The fossil record shows that Pteridium has been present in all the temperate stages of the Quaternary, but that for most of this period it formed a component of the herb layer of deciduous woodlands. Bracken did not begin to reach its present abundance and importance until widespread forest clearance began with the arrival of Neolithic man about 5000 years ago. Some of the factors that have played a role in the history of bracken are illustrated by a discussion of the spread of bracken in Scotland that occurred contemporaneously with the change from cattle‐ to sheep‐farming in the 18th century. It is shown that man has played a dominant role in influencing the spread of bracken in Scotland, but that bracken was considered of great positive economic value. The ethnobotany of bracken is discussed, and it is suggested that it was once an important source of potash for the glass, soap and bleaching industries. The use of the plant as fuel, thatch, litter, compost and food, and for medicinal purposes is considered, and mention is made of various minor uses of the plant. Unfortunately it is difficult to estimate the amount of bracken consumed by these various employments, but it is suggested that the increased abundance of the plant may have been exaggerated because what was once a useful resource has now become a pest.

SUMMARY The relationship between modern pollen rain and the floristic composition of vegetation was studied for six vegetation types in Iceland, viz. fell‐field, Rhacomitrium heath, grassland with dwarf‐shrub, dwarf‐shrub heath, mires within dwarf‐shrub heath, and a Salix herbacea‐ dominated slope. The results suggest that the vegetation types examined can be characterized, to some degree, by their modern pollen rain.

SUMMARYThe Late Devensian and early Flandrian pollen and sediment stratigraphy of a site from a valley fen at Drimnagall, North Knapdale, Mid Argyll, are described. Six pollen assemblage zones arerecognized,of which five are thought to be Late Devensian, and one to be Flandrian. The assemblage zones, which are more similar to those recognised from Caernarvonshire than to those recognised from the north-west of Scotland, are interpreted in terms of the vegetational and environmental history of the site.