in one of the houses in the old quadrangle of
King’s College, while living with her brother, Professor Hercules
Scott ; his father and he, himself, were members of the Senatus
together for many years; his wife was a daughter of a colleague,
and love for the University seemed part of the man himself.
James William Helenus Trail was born on the 4th March,
1851, in the Old Manse of Birsay, Orkney; he was the youngest of
the five children of the Rev. Samuel Trail, minister of the united
Parishes of Harray and Birsay from 1844-68. He was so small
and puny when born that it was found impossible to dress him, and
he was rolled in cotton wool and fastened to the pillow; his face
was just the size of his father’s watch face. He developed slowly,
and was so long in beginning to speak that for some time fears
were entertained that he was going tobe dumb. He soon dispelled
these, when at the age of three he began to speak and was the
veriest chatterbox.
His love for Nature in all her forms, which was to be such a
very marked characteristic afterwards, showed itself very early, and
I have been told by a visitor to the Manse of her surprise when the
tiny toddler of three appeared with his pinafore full of crawly,
creepy things, with his eyes sparkling, and saying, ‘‘ Pretty, Pretty.”
He always said he inherited this love of Nature from his mother,
between whom and himself there was a very great bond of sym-
pathy and love.
The country open-air life and perfect freedom no doubt fostered
in him the love of plant and animal life, while the lack of companion-
ship—his brothers and sister being considerably older than himself
—left him free to indulge in long, solitary rambles, which often
kept him out on the hillside or on the moors and lochs of Orkney
for the whole of the long summer day.
His education was undertaken by his father, who began to
teach him the Rudiments of the Latin Grammar, when he was six, ~
B
2 J Viel RAIS
but, as he used to say himself, he learned the rules of the Grammar
for three years before it ever dawned upon him that Latin had
once been a spoken language! Naturally such a training was not
calculated to inspire a love of the Classics, and he might have been
excused had he taken a jaundiced view of their place in the
education of the youth of his day. He was saved from this by his
own essential fairness, and also by the strong feeling he had that it
would be the worst thing possible for his own beloved Natural
Science, should it ever take the same unfair position in the school
curriculum. He had a very great aptitude for languages, and after
he had passed through the University he taught himself to read all
the modern European languages, in which books were published,
which could be useful to him in the study of plants and their
diseases.
The first five years of his life were spent in the Manse at Birsay,
on the picturesque bay of that name where the great Atlantic
rollers crash upon the stony beach, which is slightly sheltered by
the ‘‘ Brough ”—the high headland, which is entirely cut off from
the mainland at high tide, and where the sheep in a gale take
shelter at the very edge of the cliff!
Owing to the impossibility of educating the older members of
the family in Orkney, they had all to be sent to Aberdeen, and
James for the first eleven years of his life was practically an only
child. Great economy had to be practised in order to keep the
four older children at the University and at school, and James
proved himself a most valuable help to his mother, who, besides
superintending the ordinary work of a country manse, was looked
upon by the parishioners as something of a doctor and whose
advice was eagerly sought for. Many household avocations which
have long fallen into disuse were practised in the manse such as
grinding coffee and rice, peeling rushes for wicks for the small
lamps, etc., and in all these ways James proved himself very
useful—lessons which he never forgot and which made him very
much more independent in the house than are most men. Those
happy days had to come to an end, however, with the necessity
of a more regular and systematic education.
In the later years of his life he became very much interested in
genealogy, that study which seems to have such a strong fascina-
tion—especially for Scotsmen. He left valuable and careful
collections upon the genealogy of the Trail Family which are now
in the University Library. His notes say :—
Turis attempt to state what could be discovered regarding my an-
cestry is the result of various influences, of which I can trace the
following :—
My mother had an unusual knowledge of traditional lore con-
nected with families of South Kincardineshire and Forfarshire,
especially about the Ogilvy kinship, to which her mother belonged.
BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH 3
Being the youngest child, and at times the only one at home, I was
much with my mother, and heard from her much of what she
knew of such lore, as well as of the traditions of Old Aberdeen
and of its University. The Ogilvies were keen Jacobites, and as a
child I felt the hold of the tradition and the strong dislike of the
Argyll Campbells for the harm done by them to Airlie and other
Ogilvy lands during the Civil Wars. My mother’s niece, Mrs.
Valentine, was only about four years younger than my mother,
and they had grown up together like sisters. Mrs. Valentine was
a very keen genealogist, and, as a child, I have wondered at her
memory ; but, to my regret afterwards, I remember only a very
little of her conversations, and I am not aware that she ever wrote
down what she could tell sofully. What I heard from my mother
I remember very imperfectly ; but it has helped me at times to in-
formation that I could not have obtained without this help; and a
few notes in MS. by her have aiso aided me.
My father had accumulated a good deal of material relating to
the name Trail or Traill, the substance of which will be found
below. It bears largely on the family that possessed Blebo in
Fifeshire, to which he traced his ancestry for the reasons stated
below. ‘The notes left by him are chiefly contained in a MS. book
now [1919] in possession of my brother, John A. Trail, W.S. A good
deal of what he records was derived from correspondence and the
loan to him of MS. records by descendants of the Blebo family,
especially through William Traill, M.D. (of North Ronaldshay and
Woodwick in Orkney), and various descendants of the Rev. Robert
Trail, a prominent Covenanter and minister for a time of Greyfriars
parish in Hdinburgh. His notes were not brought by him into
definite form, and further inquiry was desirable on several points.
Probably he had intended to try to make such inquiry but had
omitted to do so, or had been deterred by the trouble that it would
have cost him.
The duties that had to be attended to, and the time required to
gain the necessary knowledge of Natural Science, prevented my
spending labour in trying to add to what I had been told of their
ancestry by my parents, and caused me to forget a good deal of
what I had heard as a child, and have since felt cause to regret the
loss of. In later years the progress of the study of heredity, and
its importance in Natural Science, has led to the recognition of
the probable worth of knowing as fully and truly as possible the
ancestry of oneself, and therefore of one’s children ; but for such
4 . J. W. H. TRAIL
knowledge to be of value the inquiry must extend not to those
bearing the one surname only, but to all ancestors that can be
traced with sufficient confidence, female as well as male.
I had been content to let what I knew remain at what I had
found in the notes referred to, supposing it to be very unlikely that
I could add materially to what they contained, or that it would be
possible to trace ancestry among the classes to which I had to
look, where few records had been kept, if any, and who had not
the links that were likely to keep them permanently in certain
homes.
My interest in questions of heredity had been growing from the
side of the scientific problems, and I had followed Galton’s applica-
tions of it to questions of human inheritance, but with the recogni-
tion of the very complex nature of inheritance, and of the very
great limitations in its practical application even where high social
rank has secured full information as to kinship, and at least some
information from which to infer the characters of the persons in the
lines of ancestry.
What led to my undertaking the inquiry into my own ancestry
was a request from my daughter Helen before her marriage that I
would give her information of what she had been told was recorded
by my parents. In trying to put this into shape I realised how
little it really came to, confined to a few names beyond which all
was unknown, while among my father’s notes the evidence on
various matters appeared to be defective or misleading. Dis-
satisfied with this information, I sought to add to it, and to clear
away uncertainties as far as could be done, though without much
hope of being able to add much to what they had left in manuscript.
Had I realised the time and labour it would require, I do not think
I would have begun the search; but, once entered on, its interést
grew as step after step was gained, and the field widened.
What the manuscripts contained afforded the clues to link on
to other sources of information in genealogical works, in parochial
registers in the Register House in Kdinburgh, in such books as
Jervise’s “ Land of the Lindsays,” and now and again in passing
allusions in books, etc., which had not seemed likely to be helpful.
Frequently references in the books consulted opened new sources of
information ; and each generation introduced new matter for in-
vestigation when the names and ancestry of the mothers could be
ascertained. At a distance from a library fairly rich in books on
family history such an inquiry would have been doomed to failure,
BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH 5
but the library of the University of Aberdeen yielded many aids
after the earlier difficulties had been overcome.
The labour of the investigation was largely repaid by the many
sidelights thrown on the former history of Scotland. The social
conditions, the relations between the Church (R.C.) and the people,
the family histories and feuds, the personalities of the actors that
shaped that history are all seen from new standpoints, and gain
much in being so seen as regards their interest. I have found my
outlook on these and other matters of national importance widened
and changed, and my interest in them much increased as one
result.
The search for information has also possessed the attraction of
a scientific Inquiry, apart from any personal interest, the problem
in this case being to ascertain how far it seemed practicable to work °
out the direct ancestry of a family of the professional middle class
where certain lines were already known for two or three genera-
tions back. In such an inquiry the aim should be to learn the
truth, not to try to drag into the ancestry claimed any names un-
justified by evidence. As regards the possibility of using the as-
certained heredity to explain the personal characteristics of living
persons, there seems little likelihood of practical results of value,
for the records of any one ancestor are rarely such as to afford the
basis of forming a trustworthy estimate ; and they never are so in
respect of a half of the ancestors even of monarchs.
The ancestry that could be relied on as unquestionably
correct in my father's memoranda of his own family is as
follows :—
Alexander Trail 7 Ann Reid ° Samuel Ritchie = Hlizabeth Sherifis
ie |
John Trail = Ann Ritchie
|
| 7” | |
Samuel Elizabeth Isabella John Robert Ann James
= Helen Scott
|
Hercules Isabella John Samuel Thomas James William
Scott Anne Margaret Arbuthnot d. unm. Helenus
= Mary Jane = Andrew = Williamina = Katherine
Steeds. Jamieson. Anderson. Hliz. Milligan.
He has put on record his conclusion that the above Alexander
was a son of John Trail, whose descent he traces thus :—
6 J. W. H. TRAIL
John Trale = Barbara Logon
of Blebo in Fife 1517
Alexander = . . . Kininmonth
of Blebo |
| |
John Andrew = Helen Myrton
of Blebo Colonel in Dutch Service
against Spain ; bought
Belay in Denino
|
James = Mathilda Melville
Colonel, of Kilcleary
Mary Hamilton = James Robert = Jean Annand
Colonel under min. Elie, Greyfriars,
Cromwell Edinburgh, 1649-78
al |
Helenor = William Robert
min. Borthwick, min. London,
1690-1714 1669-1716
|
Christian = James William Robert
Allardice min. _ min. min.
Montrose, Benholme, Panbride,
1709-23 1710-43 1717-62
|
John William Robert Robert
min. min. min.
Logie Pert, Kettins, Rescobie,
St. Monans, Banfi, Panbride,
1740-56 1746-61 1749-98
| |
Alexander William James David
= Ann Reid. prof. min. min.
Mar. Coll., St. Cyrus, Panbride,
1766-79. 1782-1816. 1798-1850.
Among my father’s MSS. are the following notes :—
James Trail of Montrose married Miss Allardice, daughter of Provost
Allardice of Aberdeen, by whom he had one son and two daughters. He died
26th March, 1723.
1. John, born 1st March, 1714, appears, from letters written in the years
1735-39 to his cousin the Rev. William Trail, of St. Monans, to have
possessed considerable abilities. At the age of 18 or 19 he went
to England and was undermaster in a school fora time. In 1740 he
went with —— Ramsay of Straloch to Straloch in Aberdeenshire, of a
farm on which he was offered a lease to continue ‘as long as grass grew
or water ran.” But he appears to have been dissatisfied with the pro-
spect of being a farmer, and, like many others in his day, refused the
BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH 7
offer greatly to the disappointment of his descendants. He appears
to have died young. He married , and left
two sons.
(1) Alexander married Anne Reid, by whom he had two sons, John
and James (who went to India in the army, and died young
and unmarried), and several daughters, who died unmarried.
(2) Robert I recollect seeing once in Aberdeen in 1820 or 1821, then
an old man. He was married, but had no children. I saw his
wife, a curious-looking active bustling body, about 80 years of
age, older than her husband.
2. Agnes, born in 1717, married to Mr. Alexander Thomson, bookseller in
Aberdeen, who died there about 1780 and left two sons and four
daughters, of whom two were alive in 1805, and only one in 1826
(Chalmers MS., pp. 9, 14).
3. Susan or Susanna, married to Mr. James Chalmers, printer, of Aberdeen,
by whom were several children.
These accounts of John and Alexander Trail, and that John was the son
of James, minister of Montrose, I often heard from my father, when my
mother and he were expressing the earnest wish that I would study for the
Church and get back into the old clerical line. My father had a number of
papers connected with the account he gave me of his family, which I saw and
read at various times when I was a boy; but the contents of which I do not
now recollect. I left home at 15 years of age and could revisit it only fora
day or two once a year. I do not know what became of these papers, or what
became of any of his papers after his death. I could not be present at the
time of either his death or funeral.
My parents, John Trail and Ann Ritchie married and
had four sons, one of whom died in infancy, and three daughters.
1. Samuel, born 31st May, 1806. Went to King’s College in Session
1821-22, gained prizes in the junior classes, and in Session 1824-25
gained the Hutton prize by competition and took the degree of M.A.
Assistant and successor minister of Arbuthnott in Kincardineshire, in
1844 became minister of Harray and Birsay in Orkney, and in 1867
Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Aberdeen. In
1841 he married Helen, youngest daughter of the Rev. James Scott,
minister of Benholm,
2. Elizabeth, died unmarried.
. Isabella, died unmarried.
4, John Robert, born 30th September, 1816, M.A., 1835, M.D. (Hdin.),
1839, long settled at Tombeg, Monymusk, as a medical practitioner,
and 1870-73 an examiner in medicine in the University of Aberdeen.
He was married to daughter of Mitchell, farmer,
on Auchnagathle, in Keig, Aberdeenshire. He died 12th February,
1875, and was buried in the grave of his wife who had predeceased him
by a number of years. They had two sons, George Shewan and John,
and one daughter Marianne, who died unmarried.
5. Anne.
6. James, born 8th March, 1820, at King’s College 1835-37, succeeded his
father as tenant on the farm of Gilmorton in Udny, afterwards took a
farm in Slains, but was not a successful farmer. He died unmarried.
(vu)
8 J. W. H. TRAIL
My mother, Ann Ritchie, wasa woman of great ability and determination.
When I was between 6 and 7 years old, and had been set to learn the
Latin Rudiments, she applied herself to the study of Latin for the
purpose of assisting me in the preparation of my lessons.
I find no reference of any kind in my father’s MS. or letters in-
dicating his estimate of his father’s ability or character or that his
guidance had influenced him, apart from the statement quoted
above regarding descent from “ John Trail, son of James Trail,
minister of Montrose,’ and the desire expressed that he should re-
turn to the clerical profession. To this traditional descent I shall
return. What I know about my father’s parents was chiefly de-
rived from an occasional remark of Professor Francis Ogston (who
had known the household and was a cousin on the Ritchie side)
and of other acquaintances. From what I learned in this way,
and can infer, John Trail was a native of Newmachar. The names
of several sons and daughters of “ Alexander Trail and Ann Reid,
his wife,” in ‘“‘ Mains of Strathloch”’ about 1758-61, in ‘ Upper-
hill of Strathloch”’ in 1766, and in ‘ Pool of Strathloch”’ after
1772, are recorded in the Birth Register of Newmachar, but Jokn’s
name did not seem included. The parish registers, however, were
often inaccurate. I have an impression that I was told that he was
younger than his wife, Ann Ritchie, who was born 27th April, 1782,
her father, Samuel Ritchie, living then at Green of Udny. As he
was described for some years before his death, as ‘in Gilmorton”
he appears to have been the tenant of that farm, which was the
home of his daughter Ann after her marriage. John Trail seems
to have settled down to the charge of Gilmorton, probably when
Samuel Ritchie required help in the work.
Samuel Ritchie died in 1833, aged 77. The marriage of his
daughter Ann to John Trail probably took place in 1805, as their
eldest child was born 31st May, 1806, but the only marriages re-
corded in the Udny register between 1790 and 1816 are clandestine
ones. Evidently marriages celebrated publicly were not thought to
require a record.
The little I have been able to learn of conditions at Gilmorton
suggests that John Trail, like most farmers in the district, was
able to make a living, with a struggle at times no doubt, and that
his wife was the guiding spirit of the two. They certainly shared
the desire so common in the North of Scotland to obtain for their
sons the best education within reach, encouraged, no doubt, by the
exceptionally good school carried on at Udny by James Bisset,
BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH 9
afterwards the well-known minister of Bourtie. Professor Ogston
told me that in the household the mother deferred far more to the
eldest son’s opinion than to his father’s, as explaining a trait in my
father’s character of inclination to regard the views of others as to
be set aside by his assertion, even when he knew little of the sub-
ject under discussion.
My father’s statement that he “left home at 15 years of age,
and could revisit it only for a day or two once a year” is certainly
inaccurate, as during the Arts course at least he spent the summers
at home on the farm. Moreover, a remark he made to me about
his brother James (who, without positive habits to cause failure,
was always in difficulties through want of effort to overcome them),
‘showed that he must have lived at home after 1822, that is after
he reached the age of 16. The remark was that James (born 8th
March, 1820) as a child was allowed very. much his own way
by his mother, and that when he did not care to do anything
it was not required of him. School or other tasks whose value she
recognised, were escaped by James on the plea of headache,
with the result that he had to fall back on farming, in which
also he did not succeed. I remember him as a man under 90,
but looking years older, and with a grievance against the world
in general.
All three sons were sent to King’s College, the University of
Old Aberdeen, and their names appear in the Album: Samuel,
1821-25, Hutton Prizeman and A.M. in 1825; Joannes Robertus,
1831-35, A.M. in 1835; and Jacobus, two years in the class 1835-
39, but finding the work too hard to go on with it after the second
year, he seems to have returned to farmwork.
To educate the sons must have required self-denial in the
parents, and was probably the ambition of their mother rather than
of theirfather. Ihave never heard that the daughters were educated
beyond the standard that could be reached in or near Udny. On
a farm of the size of Gilmorton the farmer and his family must
help in the work ; and there is seldom much ready money, though
there is not actual poverty. Rigid economy must often have been
required, and ready money must often have been hard to find, causing
it to be more convenient to let the accounts be carried on with
occasional payments to account. This habit my father retained
throughout his life (even when he could have easily settled ac-
counts), much to my mother’s distress, and though he had by it to
pay more than by short accounts or by ready money payments, and
10 J: We, EOE AGG
was occasionally involved in a good deal of difficulty through ac-
counts that he allowed to run on in this way. After his death many
accounts were rendered to his executors, some of which it was im-
possible to check.
After graduating M.A. in 1825 he entered on the study of
Theology under Professor Duncan Mearns in Systematic Theology.
With the aid of Hercules Scott, Professor of Moral Philosophy
in King’s College, he obtained the position of resident tutor to the
sons of Viscount Arbuthnott, a post which he held for several years,
until in 1841 he received from Lord Arbuthnott a presentation
to be assistant and successor to the then minister of Arbuthnott,
Rev. James Milne, become unfit for duty through old age.
About 1832 he became engaged to my mother, whom he had
first met at the house of her brother, Professor Scott. After the
death of her father, Rev. James Scott, minister of Benholm, she
resided with her widowed mother in Bervie. My parents were
married on 1841, after the death of Mrs. Scott, while
my father was still assistant and successor in Arbuthnott. The
income from a sum of about £3000 belonging to my mother (left to
her as one of the family by a maternal uncle) probably enabled
them to do so.
My father entered keenly into the ecclesiastical dispute, on the
side of supporting the law of the country against non-intrusionists,
and he adhered to the Church established by law.
A cousin of my mother’s, Mrs. Hutton (née Margaret Scott),
was married to Mr. Thomas Hutton, Factor in Orkney for the
estates of the Harl of Zetland, who held the presentations to
several parishes. Mrs. Hutton, though only a third cousin, and a
good many years older than my mother, was an intimate friend.
Hence she took the opportunity to obtain for my father a presenta-
tion to the united parishes of Harray and Birsay in the Mainland
of Orkney, the former minister of which had been one of those
who joined the Free Church in 1843. My father resigned his post
of assistant and successor in Arbuthnott; and from 1844 until
1868 our family-home was in Orkney—until 1856 in the old manse
of Birsay, where my sister and two of my brothers and I
were born. As the manse was in a bad state through age, and as.
the heritors were not willing either to repair it thoroughly or to
build a new manse, my father claimed the right to have a manse
erected on the glebe in Harray, where there had not previously
been one. To prepare a site two grave mounds had to be removed ;
BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH 11
and as these were regarded in Harray as dwellings of fairies, to
interfere with which would anger the fairies and probably be
punished by them, there was great unwillingness to begin work on
the mounds. One day some time after the site should have been
cleared my father found them still untouched ; but on his agreeing
to stay with the men (presumably to take all risk of offending the
fairies and of punishment) while at work on the mounds, they were
cleared away ina few hours. It was supposed that the dispossessed
fairies might assert their right to lodging in the new building ; and
reports of persons that, passing the unfinished manse at night
after all the workmen were away, they heard carpenters’ tools
employed in one of the rooms was evidence that the fairies accepted
the new conditions in a friendly spirit. The room in question was
my bedroom when a child of 7 or 8, and I more than half believed
in the fairies and hoped I might see them some night. The belief
was not a cause of dread. I have reason to believe that some
people in Harray thought we had made friends with and seen the
fairies, but would not risk offending them by admitting the supposed
intercourse. f
When I first recall the home-life clearly, my father was in the
habit of not rising until 11 or 12 o'clock, his breakfast being brought
to him in bed, as he used to read for an hour or two there. He
disliked personal exertion, and I do not think he ever took a walk
of ten miles in any day, rarely even of two or three. The glebe
at Harray extended to over 50 acres; and it gave him a great
source of occupation, as he obtained a loan from public funds to
encourage agriculture, and had the ground drained, fields enclosed
and soon. It was a favourite pastime to watch the men at work
for an hour or two at a time.
He bought, with the help of my mother’s money, some 500 or
600 acres on the borders of Birsay and Harray, including two or
three small farms, of which my brother John retained Howan,
when the rest had to be disposed of by the trustees under my
father’s will. The desire to be a laird was strong in him; and he
often went to visit the farms, which lay four or five miles from
Harray, always using a gig to carry him there and back, and oc-
casionally combining it with parochial visits. The land was not a
profitable investment; and my mother had often difficulty in
making ends meet, while ld. weekly was the amount I (and I
suppose the others) nominally received as pocket money, but it was
usually in arrears. We supplemented it by earnings of various
12 J. W. H. TRAIL
kinds, such as for work in garden or harvest field (at 1d. per hour)
catching fish (1d. per lb. for trout), shooting for the table (with a
tariff for the various birds, hares, etc.), catching vermin (1d. for a
rat’s tail, or for those of three mice or voles). Looking back it
seems to me that the gain in learning that we could win what we
needed for ourselves, and the self-denial (in luxuries of the palate
or in toys), to enable one to obtain the more durable pleasures (in
my case books about animals, and the means for keeping pets and
rearing insects, etc.) was of far greater value, and brought with it
greater appreciation of the objects sought and enjoyment in their
attainment than is ever known by those who are accustomed to
many presents and to allowances that cost no personal effort, and
allow of spending on personal luxuries before one has learned how
to earn them.
Exertion of any kind was distasteful to my father, and he
seldom even attempted to do any work about the house or small
repairs to house or clothes, preferring to have all makings or
mendings done for him as a matter of course, for which no thanks
weredue. He was thus very dependent on those around him, especi-
ally on my mother; but was, naturally, quite unaware of the fact.
In the evening he usually slept after dinner on a sofa in the dining-
room until about 8—tea-time—and then read for two or three hours:
He usually went to bed about 11 p.m.
Under a sufficient stimulus he could and did work hard and
steadily, and showed marked ability in Classics, Mathematics, and
other studies in repute. Thus, in the Arts Curriculum he gained
the highest place in his class as shown by the award of the Hutton
Prize, then given for general success all round. In the ecclesias-
tical courts, from Kirk Session to General Assembly he took great
interest, and his repute in that field is indicated by his appoint-
ment as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of
Scotland in May, 1874. I was on duty in the valley of the Amazon
River in South America during his year of office, so have to depend
on the reports of how he discharged the duties which I was informed
he did well and fittingly.
My brothers were hardly at home for a number of years, edu-
cation at school and University causing us all to leave our home
in Orkney except during vacations in summer, for vacations in
winter and spring were too brief to allow of return home.
Hercules left home to attend school about 1858, and entered
King’s College as a bajan in 1859. The following summer he
BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH 13
spent chiefly in Orkney ; and, disliking the Arts Course, he entered
on the study of Medicine in Aberdeen. During two or three of
the summers he went on whalers, as was then frequently done by
students of his type, as ‘surgeon’ for the cruise.
John was sent to the Grammar School in Aberdeen in 1860
there having been students (John Watt and Robert Grant) as
tutors during two summers in Orkney. He took a good place in
Classics at school, gaining prizes; and, gaining a bursary in the
Competition in 1861, he began the Arts Course in the University of
Aberdeen in 1861. He took high places in Latin, Greek, and
Natural History, and was in most Merit lists; and at the close of
Session 1865-66 he graduated A.M. with ‘“‘ Honours” in Natural
Science and ‘‘Second Class Honours” in Classics. He was the
one of the family who in some measure, as a schoolboy and student,
satisfied our father’s estimate of ability and desire to acquire useful
knowledge.
Samuel had no inclination for University studies, and showed
no aptitude for Classics or other preparatory work. He was fond
of gymnastics and rowing. He was sent for a year or two to
school in Aberdeen, and in 1863 to the Grammar School in Kirk-
wall, then under a good teacher, Mr. Watson, in order to prepare
for a commercial post.
As my sister was also away at boarding schools I was the only
one of the family at home fora great part of each year during
several years before 1862. In October, 1862, I was sent to a
boarding school carried on by Dr. George Tulloch in Bellevue
House in the Hardgate, Aberdeen ; the school, which was attended
also by a number of sons of residents in Aberdeen, being in Academy
Street, between Crown Street and Dee Street. The “ Academy”
is now [1919] used as the “‘ Friends Society Meeting House,” and
the boarding house has changed its name also and is now the
‘“‘ House of Bethany.”
We were all home during July, 1863. Harly in August Sam
became unwell, and soon it was seen that he was suffering from
typhoid fever, contracted in Kirkwall apparently. This prevented
all returns to University and to school. The fear of infection
rendered it impossible to get proper help in nursing, the more re-
quired as Hercules and John and Bella all were attacked, as was
also one of the majid-servants. My father could give no help in
such times; and the burden fell on my mother, whose health was
not good, especially after a continued and serious illness eleven or
14 J. W. H. TRAIL
twelve years. before. As always, she met the strain bravely and
well. Iescaped the fever, and gave such help in nursing the in-
valids as could be trusted to a boy of 12.
Their recovery was slow, especially with my sister (who had
previously suffered from rheumatic fever), and with Sam; and in
the next spring medical advice urged that they at least should
spend six weeks at Wiesbaden. As my mother was very much in
need of a change, and as my father also thought he would be the
better of one, it was resolved that the whole family should go ex-
cept Hercules, who had arranged to go another cruise in a whaler,
and was off early in April. We accordingly proceeded to Wies-
baden by Leith, Rotterdam, and steamer up the Rhine. My
mother’s niece Mrs. Valentine, who was staying in Wiesbaden
with her daughter and a friend, had secured rooms for us and had
arranged for our meals being sent from a restaurant, so all was
ready on our arrival.
