A 17TH CENTURY CONTRIBUTION TO THE SCOTTISH FLORA

of Leidel ' University, made a tour of the Inner and Outer Hebrides, visiting almost every island personally, including St. Kilda. In 1698 he published A Late Voyage to St. Kilda, the Remotest of all the Hebrides, and five years late! ' in 1703 appeared the first edition of the work for which he is justly famous, A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. Both works have long been valued by students of Hebridean history for the acute account of life in the islands in the late 17th century, but as far as can be gathered the many plants mentioned by Martin have been overlooked. * For this reason the plants have been extracted and are listed according to the Island on which they are said to grow by Martin. In most cases he gave an English or Scots name. An attempt has been made to identify the plants more exactly and notes, giving reasons, are added. The milin source of information for identification has been Britten & Holland (1886) and unless otherwise stated the notes are based on that work. LEWIs, v.c. 11