PHLEUM ALPINUM. {**■«“*■
Mountain Cat’s-tail.
Spec. Chae. Spike ovale; arista nearly as long as the valves o f the calyx.
The bright light that gleamed over ns upon the display o f the Linnaean system dispelled that twilight
of doubt which obscured investigation, and incited an ardour for botanical pursuits which of late years
has spread the investigators of the vegetable world over every district o f our island, who have drawn
from their secret recesses many an individual which we were ignorant that w e possessed. For the
addition of Phleum alpinum to our Flora we are indebted to the perseverance of Mr. Dickson, who
first discovered this species on some of ihe mountains of Inverness; since that time several o f the
Caledonian alps have been found to produce it: our plants were from near the summit of Ben
Lawers; * it is a plant of no great shew, never branching, or rarely sending out more than one
flowering spike from the root. The altitude that the mountain Cat's-tail attains is very uncertain;
sometimes it is dwarfish, but in damp places, and amidst the moss on the margins of rivulets, it is
found from twelve to fourteen inches high, and remarkable from the deep black green hue of the
spike: the distinction afforded to this plant by the specific character so strongly marks the species
that it supersedes thé necessity of a more lengthened description.
A, the Calyx, terminated by the long aristae.
B, the Corolla.
* This mountain constitutes one ot the great Bredalbane chain, and is situated about five miles from Kdleu, upon
Loch Tay: it is exceeded in altitude by not more than one or two of the mountains of North Britain (Ben Nevis, and
probably Loch-ne-gar, in Aberdeenshire), but is excelled in the richness of its vegetable stores by none that we possess;
A botanic visiter to the Highlands will perhaps -find no station in Scotland superior to Kiilen, and if alpine producuons
axe in request; the profusion of Craig Hallech and Ben Lawers will astonish and delight. .