The visit to a new country, with its new surroundings, was full
of interest to all of us, and its object was realised in the improve-
ment of the invalids’ health in a very marked degree. Fortunately
for me, our landlady’s son Carl, who was a little older than I, was
keenly interested in outdoor life, and took me for rambles to his
favourite haunts, which abounded in a wealth of insects, lizards,
and other creatures very surprising to me in comparison with
what I knew at home. He knew little English and I knew no
German; but we soon learned enough from each other to talk
after a fashion, and my ‘‘sehr sch6n” was very genuine and
seemed to win his goodwill. Among my prizes were two bats,
caught with insect nets while they were hawking for insects over
apond. These I kept as pets for some time, and found they be-
came quite tame and accepted insects readily as food. One of
them produced a young one—a little hairless creature—which
clung to her protected by one of her wings. Unfortunately the
mother was very restless, shuffling about over tables and other
furniture, and the baby died seemingly exhausted by the want
of rest. The bats were restored to freedom before we left
Germany.
In August, 1864, I was sent to attend the Grammar School in
Old Aberdeen, under Cosmo Grant (brother of one of the student
tutors, Robert Grant, who had taught my brothers in Orkney), who
had come recently to the charge of the school. I liked him per-
sonally, and often have been surprised at his success as rector
BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH 15
under the miserably insufficient accommodation. All the classes
were taught in two small rooms by himself and a student-assistant.
We varied from mere children to men of 25 years old or more—
looking forward mostly to entering the Arts Course at the Uni-
versity if only a bursary could be gained. Under its new head,
the Old Aberdeen Grammar School more than held its own in the
one recognised test of success in Aberdeen—the Bursary Competi-
tion. The translation of a passage from English into Latin prose
was the supreme test of efficiency, and I never acquired the power
to do so with skill, to avoid the pitfalls strewn in the way. Once
my version was the best, I think it reached the coveted sine errore ;
but my single success was at least as great a surprise to myself as
to my class-fellows. I could not remember the little quirks or
“niceties” of the language in which we were trained in versions -
set from former competitions, and I loathed the arbitrariness of
the methods of study in vogue for classical languages. I spent
two years at the school, returning to Orkney for a six-weeks’ holi-
day in the summers of 1865 and 1866. During the autumn of
1864 I lodged with another boy, sharing the rooms in the same
house as Mr. Grant in Old Aberdeen (now 52 High Street); and
my brother Sam and I shared the same rooms next summer. In
the winters 1864-65 and 1865-66 our mother came to stay with us
in Aberdeen, rooms being taken for her and all her four sons during
the first winter in a house in Schoolhill which was cleared away in
the opening up of Harriet Street, and in the second winter in Loch
Street, in what was at one time the residence of Mr. Ogston (after-
wards at Ardo), which house was pulled down and replaced by the
offices of the soap works. During these two winters Hercules was a
student of Medicine, John a student of Arts, Sam a clerk in the
North of Scotland Bank,andIatschool. In the summers Hercules
went on cruises or as unqualified assistant to a medical man, and
John was at home in Orkney, while Sam and I remained in Aber-
deen except during our holidays.
As it was necessary to exercise strict economy the lodgings were
limited to the general sitting-room, a small room where work could
be done in quiet if visitors were in, and bedrooms, one large in which
the brothers slept, and one for our mother.
The manse of Harray was looked after during our mother’s
absence by a niece of hers, and by my sister in the second winter ;
but my mother must have been greatly missed at home, as our
father was very dependent on her for the personal comforts he was
16 J. W. H. TRAIL
accustomed to, and also for her to refer to in all small worries, and
to read part of his sermons to for her criticism.
Our mother returned to Orkney in April, 1866, when John
graduated M.A. with Honours as already stated. In the course
of the summer he began his apprenticeship in Edinburgh for the
profession of W.S. Hercules passed L.R.C.S. Edinburgh, in 1867.
Sam was boarded in Aberdeen and I returned to lodgings in
56 High Street, sharing rooms with a school-fellow James Cantlie
(knighted in 1918, for services to V.A.D., and Red Cross work),
who had love for natural history, but as little for the iClassics as
I had. In the Competition in October, 1866 the Old Aberdeen
Grammar School took a very high place (1st, 4th, etc.), but Cantlie
and I were out of the list. I assumed that my version had failed
. to reach the standard, but fifty years afterwards I found, on chanc-
ing to look into the University MS. record of the Competition in
1866 the words ‘‘ no paper” against my name, 7.e. my version had
been lost in some way. My father was most unwilling to allow
me to go to the University without a bursary, and put down my
failure to gain one to laziness and carelessness. I hited the work
at school, and asked to go to trade or mechanical work if the Uni-
versity was forbidden to me. At last, to my joy, I was allowed to.
try a session at the University, but told that my remaining there
depended on my gaining a bursary next autumn, so as to enter the
semi class with it.
A bedroom and parlour in 10 College Bounds (the house at the
left hand on turning into Orchard Lane) were taken for James
Mackintosh (son of the minister of Deskford) and me; and there
the two of us lived and worked during the winter, without super-
vision. Our weekly bill for board and lodging did not exceed
10s. 6d. each, and was usually less; and I have no recollection of
our feeling the need of a larger sum. Chickenpox kept me from
classes four days, the only break due to my health in my attendance
as a student in Arts and in Medicine.
Mackintosh and I passed in all our classes, and to myself it
meant as hard work as ever a winter cost me, as its chief subjects
were Latin and Greek, with English three times a week. The
close of the session sent me back to the hated versions, in view of
the Competition in autumn.
Dr. Robert Macpherson, Professor of Systematic Theology,
died in spring, 1867, having held the chair since 1852, when my
father had been a competitor for it, and had received the degree
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C. hirsuta, L. Hairy Bitter-cress,
“Tn fossis”’ (Skene). Recorded as ‘‘common” or “ abundant”
in all the local lists ; but under this name are included two plants
(here distinguished by Beattie alone), both native in and around
Aberdeen, viz. :—
C. hirsuta, LZ. Locally abundant on earthen and stone
walls or other dry situations in spring and early summer.
C. flexuosa, With. Common on damp soil by streams,
under shade of trees, and often on damp walls.
Adt. Ps. Both occur in all; and are frequent in many places.
Hesperis matronalis, L. Dame’s Violet. Only a subdenizen
or casual. Native in southern Europe and western Asia; long a
favourite in gardens in Scotland, and easily dispersed from them.
“Powis, Old Aberdeen” (Knight hb). ‘On banks and waste
places, not common ; in wood at Raeden’”’ (Cow).
I have often found it in hedges, near roads, and on waste ground,
almost established as a denizen here and there, but easily destroyed.
Tt is often met with as a casual on town-refuse, e.g., on the old bed .
of the Dee, in various sandpits, at Ferryhill, on Old Aberdeen Links,
etc.
Adt. Ps. : B M P Nh DO. A local subdenizen, nowhere
common.
Sisymbrium Thalianum, J. Gay. Thale Hedge-mustard or
Thale Cress. Native.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN iit
“‘Donside, south of the Bridge” (Beattie). ‘Near Woodhill”
(Harvey).
Rather scarce within the parish. Now almost confined within
Aberdeen to dry walls and debris of quarries, its natural habitats
(dry banks, etc.) having been almost swept away.
Adt. Ps. Ng BMP: (D) O. Locally plentiful.
S. officinale, Scop. Common Hedge-mustard. A denizen
probably, judged by its distribution locally, though accepted as
native in Britain.
“Passim ad vias” (Skene, under Hrysimum). Numerous
localities are reported by Cow. ‘‘ Waste places and roadsides ;
frequent in lower districts” (B. G.).
A common plant by houses, and on roadsides, on waste ground
and on rubbish, but always where its origin appears to have been
alien.
Adt. Ps. In all; but not common, and under conditions that
point to alien origin.
S. Sophia, L. Fine-leaved Hedge-mustard or Flixweed.
Casual, probably introduced from the Mediterranean region into
Aberdeen, among seeds of cultivated crops.
“Ad vias” (Skene). ‘‘Ground near the Lunatic Hospital”
(Beattie). ‘Den of Gilcomston, 1807” (Knight). ‘At the Place
of Rubislaw ”’ (Cow).
There was no other record from Aberdeen until I found a few
plants in autumn of 1907 on town-refuse on Old Aberdeen Links.
In 1908 it was more frequent on the Links; and I also found it in
Ferryhill and Rubislaw, and in 1910 by the railway north of Kitty-
brewster, and in 1914 numerous plants grew by the new road to
the Links from Old Aberdeen. Very abundant in 1915 on refuse
heap at Mugiemoss.
S. altissmum, L. (S. pannonicum, Jacq.). Native of central
and eastern Europe; probably introduced locally with the seeds of
cereals.
Tt was first observed by me, in 1893, on rubbish used to fill up
the old bed of the Dee, near the Railway Station, where it was in
fair abundance, and where it reappeared during several years.
Since 1893 it has been found near the city every year, by waysides
and on rubbish; and it was for some time one of the most common
of our casuals in such habitats; but I have not seen it as a field-
weed.
112 J. W. H. TRAIL
rubbish heap at Mugiemoss.
S. tanacetifolium, L. 8S. orientale, L. (S. Columne, Jacq.).
Rare casuals at Aberdeen, where I have found them on town-refuse,
on Old Aberdeen Links, in 1907 and 1909. Both are natives of
southern Europe, and were probably brought here as weed seeds
among cereals.
S. Alliaria, Scop. Garlic-mustard. This plant is only a
denizen in this district of Scotland, growing near ruins, or in other
places as an escape or a relic of former cultivation. It had prob-
ably been brought here from Continental Europe.
“In ruderatis” (Skene), ‘“Rubislaw and Old Aberdeen”
(Beattie). ‘‘Seaton” (Knight). ‘‘ Walls near the House of Rubis-
law, and near the Old Town Church” (Harvey). ‘‘ In hedges and
waste places, not common; at Rubislaw, and in the Den” (Cow).
‘“‘ By roadside north from Powis ’’ (B. G.).
It is still common in one or two places in Rubislaw Den; but
has almost disappeared from its other habitats in the parish.
Adt. Ps. NgBM::::. Local and scarce, as a denizen.
Hrysimum cheiranthoides, L. Treacle-mustard. Casual; very
uncertain in its appearances here; widely spread in Hurope and
elsewhere as a weed of cultivated ground.
I have found it on rubbish near Old Aberdeen, in 1900; and
since then occasionally on the Links, and near Fonthill Terrace in
small numbers.
E. repandum, L.
Once on town-refuse in Old Aberdeen, in 1907; probably
brought among seeds of cereals from south-eastern Europe.
E. orientale, Koch (Conringia orientalis, Dum.). Native in
Mediterranean area.
Once found by me on town-refuse near Old Aberdeen in 1916,
and again in 1917, and once previously by the railway between
Dyce and Pitmedden, in October, 1909.
Wilckia maritima, Scop. (Malcolmia maritima, &. Br.). Vir-
ginian Stock.
This favourite garden annual, a native of the coasts of southern
Europe, was found by me as a casual on town-refuse on Old
Aberdeen Links, in 1903, and on waste ground near Bucksburn
Station, Newhills, in 1907 and 1911.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 113
Brassica oleracea, L. Cabbage, including Kales, ete. Only
an outcast or casual here, though native on the western coasts of
Europe, including the British Isles.
Not uncommon here on rubbish, e.g., on Old Aberdeen Links,
by the railway north of Kittybrewster, etc.
B. Rutabaga, DC. Swedish Turnip. B. Rapa, L. Common
Turnip. Frequent weeds of fields, as relicts from the last year’s
crop ; also by roads and edges of fields, and on refuse spread on the
Links and elsewhere.
B. Napus, L. Rape.
“About Torry” (Beattie). ‘‘At borders of fields, common”
(Knight). i
A common casual on town-refuse, e.g., on the old bed of the
Dee, on Old Aberdeen Links, etc.; rare as a weed among crops.
All these species of Brassica may be found in the parishes around
Aberdeen, B. Napus being the least frequent in them.
B. nigra, Koch. Black Mustard. Only a scarce casual in
this part of Scotland, though accepted as native in many parts of
Britain ; and widely dispersed as a weed of cultivation.
“ Hab. in cultis, vix nisi sitam inveni” (Skene). ‘On a waste
place out from Dee Street, etc.”” (Cow). “Meadow Bank,” 1850
(Maegillivray hb.).
It seems to have been more common as a weed formerly, as
it is now a rare casual, e.g., on the bed of the Dee and Old Aberdeen
Links, on town-refuse.
B. arvensis, Kuntze (B. Sinapistrum, Boiss.). Charlock,
Wild Mustard, or locally, Skelloch. Colonist; no doubt introduced
long ago when agricultural seeds were first brought from other
lands to Scotland.
“Hab. passim in cultis, arvis, et ad vias, flor. Maio exeunte
ad medium Novr.” (Skene).
It has long been a pernicious weed here in cultivated ground,
not only because of the space and food of which it deprives the
crops, but also because of its carrying on the pests (fungi and in-
sects) harmful to turnips during the rotation until turnips are again
within reach of these parasites. In all suitable habitats, too plenti-
ful.
Adt. Ps. In all; plentiful.
114 J. W. H. TRAIL
w
B. alba, Boiss. White Mustard. Only a casual locally,
though frequent on town-refuse, etc., in Aberdeen; rare as a weed
of cultivation, or as a relict. It is accepted as native in some
parts of Britain.
““Apud nos solummodo in hortis” (Skene). ‘In fields oc-
casionally about Aberdeen; on roadside west from old town, etc.”
(Cow). ‘Near Aberdeen” (B. G.).
Its cultivation has become less frequent locally, so that it is
almost solely a weed of rubbish and waste ground.
B. juncea, Coss.
Two or three examples of this Asiatic plant were found by me
growing as casuals near the Railway Station at Dyce, in September,
1903. :
Hruca sativa, DC. Rare casual; native of south-eastern Europe
and west Asia.
A few were found by me on town-refuse on Old Aberdeen Links.
in 1904 and 1905, perhaps from grain-siftings.
Alyssum saxatile, L. On old garden ground or as an escape ;
native in eastern Europe.
Waste ground near Morningfield in June, 1910.
Adt. Ps. : ::::: 0. Neara garden by road to Scotston, 1910.
A. incanum, L. : (@D):. Me. Cobban, in October, 1909;
showed me a dried specimen from Dyce, where it was a common
weed in his garden.
Neslea paniculata, Desv. Casual.
Not uncommon in recent years on refuse, on Old Aberdeen
Links, ete.; probably brought with seeds of cereals from the
Mediterranean area.
Adt. Ps. Found by me in 1883 by roadside at north end of the
New Bridge of Don, the first occurrence near Aberdeen, and in
October, 1915, on waste ground near Bucksburn Station.
Rapistrum rugosum, All. Casual.
Frequent on town-refuse, since 1893, when I first found it, on
the old bed of the Dee. I have seen it less often as a weed by
roadsides and in crops; but it is still only a casual. Its seeds are
probably brought from central or eastern Europe with those of
cereals,
FR. glabrum, Host. Casual. Native of Austria.
A fruiting plant was found by me on town-refuse by road to
Links from School Road.
[R. perenne, Bergeret.] Casual. Native of S.E. and central
Europe.
A plant appeared in 1908 near Dyce Station, and in 1910
fruited, allowing its identification to be made sure.
120 J. W. H. TRAIL
Bunias orientalis, L. Native of S.H. Europe, dispersed by
fruits among the seeds of cereals.
In 1915 I found this in a grass field west of Tillydrone, and by
the road from School Road to Old Aberdeen Links.
The plant was first seen by me locally near Dyce Station where
two examples have continued to grow and to flower every year,
though cut down before ripening seeds. In September, 1908, I saw
a large clump seeding freely on waste ground a little way north of
Kintore Station, where rubbish is thrown out.
Crambe maritima, L. Sea-kale. Native on the south and
west coasts of Britain ; and cultivated in gardens in other parts
of the country.
“Beach at Aberdeen”’ (Laing hb., about 1837).
In the absence of any other record from the coasts of this part.
of Scotland, this single example must be regarded as a casual, pos-
sibly fram some garden.
Cakile maritima, 2. Sea-rocket. Native on the loose sands
along the sea-front of the dunes.
“In arena mobili maritima” (Skene, as Bunias Cakile). “On
the sea-shore near the mouth of the Don” (Harvey). ‘On the
coast at Donmouth, and along to Footdee” (Cow).
It is still to be found there; but has become a good deal less
common than it was forty years ago. Perhaps one reason for this
is the lessening of the surface suitable to its needs, owing to the
much greater abundance of the Lyme-grass (Elymus) along the sea-
front in recent years.
Adt. Ps. Ng?::::: 0. More frequent to the north.
Raphanus Raphanstrum, L. Wild Radish, locally called
Runch. Native of southern Europe, and very widely dispersed as
a weed of cultivated soil. An only too plentiful colonist in Scot-
land, though more local than the Charlock, which it sometimes.
rivals as a pernicious weed.
“Passim arvis, pestis” (Skene). Cow records it from several
localities in Aberdeen, some of which are now covered with streets.
It is peculiarly frequent in some of the fields near King Street,
to the north of School Road. In some it grows almost unmixed
with Charlock, in others they are more or less mixed, and in others '
the Charlock prevails almost to the exclusion of the Runch, the
difference in colour of the flowers making the relative proportions
of the two in the fields very evident even from a distance. The
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 121
variety with almost white flowers appears occasionally in fields and
on waste ground,
Adt. Ps. In all; rather local, but often far too abundant.
R. sativus, L. Garden or Cultivated Radish. Known only as
a cultivated plant ; perhaps originally from Asia; widely dispersed
by cultivation.
An occasional casual on town-refuse and on waste ground in
and around Aberdeen.
RESEDACE,
Reseda alba, L. Native in central and southern Europe; but
a very rare casual on town-refuse near Aberdeen, perhaps brought
with the seeds of cereals.
Once or twice found by me on Old Aberdeen Links, and on
refuse in sandpits east of King Street near Old Aberdeen.
R. lutea, L. Wild Mignonette. Casual about Aberdeen,
almost always on rubbish; native of Continental Europe, but very
doubtfully so in the British Islands.
“Inches” (Knight). ‘On the Inch opposite the Dockyards,
rare, 1833” (Dickie hb.). ‘‘ Near King Street, Dr. Macgillivray”’
(P. M.).
Thave found it several times on the old bed of the Dee in 1890,
on Old Aberdeen Links in various years since 1896, in one or two
sandpits near King Street now filled up.
Adt. Ps. ::: PNhD:. Near Dyce Railway Station.
R. Luteola, L. Dyer’s Weed. Not native near Aberdeen ;
probably a survival, as little more than a casual, from the time
when it was cultivated as a useful plant. Accepted as native in
southern Scotland.
‘Ad vias. On the brae from the hangman’s house to Footdee
Church” (Skene). ‘In the side of a field south from Donmouth,
and north from Brick-kilns, rare’? (Cow). ‘‘ Road leading from
King Street Road to the Brick-kilns, August, 1838, Dr. A. Fleming ”
(Dickie hb.).
I have observed it occasionally, but rarely, in fields west of
Old Aberdeen. It is extremely uncertain in its appearances here ;
and rarely continues more than a year or two in any locality. It
appears also on town-refuse at times.
Adt. Ps.::: P Nh DO. More frequent in the northern
parishes. I found it in abundance on waste ground near Bankhead
K
122 J. W. H. TRATL
Station in Nh; but it is most uncertain in its appearances, and
only a casual.
Ff. odorata, L. Common Mignonette.
This favourite garden flower occasionally occurs as a casual on
refuse, on the Links, in sandpits, and elsewhere, no doubt derived
from gardens or shop-sweepings.
CISTACEAE.
[Helianthemum Chameecistus, Mill. Common Rock-rose.]
Native.
I have no record of its having been found within Aberdeen ;
but it must almost certainly have been so before its natural habitats
were altered by man. The nearest existing habitat is on the edge
of a field by the Don, a little way east of the New Bridge.
Adt. Ps. In all; usually very local, but plentiful on many
parts of the dry braes along the sea-coast.
VIOLACEA.
Viola palustris, Z. Marsh Violet. Native in wet places.
‘Moss of Ferryhill” (Knight, and “1834” in Dickie hb.).
“In Pitmuxton Marsh ” (Cow).
I have seen it on Stocket Moor; but the cultivation of the
moor, about 1880, extirpated it there. A few plants may still be
found within Aberdeen on the shingle and wet slopes along the
Dee, near Ruthrieston ; but it is probably extinct almost everywhere
else in the parish, though it must have been common before drain-
age of the moors and swamps.
Adt. Ps. In all; common in suitable habitats.
V. odorata, L. Sweet Violet. Casual; usually asa relict
from cultivation, or outcast or straggler from a garden, and rarely
remaining for more than a year or two.
“ Den of Rubislaw ”’ (Cow).
I have occasionally found it on ground lapsed from cultivation,
on rubbish, and by roads, in various places about Aberdeen, e.g. in
Rubislaw and near Old Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. ‘Cove’ (Beattie).
V. canina, Dog Violet.
In the wide meaning of these names, as used in all published
records of the local flora, the “ Dog Violets” are stated to be
“common” or “very common”; and, in suitable habitats, they
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 123
still are frequent locally ; but the suitable habitats have been very
much circumscribed by cultivation of the soil and by extension of
streets. Of the forms included under the names, now generally
treated as species, the following have been observed in Aberdeen :—
V. sylvestris, Kit. (V. Reichenbachiana, Jord.)
V. Riviniana, Reichend. and
V. canina, L., s. str. (V. ericetorum, Schrad.).
The first two include the plants with lilac and purplish-blue
flowers, so frequent by roads, in dry natural pastures and in woods,
even close to the city, their flowers being very noticeable during
spring and early summer. After the middle of June the flowers
are not less numerous than before, but they are cleistogamous,
remaining like unopened buds and very easily overlooked. The
two ‘‘species” are difficult to distinguish from one another. VJ.
Rivimana appears to be much the more common near Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. More general than in Aberdeen, showing the same
relative frequency.
V. canina, s. str., is the more frequent by the Dee, where it
abounds on the shingles, and also on the dunes along the coast ;
but it is not common inland. Its flowers are a purer blue in
colour, and its leaves are narrower than those of the other two.
Like them, its flowers are almost all cleistogamous after June.
It is probably the plant indicated by the record in the Botanist’s
Guide of “ V. pumila, Vill. Links of Aberdeen.”
Adt. Ps. Ng BM P:: 0. Local, but frequent by the Dee,
and on dunes.
V. tricolor, 2. Wild Pansy or Heartsease. Native, but often
more abundant in cultivated ground than in its natural habitats.
Common in pastures, on waste ground, and by roads and hedges,
varying much in form of leaves, and in size and colour of flowers.
Usually annual, sometimes biennial. This is mentioned in all
local records.
Adt. Ps. In all; common, in many places very abundant.
V. arvensis, Murray. Field Pansy. Plentiful as a weed in
cultivated ground and on bare waste ground; but also growing,
though less plentifully, on dry banks, and among thin herbage, its
distribution thus indicating that it may be native, though finding
the conditions of cultivated soil favourable to its increase and dis-
persal.
124 J. W. H. TRAIL
‘“‘Corn-fields, common” (P. M.) Not mentioned by any other
local botanist, though a common weed of cultivation.
Adt. Ps. In all, a common weed of fields and gardens, and
occasionally in suitable habitats beyond these limits.
V, Curtisii, Forster. Sea-side Pansy. Native on the dunes,
and occasionally on dry banks beyond the Links, even a few miles
inland.
It is the most common pansy of the sandy links on the east
coast of Scotland, so far as I have observed, though not recorded
from the east side of Scotland until 1885 by myself (Scot. Nat.,
p. 79), from near Aberdeen. In this district the flowers vary much
in colour ; but are not often wholly yellow.
Adt. Ps: :::: : 0. Links north of the Don, often plentiful.
[V. lutea, Hudson. Mountain Pansy.] Native.
“On a brae at Pitmuxton, rare’? (Cow). There seems to be no
other record for Aberdeen ; and Cow was not sufficiently careful
in distinguishing between similar species to make his record trust-
worthy.
Abundant in some parts of the valleys of the Dee and Don, but
not near the coast.
I once found the purple-flowered variety (amena) in Peterculter,
a little west of Countesswells; but have no other note of its occur-
rence even in the parishes adjoining Aberdeen.
V. cornuta, li. Horned Pansy. Casual or subdenizen,
originating probably from garden outcasts; native of southern
Europe.
A large patch had established itself as a denizen by an old road
near the present Rubislaw Den South; but was destroyed a few
years ago, when that street was laid out. I found a small patch
on a bit of waste ground by Stocket Road, near its west end in
October, 1907. It grew in small quantity by the small stream
west of Auchmill, Newhills, in October, 1913. This pansy is of
rather common occurrence in patches by roads and streams or
ditches in various parts of Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire ;
and seems likely to establish itself as a permanent denizen.
POLYGALACEZ.
Polygala vulgaris, 2. Common Milkwort. Native in natural
pastures.
‘Tn ericetis et locis siccis sterilioribus”’ (Skene). ‘‘ Pitmuck-
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 125
ston Moss, 1807” (Knight hb.). ‘‘ On the north end of the Broad-
hill and Links; in the Den of Rubislaw ; on Donside below the
Bridges ” (Cow).
The aggregate P. vulgaris referred to in these records is ex-
tremely common on grassy heaths and in natural pastures in many
places in the district around Aberdeen, and must have been so
within the parish formerly, though now scarce in it. Of the
forms or “species” included under the aggregate the following
have been found by me locally :—
P, vulgaris, Z., s. stv., near the Dee, near Hazlehead, and
near Hilton.
Adt. Ps.: B:::: 0. Rather scarce.
P. serpyllacea, Wezhe, in the same localities as the former,
and also on the sand-dunes near the Don.
Adt. Ps. In all; very abundant on Scotston Moor, and in a
good many other localities; extremely varied in colour of the
flowers.
[P. oxyptera, Rezchend.| occurs on Scotston Moor, near
the Dee at Murtle, on moors in Nigg, and probably elsewhere,
though not recorded by name; but it has not been noted within
Aberdeen.
CARYOPHYLLACE/.,
Dianthus barbatus, L. Sweet-William. Casual, escaped from
cultivation, having been long a favourite in gardens in Scotland ;
native of southern Hurope, in mountain pastures.
“Den of Rubislaw; and about Sunnybank; not indigenous”
(Cow).
I have seen it growing by the Dee near Allenvale. It is a rare
casual,
Adt. Ps. : B:::::. On shingle by the Dee above Ardoe.
[D. deltoides, L.] was found by me near the mouth of the burn
from Denmore on 16th August, 1916, in one place in flower, in fair
quantity.
Saponaria Vaccaria, L. Probably a native of Asia Minor,
and a common weed of cultivation in south-eastern Europe ;
locally a casual on rubbish, and as a rather scarce weed in fields.
It is no doubt introduced with the seeds of cereals or other field
crops, such as tares, among which it is not rare.
