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BEATRIX
JONES

UANDSCAP8

REEF POINT GARDENS
LIBRARY

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Uniform in Size and Price with this Volume

ALPINE PLANTS OF
EUROPE

WITH CULTURAL HINTS

WITH 64 FULL-PAGE COLOURED PLATES

A Few Press Opinions.

" The author combines botanical knowledge with an intimate
acquaintance with the plants in situ ; and this combination gives
to his work an accuracy and precision which are lacking in many
previous works on the subject." — Journal of Botany.

" There are many books which deal with the Flora of the Alps,
and Mr. Thompson's volume ought to rank high among them. The
author knows his subject at first hand." — Gardeners' Chronicle.

" The book ought to be a great help to amateur Alpine traveller-
collectors, as it certainly will be to gardeners who have to do with
Alpine plants." — Field.

" The short introductory chapters on the nature of Alpine plants,
their culture, and collection for the herbarium are well done."

Spectator.

" Seldom is a botanical work more richly or more generously
illustrated than this volume." — New York Times.

"Voici un beau et bon volume qui comble une lacune dans la
litterature scientifique anglaise." — Le Monde des Plantes.

" C'est done une bonne ceuvre, en meme temps qu'une belle
ceuvre, que M. Thompson vient de presenter au public. . . . Ce
livre est le fruit de longes et consciencieuses etudes.'

Echo des Alpes.

" English botanists who go in for field work on the Alps or indeed
who are in any way interested in the study of Alpine flora, will con-
gratulate themselves on Mr. Harold Thompson's valuable work."

Scotsman.

GEORGE ROUTLEDCE & SONS, LIMITED

imiM AUMXUM, KIMLOMH/M ANUUST

AND MKADOW MKKT. AT I.K I>I.ANK

•Ol.ll'M, K/l'C.. \VHKRK KORKS'I'
. Al'.OYK ARC.I-.XTlkRK.

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

FLOWERS OF THE SWISS WOODS
AND MEADOWS

H. STUART THOMPSON, F.L.S.

/ )

AUTHOR OF ALPINE PLANTS OF EUROPE

WITH 33 COLOURED PLATES (168 FIGURES)
BY GEORGE FLEMVVELL

AUTHOR OF "ALPINE FLOWERS AND GARDENS," ETC.

LONDON

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED
NEW YORK : E. P. DUTTON & CO.
1912

HEPATICA

" MOST welcome, while the meagre East
Rebuffs the Spring, is thy brave face,
Dear nursling of the Alps, and least
Of all the windflower race.

" Ere crocus-blades defend their gold,

Or woods are with thy kinsfolk white,
Thou beckonest thy comrades bold,
Snowdrop and Aconite.

" Not Winter's tyranny can blanch

Thy cheek, or bruise thy buds of silk ;
Hast thou not heard the avalanche
And quaffed the glacier-milk ?

" So to his face thou dost profess

Thy faith in Spring, and dost outrun
Thy very leaves in eagerness
To hail the insurgent sun."

ALFRED HAYES in The Cup of Quietness.

UANDSCAPB

•73-

PREFACE

IT is quite natural that most of the books on Alpine plants
have dealt chiefly with the higher zone of vegetation, and
that consequently the flowers of the sub-alpine woods and
meadows have been somewhat neglected. Therefore it is
believed there is room for a book descriptive of the plants of
the lower mountains.

In the first chapter it is explained that owing to overlapping,
a large number of species characteristic of the sub-alpine
regions are also found in the higher pastures ; and that many
others, of which not a few are British plants, descend to the
plains. No book on the subject would be at all representative
if both series were not included.

When not otherwise stated, every plant described is believed
to be perennial. In the case of a few species short cultural
notes are given ; while there is a general chapter on the culti-
vation of Alpine plants.

The heights given in the text refer more especially to the
Swiss Alps, though sometimes I have given the approximate
altitudinal limits of certain species as observed by myself in
other mountain ranges. Naturally in Britain, Scandinavia, etc.,
most of the Alpine plants common to those countries and
Switzerland flourish at much lower elevations.

The terms " Eastern," " Central," and " Western " Alps need
some slight explanation. These divisions are roughly those
adopted both in the late John Ball's classic Alpine Guide, and
in Mr. Coolidge's The Alps in Nature and History (1908).
Those two authorities have defined the WESTERN ALPS as
extending from the Col de Tenda to the Simplon Pass in
southern Switzerland. The Col de Tenda separates the Mari-
time Alps from the Ligurian Mountains, and carries the high
road from Nice to Cuneo and Turin. Thus the Western Alps

SGI

viii SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

are chiefly in France and Italy, but they also comprise that
part of Switzerland which is south of the Rhone.

The CENTRAL ALPS include the greater part of Switzerland,
north and east of the Simplon ; the small portion of Tyrol west
of the Reschen Scheideck Pass and the bit of Alpine Lom-
bardy to the north.

