 A tree nursery was established at Kinloch in 1960 in order to support a substantial programme of re @-@ introducing twenty native species including silver birch , hawthorn , rowan and holly . The forested area , which consists of over a million re @-@ introduced native trees and shrubs , is essentially confined to the vicinity of Kinloch and the slopes near this site surrounding Loch Scresort and on nearby Meall á <unk> . The island 's flora came to widespread attention with the 1999 publication of the book A Rum Affair by Karl Sabbagh , a British writer and television producer . The book told of a long @-@ running scientific controversy over the alleged discovery of certain plants on Rùm by botanist John William Heslop @-@ Harrison — discoveries that are now considered to be fraudulent . Heslop Harrison is widely believed to have placed many of these plants on the island himself to provide evidence for his theory about the geological development of the Hebridean islands . Nonetheless , the native flora offers much of interest . There are rare arctic <unk> and alpine <unk> , endemic varieties of the heath spotted @-@ orchid and <unk> , as well as more common species such as sundew , butterwort , blue heath <unk> and <unk> . A total of 590 higher plant and fern taxa have been recorded . 