It was noticed near Aberdeen, for the first time, by me in 1878,
in a corn-field near Old Aberdeen ; and I have frequently found it
126 J. W. H. TRAIL
since then in Aberdeenshire, especially in recent years, so that it
may become a colonist of the same type as the Corn-cockle. It
has not been recorded from the immediately adjacent parishes.
S. officinalis, L. Common Soapwort or Fuller’s-herb. Rare
subdenizen, probably escaped or outcast, or survival from the
period when this native of central Europe was cultivated here as a
useful plant.
“Solummodo (uti scio) ad Hangman’s Brae” (Skene). ‘On
waste places and waysides, in the Den of Rubislaw; on Donside
above the bridge’’ (Cow). ‘Occasionally by roadsides, but always
the outcast of a garden” (P. M.).
I have only twice met with this plant within Aberdeen, both
being near gardens. Though perennial it does not seem able to
establish itself near the town; but it does so in a few localities
in the neighbouring counties. Close to Aberdeen it appears to
have been more frequent formerly, perhaps because more often
cultivated then.
Adt. Ps.: B: PNh::. A rare subdenizen.
Silene latifolia, Rendle et Britten (S. Cucubalus, Wib.). Blad-
der Campion. Accepted as native in the greater part of the British
Islands; but very doubtfully so near Aberdeen, where it can
scarcely be regarded as an established resident.
“ Gallowhill”’ (Knight). ‘Near Powder Magazine, and near
New Pier, 1834” (Dickie hb.). ‘‘ Footdee, banks of Dee and Don,
etc.” (B. G.).
It isa scarce plant about Aberdeen, usually appearing singly
(e.g., near Rubislaw and Old Aberdeen), by a field, or on rubbish,
and rarely keeping its place for more than a year or two.
Adt. Ps. Ng:: PNhDO. Scarce and uncertain.
Var. puberula, Syme.
“The hairy variety I found in a field at Broomhill, 1823”
(Harvey).
I once found this variety by a field near Aberdeen ; and have
gathered it twice or thrice in Aberdeenshire, though not in the
parishes adjacent to the city.
S. maritima, With. Sea Campion. Native on shingle by
the Dee, and plentiful on the rocky coast of Kincardineshire.
“Hane plantam inyenio in ripis arenosis Dee” (Skene).
“Banks of Dee and along the coast; on the Inch. Abundant”
(Fl. Ab.).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 127
It is now very scarce by the Dee within Aberdeen, having been
almost extirpated locally by the alterations artificially made in the
estuary ; but it is common on banks of sand and pebbles in many
places along the Dee, beyond our boundary.
Adt, Psy Nove MG Rte).
S. anglica, L. English Catchfly. Locally a casual on
town-refuse, probably brought among the seeds of cereals from
continental Europe, though accepted as native in different localities
in southern Britain.
Found by me in 1893 on the old bed of the Dee, and in 1903
and subsequent years on refuse on Old Aberdeen Links and else-
where, but rarely.
Var. quinquevulnera, L. On town-refuse on the Links, near
the Broadhill, in 1903; a rare casual.
S. conica, L. Striated Campion: A rare casual here.
In 1904 I found a few plants in a field of oats near the Bay of
Nigg, no doubt introduced with seed, perhaps from Fife, or from
some other locality in Scotland where it occurs as a common field-
weed.
S. cretica, L. Native of southern Kurope.
Once found, as a weed in my garden, in Old Aberdeen, in 1907,
possibly brought in town manure.
S. laeta, A. Br. Native of the Mediterranean coast of
Africa.
Once on town-refuse on Old Aberdeen Links, in 1903.
S. dichotoma, Ehrh. Casual on rubbish and as a weed in
grass fields and among cereals; probably introduced with agri-
cultural seeds from central or south-eastern Europe.
First found by me in 1893, on the old bed of the Dee; after-
wards once or twice in fields near Old Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. Ng ::: (Nh): :. A few plants in a field near Bay
of Nigg, in 1904. It is still very scarce near Aberdeen; but I
have found it almost as a colonist in two or three places in Aber-
deenshire, and in the valley of the Spey.
S. noctiflora, L. Night-flowering Campion. Casual.
On town-refuse, since 1904, on Old Aberdeen Links, and com-
mon in 1913 on a rubbish-tip near Fonthill Terrace; probably
from grain-siftings. It is a common weed of crops in many
countries, including England and the south of Scotland.
128 J. W. H. TRAIL
Lychnis Flos-cuculi, Z. Ragged Robin. Native in wet
ground.
‘In pascuis humidioribus” (Skene). “Den of Rubislaw;
Gilcomston Dam” (Knight). ‘‘ Meadow west the Snow Church”
(Cow).
Though it must have been abundant within the parish before
drainage of the surface, it is now extremely scarce locally, lingering
here and there, as by the Don, and by ditches, and in moist hollows.
Adt. Ps. In all; generally distributed in suitable habitats ;
often plentiful locally.
L. alba, Miller. White Campion. Probably native, but
perhaps alien.
“ Ferryhill,” ‘“‘ Roadside between Gordon’s Mills and the Canal”’
(Beattie, as white L. dioica) (Knight). ‘On a bank near the Print-
field, with white flowers” (Cow, under L. dioica). ‘‘ About Robs-
law” (B. G.).
It is nowhere common near Aberdeen, and is uncertain in its:
appearances in any locality. Occasionally it may be found by
sides of fields or among grass grown for hay, as at Old Aberdeen,
and near Rubislaw; but it grows more often on town-refuse and on
waste ground, as on the old bed of the Dee. Its habitats thus
throw doubt on its being native locally, though accepted as such in
most parts of Britain.
Adt. Ps. Ng B(M)P Nh: O. The same remarks apply as
for Aberdeen.
L. dioica, L. (L. diurna, Sibth.). Red Campion. Native,
in thickets usually.
‘Tn rupibus Don” (Skene). ‘‘On the braes above the Bridge
of Don, abundant” (Cow).
It is still abundant on the rocky banks on both sides of the
Don above the Old Bridge. I have also seen it, as an alien, on the
old bed of the Dee, near the Railway Station.
Adt. Ps. Ng BMP: (D)0O. Locally common on the rocky
coast of Kincardineshire, and on rough banks by Dee and Don.
Often grown in old gardens.
L. Githago, Scop. Corn Cockle. Casual, or uncertain
colonist, as a weed in fields or on rubbish; introduced with seeds
of cereals and tares ; possibly native in south-eastern Europe, but a
weed of cultivation very widely dispersed.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 129
“Passim inter segetes’’ (Skene). ‘‘Carden’s Howe, 1807”
(Knight hb.). ‘In corn fields, among wheat and flax, occasionally
about Aberdeen”’ (Cow). ‘“‘Cornfields, especially of wheat, fre-
quent” (P. M.). ‘Frequent in cultivated fields throughout the
district” (B. G.).
This might now be called one of the rarer weeds of cultivation
around Aberdeen, tares being almost the only crop in which one
ever sees more than a very few flowers. Its continued appearance
seems to be due to fresh introduction of seeds with tares and other
agricultural seeds ; and its greater frequency formerly was probably
due to its seeds being often brought with wheat, while that cereal
was cultivated near Aberdeen. Since wheat ceased to be grown
locally, before 1870, tares seem to be the seeds with which the
Corn Cockle is chiefly introduced. It does not appear able to
establish itself as a colonist in this part of Scotland.
Adt. Ps.) Ng:M PNhDO. Sometimes fairly common
among tares; and occasionally among other agricultural crops and
on waste ground.
Cerastium tetrandrum, Curtis. Four-cleft Mouse-ear-chick-
weed. Native on sandhills and rocks by the coast; less common
on dry soils inland.
“Aberdeen Links, 1801” (Knight hb.). “Inches, 1833”
(Dickie hb.). ‘On sandy shores and gravelly soils” (Cow). ‘On
the sandhills ; on the Inch, ete.” (Fl. Ab.).
It is still plentiful on the sandhills near the Don; and also
grows in crevices between stones and rocks near the mouth of the
Dee, east of Torry; and it may also be found on walls and dry
banks throughout the parish.
Adt. Ps. Ng B:::: 0. Almost confined to the coasts.
C. semidecandrum, LZ. Little Mouse-ear-chickweed. Na-
tive, on dry soils.
“Crescit in muris, tectis, locis siccis vel arenosis” (Skene).
‘‘ Dykes between Stocket and Aberdeen, Dykes of Leslie’s garden”
in Old Aberdeen (Beattie). ‘“ Links near the mouth of the Don”
(Cow). ‘At the South Pier, Old Town Links, Inch, etc.” (B. G.).
This is very plentiful in spring and early summer on the sand-
hills and other dry soils of the Links; also among stones and rocks
near the mouth of the Dee; and on dry banks and walls inland,
though not so abundant on these.
Adt. Ps. Ng BM P:: 0. Common locally.
130 J Wie. SER ATE
C. viscosum, L. (C. glomeratum, Thuill.). Broad-leaved
Mouse-ear-chickweed. Native.
“Fields, pastures and waysides, common; on the Links, north
the Broadhill ; at Kittybrewster’s toll, by the roadsides, ete.” (Cow).
Somewhat local, although in some places abundant, especially
in shallow ditches that are dry during most of the summer.
Var. apetalum, Duwm., with petals very small or absent, may
be found occasionally, though apt to be overlooked as merely not
in flower.
Adt. Ps. In all; locally plentiful.
C. vulgatum, ZL. (C. triviale, Link). Narrow-leaved Mouse-
ear-chickweed. Native in many places, and very frequent as a
weed of cultivation and on waste ground and rubbish.
“Tn pratis et in cultis, passim” (Skene).
Common in all kinds of ground. It does not show any very
marked varieties locally.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant.
C. hirsutum, Tenore.
Of this plant of southern Hurope I found two or three vigorous
plants in an old sandpit near Tillydrone in 1905. They continued
to spread slowly until covered up with rubbish in 1908. The plant
is so inconspicuous that it seems unlikely to be cultivated; so the
mode of introduction to the sandpit must remain uncertain.
C. arvense, LZ. Field Mouse-ear-chickweed. I have no
certain record of this as found native within Aberdeen parish; but.
it may very probably have been so, as it is native in the adjacent
parishes, in dry fields.
‘“‘In a field near the north end of the Bridge of Dee” (Knight,
and B.G.). This locality may have been within the parish, and
in any case must refer to a habitat close to the boundary.
In 1891 I placed one or two plants from near Murtle on a
sloping bank by a field west of the Chanonry, Old Aberdeen, where
they have spread a little.
Adt. Ps. : BM P Nh D (O). Very local; but somewhat
plentiful in one or two limited areas.
Stellaria media, 2. Common Chickweed. Apparently native
in broken ground, though seldom common there; very plentiful as
a weed of gardens and fields, on waste ground, and on rubbish.
‘‘ Passim in umbrosis, cultis, ad vias” (Skene).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 131
A yery common weed; varying considerably in size, in leaf-
stalks, and in the sepals being glabrous or hairy; but I have not
found any named varieties near Aberdeen; although the petals
vary considerably in size, and the stamens vary from three to five,
with sterile filaments added at times.
Adt. Ps. In all, plentiful.
S. Holostea, Z. Greater Stitchwort. Native, on rough
banks usually.
‘‘Passim in sylvis et incultis” (Skene). ‘‘ Rubislaw; banks of
Don near the Bridge” (Harvey).
Still common in both localities; but rare in other parts of
Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. In all; local, but common in some places.
S, graminea, L. Lesser Stitchwort. Native.
‘‘Passim locis siccioribus” (Skene). ‘On dry pastures and
heaths, common; on the Links north the Broadhill; in the Den
of Rubislaw’”’ (Cow).
Still in small quantity on the Links, and common by roads and
in dry natural pastures elsewhere.
Adt. Ps. In all, locally plentiful.
““§. glauca (Glaucous Marsh Stitchwort). In ditches and
wet marshy places, abundant’? (Cow). This is certainly an error
of identification by Cow; as the species does not grow near
Aberdeen.
S. uliginosa, Murray. Marsh or Bog Stitchwort. Native
in wet places.
‘In fossis et locis udis” (Skene). ‘Stocket Moor, 1834’”
(Dickie hb.).
Too general to require mention of localities; though certainly
restricted by drainage and by extension of the city.
Adt. Ps. In all; common and generally distributed.
Arenaria serpyllifolia, ZL. Thyme-leaved Sandwort. Native,
not common.
““Raeden” (Knight). ‘Old walls near Westfield and near
Woodhill, and dikes at Broomhill, 1827” (Harvey). ‘‘Tops of
walls behind Kittybrewster toll-bar: walls near Raeden; near
Ferryhill Moss” (Fl. Ab.).
I have not seen this plant in these localities ; but have found it
132 See Wie et RAE
occasionally on dry banks, and on earthen walls and bare soil by
roads, as at Tillydrone.
Adt. Ps. ::: PNhDO. Local, and seldom common.
Var. leptoclados (Guss.) was found by Mr. John Sim within
Aberdeen.
I have not seen it here; but have found it just outside the
limits of the parish, in Newhills, and plentifully on refuse-heaps at
the quarries north of the Don near the bridge at Persley.
[A. trinervia, 2. Three-nerved Sandwort.] Native in woods
and thickets.
Local and scarce in this neighbourhood. Not known to have
been found within Aberdeen; though it may have not improbably
grown here under natural conditions of the surface.
ENG h asia edits. Gul ui) Ska ee
Honkenya peploides, Zirh. Sea Purslane. Native on sea-
coast.
“Tn arena mobili ad maris littora, 29th July, 1763, in great
plenty betwixt Dee and Don; it is now in seed” (Skene). ‘On
the Inches, beach at Torry, and opposite New Pier” (Cow).
Alterations made in the estuary of the Dee have almost ex-
tirpated it by that river; but it is still common on the Links.
Adt.Ps. NgB:::: 0. Onthe sea-coast ; common, locally
abundant.
Sagina maritima, Don. Sea Pearlwort. Native on coast
and by estuaries.
“Coast near Aberdeen, G. Don” (Eng. Fl., I., 239). “Inch”
(Knight). ‘ New Pier, Inches and Old Town Links, 1834” (Dickie
hb.). ‘‘ Tidal line at railway viaduct” by the Dee (B. G.).
Alterations in the estuary of the Dee have greatly lessened its
prevalence there ; but it is still common on the low ground of Old
Aberdeen Links, where liable to be overflowed by high tides. It
is probable that the changes at present being carried out on the
Links will render the species scarce there also, if they do not lead
to its local extinction.
Adt. Ps. Ng ::::::. In crevices of rocks, on bare soil,
ete.
S. apetala, Arduino. Small-flowered Pearlwort. Probably
native.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 133
“On the Inches, Dr. Macgillivray” (P.M.). This refers
certainly to S. maritima, not to S. apetala.
Assured evidence of the latter species within the parish was
supplied by my finding several examples growing on an old wall
by a road near Kepplestone in October, 1907, and strong, much
branched plants in abundance on the site of Rubislaw Bleach-
works in the autumn of 1909. ;
In September, 1912, a few grew on bare made-up soil to the east
of Sunnybank House near the Spital.
Adt. Ps. Ng:::: DO. Plentiful in July, 1907, on bare
ground among piles of wood at Dyce Railway Station, on cinders
strewn a few months previously; but it has become scarcer since
1907. Mr. Cobban informs me that he found it here in 1894. In
October, 1909, I found several plants on an old refuse-heap in
Persley Quarries, and in September, 1911, it was fairly plentiful
on an old road in Cove Quarry, Nigg. The situations in which
alone it has been observed in and near Aberdeen cast doubt on its
source here, though it may be native, but overlooked owing to its
inconspicuous appearance.
S. ciliata, /r. Ciliated Pearlwort. Native.
Recorded by Mr. John Sim from Cornhill, found in September,
1864.
T had seen no example from within our limits until September,
1915, when I found it in plenty in Burnside Nurseries among
young conifers.
Adt. Ps. Ng :::::.:. Found by me just beyond the boundary
on a dry bank on ‘the coast at Greyhope Bay, in autumn 1903, and
on the high bank near the Bay of Nigg west of Girdleness Light-
house in 1909.
S. procumbens, LZ. Procumbent Pearlwort. Native.
‘‘Passim in humidiusculis ’’ (Skene).
On all kinds of soil, waste or bare places, walls, etc.; very
common, and generally distributed.
Adt. Ps. In all; very common.
S. subulata, Presi. Awl-leaved Pearlwort. Native on dry
soils, scarce.
“Rubislaw Quarries” (Knight). ‘ Banks of Dee, ete., not in-
frequent ” (FI. Ab.).
I have not seen any example from within the parish, where it
must have been much limited by surface changes.
134 Be) ee s ed 370
Adt. Ps. Ng B: P.:: 0. Very local; but occasionally not
scarce. ‘‘Girdleness’’ (Knight). At the Bay of Greyhope, with
S. ciliata, and roadside between Loirston and Altens in Nigg;
Persley Quarries, on debris.
S. nodosa, Fenzl. Knotted Pearlwort, Native in damp
places; but very local, and now very rare within Aberdeen.
‘“T first met with the Spergula nodosa pretty frequent in damp
places in the Old Town Links, July 29, 1763” (Skene).
‘‘Meadows N.W. side above the Dam of Gilcomston”’ (Beattie).
‘‘Tjinks”’ (Harvey). ‘On the Links north the Broadhill ; on the
Inches” Cow). ‘Old Town Links, and gravelly banks on Stocket
Moor” (Knight and Fl. Ab.).
Extirpated from the Inches and from Stocket Moor upwards of
thirty years ago, the Knotted Pearlwort still lingers on the swampy
north part of Old Aberdeen Links; but its existence is in danger
there also.
Adt. Ps. : : : : : : O. In marshes in two or three places in
Old Machar; locally not uncommon.
Spergula arvensis, L. Corn Spurrey; locally called Yarr.
Colonist.
‘In cornfields, common, near the Bridge of Don, and west the
Broadhill ; at Rubislaw ; at Hilton ; etc.’’ (Cow).
The forms usually included under S. arvensis are so distinct as
to warrant their being regarded as distinct species. Two occur
here :—
S. sativa, Boenn. Very plentiful on cultivated soil as a
weed among cereals and root-crops; introduced with seeds,
probably from northern Europe, where it is the common form. It
is common on waste bare ground near fields; and has almost
become a denizen on bare places by streams, in rabbit warrens, etc.,
where newly exposed soil permits its growth.
Adt. Ps. In all; a far too abundant weed.
S. vulgaris, Boenn. Though I often looked for this plant
around Aberdeen, I never found it until 1893, when I came on one
or two examples on the old bed of the Dee, near the Railway
Station. I have since then found it occasionally on rubbish on the
Links, but not as a field-weed within the parish. From 1894
onwards I have seen it as a weed among crops in a good many
parishes in various parts of the counties near Aberdeen. It usually
is seattered among the other form; but occasionally it is rather
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 135
common ; and it appears to be becoming more common. It is the
form more frequent in the southern half of Europe, including
England. The distribution of the two suggests that Scotland
received its agricultural seeds rather from northern than from
southern Hurope.
Adt. Ps. Ng ::P Nh DO. Local and scarce in all five
parishes.
Spergularia rubra, St. Hil. Field Sandwort-spurrey. Native.
‘“ Passim ad vias” (Skene). “On dry gravelly soils, common ;
on the Inches; on the sea-beach at Torry, opposite new pier; on
the side of a road, back of Powis, leading to the Canal” (Cow).
Noted as “common” by Dickie (Fl. Ab.) and by P. Macgillivray
(1853).
I have not seen it common within the parish north of the Dee,
though a few plants may be found on waste ground or by roads in
most places occasionally. It is very abundant on the sloping
south bank of the Dee between the Victoria and Suspension Bridges.
Adt. Ps. In all; but seldom plentiful.
S. marina, Camb. Sea-side Sandwort-spurrey. Native on
the coast, sandy or rocky, where the soil contains salts from sea-
water or spray.
“In arena maritima, near the Old-town Brickwork, where the
Glaux is, August 1, 1763” (Skene). ‘ Links near Brick-kilns ”
(Harvey, 1827). ‘‘Sea coast in many places, common on the
Inches, ete.’’ (Cow).
The aggregate near Aberdeen includes two forms, distributed
thus :—
S. media (Pers.) Presl (Alsine marginata, Reich.). Not
plentiful, but a few in the wetter turf of the Links near the Don;
also in crevices of piers and rocks south of the Dee. Probably on
the shores of the estuary, and on the Inches formerly.
Adt. Ps. NgB:::::. On rocky coast, sparingly.
S. salina, Pres) var. neglecta (Kindb.). Still fairly
common on the Links near the Don where liable to be overflowed
by the highest tides. Rare by the Dee near Torry; but probably
frequent beside the estuary and on the Inches before 1860.
PORTULACACEZ.
Claytonia perfoliata, Donn. Native in N. America, from British
Columbia to Mexico; cultivated in gardens occasionally, and
136 dig, Wise lat, ulevew lb)
establishing itself as a weed. A subdenizen in one or two gardens
in Old Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. :::: (Nh) ::. ‘Asa weed in garden at Bankhead,
1893” (J. Cobban). Established as a denizen, Uppermill, in Kintore.
[C. sebirica, L.] A native of N. Asia ; cultivated occasionally
in gardens or shrubberies, in which it readily tends to establish
itself as a denizen, by seeds, on damp bare soil.
Not recorded from within Aberdeen. Well established in the
Corbie Den, in M.
Montia fontana, L. Water-blinks. Native in wet places.
“Passim in locis humidis” (Skene). ‘‘Old Town Links,
common, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
This must have been much more common formerly.
Adt. Ps. In all; very general, and in many places abundant.
HYPERICACEZ.
Hypericum Androsemum, L. Tutsan. A rare casual locally ;
though native in great part of southern Britain.
‘Den of Rubislaw”’ (Cow). Probably planted there.
H. calycinum, L. Large-flowered St. John’s-wort, or
Aaron’s-beard. A rare casual. Native in Greece ; long cultivated
in British gardens.
Found by me, in 1907, in Rubislaw Quarry.
H, perforatum, LZ. Perforate St. John’s-wort. Native ;
but apparently extinct in Aberdeen.
“Den of Rubislaw, 1809” (Knight hb.). Mentioned from the
Den by Harvey, Cow, and Dickie. ‘On Donside above the
Bridge’ (Beattie and Cow).
I have never seen it wild in the parish, but have seen a speci-
men that came up in 1903 as a weed in a garden in Carden Place.
The record for Donside may be in error for H. hirsutwm, which
grows there, as was noted by Beattie, but which was not men-
tioned by Cow.
Cie sits sls Rares
H. quadrangulum, ZL. Square-stalked St. John’s-wort
Native, in wet soil.
“Tn palustribus” (Skene). ‘‘Den of Rubislaw”’ (Knight and
Cow). ‘‘Gilecomston Dam” (Knight, Fl. Ab. and P. M., 1853).
“« By the side of the burn at Robslaw Bleachfield”’ (B. G.).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 137
Drainage must have greatly reduced its prevalence in Aberdeen.
I have seen it growing within the parish only by the Don above
Woodside, where it is not common.
Adt. Ps. : BM P(Nh)D: . Local and seldom common.
H. humifusum, Z. Trailing St. John’s-wort. Native, in
thin pastures.
“Rubislaw, Morningfield, Craiglug” (Beattie). ‘‘ On walls, not
unfrequent” (Knight). “Fields at Broomhill” (Harvey). ‘On
the roadside leading to Hilton from Kittybrewster Toll” (Cow).
It seems almost extinct now in Aberdeen, as a result of agri-
culture, and of extension of streets. I have only once found it here,
in 1902, on a new road, now a street, a little west of the old Boat-
house, north of Kittybrewster.
Adt. Ps. (Ng): MPNhDO. Not common.
A few plants of var. decumbens grew on quarry refuse north of
Persley Bridge in July, 1915.
H. pulchrum, LZ. Upright St. John’s-wort. Native on dry
poor soils.
“Tn sterilioribus frequens” (Skene). ‘‘Den of Rubislaw ; on
Donside above the Bridge” (Cow).
Its habitats have been much limited by agriculture, so that it is
now a scarce plant within the parish. I have found it sparingly,
about Hilton and Rosehill, onthe old quarries at Rubislaw, and on
the small remains of moor beyond them.
Adt. Ps. In all; widespread, on moorlands often frequent.
H. hirsutum, ZL. Hairy St. John’s-wort. Native, on rough
banks. Rare.
Found by me, in 1902, in small quantity by the Don above
Woodside.
Adt. Ps. (Ng) BMPNhDO. Rather frequent by the Dee
and by the Don in O, “ Don Braes”’ (Knight, and “1819,” Mac-
gillivray hb.), not so elsewhere.
MALVACEZ.,
No species of this family has a claim to be regarded as native in
this part of Scotland.
Malva moschata, L. Musk Mallow. Locally a casual; though
accepted as native in southern Britain. Formerly often cultivated
in cottage gardens locally, explaining its greater frequency as an
outcast or escape.
L
138 J. W. H. TRAE
“Roadside near Richmond Hill; near Belmont, ete.” (Dickie,
1838). ‘(Formerly at Footdee” (Prof. Macgillivray, in Nat. Hist.
of Deeside).
I have not seen it apparently wild in Aberdeen or adjacent
parishes.
M. sylvestris, L. Common Mallow. Casual or subdenizen
near Aberdeen. Native of Europe; well-established denizen, if not
native of many parts of the British islands. Often cultivated in
cottage gardens.
‘“‘Stocket not common ”’ (Beattie and Knight). ‘‘ On the Inches ;
by the Boil-yards at Footdee; at King’s College, rare” (Cow).
‘Carden’s Haugh, rare”’ (Fl. Ab.).
I have seen it as an evident escape near cottages, not far from
the Old Bridge of Don.
Adt. Ps. Ng: M P Nh DO. USE near cottages or rail-
ways, well established in a few places.
M. rotundifolia, L. Dwarf Mallow. Casual. Probably
native in Central Asia, and only a denizen of waste ground in
Europe.
“Passim ad vias” (Skene, under “sylvestris,” but with a
description that shows his plant to have been M. rotundifolia).
‘‘Hangman’s Yard, Aberdeen” (Beattie). “At the Sugar House,
1801” (Knight). ‘A single plant at Footdee in 1826” (Cow). ‘At
the Suspension Bridge” (Nat. Hist. of Deeside). ‘‘ Among sand at
south end of Fish-town of Footdee, rare” (B. G., as a native plant).
I have found it occasionally on town-refuse, as on the old bed
of the Dee, in asand-pit at the Gallowhill, etc., but only as a casual.
ING Me NEG BUR Sv INMol Be
M. parviflora, L. Small-flowered Mallow. Casual. Native
in the Mediterranean region, and a weed of cultivation there and
in Central Europe.
Occasionally on town-refuse, e.g., on the old bed of the Dee, in
1893, on Old Aberdeen Links, ete.
dts. oti: c+: (D), : 2 Rare:
M. borealis, Hartm. Northern Mallow. Casual. Native
of Northern and Central Europe, where it is a frequent weed of
cultivation.
Like M. parviflora in its occurrences; both probably being
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 139
brought among cereals from Continental Europe, and cast out in
seed-siftings.
TILIACEZ.
Tilia spp., Lime-trees, are frequent in and around Aberdeen ;
but although they flower freely, they do not ripen seeds, and must
all have been planted where they grow.