The EASTERN ALPS comprise the rest of the Alpine ranges
to the east of the Reschen Scheideck and the Stelvio Passes.
They are wholly Austrian and Italian', except for the limestone
hills of Bavaria in the north.

Among the many books and pamphlets consulted in the
preparation of this work I must especially mention the help
derived from the Flore de la Suisse by Messrs. Schinz and
Wilczek, Mons. Coste's Flore de la France, and Bentham's Hand-
book of the British Flora, which has been especially useful in
framing synopses of the characters of families and genera.

My best thanks are due to my friend Mr. George Flemwell,
the author of Alpine Flowers and Gardens, etc., for painting a
beautiful series of flowers, which he has done in the course of a
busy and eventful year, not undisturbed by illness. These
drawings, though reduced in size in the plates, are remarkable
for their accuracy of form and colour and for their artistic
merit. They were made in many cases from specimens growing
in the neighbourhood of Le Planet, above Argentiere in Haute-
Savoie. The Swiss frontier is only a few miles distant.

I am indebted to Messrs. Methuen and Co. for permission to
reprint the charming poem entitled Hepatica, written by my
friend Mr. Alfred Hayes. Finally I must not omit to thank
Professor Seward and Dr. C. E. Moss for their kindness in allow-
ing me to freely consult the Library and Herbarium of the
Cambridge Botany School.

H. STUART THOMPSON.

CAMBRIDGE, May, 1912.

CONTENTS
PART I

CHAPTER I

PAGE

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS — AND WHERE THEY GROW : A COMPARISON

WITH THE FLORA OF BRITAIN . i

CHAPTER II

ALPINE FRUITS AND BERRIES . . 10

CHAPTER III

THE CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS . . .16

CHAPTER IV

SOME ALPINE GARDENS . . ... 23

CHAPTER V
ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING PLANTS . 29

CHAPTER VI

A GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS . . 36

PART II

DICOTYLEDONS . . . ... 46

MONOCOTYLEDONS . . . . . 262

GYMNOSPERM^E . . . ... 302

VASCULAR CRYPTOGAMS . . ... 308

INDEX . . . . . . . 311

LIST OF THE THIRTY-THREE
COLOURED PLATES

PLATE

I. Where Forest and Meadow meet . . Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

II. Meadow Scene in June with Dent du Midi . . 6

III. Thalictrum aquilegifolium, Rhododendron ferrugin-

eum, Linum tenuifolium . . 46

IV. Anemone Hepatica, Phyteuma betonicaefolium, P.

spicatum, P. orbiculare, Gnaphalium sylvaticum . 50
V. Anemone Pulsatilla, A. sulphurea, Linaria alpina, L.
petraea, Dianthus superbus, Polygala Chamaebuxus,
Eriophorum vaginatum . . 52

VI. Ranunculus aconitifolius, Polygonum viviparum, P.
Bistorta, Parnassia palustris, Soldanella alpina,
Achillea macrophylla, Thesium alpinum . . 64

VII. Viola calcarata, V. biflora, V. montana, V. alpestris, V.

sylvatica. . . . 90

VIII. Silene inflata, Dianthus sylvestris, D. Carthusianorum . 96
IX. Trifolium badium, T. alpinum, Orobus luteus, Vicia

onobrychioides . . . 120

X. Trollius europaeus, Cuscuta Epithymum, Vincetoxicum
officinale, Carex ferruginea, Cyclamen europaeum,
Jasione montana . . 128

XI. Potentilla argentea, P. aurea, Senecio sylvaticus, Solid-

ago Virga-aurea, Helianthemum vulgare . .134
XII. Rosa alpina, R. pomifera, Vaccinium Vitis-idaea,

Arctostaphylos Uva ursi . . . . 138

XIII. Hypericum Richeri, H. maculatum, Myricaria ger-

manica, Pyrola uniflora, P. secunda, Antennaria
dioica . . ... 140

XIV. Saxifraga rotundifolia, S. stellaris, S. cuneifolia, S.

aizoides, S. Aizoon . . . . 144

xii SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

PLATE FACING PAGE

XV. Genista sagittalis, Gypsophila repens, Astrantia minor,
A. major, Allium Schcenoprasum, Silene rupestris,
Hieracium staticifolium . . . .154

XVI. Geum montanum, Potentilla grandiflora, Veronica saxa-
tilis, V. urticifolia, Ononis Natrix, Sedum album,
Rumex scutatus . . 160

XVII. Anthyllis Vulneraria and var. alpestris, Valeriana trip-
teris, Maianthemum bifolium, Adenostyles albi-
frons . . . . 162

XVIII. Amelanchier vulgaris, Alnus viridis, Sambucus race-

mosus, Sorbus Aria, Vaccinium uliginosum . .166
XIX. Crepis aurea, Hieracium aurantiacum, H. intybaceum,

Prenanthes purpurea, Senecio Fuchsii . .170

XX. Senecio Doronicum, Arnica montana, Saponaria ocy-

moides, Euphorbia Cyparissias, Primula farinosa . 174
XXI. Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, C. alpinum, Cala-

mintha alpina, Bellidiastrum Michelii, Luzula lutea 176
XXII. Centaurea montana, C. uniflora, Bartsia alpina, Carex

flava, C. leporina . . 180

XXIII. Epilobium Fleischeri, E. angustifolium, Campanula

persicifolia, Tofieldia calyculata, Luzula nivea . 1 90

XXIV. Campanula rhomboidalis, C. barbata, C. pusilla . . 192
XXV. Gentiana purpurea, G. flavida, G. excisa, G. campestris,

Cladonia sp. . . 212

XXVI. Gentiana verna, G. asclepiadea, G. ciliata . .216

XXVII. Mulgedium alpinum, Digitalis ambigua, D. lutea . 228
XXVIII. Euphrasia minima, E. officinalis, E. salisburgensis,
Melampyrum pratense, M. nemorosum, M. sylvati-
cum, Rhinanthus sub-alpinus . . .234

XXIX. Ajuga pyramidalis, Euphrasia lutea, Salvia glutinosa,

S. pratensis . . . . . 240

XXX. Geranium sylvaticum, Paradisia Liliastrum, Anthericum

Liliago . . . 256

XXXI. Gymnadenia albida, G. odoratissima, Orchis morio,

Habenaria viridis, Listera cordata . . .262

XXXII. Lilium Martagon, L. croceum, Luzula pilosa . .278

XXXIII. Rhododendron among granite boulders and firs . . 304

ABBREVIATIONS OF AUTHORS' NAMES

A. Br. = Alexander Braun

Adans. = Adanson

A. DC. = Alphonse de Candolle

Ait. = Alton

All. = Allioni

Anders. = Anderson

Anderss. = Andersson

Ard. = Arduino

A. T. or Arv. T. = Arvet-Touvet

Asch. = Ascherson

A. et Graeb. = Ascherson et Graeb-

ner

Bab. = Babington
Bad. = Badarro
Balb. = Balbis
Bart, or Bartl. = Bartling
Bast. = Bastard
Baumg. = Baumgarten
Bell. = Bellardi
Benth. = Bentham
Berg. = Bergeret
Bernh. = Bernhardi
Bert. = Bertolini
Bess. = Besser

Bieb. = Marschall von Bieberstein
Bluff et Fing. = Bluff et Fingerhut
Boiss. = Boissier

Boiss. et Reut. = Boissier et Reuter
Bor. = Boreau
Briq. = Briquet
Brot. = Brotero
R. Br. = Robert Brown
Burn. = Burnat

Burn, et Grem. = Burnat et Gremli
Cass. = Cassini
Chab. = Chabert
Chod. = Chodat
Clairv. = Clairville

Coss. et G. = Cosson et Germain

Crep. = Crepin

Curt. = Curtis

Cuss. = Cusson

DC. = De Candolle (A. P.)

Degl. = Degland

De Not. = De Notaris

Desf. = Desfontaines

Desr. = Desrousseaux

Desv. = Desvaux

Dum. = Dumortier

Dun. = Dunal

Ehrh. = Ehrhart

Endl. = Endlicher

Engel. = Engelmann

Fenz. = Fenzl

Fisch. = Fischer

Forsk. = Forskal

Fouc. = Foucaud

Fouc. et R. = Foucaud et Rouy

Fr. = Fries

Froel. = Froelich

Gaertn. = Gaertner

Gaud. = Gaudin

Genev. = Genevier

G. G. or Gren. et Godr. = Grenier

et Godron
Gmel. = Gmelin
Godr. = Godron
Good. = Goodenough
Griseb. = Grisebach
Guss. = Gussone
Hack. = Hackel
Hall. = Haller
Hartm. = Hartmann
Hausm. = Hausmann
Heg. = Hegetschweiler
Heynh. = Heynhold

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Hoff. or Hoffm. = Hoffmann

Hook. = Hooker

Huds. = Hudson

Jacq. = Jacquin

Jord. = Jordan

Juss.= Jussieu (A. L. de)

K. = Koch

Kalt. = Kaltenbach

Kern. = Kerner

Kit. = Kitaibel

K. et S. = Koch et Sonder

Krock. = Krocker

Kiitz. = Kiitzing

L. or Linn. = Linnaeus (Linne)

Lach. = Lachenal

Lagg. = bagger

Lam. or Lamk. = Lamarck

Lamb. = Lambert

Lapeyr. = Lapeyrouse

Lej. = Lejeune

Less. = Lessing

Leyss. = Leysser

L'Herit. = L'Heritier

Lightf. = Lightfoot

Lindl. = Lindley

Lk. = Link

Loefl. = Loefling

Lois, or Loisel. = Loiseleur

M. B. or M. Bieb. = Marschall von

Bieberstein
Merc. = Mercier

C. A. Mey. = Carl Anton Meyer
E. Mey. = Ernst Meyer
Michx. = Michaux
Mich. = Micheli
Mill. = Miller
P. J. M. = P. J. Miiller
Mert. et K. = Mertens et Koch
M. et K. = Mertens et Koch
Murr. == Murray
Neck. = De Necker
Not. = Notaris (de)
Nym. = Nyman
Panz. = Panzer
Parl. = Parlatore
P. Br. = Patrick Browne
P. B. or P. Beauv. = Palisot de