LINACEA.
Radiola linoides, Roth. Thyme-leaved Flax-seed. Native;
now extinct.
‘Tn campis nostris maritimis” (Skene). “Links” (Harvey).
It has not been found on the Links or elsewhere in Aberdeen
for many years; and appears to be extinct as a local plant, though
its small size may lead to its being overlooked.
Adt. Ps. (Ng) (B):::: 0. Very local. It exists, in small
quantity, on an old road across Scotston Moor.
Linum catharticum, Z. Purging Flax. Native, in short
natural pasture, as on moors, but approaching extinction within
Aberdeen.
‘Ad ripas fluminum, et in pratis” (Skene). ‘Old Town
Links” (Beattie). ‘ Stocket Moor” (Knight). ‘Deeside, below
the Bridge’ (Cow).
It must have been not uncommon formerly within the parish ;
but I have seen only a few examples in short turf near Rubislaw
and on the inner sandhills near the Don.
Adt. Ps)5 Ng BMPNh:O. General, and common in suit-
able habitats.
L. usitatissimum, L. Common or Cultivated Flax. Very
widely cultivated from subtropical to cool temperate zones ; per-
haps native in N. Africa. Formerly a good deal cultivated in the
North-east of Scotland, but now rarely so.
It is still a very frequent casual on town-refuse, as on the old
bed of the Dee, on the Links, and in many places around Aberdeen.
It is a frequent weed among tares, and less often among other
annual crops of cultivated ground.
Adt. Ps. Ng ::(P)Nh::. A rare casual.
L. perenne, Li. On refuse-tip in Ferryhill, 20 October, 1915,
two plants, one with fl. buds and fruits, and one with ripe fruits.
140 i. W. BE. TRAIL
GERANIACEZ.
Geranium striatum, L. 3.2 KGnecaugies” (Knight).
P. Avium, Ll. Gean. Probably not native, though well-
established in the valley of the Dee. Rare in Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps.: BM PNhDO. Rarely Common.
158 J. W. H. TRAIL
P. Padus, Z. Bird Cherry. Native.
“ Hilton” (Knight). ‘‘ Rubislaw, 1837” (Laing hb.).
I have not seen any other example from Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. : BM PNh : (O). Common in the valley of the Dee ;
rare elsewhere. ‘‘Fraserfield”’ (Beattie). This was a former name
for the property of Balgownie.
Spiraea salicifolia, L. Native of the N. Temperate Zone;
often planted in this district, as an ornamental shrub, so as to have
become a subdenizen in several places.
“In the Den of Rubislaw and a ditch north of it; at Powis
Hermitage’ (Cow).
AdtiPs.): 202 Nbtoe sa erylocal:
S. Ulmaria, Z. Meadow-sweet or Queen-of-the-Meadow.
Native.
“ Pitmuckston, Rubislaw”’ (Knight). ‘In the Den of Rubislaw ;
on Deeside and Don, abundant; on the banks of streams at the
Printfield, ete.” (Cow).
It is still common about Aberdeen in wet places, though drain-
age must have greatly limited its range.
Adt. Ps. In all; common, and often abundant in wet places.
Var. denudata, Boenn. I have found this variety here and
there, e.g. by the Don near Woodside. The leaves vary so much
in the degree of hairiness on the lower surface, even on the same
plant that the variety seems scarcely worthy of a name.
S. Filipendula, L. Common Dropwort. Only as a casual,
or escape.
“In the Den of Rubislaw’”’ (Cow).
Adt. Ps.::: P:::. Rare; once found by me near Cults ;
outcast.
Rubus idaeus, LZ. Wild Raspberry. Native in woods and on
rough ground.
“‘Rubislaw ” (Beattie). ‘‘ Donside ; Stocket’’ (Knight). ‘‘Com-
mon on Donside, above the Bridge; at Woodside, by the river”
(Cow).
It is still common on the banks of the Don; about old quarries
at Rubislaw and Hilton; and on waste and rough ground in other
parts of Aberdeen ; though its habitats have been greatly limited by
agriculture and by the extension of the city. A pale-fruited variety
may be met with here and there, as near Hilton. This variety
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 159
appears to occur spontaneously among wild raspberries in the
counties near Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. In all; plentiful. Great differences exist in the
abundance of prickles on the stems and leaves, some plants being
covered with them, while others are almost unarmed. I have oc-
casionally found var. obtusifolius (Willd.) in this district, though not
within the “adjacent parishes” until October, 1909, when I found
a clump of it on the slope about 200 or 300 yards east of the
Church of Nigg. In Midmar, from fifteen to. twenty miles west of
Aberdeen, there is a tendency for the raspberry leaves to show
digitate divisions, much like some forms of bramble leaves.
[R. suberectus, Anders.| Among the group of Suberect
Brambles none has been observed within the limits of Aberdeen,
though there is reason to believe that they were among the native
flora of the parish; but I have examples of the following, gathered
by myself, from the vicinity :—
R. fissus, Lindl. Near Grandholm in Old Machar,
R. plicatus, W. et N. Near Culter, and
R. Rogersii, Linton. In parish of Dyce.
R, fruticosus, L., agg. Bramble or Blackberry. Native in
thickets and on rough banks about Aberdeen ; limited by agriculture
and buildings.
Of the numerous forms included under this aggregate, I have
gathered examples of the following within Aberdeen, the names being
given, as for the suberect brambles, by the Rev. W. Moyle Rogers;
who very kindly examined my local collection :—
R. latifolius, Bab. In Seaton, rare.
Adt. Ps. :::::: 0. Local and rare.
R. rusticanus, Merc. By a road near Hilton, scarce. In
September, 1914, I found a plant by the Dee below Murtle.
R, mucronatus, Blox. By the Don near Seaton, about
Woodside, Hilton, and Rubislaw; probably the most common
bramble near Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. In all; common.
R. radula, Weihe. Once by a road near Hilton.
Adte Bayo Ps: a Rare:
Var. echinatoides, Rogers. Rather frequent by roads near
Hilton and Kittybrewster.
Adts Psi) Ngo: : BP Nhv 32a focal.
160 J. W. H. TRAIL
R. corylifolius, Sm. Hazel-leaved Bramble. Native in
same habitats as R. fruticosus forms; local and scarcely common.
“Den of Rubislaw” (Knight and Fl. Ab.).
I have seen it at Rubislaw and Hilton, by roads and on quarry
refuse.
Adt. Ps. In all; rather local.
[R. saxatilis, Z. Stone Bramble.] Native in N.E. Scot-
land, on rough banks, ete., but not recorded from Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. :: M: Nh::. ‘“Maidencraig” (Knight). Wood
near “‘ Robber’s Cave,” Clinterty, 22 September, 1917.
Geum urbanum, LZ. Common Avens. Native by sides of
woods, thickets, and hedges; locally plentiful.
“Ad aggeres” (Skene). “Near Hilton” (Beattie and Harvey).
‘‘Raeden and Stocket”’ (Knight). ‘‘ At Woodside, by the river; in
the Den of Rubislaw’ (Cow). “Roadside at Richmond Hill”
(FI. Ab.).
Still grows, though in greatly reducediamount, in Aberdeen ; but
local.
Adt. Ps. Ng BMPNh: O. Local; but plentiful in many
places.
G, rivale, Z. Water Avens. Native, by streams usually.
“‘Rubislaw and Donside”’ (Beattie). ‘‘ Banks of Dee” (Fl. Ab.).
Rare within Aberdeen, even by the Dee and the Don, to whose
banks it is almost limited.
Adt Ps. Neo Mie (Nn) ©; Rainer scarce.
[G, rivale x urbanum (G. intermediwm, Ehrh.)] has not been
observed within Aberdeen; but it is scarcely rare, though very
local, in the valley of the Dee.
AdtuaPs Ver sss Pancciaeas
G. macrophyllum, Wild. Denizen, abundant in one place
in Aberdeen. Native in N. America.
Very plentiful during at least thirty years by a large ditch, be-
side a road near Woodhill; probably outcast originally from a gar-
den near at hand. A few years ago I saw a plant by a road near
Cairnery quarry, about quarter of a mile from the bed of it. I do
~ not know of its occurrence in the ‘‘ adjacent parishes”; but have
seen it well established in widely separated parts of the county.
Fragaria vesca, L. Wild Strawberry. Native; in woods and
on braes.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 161
“Den of Rubislaw” (Knight). ‘‘ Woodside, by the river”’
(Cow). ‘Den of Rubislaw and Rubislaw Quarry” (Fl. Ab.).
It is now very rare inthe Den; and I do not know of any other
‘station for it in Aberdeen as Cow’s record for Woodside is prob-
ably in error for the “Barren Strawberry,” which he does not
mention in his list, though it is not uncommon by the Don in some
places.
Adt. Ps. : BMPWNh: O. Local and rarely frequent.
“‘ F’. elatior.”’ Cultivated Strawberries. Outcasts or escapes
from cultivation, or sprung from seeds scattered by birds ; often on
waste ground, or as relicts of deserted gardens.
“In the Den at Rubislaw”’ (Cow).
Cultivated Strawberry plants are frequent near Aberdeen; but
they are of very mixed origin; and probably the true F’. elatior,
Ebrh., is of rare occurrence among them.
Adt. Ps. Occasionally in most parishes ; nIEOste a denizen in
‘places.
Potentilla recta, L. Casual. Native in Central and 8. Europe.
Found by me on the old bed of the Dee, in 1893, and since then
on Old Aberdeen Links; but rare.
P. intermedia, L.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 243
Var. bifida, Boenn. Not uncommon, though less frequent
in Aberdeen than in the country districts.
Adt. Ps. In all; a very common colonist.
Prasium majus, L. Casual. Native in the Mediterranean
area, from which it may have been brought to Aberdeen, as a weed
among cereals.
Several examples were found by me on town-refuse on Old
Aberdeen Links in 1905 and 1909, and on the railway near Don
Street Station in 1910, possibly from grain-siftings.
Sideritis montana, L. Casual in Britain. Native in the Medi-
terranean area, from which it has probably been brought as a weed
of cereals.
It grew, as a weed in 1904, in a garden in Old Aberdeen, prob-
ably introduced with town-manure; and in 1906 several plants
appeared on town-refuse on Old Aberdeen Links. I first observed
it in Scotland, in 1899, on the banks and on shingle in the Spey,
from Aberlour downwards. I was able to trace its presence there
to grain-siftings cast on to the banks of streams out of the dis-
tilleries, chiefly from barley imported from E. Europe.
Lamium amplexicaule, L. Henbit Dead-nettle. Colonist, or
weed of cultivated ground in Scotland, as wherever else it is known
to grow.
“Tn cultis” (Skene). ‘‘Ondry and sandy fields and in gardens ;
common in fields west of St. Machar’s Church ; in the garden of
Gordon’s Hospital; at Pitmuxton; on a waste place below the
Barracks; at Kemhill, etc.” (Cow).
General around Aberdeen ; abundant in many fields and gardens,
and also in waste ground and on refuse-heaps.
Adt. Ps. In all; rather local, but plentiful in places.
L. moluccellifoliwm, Fr. (l. intermedium, f’r.). Inter- |
mediate Dead-nettle. Colonist throughout Britain, as in the rest
of Europe.
‘“‘In hedges and in fields, common ; sides of fields at Ferryhill ;
in fields west of the Broadhill ; in field and waste places in the
Links-side at Footdee ’’ (Cow).
Knight, Cow, Dickie and P. Macgillivray all refer to this species
as L. incisum, a name now regarded as a synonym of L. hybridum,
Vill. This latter species does not seem to grow in or near Aberdeen,
though frequent here and there in 8. Kincardine.
244 : J. W. H. TRAIL
L. moluccellifolium is a common weed near Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. Ng BMPNh: O. Frequent in fields and gardens.
L. purpureum, L. Common Red Dead-nettle. Colonist.
Native land uncertain; but very widely dispersed as a weed of
cultivation.
‘Tn agris cultis”’ (Skene).
Too plentiful as a weed in fields and gardens, on waste ground
and on refuse-heaps, to require citation of records or of localities.
Adt. Ps. In all; plentiful.
L. album, L. White Dead-nettle. A very local denizen in
Aberdeen, but abundant in a few places. Native in the Mediter-
ranean region; esteemed formerly as of medicinal value, and
probably dispersed by man.
Not known in Aberdeen to Skene, who says of this, ‘‘ solum-
modo inveni Leithhall” ; nor does Cow mention for it any locality
nearer than Culter. Knight says, ‘‘Old Aberdeen, Broomhill, not
common.” Dickie (in Fl. Ab.) says, ‘‘ By the road to Old Bridge
of Dee; near the Nursery in the Links, ete., not common.” “In
waste places near St. Machar’s Church” (Polson hb,).
It is now abundant behind walls along the road from Tillydrone
to Hayton. It used to be common by the Hardgate; but it has
been almost extirpated by changes in that part in recent years.
Adt. Ps. ::: P:: 0. Local and not common.
LT. maculatum, L. Spotted Dead-nettle. Scarcely more
than a casual in Aberdeen, probably as an outcast from gardens.
Native in §. and Central Europe.
Occasionally on waste ground, e.g., in an old sandpit, near
Tillydrone.
~ Teucrium Scorodonia, Z. Wood Germander. Native, on
rough banks.
‘In woods and dry stony places, in the Den of Rubislaw; on
Donside, abundant ; at Hilton” (Cow).
It is plentiful beside the Don, on rough banks in Seaton ; and
I have seen it sparingly on old heaps of quarry-refuse near Hilton
and in Rubislaw, and also by the Dee at Allenvale.
Adt. Ps. In all; locally plentiful on dry rough banks.
T. Chamedrys, L. Wall Germander. Native in the Medi-
terranean region and in Central Europe. Grown sometimes as a
wall-plant.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 245
“Garden walls, Rubislaw” (Beattie). ‘Rubislaw, 1856”
(Beveridge hb.).
A large clump continued to grow in a semi-wild state in the
old and ruinous wall of the garden attached to the old House
of Rubislaw until 1887, when the wall was demolished, and the
plant perished, Cow records it ‘‘on Donside, above the Bridge,
sparingly,” but there is little doubt that the record is erroneous.
Ajuga reptans, ZL. Common Bugle. Native in woods and
moist pastures, by streams.
“In pratis humidiusculis”’ (Skene). ‘‘ Den of Rubislaw ; Don-
side above the bridge ” (Cow).
Still to be found in the Den of Rubislaw, and in various places
near the Don; but it is not common in Aberdeen now as the habitats
suited to it have been much restricted by drainage and otherwise.
Adt. Ps. In all; rather local.
PLANTAGINACEZ:,
Plantago major, Z. Greater Plantain. Native in pastures
and in waste ground; also a common weed in lawns and other
cultivated ground.
“ Passim ad vias”’ (Skene). ‘‘ College Court; by all waysides
etc.” (Knight).
Too general and frequent to require citation of records or of
localities.
Adt. Ps. In all; very general and common.
Var. intermedia (Gilib.). Occasionally on town-refuse, etc.,
on Old Aberdeen Links and in Rubislaw, probably from imported
seeds; rare as a weed in fields. First observed by me near Aber-
deen in 1904; apparently not native here.
P. media, L. Hoary Plantain. Scarcely more than a
casual in lawns in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, from seeds
imported with grasses; though native in England, and probably
so in 8. Scotland.
“‘Very rare in the district. Formerly in a field near Marine
Terrace ’’ (B. G.).
I have several times seen it in lawns in Aberdeen, e.g., at
Gordon’s College and in the Cruickshank Botanic Garden, evidently
brought with the grass seeds. It seems unable to become a
denizen, or even a successful colonist, here.
246 J. W. H. TRAIL
Adt. Ps): BM PNh: O. Casual and rare. I have seen it
growing singly in lawns at Daneston, in O (in July, 1913). Also
in M, and in July, 1915, at Craibston House in Nh, and have seen
a dried example gathered in P in 1907, also a living specimen
gathered in B in May, 1917.
P. lanceolata, ZL. Ribwort Plantain; ‘‘ Carldoddies,”
“ Soldiers,” or “ Sodgers.” Native; abundant in pastures, natural
and artificial, especially so in lawns, also on waste ground, road-
sides, rubbish-heaps, etc.
‘“‘Passim in agris et ad vias” (Skene).
Too plentiful to require citations of records or of localities.
This species varies greatly in size, form, and margins of the leaves,
hairiness, and tendency to procumbent or erect growth of leaves
and stems; and it differs even more in the length and proportions
of the flower-heads, as also in the relative development of stamens
and carpels. The flower-heads are frequently branched, and very
often they have the bracts leaf-like ; so that occasionally the head
is replaced by a cluster of leaves, among which are a few flowers,
or small stalked flower-heads, which may repeat the abnormal
structure. These peculiar forms are more common in some years
than in others, and are more often met with on refuse-heaps, or in
other places where the soil contains more food materials than usual.
They were exceptionally frequent in the autumn of 1907. I have
found that seedlings of affected plants show a tendency to reproduce
the abnormal conditions.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant.
Var. Timbali (Reichb.). I found one plant of this form on
the football ground on Old Aberdeen Links near Hast Seaton in
August, 1909, probably from seeds among town-refuse.
P. maritima, 2. Sea plantain. Native on the sea-coast ;
but not confined to the coast, as it is frequent on exposed ground,
e.g., roadsides in many inland places.
“Inches ; Deeside below the Old Bridge, etc.’’ (Knight). “On
the sea-coast and on dry pastures, common; on Deeside, below
the Bridge ; on the Inch; on the Links, plentiful’’ (Cow).
Still plentiful on the Links, and on the south bank of the Dee,
near the sea, as also on the coast south of Aberdeen ; also here and
there by roadsides inland. The Sea Plantain varies much in size,
in hairiness, in width, and margins of leaves, and in length of the
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 247
flower-head ; and it also may have the bracts more or less leaf-like,
and may transmit this structure.
Adt. Ps. Ng BM P:: 0. Locally plentiful.
P. Coronopus, Z. Staghorn Plantain. Native on sea-
coast and by estuaries; never away from the vicinity of the sea in
this district.
“Passim in campis maritimis’’ (Skene). ‘Old Aberdeen
Links” (N. Fl.). “On the Inches” (Cow).
Abundant on the low part of Old Aberdeen Links near the
Don, less frequent on the inner dunes; scarce now by the Dee,
except on the south bank east of Torry; plentiful on the rocky
coast south of Aberdeen. The leaves of this species vary extremely
in form, segmentation and hairiness, these characters differing
among plants growing close together, and still more between those
from different localities; but they scarcely afford well-defined
varieties.
Adt. Ps). Ng B:::: 0. Confined to sea-coast.
P. arenaria, W.K. Casual in Aberdeen, introduced with
grass seeds. Native in Central and 8. Europe, and in §.W. Asia.
In 1894 several examples were found by me on a newly formed
slope recently sowed with grass, with which the seeds had no
doubt been brought, round the football ground between the Broad-
hill and the sea.
Littorella uniflora, Aschers. (L. lacustris, L.). Plantain Shore-
weed. Native on muddy shores of streams and pools, or growing
under water ; but flowering only when exposed to air.
“ Rubislaw ” (Beattie and Knight). ‘‘ Wet banks on the south
side of the Don and the Links” (Cow). ‘‘Stocket Moor” (Fl. Ab.).
This still grows on the wet stony margin of the Don below the
Old Bridge; but it seems to have disappeared from the other
localities named. It was probably not uncommon in Aberdeen
before drainage altered the surface.
_Adt. Ps. Ng BM P:D O. General in suitable habitats ;
plentiful in some localities.
APETALA or MONOCHLAMYDE.
ILLECEBRACEA.
Scleranthus annuus, ZL. Annual Knawel. Probably native on
dry banks though so much more common and vigorous as a weed
248 J. W. H. TRAIL
among cereals and other field-crops as to show that its dispersal
has been greatly aided by agriculture.
“ Perfrequens incola arvorum”’ (Skene).
General, and often a plentiful weed in fields.
Adt. Ps. In all; a common weed of cultivated ground, as well
as general and frequent on bare dry situations suitable for it.
AMARANTACEE.
Amaranthus retroflecus, L. A rare casual in Aberdeen.
Native on prairies in 8. Central states of the U.S., America.
Found by me in 1889 by the Dee, in Torry; also in 1891 and
in subsequent years on town-refuse on the Links, possibly from
seed-shops or grain-siftings.
CHENOPODIACEA.
Chenopodium polyspermum, L. Many-seeded Goosefoot..
Casual in Aberdeen. Native in Hurope, including 8. England;
dispersed widely as a weed of cultivated ground.
‘Common on the Inches ; at Footdee and Torry, etc.” (Cow).
Cow had evidently not known the plant, rendering his record
worthless. I have seen it only as an extremely rare casual on
town-refuse, on Old Aberdeen Links.
C. Vulvaria, L. Stinking Goosefoot. Casual in Aberdeen.
Native in Europe, probably including 8. England; but only an
introduced weed of cultivated and waste ground in Scotland.
Near Aberdeen I have seen only one or two examples on town-
refuse, since 1905, on Old Aberdeen Links.
C. album, L. White Goosefoot. A colonist ; very common
as a weed in arable land and in places rich in organic matter, such.
as dung-stances. Though so widely diffused as a weed of cultiva-
tion, its native land is uncertain.
“‘ Most abundant” (Knight).
Too general and abundant a weed to require citation of records
or localities. The following varieties occur in Aberdeen; all of
them being fairly common here :—
incanum, Moq. (candicans, Lam.),
viride, Syme, and
viridescens, St. Am. (paganum, Ferchd.).
Adt. Ps. In all; common. The distribution of the varieties.
has not been recorded for the several parishes.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 249
C. leptophyllum, Mog. Native on the Pacific slope of the
U.S., America, and dispersed eastwards as a weed of cultivated soil.
Very distinct in aspect from any of the European forms of C. album,
of which it is by some regarded as a variety.
Since 1903 I have frequently found this form in some quantity
on town-refuse on Old Aberdeen Links, etc., also on the old bed of
the Dee, and in sand-pits around Aberdeen; but I have not seen it
outside the parish except on rubbish-heaps near Kintore Station.
It flowers late, and seems rarely, if ever, to ripen seeds here; hence
its occurrence each year must be due to the introduction of fresh
seeds, probably in grain-siftings from American importations.
C. opulifolum, Schrad. Casual in Aberdeen. Native on
waste ground and by roads in Central Europe and in the Mediter-
ranean region.
One or two found by me on town-refuse, in 1893, on the old bed
of the Dee, and in 1905 on Old Aberdeen Links.
C. serotinum, L. (C. ficifolium, Sm.). Fig-leaved Goose-
foot. Casual in Aberdeen. In cultivated ground, by roadsides, ete.
In Central Europe and in the Mediterranean region.
Occasionally found by me during the years since 1905 on town-
refuse on Old Aberdeen Links, and also near the Railway Stations
of Aberdeen and Kintore; a rare plant near Aberdeen.
C. rubrum, L. Red Goosefoot. A frequent casual, ap-
parently becoming a colonist. Native in Europe, including the
shores of England ; dispersed very widely as a weed of cultivation.
“Ground west of Bonaccord Street, abundant’’ (Harvey).
‘“Not uncommon” (Knight). ‘‘On the Inch, ete., not frequent ”
(Fl. Ab.).
There is doubt, in the absence of specimens gathered and named
by these botanists, whether their records relate correctly to C.
rubrum. Itis now rather frequent on town-refuse on Old Aberdeen
Links, in Rubislaw, and elsewhere around Aberdeen.
C. urbicum, Cow, non L. Upright Goosefoot.
‘““On waste places and waysides; in fields near the Broadhill ;
on waste places and roadsides from Dee Street ; in fields east from
Gallowhill, etc.” (Cow).
This record is certainly erroneous. I have never seen a single
example of the species, living or dried in or from Aberdeen. Cow
must have mistaken for it some form of C. album.
Ss
250 APs Jel Wise Db)
C. Botrys, L. Casual in Aberdeen. Native on sea-shores
and by rivers in Central Kurope, and in the Mediterranean region ;
dispersed elsewhere as a weed of waste places and of roadsides.
Once found by me, in 1905, on town-refuse, on Old Aberdeen
Links.
C. Bonus-Henvicus, L. Good King Henry, or Mercury
Goosefoot. Denizen. Perhaps native among the mountains of
8. Europe; long in cultivation as a useful herb, and widely dis-
persed in this way, often escaping and becoming a weed in waste
ground, by roadsides, ete.
“On a waste place at Stocket-head; on the west wall of Old-
town Churchyard ; in Sheriff Moir’s burying-ground, Spittal ”’ (Cow).
“Roadside at Mile-end, Stocket, etce., not frequent” (Fl. Ab.).
This species appears to have become less frequent in Aber-
deen than it formerly was, and than it still is in many places in
the neighbouring counties. I have seen it growing in Gilcomston
by a road, and in an old sand-pit near Tillydrone. Its disappear-
ance from several of the localities quoted above is probably due to
extension of streets and roads, as it usually is well able to hold its
place if not destroyed by man.
Adt. Ps.:::: Nh (D)O. Scarce. By the roadside not far
from the Bishop’s Loch, close to houses, also near Bucksburn and
Dyce.
Beta maritima, L. Sea Beet. Native of the shores of 8. and
W. Europe, including England and §. Scotland. A rare casual in
Aberdeen.
‘On the Inch; rare” (Fl. Ab.), probably from ballast.
Once found by me, in 1903, on a newly formed slope, made up
of town-refuse chiefly, by the road on the coast north of the Bathing
Station.
B. vulgaris, L. Common or Garden Beet. Not uncommon
on town-refuse. Native of sea-shores of Europe; long in cultiva-
tion, and widely dispersed as an outcast or casual; but soon dis-
appearing.
Occasionally on the Links and elsewhere on refuse around
Aberdeen.
Atriplex littoralis, L. Grass-leaved Sea Orache. A rare casual
in Aberdeen; but native of salt-marshes over much of the N.
Temperate zone, including Southern Britain.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 251
‘Formerly on the Inch, opposite the dockyards ; introduced in
ballast” (Fl. Ab.). ‘Estuary of the Dee, Dr. Macgillivray”’
(PME)
Only once found by myself in Aberdeen, in 1904, on a rubbish-
heap beside the road on the sandhills, north of the Bathing Station.
A. patula, Under this name are included in the published
local lists more than true A. patula, L., the former records for
Aberdeen being as follows: ‘In cultis” (Skene). ‘‘ Fields and
wastes, frequent, but less so in the more inland parts”’ (B. G.).
The forms here included are common as apparently native plants
in many places on the coast, and are even more plentiful as
colonists around dung-stances, in cultivated soil, and elsewhere
in soils rich in certain materials that favour their growth.
Under A. patula were included formerly in our lists the follow-
ing :—
A, patula, L. Narrow-leaved Orache, with varieties
erecta, Huds. and
angustifolia (Sm.).
A. hastata, L. Triangular-leaved Orache.
Adt. Ps. Both species occur in all the adjacent parishes.
A. Babingtonii, Woods, Spreading-fruited Orache. Native ;
on coasts.
‘‘Frequentissima ad maris littora”’ (Skene, under A. patula).
“Along the coast; not unfrequent’’ (Knight, as A. laciniata).