Beauvois

Perr. et Song. = Perrier et Songer

Pers. = Persoon

Peterm. = Petermann

Poir. = Poiret

Poll. = Pollich

Pourr. = Pourret

R. Br. = Robert Brown

Rchb. or Reichb. = Reichenbach

Retz. = Retzius

Reut. = Reuter

Reyr. = Reynier

Rich. = Richard

Rottb. = Rottboell

Rupp. = Ruppius

R. et S. = Roemer et Schultes

Salisb. = Salisbury

Saut. = Sauter

Schimp. = Schimper

F. Schulz. = Friedr. Schultz

Sch. Bip. = Schultz Bipontinus

Schk. = Schkuhr

Schleich. = Schleicher

Schleid. = Schleider

Schult. = Schultes

Scop. = Scopoli

Seb. et Maur. = Sebastiani et

Mauri

Ser. = Seringe
Shuttle. = Shuttleworth
Sibth. = Sibthorp
Sieb. = Sieber
Sm. =Smith

Spr. or Spreng. = Sprengel
Steph. = Stephani
Stern bg. = Stern berg
Steud. = Steudel
Sw. = Swartz
Ten. = Tenore
Thorn. = Thomas
Thuill. = Thuiller
Thunbg. = Thunberg
Tin. = Tineo
Tiss. = Tissiere
Tourne. = Tournefort
Trin. = Trinius
Urv.=d'Urville
Vail.=Vaillant
Vauch. = Vaucher

Vig. = Viguier

Vill. = Villars

Vis. = Visiani

Viv. = Viviani

Wahl. or Wahlen. = Wahlenberg

Wallr. = Wallroth

Weigh = Weigel

Wettst. =de Wettstein

SCALE OF MEASUREMENT, ETC.

. = Willdenow

W. et K., W. et Kit., Waldst. et

Kit. = Waldstein et Kitaibel
W. et N.=Weiheet Nees
With. = Withering
Wulf. = Wulfen
Zahl. = Zahlbruckner

SCALE OF MEASUREMENT

I I I

345 centimetres

SOME USEFUL FIGURES

i Metre = 3*281 English feet
IQ Centimetres = 4 inches (almost)
30 „ =i foot

2*5 cm. = 25 mm. = i inch

100 feet = 30 J metres (about)

1,000

= 305

2,000

J 5

= 610

3,000

= 9i5

4,000

= 1220

5,000

= 1525

6,000

= 1830

7,000

= 2135

8,000

»>

= 2440

9,000

= 2745

10,000

5»

= 3048

I I,OOO

= 3353

12,000

= 3658

13,000

= 3960

14,000

= 4265

Mont Blanc is 15,782 feet = 4810 metres

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

PART I

CHAPTER I

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS — AND WHERE THEY GROW:
A COMPARISON WITH THE FLORA OF BRITAIN

IN the author's Alpine Plants of Europe, which dealt chiefly with
the plants of the higher Alpine region, it was pointed out that it is
impossible to define zones of altitude at all rigidly, even in regard
to a small country like Switzerland, and that different authorities
had not always adopted the same standards of elevation in speaking
of the vegetation of the 'mountains of Central Europe.

It was stated that it was impossible to give an exact definition
of the term ' sub-alpine,' but it could be taken to be the zone from
about 3000 feet, where the vine ceases to be cultivated, to about
5000 feet. But it should be clearly understood that any such
limitation is purely arbitrary, and that the expressions Alpine and
sub-alpine are often used in a very general sense. The vegetation
of one valley of say 5000 feet above the sea may be far more Alpine
in character than that of another of about the same height in a
district not very remote.

Nor is it always possible to do as that great Alpinist and student
of the Alpine flora, the late John Ball,1 did. He called the Sub-
Alpine Region the Region of Coniferous trees ; and the lower
Mountain Region the Region of Deciduous trees (whose upper
limit often rises to 5000 feet on the southern slopes). But beech
forests are also, in certain districts, a great feature of the sub-alpine
zone. The very fact that the forest region, and especially the pine
forest region, varies so much in different countries of Europe,
and also in quite limited districts, prevents such a basis of calculation
from being quite satisfactory, though otherwise it has much to
commend it.

In Switzerland the Lowland region comprises the plains and the

1 "Climate and Vegetation of the Alps," in the General Introduction to the
Alpine Guide.