‘‘Sea-shore, frequent, and perhaps along the whole coast-line”’
(BeG.):
It is very common on both sandy and rocky coasts. Var.
virescens, Lange, is common with the type.
Adt. Ps. Ng B:::: 0. Both type and variety, common
along sea-coast.
A. laciniata, L. Frosted Sea Orache. Only a casual near
Aberdeen ; but native on sea-coast both south and north of this
vicinity.
Published records of A. laciniata for the neighbourhood of
Aberdeen refer to A. Babingtonit, which was mistaken for it. In
1905 I found an example of A. laciniata on the sandy beach east
of the Broadhill; and in 1906 a few plants grew on town-refuse
spread on Old Aberdeen Links to form the new football ground near
Linksfield.
252 J. W. H. TRAIL
It has not as yet been observed in the adjacent parishes on the -
sea-coast; yet it is common on sandy beaches along the south
coast of the Moray Firth, and is also met with in Forfarshire.
Spinacia oleracea, L. Possibly native in Afghanistan ; widely
dispersed as a pot-herb, cultivated in gardens; apt to appear as a
casual on town-refuse and other rubbish, e.g., on Old Aberdeen
Links.
Salicornia herbacea, ZL. Jointed Glasswort. Native on
muddy shores of estuaries; but long extinct near Aberdeen.
“Saltish pools near Donmouth” (Knight). ‘ Near the mouth
of Don” (Harvey).
As these are the only local records, the species had probably
been rare near the Don, and had ceased to exist there before 1830;
otherwise it would certainly have been mentioned by others. As
Salicornia herbacea and Suaeda maritima, Dumort., are abundant in
the estuaries of the South Esk and North Esk, and are also fairly
common in a part of the estuary of the Ythan, the rarity of the
one and the absence of the other around Aberdeen are rather diffi-
cult to account for, as the former conditions in the estuaries of both
the Dee and the Don appeared quite as favourable to them as where
they grow.
Salsola Kali, 2. Saltwort. Native on sandy (less often on
pebbly) sea-coasts ; becoming less frequent near Aberdeen.
“In no great plenty in the loose sands opposite to the Roperie,
August 1, 1763” (Skene). ‘On the sea-coast between Dee and
Don” (Cow). ‘‘ Occasionally from Aberdeen to Donmouth”
(B. G.).
It may still be found on this coast; but in recent years it has
become rare between the Dee and the Don.
Adt. Ps. Ng ::::: 0. Only once found by me in Nigg, in
October, 1907, near the South Breakwater. It is not common
north of the Don, at least for several miles distance.
Var. Tragus, L. Russian Thistle.
Of this very marked form, by some regarded as a distinct
species, I found a single example on the rubbish used to fill up the
old bed of the Dee near the Railway Station. The seed had
probably been thrown out among grain-siftings, possibly from
§.E. Europe, or possibly from N. America, where it has become a
pest of cultivated fields.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 253
POLYGONACEZ:.
Polygonum Convolwulus, L. Climbing Buck-wheat, or Black
Bindweed. A plentiful colonist in Scotland, in fields; less frequent
in garden and on waste ground. Native in Asia and in parts of
Europe, perhaps including England ; widely dispersed as a weed
of cultivation.
Not mentioned by Skene. ‘In corn-fields and waste places,
common ” (Knight, Cow, Dickie, and P. M.).
Common near Aberdeen; often a rather troublesome weed
from its habit of twining round other plants. Var. subalatwm,
Lap et Court, is not uncommon about Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. In all; common.
P, aviculare, LZ. Common Knot-grass. Native on dry
pastures and in similar places where the vegetation is scanty ; but
much more abundant and vigorous as a weed of agricultural ground
and gardens, or on town-refuse and other rubbish where is rich
nourishment. Extremely variable in such places, some of the
varieties having probably been introduced among agricultural seeds.
‘“‘Ubique in incultis ” (Skene).
Far too general and plentiful to require further citation of re-
cords or of localities.
The following forms have been found by me near Aberdeen :—
agrestinum (Jord.),
vulgatum, Syme,
arenastrum (Bor.) on light soils, and
littorale (Link) on the sea-coast, especially where sandy.
This variety is certainly native here, and is more common on
other parts of the coast.
Adt. Ps. In all; common, often abundant.
P. Bellardi, All. Native in 8. Europe.
In September, 1917, I found a large plant in flower and fruit
on town-refuse in the district of Ferryhill-
P. equisetiforme, Sibth. Native in §.E. Europe and the
Mediterranean region.
In recent years a not infrequent casual on town-refuse in
Aberdeen parish, probably from seeds imported among cereals.
It was first observed here by me in 18938, on the old bed of the
Dee; but I have since found it on Old Aberdeen Links and else-
where, always on rubbish.
254 J. W. H. TRATL
P. Hydropiper, ZL. Biting Persicary, or Water Pepper.
Native in wet places, but very local near Aberdeen; now extinct
within the parish, so far as my information goes.
“Tn locis humidis” (Skene). ‘‘ Dam of Gileomston”’ (Knight
and Harvey). ‘Den of Rubislaw; very abundant at Justice-mill
Dam, which being now filled up the plant is extirpated” (Fl. Ab.
and B. G.).
I have a note of having found one or two plants in September,
1879, on the wet north part of Old Aberdeen Links; but I had not
again seen it within our limits until 1908, when I found one or two,
evident casuals, on town-refuse deposited near East Seaton. In
1914 several plants were growine by the Dee above Allenvale.
Adt. Ps. Ng BM P:: 0. Very local; but abundant in a
few places, e.g., in the upper dar in Den of Leggat. In September,
1916, I found a number of plants on the island in the Don above the
New Bridge.
P, minus, Huds. Small Persicary. Native in wet places ;
extremely local in N.E. Scotland, though plentiful in the one or
two places in which it occurs.
‘“‘Gilcomston Dam” (Knight).
There is no other record for its occurrence within Aberdeen ;
nor is it included in any published flora of this district.
Adt. Ps. Ng::::::. Plentiful on the margins of the
Loch of Loirston (where it was first observed by me in 1891), and
around a pool east of the loch. It grows intermingled with P.
Persicaria ; and hybrids between the two are frequent there.
P. Persicaria, L. Spotted Persicary. Probably native in
a few places on wet ground, e.g., round the Loch of Loirston; but
much more plentiful and general as a colonist in cultivated soils,
round manure heaps, and in similar rich soils.
“ Passim in arvis, vlis’’ (Skene).
Too common a weed of cultivation to require citation of records
or of localities.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant as a weed in fields and gardens.
P. lapathifolium, L. Pale-flowered Persicary. A not
common weed of fields and gardens (colonist) and on waste ground ;
occasionally, but rarely on the sides of ponds and ditches, where
it may perhaps be native in this part of Scotland.
‘West end of the nursery at the Links, on a dunghill, 1835’”
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 255
(Dickie hb.). ‘‘ Dam of Gilcomston, rare” (Cow). ‘On the Inch”
(Fl. Ab.).
More frequent in Aberdeen as a casual on refuse than as a
colonist, though an occasional weed in most fields and on waste
ground.
Adt. Ps. Ng: MP Nh DO. Not common; prefers damp
soils.
Var. tomentosum, Schrank.
With the type, and as frequent in some localities, especially on
the’damper soils ; but more local; more often in the valley of the
Dee than elsewhere in this neighbourhood. I have seen it within
Aberdeen parish, on refuse on Old Aberdeen Links,
P, amphibium, Z. Amphibious Bistort. Native; more
often in damp or wet soils or floating in water; but not uncommon
in dryer ground.
‘In fossis, in aqua, et ad ripas’’ (Skene). ‘‘ Canal below
bridge in King Street, Firhill well, abundantly” (Beattie). ‘On
the Canal banks near Footdee; in the Milldam of Gilcomston ;
on wet pastures, west side of the Links, north of the Broadhill ;
side of a marsh south from Donmouth” (Cow). “ Abundant in
the Canal’’ (Fl. Ab.).
The water form (aquaticum) no longer exists in any of these
habitats, as all have been drained, and it has become rare locally ;
but the land form (terrestre), though rather local, is still fairly
plentiful in several places within Aberdeen, e.g., by roadsides be-
tween Merkland Road and the Don, near Tillydrone, etc. The
land form shows both hairy and almost glabrous varieties near
Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. In all; locally common, especially as the land form.
P, Bistorta, L. Common Bistort, or Snake-root.. A
denizen in Aberdeen, plentiful in a few favourable habitats ; native
in N. Hurope, probably including 8. Scotland; often cultivated in
gardens formerly, and readily distributed from them, establishing
itself as a denizen.
‘‘ Aberdeen Links’ (Beattie). ‘Old Aberdeen” (Knight).
‘‘Side of a small pond east from Powis Hermitage ; in the Den of
Rubislaw”’ (Cow). ‘In a wood near Powis” (Fl. Ab.).
It has disappeared from several of these localities, e.g., Old
Aberdeen Links; but it is still plentiful in the Den of Rubislaw.
It is also abundant by the north avenue in the grounds of Seaton ;
256 J WEE RAG
and there are small patches in several places, e.g., by the railway
near Holburn Street, near the Rubislaw Bleaching Works, ete.
Adt. Ps. In all; a local denizen, occasionally plentiful.
P. viviparum, LZ. Viviparous Bistort, or Alpine Bistort.
Native in this district, though not common close to ee in
drier natural pastures usually.
In October, 1907, I found a few plants on the rough bank of
the Dee east of Torry.
Adt. Ps. Ng:: P:::. Plentiful on braes near the Dee,
above the Burn of Culter. Probably it grows in almost every part
of Deeside.
P. cuspidatum, Sieb. et Zucc. Native in Japan ; cultivated
in many gardens about Aberdeen, and often appearing as an outcast
on waste ground. It appears not unlikely to establish itself as a
denizen in suitable habitats by streams and in thickets.
I have seen it partially established on waste ground near the
Railway Station, on rubbish in Ferryhill and near Tillydrone, and
on sites of former gardens in Rubislaw. I have also seen it, still
more like a wild plant, in different places in the district around
Aberdeen.
Fagopyrum esculentum, Moench. Common Buckwheat. Native
in Central Asia; very widely dispersed as a cultivated plant, and
also as a weed among other crops, e.g., tares.
In Aberdeen a casual on town-refuse; less often as a weed
among tares, cereals, etc. On the old bed of the Dee, on Old
Aberdeen Links, near Old Aberdeen, etc.
Adt, Ps. :::: : : O:- A rare casual:
F. tataricum, Gaertn. Tartarian Buckwheat. Native in
Central and N. Asia, but widely dispersed as a weed of cultivation.
Casual in Aberdeen.
Two or three plants were found by me on Old Aberdeen Links,
in 1903, on town refuse, probably from grain-siftings.
Oxyria digyna, Hill. Mountain Sorrel. Native by the Dee;
plentiful inland, and growing on shingles and rocky banks from
seeds brought by the river, but much rarer near the mouth of the
Dee.
Very rare on shingles below the Bridge of Ruthrieston.
Adt. Ps.: BM P:::. Only by the Dee.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 257
Rumex conglomeratus, Murray. Sharp-leaved Dock. Native
in Scotland.
“Moist places. I believe this to be frequent in the district”
(B. G.). “Several places near Aberdeen, Mr. J. Farquharson”
(Nat. Hist. of Deeside).
Possibly these records refer to &. acutus, mentioned below.
i. conglomeratus is one of the rarest docks in this vicinity; and I
have seen it in Aberdeen only on town refuse, once by the new road
from School Road to the Links in 1914, and once near Pittodrie
in 1916.
R. sanguineus, L. Bloody-veined Dock. Native in Scot-
Jand.
‘Old wall at King’s College, rare” (Knight). “On the Inch”
(Fl. Ab.; not mentioned in B. G.).
I have not seen this nearer Aberdeen than Garlogie Mill, in
Skene ; nor have I seen a local specimen in any herbarium. Cow’s
judgment with regard to the species of Rumex cannot be trusted ;
and the habitat on the Inches appears not to have satisfied Dickie.
Its occurrence in Old Aberdeen was probably casual only. Further
confirmation of its existence within the parish is required before it
can be admitted into our flora. Both the type and var. viridis
(Sibth.) grow in Dunottar parish, near the Carron, near the old
castle of Tolquhon in Udny, and in other localities in the counties
of Aberdeen and Kincardine as native plants.
R. maritumus, L. Golden Dock. Native in marshes and
on muddy river banks in the greater part of Europe, including S.
England. Casual about Aberdeen.
“Near Donmouth” (Knight). ‘‘ Banks of the Don near the
sea. Rare” (Fl. Ab.); not mentioned in B. G., hence probably
a misnomer.
Once found by me on town-refuse, on Old Aberdeen Links, in
1905 ; and once by Mr. John Reay at Craiginches in Nigg, in 1906.
The hybrid (limosus, Thuill.), with KR. conglomeratus, was once
found by me as a casual on the old bed of the Dee, near the rail-
way, in 1896.
f. pulcher, L. Fiddle Dock. Scarcely more than a casual
in Aberdeen. Native in Asia, and probably in Europe; widely dis-
persed as a weed along roads and on waste ground, and to a less
extent in fields.
258 J. W. H. TRAIL
‘“‘On a wall in College Lane” (Cow). ‘‘ Walls opposite King’s
College, 1839” (Dickie hb.).
I find it occasionally on town-refuse and waste ground, e.g., on
the old bed of the Dee, in 1900, and on Old Aberdeen Links, from
1903 onwards.
R. obtusifolius, Z. Blunt-leaved Dock. Native, usually
preferring moist pastures; but more common as a weed of waste
places near houses, by roads, ete.
‘“‘Passim ad vias et aggeres et in pascuis” (Skene, probably
including more than the one species under the name).
Too general to require citation of records or localities. Two
varieties grow here :-—
Var. Friesii (Gr. et Godr.), the more common, varying much
in the degrees of toothing of the fruiting sepals, and
Var. sylvestris (Wallr.), more local and less plentiful.
Adt. Ps. In all; common.
R. crispus, £. Curled Dock. Native; often associated
with the other docks as roadside weeds.
“On waysides and waste places, abundant’ (Cow).
Very general. On the sea-coast it is the most common dock,
usually as the variety trigranulatus, Syme. Var. subcordatus,
(Warren), occasionally occurs here.
Adt. Ps. In all; frequent.
R. domesticus, Hartm. (R. aquaticus, auct. angl., non L.).
Grainless Water Dock. Native by sides of streams and in wet
pastures; but still more plentiful as a weed of waste ground near
houses and roads, and as a weed of cultivated soils.
“ Rather plentiful about Robslaw Quarry, ete.” (B. G.).
Too general to require citation of localities.
Adt. Ps. In all; plentiful.
Hybrids between Rf. crispus, R. domesticus, and FR. obtusifolius.
Where two of these species, or all three, grow intermingled, as they
frequently do around Aberdeen, hybrids very frequently appear,
showing different grades of resemblance to one or other of the
species, often being hard to determine with certainty. Where the
three species grow together there is the greatest difficulty with the
hybrids. Hybrid origin is indicated frequently by greater height
than the parents, intermediate form, toothing and granulation of
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 259
the inner sepals in fruit, and the more open condition of the fruit-
ing panicles, owing to many of the fruits falling off without ripen-
ing.
I have found the following hybrids in and around Aberdeen,
besides others less clearly defined, and which are probably the
produce of hybrids crossed with the species :—
domesticus x obtusifolius, first noted from Scotland by Dr. J.
Boswell Syme as #. conspersus, Hartm. This is common in N.E.
Scotland.
crispus x obtusifolius (R. acutus, L., R. pratensis, E.B.S.).
This also is fairly common around Aberdeen, and is probably the
dock intended in the records under &. conglomeratus, already
quoted, as well as under the name acutws by Knight, who says it is
“common” and by Cow, ‘on a waste place north side of King’s
College; on a waste place at Union Place.”
crispus x domesticus (R. propimquus, Aresch.). This is the
least frequent of the three hybrids; and it approaches certain
varieties of R. crispws. I have met with the undoubted hybrid in
Aberdeen but not often.
Adt.Ps. Ng:: PNhDO. Usually rare; but not uncommon
by a field near Stoneywood.
R. Acetosa, Z. Common Sorrel, or ‘Sourocks.” Native;
abundant in pastures, on waste ground, by roads, and in cultivated
soil, at times as a troublesome weed.
Adt. Ps. In all; frequent.
R. Acetosella, Z. Lesser or Sheep’s Sorrel. Native;
especially abundant in light poor or acid soils, in which it spreads
rapidly by buds, emitted from the true roots; often a very trouble-
some weed.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant.
Var. multifidus, L. Native in §.K. Europe. Casual in
Aberdeen.
Of this variety, characterised by the leaf bearing several lobes
behind, instead of having the usual hastate form, I found a vigorous
example on town-refuse on Old Aberdeen Links, in 1904. It may
perhaps have sprung from a seed brought among cereals from the
Mediterranean.
260 J. W. H. TRAIL
R. bucephalophorus, L. Casual. Native in the Mediter-
ranean region; on waste ground, or as a weed on cultivated soil.
Several examples of this small annual weed were found by me,
in 1903, on a slope north-east of the Broadhill, newly sown with
grass. The seeds may have been introduced with the grass-seeds,
or with the town-refuse used to make the slope.
EUPHORBIACE/:.
Euphorbia Helioscopia, L. Sun Spurge. Colonist in and
around Aberdeen, often plentiful asa weed inarable ground. Native
country uncertain as it is now known only as a weed of cultivation ;
but its seeds have been identified in interglacial deposits in England.
“In cultis” (Skene). ‘ Rubislaw, 1834” (Dickie hb.). ‘Ina
field west of the Old-town; in fields at North-head braes; about
the Gallow-hill, ete.” (Cow).
Less frequent in gardens than in fields.
Adt. Ps. In all; frequent in corn-fields and among root-crops.
E. Peplus, L. Petty Spurge. Colonist as a weed, local, but
plentiful in some gardens, less often in arable ground or among
root-crops. Native country uncertain; but widely dispersed as a
weed of cultivated ground.
“In cultis’”’ (Skene). ‘‘On waste places and in gardens, not
common ; at Gordon’s Hospital ; in fields above Gilcomston, rare”
(Cow).
In Old Aberdeen, Rubislaw, Ferryhill, etc.; abundant in some
gardens; but less frequent and general than H. Helioscopia near
Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. : : M P Nh: (O). Local and seldom common.
E. Cyparissias, L. Cypress Spurge. Alien in Scotland.
Native in Europe including England, near Dover.
“In the Den of Rubislaw; very rare about Aberdeen’’ (Cow).
There is no other local record for this Spurge, which is oc-
casionally to be seen in old gardens in this district. If rightly
named, the plant found by Cow must have been an outcast, or pos-
sibly planted.
Mercurialis perennis, Z. Perennial Dog’s-mercury. Native,
usually under the shade of trees.
My only record for this species within Aberdeen is the result of
a special search in 1903, to ascertain whether it had become lost to
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 261
the local flora, in which it had formerly been as common in the
suitable habitats as it still is, in a few places in most of the ad-
jacent parishes. The only examples met with were a few on the
rough bank of the Don in Seaton, a little way above the Old Bridge,
and by the Don near the Paper Works at Woodside.
Adt. Ps. : BM PNh(D) O. Plentiful on the north bank of
the Don above the Old Bridge; and also in places to the west of
the parish.
Buxus sempervirens, L. Common Box. Alien in Scotland;
but largely grown in gardens and shrubberies. Native in the Medi-
terranean region and in Central Europe, including 8. England.
Occasionally in Aberdeen and neighbouring parishes, apparently
wild, on waste ground, near old buildings, etc.; but almost always
as a relic of former cultivation.
URTICACEZ.
Urtica dioica, L. Common or Great Nettle. So commonly
dispersed in the Temperate Zones by man’s aid that its native
country is uncertain.
“Ad vias et ubique”’ (Skene).
Too plentiful near houses, by roads, on waste ground, etc., to
require records or localities; but its distribution in the N.H. of
Scotland is such as to suggest that it is a successful denizen, intro-
duced by man long ago, accidentally, or as a useful potherb and
source of fibre, properties for which it was esteemed formerly,
though now superseded by other plants.
Adt. Ps. In all; plentiful.
U. urens, L. Small or Annual Nettle. Colonist near Aber-
deen. Widely dispersed as a weed of cultivation, its native country
uncertain.
‘“‘Ubique in ruderatis” (Skene). ‘On waste places, and dung-
hills, common at Torry and the fish-town of Footdee; on waste
places about the flesh-market, and at the Bridge of Dee, etc.”
(Cow). ‘Old Aberdeen, etc.” (Knight).
Plentiful in several parts of Aberdeen, though local near houses
and roads, by borders of fields under annual crops, ete.
Adt. Ps. Ng B: P Nh DO. Decidedly local; common in
places.
262 J. W. H. TRAIL
[Parietaria ramifiora, Moench. (P. officinalis, Z., in part).
Wall Pellitory.] Native in Europe, including 8. Britain; but only
a denizen in N. Scotland, on old buildings, chiefly on ruins. Not
recorded from Aberdeen, the nearest locality being garden wall,
‘‘ Pitfodels ;” a note by Prof. Beattie, but not of any later botanist,
CANNABINACEZ.,
Humulus Lupulus, L. Common Hop. Occasionally in hedges,
and less often in thickets in the district around Aberdeen, the result
of former cultivation or as an escape. Native of great part of
Kurope, Asia, and N. Africa; and dispersed also by cultivation.
“ Stocket’”’ (Beattie).
Not frequent in Aberdeen, though it grows as a rare denizen
by the Don, and may be seen asa relict of cultivation where gardens
have been abandoned before the extension of streets, e.g., in
Rubislaw. ;
Adt. Ps. : B(M) PNh: O. Alien; but well established here
and there.
Cannabis sativa, L. Hemp. Casual; frequent on town-refuse,
and occasionally near houses or by roads. Native in Central Asia ;
diffused by cultivation over the Temperate and Warm Zones.
Tt is one of the casuals most often met with near Aberdeen ; but
it seldom reappears in the same place unless from seeds newly
thrown out, as it does not ripen seeds here. Its frequency is prob-
ably due in great part to the use of the fruits as food of caged birds.
It occasionally may be found as a weed among tares and other
crops.
Adt. Ps. Occasionally, but less common than around Aberdeen.
ULMACEZ.
Ulmus glabra, Huds. (U. montana, Sm.). Scotch Elm or
Wych Elm. Common, and apparently native around Aberdeen ;
but may be a denizen. Native in Europe, including Southern
Britain and Asia. Often planted, and readily dispersed by the
winged fruits, springing up in places where it appears to be wild.
Frequent in Rubislaw, near Hilton, by the Don, and elsewhere
about Aberdeen, it is usually in hedges and plantations or shrub-
beries, where trees had evidently been planted. If not native here
it has been long a denizen.
Adt. Ps. In all; frequent.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 263
U. campestris, L. Common Elm. Alien; native in great
part of Europe and in Asia.
It is less frequent about Aberdeen than the Scotch Elm, and is
less often seen where it had probably been self-sown.
MYRICACE.
Myrica Gale, Z. Bog Myrtle, or Sweet Gale. Native in the
surrounding country, in abundance in many places, and probably
was so on the swampy moors that covered so much of the parish
formerly ; but I have not been able to find it in any old collection,
while the only reference to it here is by Cow, who says of it: “In
a meadow east and west the Snow Churchyard, abundant.” The
only ‘‘ Snow Church” in this neighbourhood, so far as I am aware,
is that which formerly stood in Old Aberdeen; so that Cow appears
to refer to the low stretch of ground near the Powis Burn, west of
College Bounds. This seems very likely to have been a suitable
habitat in former times; but in view of the silence of Skene, Knight,
Harvey, and Dickie as to its occurrence near Old Aberdeen, there is
reason to believe that Cow’s statement was erroneous. Certainly
the shrub could not have been “abundant ”’ there in 1836, when his
list was printed.
Adt. Ps. (Ng): MP Nh (D)O. Very local; more plentiful
inland.
BETULACEA,
Betula alba, Z. Common.Birch. Birches have left abundant
remains in the peat-mosses that exist below the streets and build-
ings in many parts of Aberdeen, e.g., below part of the central
buildings of Marischal College and below West North Street and
John Street. It is, however, impossible to determine from the
pieces of bark or other fragments to which form or forms of the ag-
gregate included under B. alba these had belonged; but as both
B. verrucosa, Khrh. and B. pubescens, Ehrh. are certainly native in
the vicinity of Aberdeen, it is probable that both grew in Aberdeen
formerly. They both grow here still; but it is not possible to de-
termine with certainty whether the trees now existing in the parish
are descended from those native or only from those planted by man.
Adt. Ps. Both forms occur in all, probably in part as natives,
and in part planted, or sprung from seeds of planted trees.
Alnus glutinosa, ZL. Common Alder, locally “Arn.” Native
by streams and in swamps.
264 J. W. H. TRAIL
“Den of Rubislaw ” (Cow). ‘‘ Rarely wild in the lower parts”
(BaG:):
Though now become rare in the truly wild state around Aber-
deen, this appears to be due to the drainage of the soil. Its re-
mains are met with in the peat, e.g., below Marischal College, where
a large block was dug up in making a drain in 1906. Though
sometimes planted by streams and ponds; it is probable that these
existing by the Don, by the Burn of Rubislaw and in a few other
places in Aberdeen are of native origin.
Adt. Ps. In all; common, and in many places undoubtedly
native.
CUPULIFERZ.
Carpinus Betulus, L. Hornbeam. Alien; near Aberdeen the
trees are probably not self-sown in any locality, though the fruits
appear to be fully formed in some years. Native in W. Asia and
Central Europe, including England.
Trees of fair size, and of considerable age, exist in various parts
of Aberdeen, e.g., in Seaton. é
Adt. Ps. :: MPNh::. Not common, and probably only
where planted.
Corylus Avellana, Z. Common Hazel. Native on rough
banks and in thickets.
‘““On Donside above the Bridge” (Cow).
Possibly Cow’s record applies only to the north bank; I have
not seen the Hazel in Seaton. The only plant apparently wild
that I have seen within the parish grows on a wooded bank by the
rivulet that flows into Walker’s Dam. It was, no doubt, common
formerly in the small valleys near the streams, as it is still in
similar places throughout much of the adjoining district.
Adt. Ps. : BM P Nh DO. Common, though restricted to
suitable habitats. The nuts are often plentiful in the peat.
Quercus Robur, L. Common Oak. Alien as regards the oaks
existing in and around Aberdeen ; but native in Scotland, including
the counties around Aberdeen, e.g., in the valley of the Dee, and
on the coast at Muchalls, where it is reduced to a small shrub.
Trunks of large size are sometimes found in peat-bogs. One
dredged from the former estuary of the Dee, about 1832, stood for
many years on the Inches, and suffered considerable damage from
fire at one time, during the burning of a neighbouring woodyard.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 265
In 1887 what remained of it was conveyed to the Duthie Park,
where it still forms an interesting proof of the size to which oaks
attained in the prehistoric period. Though the trees flower freely
I have never seen ripe acorns in this part of Scotland, an indication
that the tree must have reached its present distribution in Scotland
under more favourable climatic conditions than now prevail.
Var. pedunculata (Ehrh.), is the more common form in
and near Aberdeen, as it appears to be throughout this district of
Scotland.