2 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

low hills in the north and west. The flora is very similar to that of
temperate Northern and Western Europe, including most of France,
Germany, Belgium, and the British Isles. But in addition one
finds in the Swiss plains and warm valleys a distinct admixture of
Southern plants of Mediterranean source. Among them may be
mentioned Astragalus Onobrychis, A. monspessulanus, Trigonella
monspeliaca, and Centaurea crupina. In the Rhone Valley about
Sion, there is a remarkable mixture of Southern plants, such as
Buffonia macrosperma, Iris virescens, Tulipa australis, and Ephedra
helvetica, which have ascended the great river basin from the
Mediterranean, together with sub-alpines which have descended
the mountain-sides.

It is remarkable how few species are purely sub-alpine, in that
they do not grow in the lowlands or in the Alpine region. The
following might perhaps be chosen as typical sub-alpines, character-
istic of that actual zone. Actcea spicata, Dentaria digitata, Lunaria
rediviva, Cytisus alpinus, Ononis rotundifolia, Saxifraga cuneifolia,
Sambucus racemosa, Prenanthes purpurea, Centaurea montana,
Veronica urticcefolia, Lister a cor data, Streptopus amplexifolius, and
Lilium Martagon.

Among the 850 species described in this volume there are very
few, if any, which do not grow in what is commonly understood
as the sub-alpine region in Central Europe, if not in Switzerland.
But there is so much overlapping that a very large number of these
are also found in the Alpine zone, and a considerable number descend
to the lowlands. A fair proportion of the Swiss sub-alpines are
British plants. If these Alpine and lowland plants were omitted
from a book descriptive of what may be called, with approximate
accuracy, the more beautiful and interesting flowers of the Swiss
woods and meadows, it would be altogether unrepresentative and
misleading.

Many Alpine plants have a very great vertical range of altitude ;
just as others may be confined to quite a narrow zone. Among
those species which the writer has noticed growing in the Alps
through the greatest vertical range — a range of at least 7000 feet
in some cases — are the following : Arabis alpina, Draba aizoides,
Cerastium arvense, Lotus corniculatus (up to 9000 feet several times),
Dry as octopetala, Potentilla Tormentilla (this ubiquitous plant
reaches 8200 feet on the Col du Galibier), Saxifraga stellaris,
S. aizo'ides, S. Aizoon, Sempervivum arachnoideum, Antennaria
dioica, Leucanthemum vulgare, Campanula pusilla, Primula farinosa,
P. viscosa Vill., Gentiana verna, G. ciliata, Calamintha alpina,
Linaria alpina, Thymus Serpyllum (up to 9000 feet), Daphne
Mezereum, Plantago alpina, Polygonum viviparum, P. aviculare,
Euphorbia Cyparissias, Triglochin palustre (found at sea -level
in England, in the plains of Switzerland, and up to 8250 feet
in Dauphiny), Juncus bufonius, Scirpus compressus, S. cczspitosus,

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS AND WHERE THEY GROW 3

several species of Carex, such grasses as Poa alpina, P. bulbosa,
Agrostis alba, Phleum alpinum, Deschampsia ccespitosa, Festuca
ovina and Nardus stricta. He has also observed the following ferns
with a range of from about 5800 to 6800 feet in the Alps, viz. :
Cystopteris fragilis (up to 8500 feet), Dryopteris Filix mas, D.
spinulosa, Asplenium viride (up to 8800 feet), A. Trichomanes,
Polypodium vulgar e, and Botrychium Lunaria (up to 8400 feet).

In comparing the flora of Switzerland with that of the British
Isles, the most apparent difference is the absence of the maritime
element from that of the former country. Even the Sea-thrift
(Armeria maritima) which sometimes grows on hill- tops in England,
Scotland, and Ireland, is absent from Switzerland, and its place
is taken by the larger and more handsome Armeria alpina. But there
are one or two maritime plants, such as the Yellow Horned Poppy
(Glaucium ftavum), which find a suitable home on the sandy shores
of the Lake of Neuchatel.

To students of ecology, or plant associations, and to those
occupied with the geographical distribution of plants, the absence of
certain species from a given area is no less interesting than the
presence of others. Let us therefore mention a few types (other
than maritime) of plants found in the British Isles which do not
occur at all in Switzerland. In the first place we have a few High-
land species, such as Saxifraga nivalis and Primula scotica, which
do not get so far south as the European Alps. In Ireland there are
one or two North American plants, such as Spiranthes Romanzoffiana
and Sisyrinchium augustifolium, which occur nowhere else in
Europe.

Owing to the moisture of our climate and the mildness of our
winters, we have various Lusitanian species, characteristic of
Portugal and the south-west of Europe, which extend their range
much further north in these islands, especially in Cornwall, Devon,
Dorset, and the south-west of Ireland, than they do elsewhere.
Among them are several Heaths, such as Erica vagans (it is found
in very few places in Switzerland), Erica ciliaris, and the Conne-
mara Heath (Dabeocia cantabrica). The common Bell Heather
(E. cinerea) is not found at all in Switzerland, and in only one
place in Germany, above Bonn ; nor is Erica tetralix found in
Switzerland. In fact, with the rare exception of E. vagans, Erica
carnea, and Calluna (Ling) are the only Heaths in Switzerland.

Other western species found in England and Ireland, but not in
Switzerland, are the little Butterwort (Pinguicula lusitanica), the
tiny yellow Cicendia filiformis, Cotyledon umbilicus with its peltate,
fleshy leaves, and Iris fcetidissima, whose capsules, with bright
orange- vermilion seeds adorn many of our Lias woods in autumn.
We have also quite a number of bog or aquatic plants which do not
occur in Switzerland. They include the Ivy-leaved Campanula,
(Wahlenbergia hederacea), the Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis tenella),

4 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

the Marsh St. John's-wort (Hypericum elodes) and the Bog Myrtle
(Myrica gale). The Bog Myrtle is distinctly an Arctic and Western
European species, and so is^the Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossi-
fragum]. Neither of the two British Lobelias (L. urens and L.
Dortmanna) is found in Switzerland. The former is purely Western
European in its distribution, and the latter is more northern.

To sum up the chief differences between the Swiss lowland
vegetation and that of great Britain or Ireland : in Switzerland
there are no hills or commons covered with Bell Heather and
Erica tetralix ; no wet, sandy moors, such as those in Dorset, made
picturesque with the same two heaths mingled with the beautiful
Erica ciliaris and Bog Myrtle, the brilliant yellow spikes of Bog
Asphodel turning coral-red in September, the little yellow Cicendia,
the pale Pinguicula lusitanica, and the curious Hypericum elodes.
In Switzerland the Gorse (Ulex europ&us) and the Broom (Saro-
thamnus scoparius) are hardly even seen, the former being native
only near San Bernardo in Tessin ; on her banks and hillsides there
are no Purple Foxgloves, but two less handsome yellow ones ;
and in her lowland woods and hedges the bright blue Scilla bifolia
takes the place in spring of our wild Hyacinths.

Excluding sub-species and varieties, there are at least 2540 species
of flowering plants and ferns in Switzerland ; or perhaps six hundred
more than in the British Isles, notwithstanding their long coast-
line and great variety of geological formation. And yet we have very
much to be thankful for — we have Alpine and Arctic plants in the
north, on some of the highest mountains further south, and in
Ireland ; we have, as already stated, quite a number of Lusitanian
and Atlantic plants in the south-west of England and Ireland.
Then there is a large Germanic element chiefly in the east of Eng-
land ; a most interesting maritime flora, with a few species from
the Mediterranean ; and many others which come under either the
British, English, or Scottish type according to H. C. Watson's
types of distribution. Indeed, there can be few countries in the
world with so many interesting types of vegetation as the British
Isles. Insular floras are almost without exception interesting,
and that of our own Islands is of special interest, and furnishes
some of the greatest surprises. One of the Continental botanists
who took part last year in the Phytogeographical excursion in the
British Isles wrote1: "However much we have seen in different
countries, we still found many peculiarities in the British vegeta-
tion which are not seen elsewhere, and many features which are
as striking and interesting as any we have ever met with."
Unlike most islands, however, and especially those of the Medi-
terranean, the British Isles can boast of extremely few endemic
species.

The peculiarities of many high Alpine plants are not so noticeable

1 The New Phytologist, January, 1912, p. 28.

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS AND WHERE THEY GROW 5

in the sub-alpines. It will be remembered that most of the high
pasture and rock plants are of small stature, often growing in tufts,
mats, or cushions ; with small leaves arranged in flat rosettes
pressed against the ground. The roots are often very long, some-
times penetrating several feet into the ground so as to absorb all the
moisture and nutriment possible, and also to prevent them from
being blown away bodily by the high winds so frequent in the Alps.
Many of them are prevented from being dried up through too rapid
transpiration by developing a copious covering of hairs or woolly
tomentum, as, e.g., in Hieracium villosum and in Edelweiss. Most
conspicuous of all is the abundance of blossom and the brilliant
colour of many of the Alpine flowers, particularly of the blues,
reds, and purples.

Some of these characteristics are less noticeable in the plants
of the mountain woods and meadows, for the simple reason that
there is no great cause for their existence ; for the climate is less
severe and the winds less high. But, though it is supposed that
the extreme brilliance of the light at high altitudes has a great
effect upon the colouring of the flowers, yet in that particular,
and especially in the abundance of blossom, many of the sub-alpines
can well hold their own. The rapidity with which they blossom is
another point in common. A large number of Alpine plants are
specially constructed with a view to flowrering at the earliest
possible opportunity, just as are the Arctic species. The shortness
of the summer is naturally the chief reason which has led to such
peculiarities. After the flowering stage is more or less over, the
seeds have to ripen. Time must then be allowed for their dispersal
under suitable conditions, and finally for their getting a good start
before they are embedded in the first snows of winter.