Var. sessiliflora (Salisb.). One or two trees grow by the
Don in the grounds of Seaton, but it is not frequent in this district ;
and I have not seen it in N.E. Scotland in a certainly wild state.
Adt. Ps. In all; probably planted in most (if not in all)
localities.
Fagus sylvatica, L. Common Beech. Denizen; long cultivated
in Scotland, and freely self-sown. Native in S.W. Asia and in
EKurope, perhaps including England.
This is one of the most plentiful trees of the lower levels, so
readily self-sown and so fertile that it looks native in many places.
Adt. Ps. In all; common.
Castanea sativa, L. Sweet Chestnut. Not uncommon in and
around Aberdeen; but only where planted, and apparently not
able to ripen fruit. Native in the warmer parts of the N. Tem-
perate Zone, and widely dispersed by cultivation. It grew in
England in prehistoric times, and was probably native there.
Adt. Ps. : : MPNh::. Where planted, growing to be fine
trees.
SALICACEZ.
Salia triandra, L. Almond-leaved Willow.
“Tn a wet meadow south from Ferryhill’? (Cow). Cow’s
authority for a group like the Willows is very doubtful. If cor-
rectly named, this species has disappeared from Ferryhill.
Adt. Ps. :B:P:::. Rather common by the Burn of
Culter, near Culter; but probably not native. Its claim to be
native in Scotland is doubtful.
S. peniandra, L. Bay-leaved Willow. Apparently native
a few miles from Aberdeen ; but probably a denizen only within
the parish.
T 8
266 J. W. H. TRAIL
“Near Angusfield” (Fl. Ab.). “Gordon’s Mills, 1845”
(Polson hb.). ‘Seldom wild in the lower, generally so in some of
the inland parts of the district” (B. G.).
This willow still grows by the burn at Angusfield, and by the
Don between Gordon’s Mills and Tillydrone, probably as a denizen
only.
Adt.Ps.: BM PNhDO. Local, not very common anywhere.
S. fragilis, L. Crack Willow. Alien near Aberdeen.
Native in Asia and Europe, including parts of Britain.
“ Inter Salices viminales ad fossam prope the Links”’ (Skene).
‘In Angusburn ” (Cow).
Rather frequent along streams, where it sometimes becomes
a large tree, e.g., along Powis Burn, east of Old Aberdeen ; but it
does not seem even to be self-sown from the planted trees.
Adt. Ps. In all; frequently planted by streams and in wet
soil.
S. alba, L. White Willow. Alien. The same remarks
apply to this as to S. fragilis.
‘‘Donside above the Printfield; Den of Rubislaw’’ (Cow).
‘“‘Canalside at Printfield, 1845 ” (Polson hb.).
Often planted beside streams and on damp soil, e.g , at Lady-
mill, by the Don, about Rubislaw, ete.
Adt. Ps. : BM PNhDO. Frequent.
S. cinerea, Z. Grey Sallow. Native; by streams and in
damp soils.
‘“ Donside and Den of Rubislaw ”’ (Cow and B. G.).
Not uncommon by the Don, near Hilton, in Rubislaw, Ruthrie-
ston, and Ferryhill.
Adt. Ps. In all; moderately common.
S. aurita, Z. Hared Sallow. Native in similar places to
S. cinerea.
‘ Donside at the Printfield, 1845” (Polson hb.).
Rather frequent in suitable habitats, such as by the Don, about
old quarries, and by roadside ditches near Hilton, in Rubislaw, etc.
Adt. Ps. In all; common, more frequent than in Aberdeen.
S. caprea, L. Goat Willow, or Great Round-leaved Sallow.
Native, by streams and pools, less common than the other sallows.
“Den of Rubislaw”’ (Cow). ‘ Rubislaw Quarry; Ferryhill”
(Fl. Ab.).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 267
I have seen this in the old quarries at Rubislaw and in Ferry-
hill, in habitats from which it has been uprooted or destroyed. It
may still be met with near the Don ; but is rare within Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. :BMPNhDO. Local, but fairly common in a
few places.
S. repens, Z. Dwarf Silky Willow. Native; now rare in
Aberdeen, though probably as common here formerly as it is,
locally, in the neighbouring counties.
T have seen this growing within the parish only by the side of
a road west from Hilton, in small quantity. There is no mention
of its occurrence within Aberdeen in any published or other record.
Adt. Ps. In all; very common in some habitats, e.g., on Bal-
gownie Links, and on the coast of Nigg.
(S. ambigua, Hhrh.] a hybrid between S. awrita and S.
repens, has been found in Peterculter and in Maryculter, growing
near the parent species.
S. nigricans, Sm. Dark-leaved Willow. Native in Scot-
land.
‘In Pitmuxton Marsh” (Cow).
Possibly the species found by Cow was S. phylicifolia ; but I
have no other record of either for Aberdeen. S. nigricansis much
the less likely to have occurred in the marsh as it does not, so far
as known, grow in even the adjacent parishes.
[S. phylicifolia, L.] Tea-leaved Willow. Native.
Plentiful up the valley of the Dee, and extending along the
river, through B M and P, to below Cults. S. nigricans and S.
phylicifolia, approach very closely in some of their forms.
S. viminalis, L. Common Osier. Alien; often planted to
obtain twigs for plaiting into baskets ; and almost become a denizen
in places. Native in a great part of Hurope and in Asia.
“ Near Angusfield ”’ (Fl. Ab.).
Frequent by streams.
Adt. Ps. In all; planted by streams, or in wet soils, often in
beds. It is peculiarly frequent near fishing villages, the twigs
being used to make fish-creels.
Hybrids between S. viminalis and the Sallows (S. caprea, S.
cinerea, and S. awrita) are almost as frequently planted as S. vimi-
nalis, and may often be seen by streams within Aberdeen and in
its neighbourhood. One of these is recorded by Cow, under the
268 J. W. H. TRAIL
name stipularis, from Angusburn and Rubislaw. S. Smuthiana,
another of the hybrids, grows in College Bounds, in Old Aberdeen.
S. purpurea, L. Purple Osier. Alien; almost become a
denizen locally. . Native in Europe, including great part of Britain.
‘At Pitmuxton Marsh; in the Den of Rubislaw; and on the
banks of Angusburn ”’ (Cow).
I have found this occasionally near the Don, in the Woodside
district, and about Rubislaw and Ruthrieston ; but it is not frequent
near Aberdeen. The twigs are often swollen by the galls of a
midge, Rabdophaga Salicis.
dt 2s!) Noh Maran) 2:
Populus tremula, Z. Aspen. Native in the near neighbour-
hood of Aberdeen, though rare within the parish, and only where
planted. It may have been native here also in the natural con-
dition of the surface.
Adt, Ps.: BM PNhHDO. Not frequent ; but native in several
localities, e.g., Den of Maidencraig, near Grandholm, etc. Small
examples grow in Hazlehead woods, very close to the boundary of
Aberdeen ; they may not be native.
Several species of Populus are often planted in and near Aber-
deen ; and occasionally they may appear to be wild; or, rarely,
self-sown examples may be met with. The most commonly
planted species are the White Poplar (P. alba, L.), the Grey Poplar
(P. canescens, Sm.), the Black Poplar (P. nigra, L.), and some of
the American species.
EMPETRACE&,
Empetrum nigrum, Z. Crowberry. Native; widespread, and
often abundant on moors and similar waste ground from the sea-
level to tops of the higher mountains. Almost extinct within
Aberdeen.
‘“‘ Passim in ericetis” (Skene).
I have seen this on Stocket Moor ; but since the cultivation of the
moor about 1880 it appears to have become extinct, or almost so,
in Aberdeen north of the Dee. It still grows, in small quantity, on
the rough south bank of the Dee east of Torry. It must have been
plentiful on the moors that formerly covered so much of what is
now within Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. In all; very common on moors, both inland and on
the cliffs along the coast in Nigg and Banchory.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 269
CERATOPHYLLACEAZ.,
Ceratophyllum demersum, Z.? Common Hornwort.
“Tn a small pond on Deeside, above the Braes of Pitfodels ;
in streams about the Printfield; in ponds and ditches on the
Links of Belhelvie, etc.” (Cow).
As this species has not been observed by anyone else in this
district, I can only conjecture that Cow mistook for it some other
water plant, possibly some form of Ranunculus aquatilis.
MONOCOTYLEDONES.
HYDROCHARITACEA.
Elodea canadensis, Michx. (Anacharis Alsinastrum, Bab.).
‘Water Thyme. Native in N. America; but become a denizen in
ponds and streams in many localities in Scotland, including the
N.E. district. :
‘‘Tntroduced into pools by the roadside west from Summerhill,
near Aberdeen, and into the small lake on the Old Town Links”
(B. G.).
It appeared to have died out of the pool on the Links (now
filled up) before 1869; but in that year it grew in plenty in a pool
in the old quarries of Rubislaw and in the burn near Angusfield.
In 1907 it was abundant in the ponds at the Bleaching Works of
Rubislaw. The pool in the quarries has been filled with refuse, and
the water has been:entirely run off from most of the ponds at the
Works, so that these habitats of the Water Thyme no longer exist ;
but it still grows in shallow water in two or three of the ponds, and
also in the Burn. It grows in backwaters and quiet pools of the
Dee above Cults; but I have never seen it below the Old Bridge of
Dee; nor is there any record of its having been observed in the
Don.
Adt. Ps. Ng BMP:: 0. Only by the Dee and (observed
for the first time in October, 1912) in the mill dam near the New
Bridge of Don. It is abundant in suitable localities in a good many
places in Buchan and elsewhere in the adjoining counties.
ORCHIDACEZ.
The preference of Orchids for marshes, heaths, woods, and
natural pastures, and their intolerance of the effects of man’s inter-
ference with their natural habitats, due apparently to association
270 J. W. H. TRAIL
with certain types of fungi as a condition of their healthy develop-
ment, have led to the extirpation within our limits of certain
Species and to the almost certain disappearance of others in the
near future, as they are already restricted to the remnants of moor
and wood still left on the extreme western limit near Queen’s Road
West. Ina few years the streets will probably have covered this
ground, and the Orchids will have perished. Of six species that
are native in adjacent parishes there is no record as having been
observed in Aberdeen, although it is almost certain that they did so
in the natural condition of the surface.
[Corallorhiza trifida, Chat. (C. innata, R. Br.). Coral-root.]
Native in swampy thickets, where it lives, with the aid of a fungus
on decaying remains of plants.
Adt. Ps. :::P:::. Extremely local; in one part of the
Den of Murtle. The only other habitat known to me in this district
is a Swampy place in a wood a little distance west of Kintore, where
it was found some years ago by the late Dr. William Tait.
Listera cordata, &. Br. Least Tway-blade. Native on heaths
and in heathy woods, apt to be overlooked among the heather.
‘Above Den of Rubislaw” (Beattie). ‘‘ Stocket Moor, 1835”’
(Dickie hb.). ‘‘ Woods by the Skene Road west from Robslaw
Quarry” (B. G.).
Only a few plants still survive in the woods beside Queen’s
Road West. This Tway-blade must have been rather frequent in
Aberdeen formerly.
Adt. Ps. In all; requiring to be sought for; but not rare.
[L. ovata, R. Br. Common Tway-blade.] Native.
In damp pastures, extremely local in this district. There is no
record of its occurrence in Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. : (B) (M) : (Nh): O. I have seen it near Aberdeen
only on a small patch of the N.W. corner of Scotston Moor, where
it was discovered in 1906 by Mr. William Thomson. It grows in
several places in the counties near Aberdeen. In a marsh west of
Huntly I found it of large size and in the utmost plenty in August,
1905.
Goodyera repens, &. Br. Creeping Goodyera. Native in fir
woods, rarely extending its range to open moors.
“A solitary specimen in Ewing’s Hermitage” Berryden
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 271
(Beattie). “Hilton” (Knight). “By the Skene Road west from
Robslaw Quarry” (B. G.).
Now restricted in Aberdeen to the planted woods near Queen’s
Road West; but probably not uncommon formerly in the natural
woods.
Adt. Ps. In all; very common in many fir woods. When new
plantations of firs are made the Goodyera appears after a good
many years, probably from seeds carried by the wind, the young
plants of orchids requiring a considerable time to reach the mature
state.
[Orchis mascula, Z. larly Purple Orchis.] Native; in
woods, and on coast very local.
There is no record of the species for Aberdeen ; but in view of
its occurrence by the Don it is probable that it grew within the
parish formerly.
Adt. Ps. : B(M) (P):: O. Locally common on coast, on
moist braes, from Portlethen southwards. A few grow on the
wooded north bank of the Don above the Old Bridge; but it has
become very scarce there.
O. latifolia, Z. Marsh Orchis. Under this name in the
older records, including all that relate to the local lists of Aberdeen,
two are included, now generally treated as distinct species. These
will be referred to separately below, after quotation of the records.
Both are native in Scotland, though one is the more general and
common. ‘ Vulgatissima in pratis et pascuis’’ (Skene). ‘ At
Pitmuxton Marsh” (Cow).
O. latifolia, Z., vera (O. maialis, Reich.). This is the only
form that I have seen within Aberdeen, and of which there is
positive record. It was common on Stocket Moor; but since the
cultivation of the moor the Orchis seems to have disappeared from
the parish north of the Dee. A few still linger on wet spots of the
rough south bank of the river east of Torry. It must have been
plentiful in marshy ground within Aberdeen formerly.
Adt. Ps. In all; plentiful in many marshes.
[O. incarnata, L.] Possibly the older records of O. latifolia
cover this also; but it appears to be very scarce in the district
around Aberdeen ; and there is no record of its having been observed
272 J. W. H. TRAIL
within the parish. It is often not easy to distinguish from O.
latifolia.
Adt. Ps.:::::: (O). Rare. Though local, it is not un-
common in a few localities in the adjoining counties, in marshy
ground.
O. maculata, Z. Spotted Orchis. Native; usually on
drier heaths and pastures, though sometimes in wetter places,
where it may grow intermixed with O. latifolia, with which it
occasionally hybridises.
‘““Passim in pratis, etiam humidioribus” (Skene). ‘ Natural
pastures and heaths, very frequent in all parts of the district”’
(B. G:).
This must formerly have been very common in Aberdeen; but
it is now almost restricted to the remains of woods west of Rubis-
law and to the braes on the south bank of the Dee east of Torry.
Its flowers show great diversity in colour and markings of the
lower lip. Of these forms one meets with var. ericetorum, Linton,
though not so commonly as with the type.
Adt. Ps. Ng BM P Nh: O. Plentiful in suitable localities,
var. ericetorum occurring with the type, though less frequently.
O. morio, Cow, non L. ‘‘ Wood at Culter; on Donside above
the bridge, abundant ’’ (Cow).
This record is certainly erroneous, as the species does not grow
near Aberdeen ; it may be due to a mistaken identification of O.
mascula.
Habenaria Conopsea, Benth. Fragrant Orchis. Native on
drier moors and in natural pastures ; common locally.
“In pratis et pascuis” (Skene). ‘“ Boggy ground above Rubis-
law” (Beattie). ‘‘Stocket Moor, 1833” (Dickie hb.).
I have gathered it, between 1870 and 1879, on Stocket Moor;
but with the cultivation of the moor it seems to have become extinct
in Aberdeen, where it must have formerly been as common as it
still is on moors not far distant.
Adt. Ps. In all local, but common in suitable habitats.
[H. albida, &. Br. Small White Orchis.] Very local; but
common in short dry pastures and on grassy heaths in a few places.
There is no record of it in Aberdeen, though it may well have
occurred.
Adt. Ps. (Ng): M P (Nh)::. ‘Corbie Den” (Beattie).
It still grows there.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 273
H. viridis, R. Br. Frog Orchis. Native; in short dry
pastures,
I have found a very few examples, the last in 1902, on short
turf on the inner sand-dunes of the Links, near the mouth of the
Don.
Adt. Ps. : (B) M::: 0. Balgownie Links, very plentiful on
short turf of the dunes and of the golf-course.
[H. bifolia, &. Br. Lesser Butterfly Orchis.] Native; on
damp moors and pastures.
Though no record of this Orchis exists for Aberdeen, it probably
was native here, as on various moors in the vicinity.
Adt. Ps. : B:: Nh DO. Not uncommon in a few places.
IRIDACEZE.
Iris Pseudacorus, Z. Yellow Flag, or Yellow Water Iris.
Native, by streams and in pools.
“Tn udis, ad fluv. ripas” (Skene). ‘Canal, King’s Links, etc.,
frequent” (Knight). ‘On the West side of the Old Town Links”’
(N. Fl.). “Canal above Mount Hooly” (Dickie hb.).
The Canal was dried, and became the track of the G.N.S. Rail-
way about half a century ago; and changes in the Links, and in
the burns flowing to the Don, led to the disappearance of the Iris
from that quarter, many years since. Possibly extinct as a native
in Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. : BMPNhD:. Local; scarcely common in the
district.
Tritonia Pottsti, Benth, et Hook. f.
Adt. Ps. :::: Nh::. Established on rough bank of Don
below Stoneywood.
Crocus vernus, Ait. Common Spring Crocus. Casual, as out-
cast or escape from cultivation. Native in Central and 8. Europe.
In 1906 in a sandpit near Tillydrone. Not unfrequent in lawns
or shrubberies, but nowhere as a denizen.
AMARYLLIDACEZ-.,
Narcissus Pseudonarcissus, L. Common Daffodil. Alien;
scarcely a denizen anywhere near Aberdeen. Native in great part
of Europe, including England; widely dispersed by cultivation.
“Tn the Den of Rubislaw”’ (Cow).
274 J. W. H. TRAIL
Tt still grows in the Den, where it had probably been planted
originally; and it is abundant on a wooded bank by the north
avenue to Seaton House. Occasionally it springs up as a casual on
rubbish heaps on waste ground; but it is rarely allowed to remain
there for more than a season. The flower is usually double, thus
showing the cultivated origin of these casuals.
Adt. Ps. Occasionally, under similar conditions as to having
been planted, or outcasts from some garden.
Galanthus nivalis, L. Common Snowdrop. Alien in Scotland.
Native in N. and Central Europe, including England.
‘Tn the Den of Rubislaw, plentiful” (Cow and FI. Ab.).
A few may be seen in old pasture in the grounds of Seaton ; and
occasionally it may be found in unexpected places; but in all cases
either as intentionally introduced, or from bulbs thrown out from
some garden originally. It can scarcely be regarded as a denizen -
anywhere in the vicinity of Aberdeen. I have found it in a field
near Linksfield, in rubbish on waste ground near King Street, etc.
LILIACEZ,
Polygonatum multiflorum, All. Solomon’s Seal. Alien in Scot-
land ; but naturalised here and there. Native in HKurope, including
England.
“Not common in the Den of Rubislaw” (Cow). ‘In a field
west of Chanonry House, Old Aberdeen, 1845” (Polson hb.).
Ihave never seen this in Aberdeen except as an evident outcast,
or in cultivation. .
Adt. Ps. : 2 (M)(2):: : =. —Corbie, Pot’ (Beattie) Kang-
causie”’ (Fl. Ab.). “Culter, 1842” (Beveridge hb.).
Convallaria majalis, L. Lily-of-the-valley. Doubtfully native
anywhere in Scotland, and certainly not so in Aberdeen; dispersed
by cultivation or planting.
‘Not common in the Den of Rubislaw”’ (Cow).
It can hold its place in suitable habitats in N.H. Scotland.
Allium vineale, 2. Crow Garlic. Native; on rough banks;
rare.
“ Rubislaw ” (Knight).
This species is plentiful on a part of the rough wooded bank of
the Don above the Old Bridge, on the north side, and has been so
for many years. In this shady situation it rarely flowers. On the
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 275
south bank, in Seaton, within Aberdeen I have been able, even by
close searching, to find only two or three plants. About twenty
years ago a few appeared close to the Don a little above the Coast-
guard Station; and in this more open place they grew vigorously,
and produced abundance of bulbils, along with a few flowers. They
multiplied rapidly ; and now form the greater part of the vegetation
over many square yards of the bank along the river. It has in
recent years become rather common on the north bank between
the bridges, and along the south side of the island in the Don;
early in June, 1912, I found it in some plenty, among the herbage
liable to be flooded at high tides, on the south bank a little west of
the mouth of the Tile Burn. I have never seen it in Rubislaw.
Adt. Ps. :::::: 0. Along the Don, as described above. It
is plentiful on dry banks in 8. Kincardineshire.
A. Schoenoprasum, L. Chives. Alien in Scotland. Native
in Temperate Zone, including England.
“Tn the Den of Rubislaw” (Cow). No doubt a relict of some
garden or outcast.
A. ursinum, Z. Bear garlic or Ramsons. Native; in
shaded dens usually; plentiful in a few localities.
“6Den of Rubislaw, 1833 ”’ (Dickie hb.).
Still common there, and by the Don in Seaton, not far above
the Old Bridge.
Adt. Ps. :: M::: 0. Plentiful on the north bank of the
Don above the Old Bridge, where shaded by trees.
Endymion non-scriptum, Garcke. Wild Hyacinth ; the ‘‘ Blue-
bell” in England. Native on rough wooded banks; but local ; and
sometimes planted, e.g., on a bank beside the north avenue to
Seaton.
“Side of a small stream at Foresterhill” (Cow). ‘Den of
Rubislaw” (Fl. Ab.). “ Rubislaw and bank of Don” (Knight).
It still grows in the Den and on the rough bank of the Don
in Seaton, above the Old Bridge; but it is not common in Aber-
deen. —
Adt. Ps. :::(P) Nh: O. On the wooded N. bank of the
Don.
Ormithogalum wmbellatum, L. Common Star-of-Bethlehem.
Alien; planted, outcast, or relict of cultivation. Native in 8.
Europe; widely dispersed by cultivation.
276 J. W. H. TRAIL
“Wood east of Seaton House, 1845” (Polson hb.).
Adis.) PO Above Old Bridge, ol Don. 184217
(Beveridge hb.).
In the wood on the steep bank of the Don near the gate of
Balgownie Lodge this plant seems to be naturalised. I have also
seen it apparently wild near Cults, originally from some garden.
Narthecium ossifragum, Huds. Bog Asphodel. Native; in
swampy places.
‘Passim in humidis et uliginosis” (Skene). ‘“ Rubislaw, Ferry-
hill” (Beattie). ‘ Ferryhill Moss, etc., common” (Knight).
I have seen this on Stocket Moor, before 1880; but it appears
to be extinct in Aberdeen since the cultivation of that moor. It
must have been plentiful on the swampy moors so widespread in
Aberdeen formerly.
Adt. Ps. In all; plentiful in suitable habitats.
[Paris quadrifolia, LZ. Herb Paris.] Native in Scotland, in
woods ; but very local, though plentiful where it grows.
Adt.Ps. ::M : (Nh) ::. Corbie Den, Kingcausie ; recorded
by Beattie, and still abundant in one part of the Den. ‘“ Woods of
Craibstone ”’ (B. G.).
JUNCACEZ.
Juncus bufonius, 2. Toad Rush. Native; in wet soils.
‘“‘Passim in aquosis et humidis”’ (Skene). ‘‘ Rubislaw, Inches,
and Old Town Links, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
Still common in ditches and by pools, less often in damp fields
and gardens, in the north and west parts of the parish; not com-
mon on the Links. It had been much more common before drain-
age of the surface.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant in suitable habitats.
J. squarrosus, Z. Heath Rush. Native; on heaths and
in natural pastures.
® Vulgatissima in ericetis et humidioribus” (Skene). “ Stocket
Moor, 1834” (Dickie hb.). ‘“‘On the Links, north of Broadhill;
head of Rubislaw Den” (Cow).
This rush still grows on the lower parts of the Links between
the Broadhill and the football ground near Hast Seaton, and also
in the remains of woodland near Queen’s Road West; and an oc-
casional plant may be found on waste ground about the old quarries
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 277
near Rosehill, etc.; but it has become a scarce plant within Aber-
deen, though formerly it must have been plentiful.
Adt. Ps. In all; common and general.
J. Gerardii, Zoisel. Gerard’s Rush. Native in salt-marshes,
near the sea, usually where liable to be flooded at high tides. —
“Old Town Links” (Knight, and Dickie hb., as J. compressus).
‘‘ Salt-marshes; on the banks of the Don near its mouth; on the
Inches and Deeside” (Cow, as J. bulbosus).
Though still frequent by the estuary of the Don and on the
part of the Links liable to be flooded at high tides, its continuance
is threatened by the changes that are likely to be carried out there
in the not distant future. It is now rare by the Dee, owing to the
alterations that have been made in the estuary of that river.
Adt. Ps. Ng B:::: 0. Local; but plentiful in a few
localities.
J. tenuis, Willd. Slender Rush. Only a casual on rubbish
in Aberdeen. Native in N. America, and probably so in W.
Europe.
Once found by me, in 1894, on the old bed of the Dee, near the
Railway Station, and again, in October, 1909, on waste ground at
Berryden. The only other occasions on which I have seen it, or
know of its occurrence in this part of Scotland, were in 1902, when
I found a few plants on a road over a small moor near Beltcraigs,
in Banchory Ternan, about seventeen miles west of Aberdeen, and
on 18 September, 1914, when I found several plants in a space of a
few feet on the grassy border by the road from Persley Bridge to
Grandholm House, a little beyond where the road bends north
from the river near Mugiemoss.
(J. balticus, Willd. Northern Rush.] Native in Scotland
in damp soils, almost always near the coast; not known from
Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. :::::: (O). Formerly in a small marsh near the
sea on the Links north of the Don, about a mile from Donmouth.
The rush had disappeared before 1870, when I first looked for it
there ; and the marsh has been drained since the Balgownie golf-
course was formed. J. balticus is extremely rare in this district.
(J. filiformis, 2. Thread Rush.] Native; but confined to
the shores of the Loch of Loirston, where it is rather common. It
is very frequent in suitable habitats in N.W. Europe, from which
278 J. W. H. TRAIL
the seeds may have been brought to the Loch of Loirston by some
water bird.
J. effusus, Z. Soft Rush. Native in moist pastures, and
by streams and pools ; general and common in undrained soils.
‘Side of a small pond at Powis Hermitage” (Cow).
Though much diminished in frequency by drainage of the soil
in Aberdeen, it still grows in several parts of the parish. I have
found here the forms elatws (in woods usually, where drawn up
and weak) and compactus, resembling J. conglomeratus in the close-
ness of the panicle.
Adt. Ps. In all; general, and in many places, abundant.
J. conglomeratus, Z. Common Rush. Native; in similar
habitats with J. effusus, but usually less abundant in this district.
‘““Stocket Moor, 1835” (Dickie hb.). ‘‘On the Links north of
Broadhill ; in the Den of Rubislaw; side of the quarries at Hilton,
etc.’’ (Cow).
Still grows in the few habitats left to it in Aberdeen, though
not frequent. It had certainly been common here formerly.
Adt. Ps. In all; general, and occasionally plentiful.
J, bulbosus, Z. (J. swpinws, Moench). Lesser Bog Rush.
Native in pools and on wet mud by streams and in ditches.
‘“‘Ubique in paludosis”’ (Skene). “ Stocket Moor, 1835” (Dickie
hb.). ‘‘ Pitmuxton Marsh ” (Cow).