Most summer visitors to the Alps have noticed the snow melting
from the highest pastures and exposing a sodden, brown sward.
They have seen the Crocuses and Soldanellas flowering at the very
edge of the melting snow, and sometimes pushing their blossoms
through it ; but they may not have kept an eye on those sodden
patches of snow-freed pasture during the next week or two. Had
they done so, they would have seen a veritable transformation, so
rapidly does the grass get green and bespangled with flowers of
every shade and colour.

It is the same with the meadows lower down ; but to see this it is
necessary to visit Switzerland in May. Towards the end of April
the snow has usually disappeared from the Alpine meadows ; and,
though this is a peculiarly disagreeable season, with very little green
grass to be seen, it is astonishing how soon the grass grows and
the flowers appear. The meadow flowers are, for the most part,
distinct from 'those which predominate in the upper pasturesj
and they are distinct from those of the woods.

The meadows usually occupy the more or less level portion of

6 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Alpine valleys, and the pine forests descend on either side to meet
them ; though in some valleys cliffs and steep rocky slopes take the
place of the forests. The pastures, ' Alps/ or Alpen, are above
the forest zone. In most communes the meadows are usually owned
privately, but the pastures are held in common by the inhabitants
of the villages, and each burgher has the right of grazing his cows
on certain alpen. The meadows are very rich, for the soil contains
much humus, or decayed organic matter, and fertilising deposits
are also brought down by the numerous little rivulets which descend
the slopes, and by the central glacier stream which usually flows
through the valley. In addition to such natural irrigation, the
peasants manure their land well, so that every season they get two
crops of grass, while occasionally late in autumn men and women
may be seen laboriously gathering in a third crop, though this is
usually very scanty. The cattle are not often allowed on the
meadows in spring, because the grass is more valuable when
converted into hay. They are sent up to the lower pastures, and,
as the summer advances, are gradually driven to the highest
'Alps.' If the higher pastures are ever mown, it is as autumn
approaches.

When once the meadows have yielded their first crop of hay,
which is usually at the end of June or the first week of July, or if
by chance the cattle should have had access to them, their great
glory has departed. For though some plants quickly spring up
again — Geranium sylvaticum sometimes flowers within a week —
their chief charm has gone. The second crop is never so tall, nor
often so full of blossom, and many of the plants have a branched,
stunted appearance.

Compared with an English meadow, the dense vegetation of
these Swiss meadows consists not so much in true grasses as in
other flowering plants. Probably the periodic manuring, and
frequent cutting with the scythe tend to promote a dense growth
of coarser plants at the expense of the finer grasses. Therefore
we find great masses of pink Bistort (Polygonum Bistorta), of
blue Centaurea montana, of mauve or purple Geranium sylvaticum,
and many other handsome plants. We also find a number of
marsh plants, for these meadows are often little more than peat
marshes, and probably few of them have been drained with pipes,
such as is the custom in England. Among the more important
marsh plants frequent in -the mejadows are : Ranunculus aconiti-
folius, the Globe-flower f(Trollius europczus), Primula farinosa,
certain species of Pedicularis, Orchis maculata, 0. latifolia,
Gymnadenia conopsea, and G. odoratissima.

Many flowers of the Alpine meadows are ordinary British plants.
In addition to those already mentioned and to the true grasses
we often find such common species as the Buttercups (Ranunculus
acris and R. bulbosus), the Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum Leucan-

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS AND WHERE THEY GROW 7

themum), Bladder Campion (Silene inflata), Ragged Robin (Lychnis
Flos cuculi), and, in autumn, Colchicum autumnale.

Among Alpine meadow plants not, or in one or two cases very
rarely, occurring in British meadows, there is a large number which
especially tend to give such a wonderful colouring to the scene.
The following are but a handful : Campanula rhomboidalis in sheets
of azure blue ; the Rampions (Phyteuma orbiculare, P. betonicce-
folium, and P. spicatum) ; Salvia pratensis in every shade of mauve
and purple ; the goatsbeard or Tragopogon ; Yellow-rattle (Rhinan-
thus) of several kinds ; various large Hawkweeds, and particularly
the pale yellow Hypochceris uniflora ; Biscutella l&vigata, with its
disc-shaped seed-vessels ; pink, red, and yellow species of Pedi-
cularis ; and the beautiful Astrantia major. Among the most
handsome of the Monocotyledons are various Orchids, St. Bruno's
Lily (Paradisia Liliastrum), Anthericum Liliago, and the madder-
red Lilium Martagon.

In the drier portions of many sub-alpine meadows are found
Cerastium arvense, Potentilla aurea, Saponaria ocymoides, the
mauve Gentiana campestris, the rich purple Calamintha alpina,
and the magenta Centaur ea uni flora, whose plumose involucral
bracts form a curious feathery ball when in bud. Gentiana verna
and G. utriculosa sometimes make sheets of blue in the damper
parts of a field, but the large Gentiana excisa does not often grow
in the meadows proper, but, like the Anemone sulphur ea, prefers
the lower pastures skirting the forest.