This must formerly have been plentiful in Aberdeen; but it has
become very scarce, owing to drainage of the surface.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant in suitable habitats; and varying
greatly, the forms being often in relation to the depth of water in
which it grows. The following have been observed by me in this
district :—
nodosus, Lange, common on wet mud, often with vivi-
parous buds replacing the flowers.
geniculatus, Asch. et Greb., differing from nodosus in the
knee-like angles at nodes in the inflorescences.
uliginosus, /’r., creeping on wet mud, rooting at the nodes,
and flowering freely.
fluitans, /., in water not too deep to allow the slender
leaves and few-flowered inflorescences to rise from the stem into
the air.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 279
Kochii, Syme, characterised by six stamens in the flower ; in
pastures.
J. articulatus, Z. (J. lampocarpus, Ehrh.). Shining-fruited
Rush. Native in wet soils, often where the vegetation is rather
poor and scanty.
‘Old Aberdeen Links, 1877’’ (Harvey hb.). ‘‘ Bank of Dee,
1835.” (Dickie hb.).
It still grows in both localities, as well as on waste marshy
ground in a good many places in the inland parts of Aberdeen ;
but its distribution here has been much limited by drainage.
J. acutiflorus, Hhrh. Sharp-flowered Rush, locally called
‘“sprots.” Native in swamps.
‘“Vulgatissimus in pratis humidis” (Skene, as J. articulatus,
probably covering J. bulbosus, L. and J. lampocarpus, Hhrh.).
‘Den of Rubislaw’”’ (Cow).
It is still not uncommon in damp soils in a few localities in
Aberdeen, e.g., on fields near Hast Seaton; but drainage has
very greatly reduced its frequency here. It shows great variability
in the inflorescences. ;
Adt. Ps. In all; general, and in many places abundant, almost
to exclusion of other plants.
Luzula pilosa, Wild. (L. vernalis, DC.). Broad-leaved Hairy
Wood Rush. Native, in grassy woodlands.
“ Rubislaw Den, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
It still grows there, and on wooded banks of the Don; but it
has become scarce in Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. In all; common in grassy woods.
L. sylvatica, Gawd. (L. maxima, DC.). Great Hairy Wood
Rush. Native; on rough banks, in woods, and on moors.
‘*Den of Rubislaw; Donside, above and below the bridge”’
(Cow).
Still frequent in these localities.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant in various localities.
L, campestris, DC. Field Wood Rush. Native; in short
natural pasture.
‘In pratis et humidis. In the Links among the sandhills,
‘fl.’ 29 April, 1765” (Skene). ‘‘Rubislaw Quarries” (Harvey).
“ Stocket Moor, 1835” (Dickie hb.). ‘On the Links and the
Broadhill ” (Cow).
280 J. W. H. TRAIL
This wood rush is still common on the Links, in a meadow by
the Don near Seaton House, by roads and on quarry-refuse near
Hilton, in Rubislaw, etc., and by the Dee.
Adt. Ps. In all; locally common.
L. multiflora, Lej. (L. erecta, Desv.). Erect Field Wood
Rush. Native; in habitats similar to those of L. campestris, but
preferring less dry soils, and also more apt to grow in woods. It
flowers later.
This was not distinguished from L. campestris in any published
flora of Aberdeen. Its larger size and later period of flowering
make it perhaps the more conspicuous form, though not quite so
plentiful as campestris. Var. congesta, Koch, with crowded flowers,
is more frequent here than typica, Beck, with stalked branches in
the inflorescence, the latter being rather local.
Adt. Ps. In all; general and common, congesta being the
more common variety.
PALMA.
Phen dactylifera, L. Date Palm. Native in N. Africa and
Arabia.
On town-refuse seedlings have been observed by me on the old
bed of the Dee, on Old Aberdeen Links, and in other places, sprung
from seeds thrown out, or from decayed fruits. It is almost need-
less to say that the following winter proved fatal to all such casuals.
TYPHACEA.
Typha latifolia, L. Great Cat’s-tail or Reed-mace. Alien.
Native in N. Temperate zones, including part of Britain.
‘‘Don below Tillydrone ” (Knight). There is no other record
for it in Aberdeen.
It had certainly been planted where Professor Knight saw it,
and it does not seem to have survived long. It was introduced
about 1880 into an old quarry near Hilton, and still grows there ;
and in September, 1909, two plants grew in shallow water in the
bottom of one of the ponds of Rubislaw Bleaching Works.
Sparganium erectum, ZL. (S. ramosuwm, Huds.) Branched
Bur-reed. Native; in pools and streams ; locally common.
‘Old Town Links” (Beattie). ‘ Tillydrone” (Knight). ‘‘ Near
the Brickwork, in Old Town Links, 1835” (Dickie hb.). ‘In the
Den of Rubislaw ; in Powis Burn, near the Links ; in a pond south
of Donmouth; in a small pond by the Hermitage ’’ (Cow).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 281
It does not now grow in most of these localities; but it is rather
common by the Don from Seaton upwards. It grows in an old
quarry near Hilton, no doubt as an introduction.
Adt. Ps. In all; general, and plentiful in several habitats.
[S. simplex, Huds. Unbranched Bur-reed.] Native in
pools and swamps; not on records from within Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. : B: (P) : : O. Very local, and not common, except
in shallow pools in a moist hollow east of Findon in B.
S. natans, L. (S. affine, Schnizl). Floating Bur-reed.
Native ; in pools and streams.
‘In Pitmuxton Marsh” (Cow; this may refer to S. minimum,
which is more frequent than S. natans in marshes).
S. natans grows in the Don in fair quantity ; but not flower-
ing or rarely so.
Adt. Ps. Ng: (M) P: DO. In the Dee and the Don.
S. minimum, f’r. Small Bur-reed. Native; usually in
shallow pools in swamps and peat-mosses.
I have not seen this within the parish ; nor is there any certain
record of its occurrence here; but it is not distinguished from S.
natans in any record but the Botanist’s Guide although more
common than S. natans in swampy pools, such as were to be found
on the moors in Aberdeen. Possibly Cow’s plant from Pitmuxton
Marsh was S. minimum.
Adt. Ps. : : : : (Nh) : O. OnScotston Moor, rare; in White-
stripes Moss, in pools liable to have the water almost dried in
summer, local. It is not uncommon in a good many localities in
the counties near Aberdeen.
ARACEZ.
Arum maculatum, L. Cuckoo-pint, or Lords and Ladies.
Probably this is only a denizen in at least the north of Scotland ;
almost always under shade of trees, in private grounds. I have no
record of its growing at the foot of a hedge, as it does often in
England.
““Gordon’s Hospital Garden” (Beattie). ‘Den of Rubislaw,
1885” (Dickie hb.). ‘‘ Wood east of Seaton House, 1845” (Polson
hb.).
Still common in both localities, on slopes shaded by trees.
Adt. Ps. : B M (P):::. Only where there is reason to
believe it had been originally planted.
U
282 J. W. H. TRAIL
LEMNACEZ.,
Lemna minor, Z. Small Duck weed. Nativein pools, ditches,
and slow streams.
‘General in stagnant water’’ (Knight). ‘‘ In flower in Moss of
Ferryhill, 1826” (Harvey hb.). ‘‘ Ditch near Links by Constitu-
tion Street, in a pond south of Donmouth, by the Links; in a small
pond at Powis Hermitage” (Cow).
I have seen it in abundance in pools, now filled with debris, in
the old quarries at Rubislaw ; but it has disappeared from almost
all its former habitats in Aberdeen, and is now rare within the
parish.
Adt. Ps. (Ng) : (M) P Nh D O. Local, but abundant in
some places.
ALISMACEA.
Alisma Plantago-aquatica, Z. Greater Water-plantain.
Native in ponds.
“ Ferryhill” (Beattie). ‘Dam of Gilcomston, in great abund-
ance” (Knight, Harvey and Dickie hb.).
The Alisma had disappeared some time before 1900, when the
dam was filled up. It does not appear to survive in Aberdeen any- .
where,
Adt. Ps. (Ng) BM P:: 0. Local and rarely common.
NAIADACE&.
Triglochin palustre, LZ. Marsh Arrow-grass. Native; in
marshes.
‘Deeside, Links, etc.” (Beattie and Harvey). ‘ Stocket Moor,
1835”’ (Dickie hb.). ‘‘ Wet pastures by the Links” (Cow).
This may still be found on the low swampy part of the Links,
near the Don, in small quantity; but it appears to have become
extinct elsewhere in Aberdeen, though it must have been common
and widespread on the wet moors formerly.
Adt. Ps. In all, rather local, sometimes plentiful.
T. maritimum, Z. Sea Arrow-grass. Native; in salt-
marshes on coast.
‘‘Passim in paludosis”” (Skene). ‘Old Town Links” (Beattie
and Dickie hb. 1835). ‘‘On the Inches; on Dee-side, in many
places” (Cow).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 283
It is now almost extinct by the Dee, in consequence of altera-
tions made on the estuary; but it is still plentiful on the low
ground near the mouth of the Don, where liable to be flooded with
brackish water in very high tides.
Adt. Ps. Ng B:::: O. Common in wet places on the rocky
shores, and by the estuary of the Don.
Potamogeton natans, L. Broad-leaved Pondweed. Native;
in streams and deeper pools.
“Canal near Kittybrewster; Donside”’ (N. FI.).
It still grows in the Don, and in old quarries near Hilton and
Rosehill ; but it is less common about Aberdeen than it was. It
used to be plentiful in a pool in the old quarries of Rubislaw, now
filled with refuse.
Adt. Ps. In all; in the Dee and Don, and in pools here and
there.
P, polygonifolius, Pouwrr. Oblong-leaved Pondweed.
Native; in marshes and in shallow pools on wet moors.
This is not distinguished from P. natans in the local floras of
Aberdeen and its vicinity, though commoner than that species.
“ Ferryhill Moss, 1837” (Laing hb.). ‘‘ Pitmuxton Marsh” (Cow,
as P. natans).
It must have been as common formerly on the wet moors of
Aberdeen as it still is in similar habitats in the country around.
Adt. Ps. In all; plentiful in suitable localities.
P, alpinus, Balbis (P. rufescens, Schrad.). Reddish Pond.
weed. Native.
“Canal near Cotton” (Knight). ‘Abundant in the Canal, at
Aberdeen ; and occasionally in the Don” (N. Fl. and Fl. Ab.,
as P. rufescens, and Cow as P. fluitans).
It still grows in the Don.
Adtineesa: se: ce NED O:
P. heterophyllus, Schreb. Various-leaved Pondweed.
This species, and the variety of it, under the name P. lanceolatus,
are recorded from the Canal between King Street and Kittybrewster
by Murray (N. Fl.), Cow, and Dickie. I have not seen P. hetero-
phyllus growing within Aberdeen; but it is locally plentiful in
lochs and streams in various parts of the neighbouring counties.
P, perfoliatus, LZ. Perfoliate Pondweed. Native; in
streams and pools.
284 J. W. H. TRAIL
“Abundant in the Canal near Aberdeen” (N. FI.). ‘In the
Don at Woodside’ (Cow).
Still common in the Don.
Adt. Ps.0: > 2 Nh DO) \ Inthe Don:
P. crispus, L. Curled Pondweed. Native; in pools and
streams, very local.
‘“‘In the neighbourhood of Aberdeen” (N. FI.). ‘The Canal
from the lime basin to Grandholm’”’ (Cow). ‘“ Dam of Gilcomston,
1836” (Dickie hb.).
The Canal ceased to exist in the middle of last century ; and
Gilcomston Dam was filled up a few years ago. In 1907 P. crispus
was very abundant in the ponds at the then-abandoned Rubislaw
Bleachworks; but in 1908 these ponds were emptied of water, and
the pondweed disappeared. I do not know of any place in which
it may now be found in Aberdeen.
NG i lektae gs a ((O)
P, densus, L.? Close-leaved Pondweed.
“In the Canal above the lime-basin, very abundant, and at
Grandholm ; in streams about the Printfield, etc.’’ (Cow).
This species has not been observed by anyone else near Aber-
deen; and Cow was evidently mistaken as to the species.
P. obtusifolius, Mert. et Koch? Grassy pondweed.
‘Tn the Don at Grandholm Mills; in the Canal lime-basin ; in
a pond south from Donmouth, ete.’ (Cow, as P. gramineum).
As this also remains unconfirmed there can be no doubt that
Cow was in error.
P, pusillus, 2. Small Pondweed. Native; in pools, very
local.
‘‘Near Aberdeen in the Canal” (Beattie, Knight, and N. F'.).
“ Ditches at Stocket”’ (B. G.).
In 1902 I found this species in an old quarry near Rosehill, the
only locality, so far as I know, in which it still grows in Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. : : (M) ::: 0. Not common.
P. pectinatus, ZL. Fennel-leaved Pondweed. Native;
very rare in Aberdeen.
‘Marsh on the Old Aberdeen Links” (Beattie, Knight, and
N. Fl.). ‘In the Den of Rubislaw, near the head; in the Canal,
ete.” (Cow, almost certainly in error, possibly for P. pusillus).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 285
Tt still grows in one or two shallow pools on the low part of the
Links near the Don, where liable to be submerged by high tides ;
but in a few years these pools will probably have been filled up in
the changes likely to be effected on the Links.
Ruppia rostellata, Koch. Lesser Ruppia. Native; in salt
marshes,
“Salt marshes at Torry farm, south side of Aberdeen Harbour ;
this species was discovered here by Rev. J. Minto in 1849” (B. G.).
The alterations made on the estuary of the Dee have extirpated
this plant locally.
Zostera marina, L. Common Grass-wrack. Not native near
Aberdeen.
‘Near Donmouth, G. Baxter, 1813” (Knight). ‘“ Occasionally
found up on the seacoast after storms” (Cow). ‘I have seen it
cast up on the beach at Aberdeen, but have no record of it in situ”
(BaG:).
Abundant in the estuary of the South Esk, near Montrose, and
in small quantity in the mouth of the North Esk, the pieces picked
up on the beach near Aberdeen were probably brought from these
sources,
Zannichellia palustris, L.? Horned Pondweed.
‘“‘In a ditch near Deeside, above the Braes of Pitfodels” (Cow).
Another very doubtful record, resting on Cow’s unsupported
statement; probably due to a mistake,
CYPERACEA.,
Eleocharis acicularis, &. Br.? Least Club-rush,.
“On wet banks south side of Don; on wet places on the sea-
coast at the Girdleness”’ (Cow, as Scirpus).
Almost certainly an error in identification; unconfirmed by any
testimony.
E, palustris, Roem. et Sch. Marsh Club-rush. Native; on
wet soil, by pools and streams.
““Passim in fossis, paludibus, rivulis” (Skene). ‘‘ Deeside,
abundantly” (Beattie). “ Very common” (Knight). ‘“ Banks of
Don, below the bridge; Dam of Gilcomston; on Deeside, etc.”
(Cow, and FI. Ab.).
Still grows by the Dee, and common by the Don, also in pools
in the old quarries near Hilton, Rubislaw, etc.
Adt. Ps. In all; locally plentiful.
286 J. W. H. TRAIL
E. uniglumis, Schultes. Link’s Club-rush. Native; in
damp soil near sea.
“Tn the Links, north from the Broadhill, Aberdeen, by the
margin of the south lake” (B. G.).
Changes on that part of the Links have led to its extinction
there ; but it is still not rare on the low part east from Hast Seaton,
though limited by the deposits of town-refuse to form the football
ground. This plant also will probably disappear from the Links as
a result of changes in the near future.
Adt. Ps. Ng B:::: 0. Very local, on seacoast and in
estuaries of Dee and of Don.
[E. multicaulis, Sm. Many-stemmed Club-rush.] Native ;
in marshes, very local, and not known from Aberdeen.
Adt. (Ps. Nie seis 2: ©: * Bay ofaNige) \(Beattie)aaNe
side, G. Baxter, 1813” (Knight). “Bay of Nigg” (Fl. Ab. and
Beveridge hb., 1842), now extinct there.
Scotston Moor, not common.
Scirpus pauciflorus, Lightf. Few-flowered Club-rush. Native ;
on wet soils, and where water trickles over the surface.
“‘ Roadside beyond Stocket”’ (Beattie). ‘‘ King’s Links, Deeside
and Donside, common” (Knight). “Old Town Links, 1836”
(Dickie hb.). ‘‘ Marshy places by the Dee” (B. G.).
It is still common on the low part of the Links near the Don,
where liable to be flooded by high tides, though a good part of the
surface has been rendered unsuitable for it by deposition of town
refuse. It seems to be extinct by the Dee, since the estuary was
altered. It was probably common on the wet parts of the moors
that formerly surrounded the city.
Adt. Ps. Ng BM: Nh: O. Common on some moors.
S. cespitosus, Z. Tufted Club-rush. Native on peaty
moors.
“Stocket Moor, 1834” (Dickie hb.).
It is now very scarce in Aberdeen, lingering only in the remains
of woodland near Queen’s Road West; but it must have been abun-
dant on moors within the parish.
Adt. Ps. In all; locally plentiful.
S. fluitans, Z. Floating Club-rush, or Floating Mud-rush.
Native.
“Tn a pool near Hilton, abundantly ” (Harvey hb.).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 287
I have never seen it within Aberdeen, where I believe it to have
long been extinct.
Adt. Ps. Ng : (M)(P):: O. Very local, and rarely plentiful.
S. setaceus, L. Bristle-stalked Mud-rush. Native; locally
common on wet soils, where vegetation is thin.
‘‘Passim in humidis, arenosis et paludosis” (Skene). ‘“ By a
damside near Old Bridge of Dee, 1835” (Dickie hb.). ‘‘In moist
places on the Links, north of the Broadhill, etc.” (Knight and
Cow). ‘‘Stocket Moor” (B. G.).
Now very scarce within the parish; but probably often over-
looked. I have found it as a weed in a garden in Old Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps.5 Ng BMP: DO. Local; sometimes abundant.
S. lacustris, L. Lake Club-rush, or Bulrush. Alien within
Aberdeen.
In a pool in an old quarry near Hilton; probably a recent in-
troduction.
Adt. Ps. :::::: 0. Only in the Corbie Loch where it is
native and plentiful.
S. maritimus, Z. Salt-marsh Club-rush. Native; in salt-
marshes.
“Old Aberdeen Links near Donmouth, 1826” (Knight and
Harvey hb.).
It still grows there, by the sides of the Tile Burn, and in shallow
muddy pools on the low ground, liable to being flooded by high
tides ; but it is very local, and is not likely to survive the changes
in progress at that part of the Links.
Adt. Ps. NgB:::::. Very local; at one or two places on
the coast.
S. sylvaticus, Z. Wood Club-rush. Native; among coarse
vegetation by streams ; local and scarce.
“In the Den of Rubislaw’”’ (Cow).
This record is not confirmed, and may be erroneous; but the
plant grows just outside the limits of Aberdeen, on the north bank
of the Don, above the Old Bridge, as noted by Knight.
Adt. Ps. : : : : : (D)O. By the Don, in small amount. It is
not uncommon in various places in the neighbouring counties.
S. rufus, Schrad. (Blysmus rufus, Link). Narrow-leaved
Club-rush. Native; by the sea or estuaries, usually in turf apt to
be flooded.
288 J. W. H. TRAIL
‘In the Old Town Links” (Knight and N. Fl., which adds
“in extremely small quantity”). ‘Formerly on the Links at
Aberdeen, north from the Broadhill, and along with Carex incurva,
Dr. Murray” (B. G.).
In 1869 and 1870 I found one or two examples among wet turf
near the mouth of the Tile Burn; but I have not seen it again on
the Links.
Adt. Ps. Ng B:::::. Very local on the coast.
Eriophorum angustifolium, Roth (£. polystachion, L., in
part). Narrow-leaved Cotton-grass. Native in bogs, and on wet
moors.
‘‘Passim in fossis” (Skene). ‘‘ Moss of Ferryhill” (Knight,
ete.). “Stocket Moor, 1835” (Dickie hb.). ‘In Pitmuxton Marsh ”
(Cow).
This species was no doubt as plentiful on the wet moors in
Aberdeen formerly as it still is on similar moors all over the district.
I have seen it within the parish only on Stocket Moor, before 1880,
and on a wet part of Old Aberdeen Links, near Linksfield, where
a few plants grew until 1904; but in that year the place was
covered with town-refuse in the formation of a football ground. I
do not know of its survival within Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant on wet moors and in peat-bogs.
E. vaginatum, 2. Hare-tail Cotton-grass. Native; on peat.
This no doubt grew on the moors in Aberdeen, before cultiva-
tion; but the only reference I can find to its doing so is in a
manuscript list of Professor Knight, in which the name is included
in a list of plants observed in Ferryhill Moss during an excursion
with his class; but this record is rendered doubtful by its omission
from a fuller list of the plants observed by him in various localities
in and near Aberdeen. In this list H. vaginatwm is not mentioned,
though there is in it a list of the plants of Ferryhill Moss.
Adt. Ps. Ng B: P Nh DO. Local, but plentiful on some
peat-mosses.
[Schoenus nigricans, Z. Black Bog-rush.] Native on wet
moors.
Not in Aberdeen, so far as records show.
Adt. Ps : (B):::: 0. Very local; but plentiful in a few
places.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 289
Carex dioica, Z. Creeping Dioecious Sedge. Native; in bare
wet places on moors.
Extinct probably in Aberdeen. ‘Old Town Links; below
Bridge of Dee” (Beattie). ‘‘ Stocket Moor, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
I saw it in the latter locality in 1870; but it disappeared when
the moor was cultivated, becoming extinct apparently. It was
probably not rare on the moors in Aberdeen formerly.
Adt. Ps. (Ng) : M P Nh: O. On moors where soil is wet
with trickling water; rather common in a few places.
C. Davalliana, 8m. A specimen (still in the Linnean Society’s
possession) sent to Smith by Professor James Beattie, in 1800, with
a letter, in which he gives the locality as “on a moor two miles
west of Aberdeen,” was called C. Davalliana by Smith, in the be-
lief that it was the European species so named. In Beattie’s copy
of the Flora Scotia is a note, by him—“‘ Roadside beyond
Mitchell’s, Stocket, S. side; trace the right side of the road from the
burn eastward, where male and female spikes are found together.”
‘The specimen belongs to C. dioica, L. Cow mentions C. Davalliana
as rare on the Links below the Broadhill ; certainly in error.
C. pulicaris, 2. FleaSedge. Native; in natural pastures.
“‘ Passim in humidis turfosis’’ (Skene). ‘‘ Stocket Moor, 1835”
(Dickie hb.).
This sedge was probably as common on grassy moors and in
short natural pastures in Aberdeen as it still is in the surrounding
district ; but I have not seen it within the parish for several years,
though it is probably not extinct in suitable habitats still to be met
with inland.
Adt. Ps. In all; common in many places.
C. incurva, Lightf. Curved Sedge. Native; never
common, and for years apparently extinct.
“Old Town Links, May-June, banks of y® rivulet going to ye
low loch. Again, in immense quantity on the flat (upper end)
which lies along the s. hills, creeping among sand which seems to
have encroached upon the Links” (Beattie, MS. note in Flora
Seotica). ‘‘In the Links of Aberdeen, in wet spongy soil, half a
mile from the sea ’’ (Beattie, in a letter to Smith, in 1800). ‘Old
Town Links, 1825” (Harvey hb.). “In the Old Town Links,
by a road leading through the sandhills a little north from the
Broadhill ” (FI. Ab.).
290 J. W. H. TRAIL
One or two plants still survived in this latter place until 1870;
but changes on the Links appear to have led to its extinction.
Adt. Ps. : B:::: 0. A few plants grew on the north shore
of the estuary of the Don, near the Coastguard Station; but I have
not seen any there since 1880.
C. arenaria, L. Sand Sedge. Native; in sandy soils by
coast.
“ Copiose in arena mobili” (Skene).
Abundant on the Links from Dee to Don, including the steep
east side of the Broadhill.
Adt. Ps. (Ng) ::::: 0. Abundant on Links north of the
Don.
[(C. diandra, Schranck (C. teretiuscula, Good.): Lesser
Panicled Sedge.] Native; in marshes, very local, and not plentiful.
No record for Aberdeen, though it not improbably occurred.
here.
Adt. Ps. :::::: 0. ‘Near Aberdeen” (Beattie). ‘‘ Corse-
hill Moss” (Fl. Ab.). This locality is at the north end of Scots-
ton Moor. It still is not uncommon in that moss, as well as in
the marsh near Denmore.
C. vulpina, L. Great Sedge. Native; in wet sandy soils
near the sea.
“Crescit in arenoso solo, inveni solummodo in vie Old Town
Links, near the Bents ” (Skene).
It has long been extinct within Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. Ng B::::; 0. Locally common on the rocky
coasts of Kincardineshire, and by the estuary of the Don near the
Coastguard Station.
[(C. muricata, Z. Greater Prickly Sedge.] Native; very
local and scarce.
Not recorded from Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. :B: PP: : > “Culter, 1842" "(Beveridge hbi)s
This sedge may occasionally be found by the Dee and in sheltered
nooks on the rocky coast of Kincardineshire.
C. echinata, Murray (C. stellulata, Good.). Lesser Prickly
Sedge. Native; in moorland pastures and peat-mosses, and on
damp links.
‘“‘Passim in pratis depressis humidis ” (Skene, as C. muricata).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 291
“Moss of Ferryhill, 1827” (Harvey hb.). ‘ Pitmuxton Marsh”
(Cow). ‘“Stocket”’ (Fl. Ab.).
Though C. echinata must have been plentiful in Aberdeen
formerly, it is now so rare as to seem in danger of becoming
extinct here. It lingers in the remains of woodland near Queen’s
Road West; and I have seen a plant or two by the side of a road
west from Hilton.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant in suitable localities.
[C. remota, Z. Distant-spiked Sedge.] . Native; by the
Dee, local and rare.
Not recorded from within Aberdeen.
INGlins detwas 1B) WLS NS ve) of
C. canescens, L. (C. curta,Good.). White Sedge. Native ;
in peat-mosses.
“Moss of Ferryhill, 1827” (Beattie, Knight and Harvey).
“ Stocket, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
Probably common here formerly; this sedge appears to have
become extinct in the parish.
Adt. Ps. In all; rather common in numerous mosses.
C. leporina, L. (C. ovalis, Good.). Oval-spiked Sedge.
Native ; in pastures, on grassy moors, and by roads and streams.
“Passim in humidioribus” (Skene). ‘On the Links”
(Harvey). ‘‘Stocket Moor, 1835” (Dickie hb.). ‘‘ Banks of Dee
at the Old Bridge” (B. G.).
Occasional tufts of C. ovalis may still be seen in Aberdeen, in
natural pastures, e.g., on the Links, and by Dee and Don, as well
as by roadsides about Hilton, Rubislaw, Old Aberdeen, etc.; but it
is now an uncommon plant here.
Adt. Ps. In all; rather widespread, but not plentiful. I have
found the form possessed of bracts considerably longer than the
inflorescence (longibracteata, Peterm.) growing sparingly with the
type beside the Don near Stoneywood (Nh).
C. aquatilis, Wahlenb. WaterSedge. Native; by streams,
and sometimes in marshes.
“Passim in locis humidis, ad margines stagnorum; in aqua
stagnante crescens”’ (Skene, as C. acuta). ‘* Muddy banks of the
Don, 1835 (Dickie hb., as C. acuta, under which name it is also
recorded in B. G.).
292 J. W. H. TRAIL
C. aquatilis is common by the Don, as var. elatior, Bab.
The true C. acuta does not grow near Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. ::: PNhDO. Local; abundant where it occurs,
chiefly by the Don.
C. Goodenowii, J.Gay (C. vulgaris, Fr.). Common Sedge.
Native; general in damp pastures by streams, and in swamps;
abundant in places.
‘Tinks, and Moss of Ferryhill” (Harvey).
Though still common on some parts of the Old Aberdeen Links,
especially near Linksfield, its abundance there was much lessened
a year or two ago by the deposition in the damp hollows of rubbish
and earth to fill up the wet places. It is not infrequent in the
inland parts of Aberdeen, and on wet places on the banks of the
rivers and smaller streams; but it must have been much more
abundant on the undrained surface formerly. It varies much in
size in response to its environment, and also in colour of its spike-
lets, one variety (melena, Wimm.) having the glumes and utricles
almost black, while another (chlorostachya, Reich.) has them
almost wholly green.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant in many localities.
C. flacca, Schreb. (C. glauca, Scop.). Glaucous Heath
Sedge. Native; in pastures, on moors, on slopes, along rocky
coasts, etc., in wet soil.
“Seaside, Torry” (Harvey). ‘‘ Banks of Dee and Don, etc.”
(Dickie).
Much less common in Aberdeen than it had been formerly ; but
still to be found on wet parts of Old Aberdeen Links, on wet slopes
by the Don and the Dee, on the coast east of Torry, ete.
Adt. Ps. In all; common in suitable habitats.
C. pilulifera, 2. Round-headed Sedge. Native; in dry
natural pastures.
“Rubislaw”’ (Beattie). ‘‘ Stocket Moor” (Knight and Dickie
hb.).
I had no record of having seen this in Aberdeen since the
cultivation of Stocket Moor until I found a few plants in 1910 on
a moist bank near the Paper Works, Woodside. It must have
been not uncommon on the moors formerly.
Adt. Ps. In all; common on dry moors, and also on the Links
north of the Don in a few places.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 293
C. caryophyllea, Latour (C. verna, Chaix, C. precox, Jacq.).
Vernal Sedge. Native; in natural pastures among short herbage,
in early summer chiefly.
“Old Aberdeen Links” (P. M.). “ Robslaw Den, Mr. R. Mac-
kay” (B. G.).
I have not found this sedge in Aberdeen ; nor have I seen an
example in any herbarium from the parish. The Links record is
probably due to misidentification of small examples of C. Goode-
nowu ; while that from ‘“‘ Robslaw Den” must be regarded as not
certain.
Adt. Ps. :: MP:::. Local; probably often overlooked.
[C. pallescens, LZ. Pale Sedge.] Native; in woods and
on damp grassy moors.
There is no record of this as found within Aberdeen, though it
had very probably grown here, and may be found by the Don or
elsewhere.
Adi Ps: a(Ng) Nie: Ove N. bank ‘of’ Don above: the
Bridge, 1842” (Beveridge hb.). Not common anywhere in this
district.
C. panicea, Z. Pink-leaved Sedge. Native; on peaty
moors, and in wet pastures, by streams, etc., abundant in suitable
habitats.
“Passim in paludosis” (Skene) “Torry” (Harvey).
“‘Stocket Moor and banks of Dee, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
Though certainly plentiful formerly in Aberdeen, this sedge is
now rare; but it grows on the remnants of moorland west of
Rubislaw, and on braes by the Dee east of Torry.
Adt. Ps. In all; general, and often abundant.
C. pendula, Cow non Huds. Great Pendulous Sedge.
“In the wood of Auchmill; in the Den of Maidenceraig ; at
Rubislaw, ete. ’’ (Cow).
These entries probably refer to C. helodes, which Cow does not
mention; they certainlyido not belong to C. pendula, which does
not grow near Aberdeen.
C. sylvatica, Huds. Pendulous Wood Sedge. Probably
native ; very local under trees.
“Near Aberdeen, in Seaton Woods. Dr. A. Fleming” (B. G.).
It still grows in the grounds by the north avenue to Seaton
House, several plants being scattered on a grassy bank below trees.
294 J. W. H. TRAIL
It may be native there, as it certainly is in a few places in the
neighbouring counties; but it is associated with several plants
(Arum maculatum, Narcissus Pseudo-nareissus, and others) that
are certainly not native, though now growing apparently wild ;
hence the sedge also may have been introduced.
Adt. Ps. : : :::: 0. ‘Bridge of Don cliffs, rare’’ (Knight).
“Tn the wood at Old Bridge of Don. Rare” (Fl. Ab.). There is
no reason to doubt its being native on the north bank of the Don,
and this supports the likelihood of its being native in Seaton. It
appears to have died out at the Don; at least I have never seen it
growing there, though I have often sought for it.
C. helodes, Link (C. laevigata, Sm.). Smooth-stalked Sedge.
Native ; on wet slopes, in woods or by streams; very local.
“Marshes near Aberdeen, Prof. J. Beattie, junr.’” (Smith’s
Fl. Brit., 1804, p. 1005). ‘ Rubislaw, 1826” (Harvey hb.).
It appears to be extinct within Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps.: BM PNhDO. Very local, but in plenty in some
limited habitats.
C. binervis, Sm. Green-ribbed Sedge. Native on drier
moors, and in rough natural pastures.
Originally described by Smith from specimens sent to him by
Prof. James Beattie, Jun., as “‘ very common on the driest moors
about Aberdeen, Rubislaw, etc.” ‘Den of Rubislaw, 1827”
(Harvey hb.). ‘Stocket Moor, 1835” (Dickie hb.). Skene
appears to have observed it from his record “in ericetis, vel pen-
dula v. sylvatica.” “
Still to be found in woods west of Rubislaw; occasionally among
rough herbage by roads near Hilton, Rubislaw, Ruthrieston, etc.,
and in some plenty on a damp bank near the Paper Works, Wood-
side. Its abundance in Aberdeen is, however, of the past only.
Adt. Ps. Inall; very frequent.
[C. distans, Z. Distant-spiked Sedge.] Native; only near
the sea, in wet places on rocky coasts.
Not recorded from Aberdeen, though it may have grown about
the estuary of the Dee formerly.
Adt.0Ps: NexB™: :*) 273.7) (On isea-coast:
C. fulva, Host. (C. Horschuchiana, Hoppe). Tawny Sedge.
Native; on wet soil, on moors, etc.
“Stocket Moor” (Knight, and Dickie hb.).
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 295
The Tawny Sedge appears to be extinct in Aberdeen, north of
the Dee, though it must have been common on the wet moors.
Stocket Moor seems to have been its last habitat within the parish.
Adt. Ps. Ng: MPNhDO. Locally common on wet moors,
C. flava, Z. YellowSedge. Native on wet soils, on moors,
wet banks, etc.
“ Vulgatiss. in paludosis” (Skene). ‘‘ Pitmuxton Marsh” (Cow).
“ Stocket Moor, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
This sedge also, though once abundant in Aberdeen, is becom-
ing scarce here. It still is moderately common on the low part of
the Links near the Don; and it may be found here and there by the
margins of the rivers, sparingly.
Adt. Ps. In all; general and frequent.
Var. Oederi, Retz. “Oldtown Links near Don-mouth,
1850” (P. M. hb.).
Still there, sparingly.
Adt. Ps. Ng ::::: 0. Not very common.
[C. hirta, Z. Hairy Sedge, or Hammer Sedge.] Native; in
light soil, usually by streams.
Not recorded from Aberdeen, though it might be expected on the
Links and by the Don.
Adt. Ps. (Ng) (B)::: DO. Very local; common ina few
places by the Don.
[C. paludosa (Lesser Common Carex).] ‘‘On the banks of
rivers and ditches, common ; on Deeside above the bridge ; in a ditch
delow Gallowhill; in Pitmuxton Marsh, Millden, ete.” (Cow).
This sedge is one of the most local in this part of Scotland, the
only native examples known within twenty miles of Aberdeen
growing on the coast south of Muchalls. It is difficult to conjec-
ture what Cow’s plant may have been. Possibly it was C. flacca,
which he does not mention.
[C. riparia (Great Common Carex)]. ‘‘ On the sides of ditches
and rivers, common; in Pitmuxton Marsh; in ditches above the
braes of Pitfodels; in Millden, etc.” (Cow). This is another of
Cow’s misnomers, as C. riparia does not grow near Aberdeen. The
plant intended by him may have been C. inflata, which he omits
from his ‘‘ Catalogue.”
C. inflata, Huds. (C. ampullacea, Good.). Bottle Sedge.
Native ; near streams and in swamps and pools.
296 J. W. H. TRAIL
“Dam of Gilecomston” (Beattie). “Moss of Ferryhill, 1803”
(Knight hb.). ‘ North bank of Dee” (Dickie hb.).
It is now scarce in Aberdeen, where it must have been very
common formerly; but still grows in Walker’s Dam.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant in suitable habitats.
[C. vesicaria, Z. Bladder Sedge.] Native in similar habitats.
to the last species; extremely local in this neighbourhood.
Not recorded from Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps: B:::::. In aditch near the high road almost.
south from the foot-bridge at Cults.
GRAMINEAE.
Panicum Crus-galli, L. Casual, on town-refuse. Native in
warm zone; widely dispersed as a weed of cultivated and waste
ground in tropicand warm temperate zones, and sometimes extend-
ing into cooler climates.
‘On the Inch, introduced in ballast” (N. FI.).
I have found it, in 1893, on the old bed of the Dee, and in 1904
on Old Aberdeen Links.
Adt. Ps. ::: P:::. Near Culter, in 1904, casual.
P. sanguinale, L. Hairy Cock’s-foot, or Finger-grass. The
same remarks apply to this as to P. Crus-galli.
“Qn the Inch. Rare. Introduced in ballast” (Dickie, 1838).
P. miliaceum,L. Millet. A frequent casual in recent years:
on town-refuse. Perhaps native in 8.W. Asia and in Egypt;
cultivated widely in the warmer zones, and thus dispersed through
and beyond them as a weed or casual.
First observed in Aberdeen by me as a weed on the old bed of
the Dee, in 1893. It reappeared there almost every year until the
extension of railway lines covered the ground. It has also appeared.
very frequently on town-refuse on the Links and on the roads and
new streets being formed in Rubislaw, Ferryhill, etc. In warm
seasons it flowers and may produce seeds; but its recurrence is.
probably due in almost all cases to seeds newly thrown out,
possibly in siftings.
Setaria viridis, Beauv. Green Bristle-grass. Casual. Prob-
ably native in H. Asia; widely dispersed as a weed of cultivated
and waste ground in the temperate zones.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 297
“On the Inch. Rare. Introduced in ballast” (Fl. Ab.).
I have found it on town-refuse on the old bed of the Dee, in
1893, and on Old Aberdeen Links in 1905.
S. verticillata, Beauv. Rough Bristle-grass. Casual. A
weed of cultivated and waste ground throughout the warmer,
temperate, and subtropical zones; native country uncertain.
“On the Inch” (Roy).
Zea Mays, L. Maize, or Indian Corn. Casual on town-refuse,
from seed thrown out; native of 8. America; cultivated almost
throughout the warmer zones, into the temperate regions.
On the old bed of the Dee, and on the Links. It rarely grows
beyond the seedling stage.
Spartina Townsendu, Groves. On 30 June, 1915, a supply of
living plants was forwarded to me by Mr. G. K. Sutherland from
near Southampton. Of the plants I put about ten into muddy
spots on the upper parts of the island in the Don above the New
Bridge on evening of 30 June. On evening of 1 July, 1915, I
put about nine into the muddy shore of 8. bank of the Don below
the New Bridge, scattering them over about 250 yards’ distance.
Phalaris arundinacea, L. Reed Canary-grass. Native; by
streams and pools, less often in swamps.
“Ad ripas fluminum” (Skene). ‘In the Dee, near the Old
Bridge, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
Frequent along the Don, by the Tile Burn on Old Aberdeen
Links, and near Walker’s Dam; not common beside the Dee below
the Old Bridge. Occasionally a striped-leaved variety, ‘‘ Gardeners’
Garters,” occurs by streams or on rubbish-heaps ; but only as an
outcast or escape from gardens.
Adt. Ps. In all; locally plentiful by streams, ete.
P. canariensis, L. Canary-seed-grass. A very common
casual on town-refuse, usually from its use as food for caged birds.
Native in N. Africa, and widely dispersed as a weed of cultivated
and waste ground.
“Often met with, but undoubtedly introduced ” (N. FI.).
It flowers here freely, but rarely seems to ripen seeds; hence
its recurrence is due to seeds newly introduced in rubbish or cast
out each yeay.
Adt. Ps.::: P NhD:. Onlyasa casual.
x
298 J. W. H. TRAIL
P. cerulescens, Desf. Casual on refuse; native in S.H.
Europe, and dispersed as a weed of cultivated and waste ground.
First observed by me in 1893, near Aberdeen, on the old bed of
the Dee, and in subsequent years there and on old Aberdeen Links;
not common.
Anthoxanthum odoratum, L. Sweet-scented Vernal-grass.
Native ; on grassy moors and in natural pastures.
Too common to require citation of records or localities.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant.
Alopecurus myosuroides, Huds. (A. agrestis, L.). Slender
Fox-tail-grass. A not infrequent casual on town-refuse. Native in
Central and 8. Europe; an immigrant weed of cultivated and waste
ground in Britain.
“Tinks” (Knight). “Upon the Inch at Aberdeen, probably
transported with ballast” (N. Fl.).
It has been one of the more frequent casuals in recent years on
the old bed of the Dee, on Old Aberdeen Links, ete.
Adt. Ps. Ng :::: (D) (O). A rare casual on rubbish.
A. geniculatus, Z. Floating Fox-tail-grass. Native in
pools, by ditches and streams, and on wet soils.
Too general and frequent to require citation of records or of
localities, though less plentiful than it must have been before
drainage of the surface.
Adt. Ps. In all; abundant in suitable habitats.
A. pratensis, L. Meadow Fox-tail-grass. Native; in pas-
tures, often sowed in artificial pastures.
‘“‘Crescit vulgo in pratis” (Skene).
Too general to require citations, but seldom plentiful in natural
pastures.
Adt. Ps. In all; common.
[Milium effusum, Z. Spreading Millet-grass.] Native in the
district ; but rare.
Not recorded from Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. :::::: (O). Found by J. Sim near Scotston.
Phleum pratense, Z. Common Cat’s-tail or Timothy-grass.
Native in Scotland, but near Aberdeen not often seen except in arti-
ficial pastures, in which it is often sowed, or where it might readily
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 299
have been introduced unintentionally by man; hence perhaps a
denizen.
“ Hilton, 1807” (Knight hb.). ‘In fields and meadows, not
uncommon” (N. Fl.). ‘Sides of fields, etc.; on Donside west
of Seaton; on a roadside near Ferryhill; on the roadside a little
east from Friendville; at Belleville; side of a field on the road
leading to Grandholm from Old Aberdeen, etc.” (Cow). ‘‘ Fields
at Kittybrewster, not common” (Fl. Ab.).
Uncertain in its occurrence near Aberdeen ; usually in cultivated
fields, or on waste ground or town-refuse. It is now common on
Old Aberdeen Links, having been largely introduced with other
grasses.
Adt. Ps. In all; but under similar conditions as to dispersal to
those described above.
Var. nodosum, (L.). Native; in pasture on poor soil.
“ At Footdee and Holburn Street” (N. F1.).
Adt. Ps. :::: NhD:. By the Don near Dyce; not com-
mon.
” P. tenue, Schrad. Casual on town-refuse. Native in S.
Europe.
A few examples were found by me on Old Aberdeen Links, in
1907.
P, arenarium, L. Sea Cat’s-tail-grass. Native on sandy
soils near sea.
“Near Aberdeen, George Don” (N.FI.). ‘Formerly on Old
Aberdeen Links” (B. G.).
Agrostis canina, Z. Brown Bent-grass. Native; on moors,
and in natural pastures ; lessened in frequency by cultivation of the
surface.
‘“‘On moist moors near Aberdeen”’ (N. F'.).
General in the district on grassy moors, in woods, and often by
roads, though less abundant than its congeners; now become very
scarce within Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. In all; general, and in some localities plentiful.
A. alba, ZL. (A. palustris, Huds.). White Bent-grass.
Native ; on damp soils, or floating in shallow water.
‘“Rubislaw ” (Knight). “On the Links, north of the Broadhill”
(Cow). ‘‘ Frequent about Aberdeen” (B. G.).
300 J. W. H. TRAIL
Too general in suitable habitats to require citations of localities,
though lessened in abundance by drainage.
Var. stolonifera (Z.). ‘In arena mobili frequens. On low
wet sands, on Old Town Links, near mouth of the Don, July 29,
1765” (Skene). Still common there, as well as in other suitable
habitats.
Var. maritima (Meyer), by the coast.
Adt. Ps. This species is common in all; and the varieties in
their distinctive habitats.
A. tenuis, Sith. (A. vulgaris, With.). Fine Bent-grass.
Native; extremely common in both natural and artificial pastures,
especially on poor soils.
Too plentiful to require citations of records or localities.
Var. pumila (Z.). A dwarf form is common in the district on
bare soils, including roadways, though scarce within Aberdeen,
There is a good example of it in the Beveridge hb., gathered in
1842 on the Links. In this form in N.K. Scotland I always find
the ovaries enlarged, blackened, and filled with the globular dark
spores of a fungus (Tilletia decipiens, Pers.).
Adt. Ps. Both species and dwarf form are common in all.
Apera Spica-ventt, Beauv. Silky Bent-grass. A common
casual in recent years, on town-refuse. Native in Central and 8.H.
Europe; grown as an ornamental grass in gardens, hence scattered
as a weed, and also probably introduced with seeds of agricultural
plants as a weed.
First observed in this vicinity by myself, in 1893, on the old bed
of the Dee, it has since then been frequent there, and on refuse on
the Links, and in Rubislaw, Ferryhill, ete.
Adt. Ps ::::: D0, On waste ground near Dyce Station.
Ammophila arenaria, Link. (Psamma arenaria, R. et 8.).
Common Sea-reed or Marram ; locally ‘‘ Bents.”” Native on sands.
by the sea.
This is one of the earliest mentioned of our native plants, its
importance in binding the loose sands on the coast having led to its
protection by legal enactments against its being destroyed. It is
confined to the sandy coast, especially to the outer sand-dunes,
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 301
though also on the east side of the Broadhill, and on the bare
parts of the inner dunes.
Adt. Ps. ::::::0O. Abundant on the Links north of the Don.
Aira caryophyllea, L. Silvery Hair-grass. Native; on dry
banks, earthen dykes, thin pastures, etc.
“In sterilioribus”’ (Skene). ‘“ Near Aberdeen in many places.
Rubislaw Quarry” (N. F'.).
Generally distributed ; plentiful here and there. A form with
numerous stems crowded together (apparently multiculmis, Dum.)
has been found by me once or twice near Aberdeen, perhaps intro-
duced with grass seeds.
Adt. Ps. In all; locally plentiful.
A. praecox, L. Harly Hair-grass. Native; like A. cary-
ophyllea in distribution.
“Old Town Links, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
General, often plentiful, e.g., on walls of earth and on dry banks
in early summer.
Adt. Ps. In all; general, and plentiful in suitable habitats.
A. (Deschampsia) ceespitosa, ZL. Tufted Hair-grass.
Native ; in damp soils, by streams, in woods, in meadows, by roads
and on waste ground.
Too general and common to require citation of records or locali-
ties.
Adt. Ps. In all; common.
[A. (D.) setacea, Huds. (A. uliginosa, Weihe, D. discolor,
R. et 8.). Bog Hair-grass.] Native; on wet moors, in marshes and
round pools, often rising out of water.
It has not been recorded from Aberdeen; but it was not dis-
tinguished from its allies as a British species until comparatively
recent years; and it probably grew on the wet moors that once
covered so much of the parish, as it still does only a little way be-
yond our limits.
Adt. Ps. NgB:: Nh DO. Plentiful in Nigg, especially
round the Loch of Loirston ; local and seldom frequent elsewhere.
A. (D.) flexuosa, LZ. Waved Hair-grass. Native; on
moors, in woods, ete.
“ Passim in siccioribus et sterilioribus”” (Skene). ‘“ At Rubislaw’
(Cow). ‘‘Stocket Moor” (Fl. Ab.). “Links, 1840” (Laing hb.).
’
302 J. W. H. TRAIL
This must have been abundant in Aberdeen formerly, though
no longer so, and now almost confined to a few places west of
Rubislaw and near Hilton.
Adt. Ps. In all; very common, on moors and in woods.
Holcus mollis, L. Creeping Soft-grass. Native; in woods and
pastures ; occasionally plentiful, though much less abundant than
H. lanatus.
‘‘Passim in pascuis’”’ (Skene). ‘‘Corn-fields near Old Town
Links and Rubislaw Den, 1835” (Dickie hb.). ‘‘ In a meadow west
of Seaton ; in the Links near the Broadhill” (Cow).
Still frequent under trees, by the borders of fields, ete., by the
Don, about Hilton, Rubislaw, and elsewhere.
Adt. Ps. In all; general, and often plentiful.
H. lanatus, Z. Meadow Soft-grass or Yorkshire Fog.
Native; a too abundant weed of both natural and artificial pastures,
sides of fields, etc.
Everywhere common.
Adt. Ps. In all; too plentiful.
Trisetum flavescens, Beauv. (T. pratense, Pers.). Yellow Oat-
grass. Uncertain in its appearance about Aberdeen, and probably
alien.
“‘ Aberdeen Links, near the Broadhill, Mr. James Farquharson ;
Summerhill, Mr. A. Smith; Rubislaw Den, Mr. R. Mackay; Don-
mouth and above the New Bridge, on the south side of the river,
Prof. Macegillivray”’ (P. M.) ‘South-east from the Broadhill,
Rey. J. Farquharson ; I have seen it abundantly at this station; it
is probably now extirpated” (B. G.).
I have seen it in plenty on a lawn in Old Aberdeen, in 1876, in
fair abundance on sandhills north-east from the Broadhill, in 1891,
and occasionally as a casual on town-refuse here and there around
Aberdeen. It seldom holds its place for more than a year or two ;
and there seems reason to believe that in every case it has sprung
from newly introduced seeds, and must be classed as a casual only-
Adt. Ps. :::(P) Nh D (O). Almost certainly introduced
with grass-seeds.
Avena pubescens, Huds. Downy Oat-grass. Native; on
rough banks ; may have become extinct in Aberdeen.
‘Old Aberdeen” (Knight). “On a steep bank by the side of a
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 303
field at the east end of Powis” (Fl. Ab.), “ By the Don near Seaton
House, 1818” (W. M. hb.).
The habitat near Powis has for years ceased to exist, owing to
the removal of sand from a sandpit on the site. I have seen this
grass within Aberdeen only on an island below the cruives on the
Don near Gordon’s Mills and by the Don above Woodside in small
quantity.
Adt. Ps. NgB:: NhDO. Though not common, it is rather
general on the rocky coast, and occurs in various places by the Dee
and the Don.
[A. pratensis, LZ. Narrow-leaved Oat-grass.] Native; in
rough natural pastures, on the coast, and by the Dee; local and
rather scarce. bie
Not recorded from Aberdeen.
Adt. Ps. Ng B:::: 0. Nowhere abundant.
A. sativa, L. Common Cultivated Oat. A frequent casual
on town-refuse, on manure-heaps, on waste ground, by fields and
roads, etc. Native land uncertain; widely dispersed as a field crop,
and as fodder. Several varieties have appeared as casuals around
Aberdeen.
A. orientalis, Schreb. Tatarian Oat. In recent years this
also has become a common casual with A. sativa, which it re-
sembles in its native land being uncertain and in its dispersal by
cultivation as a field crop.
A. strigosa, Schreb. Bristle-pointed Oat. Casual or sub-
colonist, as a weed in corn-fields. Appears to be native in Asia
near the Caspian Sea; dispersed over Europe and elsewhere by
cultivation formerly, now cultivated only in cold poor soils.
“‘Corn-fields near Old Town Links, 1835” (Dickie hb.).
A rather frequent weed of crops in N.H. Scotland; possibly
relict from former cultivation in this district.
Adt. Ps. In all.
A. fatua, L. Wild Oat. Casual. Native country un-
certain; known only as a weed of cultivated soils or on waste
ground ; widely dispersed by agriculture as a weed among cereals.
Chiefly on town-refuse, e.g., on old bed of Dee in 1893, and in
subsequent years there, on Old Aberdeen Links, and elsewhere.
Adt.dess. Noes BONbiie) Arare casual:
304 J. W. H. TRAIL
Arrhenatherum elatius, Mert. et Koch (A. avenaceum, Beauv.,
Avena elatior, L.). Tall Oat-grass. Native ; among coarse vegeta-
tion on the banks of streams and borders of thickets.
The variety with cylindrical rather slender rhizomes is not
frequent near Aberdeen ; but I have found it by the Dee and the
Don, and on the Links. Skene says of it: “In ripis Don prope
pontem invenio gramen huic”’ (the var. twherosum), ‘‘ omnino con-
veniens nisi radice qui omnino fibrosus est, nullo tuberi.”’
Adt. Ps. Ng BM: Nh: O. Not common.
Var. tuberosum, Gilib. (precatorium, Thuill.), locally called
“ Knot-grass,”’ because of the spherical internodes of the rhizome.
“ Passim arvorum infelix incola’”’ (Skene).
A too abundant weed of cultivated soil, the swollen internodes,
each with a bud growing from it, enabling the buds to develop into
new plants if the rhizome is broken into parts in agricultural
operations.
Adt. Ps. In all; too abundant.
Sieglingia decumbens, Bernh. Decumbent Heath-grass.
Native; scattered over grassy moors, and in short herbage of
natural pastures.
“Tn sterilioribus pascuis ’ (Skene, under Festuca). ‘Old Town
Links” (Knight). ‘ Stocket Moor, 1835” (Dickie hb.). ‘ Broad-
hill’ (Cow).
A scarce grass now within Aberdeen, growing in small amount
on the Links, and on the remains of moorland and natural pastures
in the west part of the parish. It was no doubt general on the
moors formerly.
Adt. Ps. In all; general, and not scarce in suitable habitats.
Gaudinia fragilis, Beauv. Casual on town-refuse. Native in
the Mediterranean region ; and probably brought among agricultural
seeds.
A few on Old Aberdeen Links in 1903.
Phragmites communis, Zin. Common Reed. Native; in
swampy soil and in shallow water.
“In Pitmuxton Marsh ” (Cow).
Extinct within Aberdeen, though probably not uncommon here
formerly.
Adt. Ps. Ng B::: DO. Very local; but plentiful in a few
places.
FLORA OF ABERDEEN 305
. Cynosurus cristatus, Z. Crested Dog’s-tail-grass. Native ;
in pasture.
“Passim in pascuis”’ (Skene).
In natural pastures, on waste ground, and often sowed in arti-
ficial pastures and lawns; general and common.
Adt. Ps. In all; plentiful.
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