There is hardly a meadow without some huge boulders here and
there. They may be partly screened by a growth of the lovely
Rosa alpina ; and the rocks themselves usually afford shelter to
patches of Sempervivum, Sedum, or Saxifrage. If the great yellow
Gentian (G. lutea) or Veratrum album with similar foliage grows in
the meadows, these bitter or poisonous plants are always left by
the mowers, just as they are avoided by the cows on the steep
pastures where they are more abundant than in the meadows
themselves.

It may seem quite unnecessary to specially mention any large
stretches of fine Alpine meadows, for they are to be found almost
everywhere in the Alps. But in Switzerland it would be difficult
to come across a more magnificent expanse of meadow land refulgent
with sub-alpine flowers of every kind and colour than in Val Ferret,
above Orsieres, in Valais. This paradise of flowers, backed by
stupendous mountains, is within easy reach of Lac Champex,
now one of the most popular Alpine resorts. On the steep descent
from Champex to Val Ferret can be found many species which
delight in sun-baked, shaly slopes, such as those which lead to the
village of Pras-de-Fort.

The Jura mountains are much more wooded than the Swiss Alps.
They also afford very excellent opportunities for collecting and

8 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

studying both the plants of the sub-alpine woods and meadows
and many of the higher Alpines, which prefer limestone soil. The
Jura has the double advantage of being a little nearer home and
less crowded by visitors than the Bernese Oberland and the valleys
south of the Rhone. The Flore du Jura, by C. H. Godet, published
in 1853, gives an ample description! covering 870 pages, of all the
flowering plants and ferns of this delightful mountain range.
The sylvan flora of the calcareous Jura chain is particularly in-
teresting.

We have already observed that the Alpine forest flora is, for the
most part, quite different from that of the meadows or the pastures.
We have also noticed that the Coniferous forests extend upward
to a height which varies considerably according to local circum-
stances. As a general rule, in Switzerland the upper limit of the
forests is from 6000 to 7300 feet, or some 2000 feet or more below
the line of perpetual snow. The pine forest zone may be anything
from 1000 to 2000 feet in vertical height, and the lower limit is
frequently between 4000 and 5000 feet above the sea. At that
height the Beech is replaced by the Spruce (Picea excelsa) and Larch
(Larix europcea). At a somewhat higher level the Mountain Pine
(Pinus montana] and, very locally, the Arolla Pine (P. Cembra)
usually take the place of the Spruce Fir. But, of course, the Spruce
and Larch are often found growing with the Beech, Birch, Sycamore,
and other trees in the mixed woods of the lower mountain region.
The Scots Pine (P. sylvestris) and the Silver Fir (Abies pectinata]
are common in the lowlands and sub-Alps, but are rarely seen
above 5000 feet.

The Coniferous forests in Switzerland are under very strict regula-
tions in regard to the felling of the timber. But in times gone by
immense damage was done in many districts by the wasteful and
indiscriminate cutting of the trees.

Our artist has painted typical bits of Coniferous forest, skirting
a flowery meadow at a height of some 4500 feet in a granite district
above Argentiere in Haute Savoie. This is close to the Swiss frontier
and at the eastern end of the Mont Blanc group. The great granite
boulders strewn among the Firs and Larches afford an ideal home
for the Rhododendron, and for such handsome herbaceous plants
as the great mauve Mulgedium alpinum, the showy Rose-bay
Willow-herb (Epilobium angustifolium) , and the rather scarce
Umbellifer called Laserpitium Panax. The rocks themselves are
sometimes partly hidden by dense mats of Saxifraga cuneifolia,
which is like a miniature London Pride ; but it sends out long
runners with rosettes of leaves at every few inches. The leaves are
often purplish beneath.

The Whortleberry and Cowberry (V actinium Vitis-idcea) form
a thick undergrowth in many of these Alpine woods ; and Alnus
viridis is abundant in the more open parts, and forms an important

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS AND WHERE THEY GROW 9

feature in the landscape. Among other characteristic plants the
following may be mentioned, viz. : Viola biflora, Saxifraga rotundi-
folia, Poly gala chamabuxus, Linncza borealis, very local, Adenostyles
glabra, A. albifrons, Gnaphalium sylvaticum, Homogyne alpina,
Pyrola secunda, P. rotundifolia, and more rarely, P. uniflora,
P. chlorantha and P. minor ; Phyteuma spicata, Melampyrum
sylvaticum, M. pratense, Veronica urticcefolia and Maianthemum
Convallaria. In the Beech woods, at a lower elevation, we find
such plants as Dentaria, Paris, Listera, Cephalanthera rubra,
Neottia Nidus avis, and various other orchids, of which several are
semi-parasitic.

CHAPTER II

ALPINE FRUITS AND BERRIES

MANY of those who visit the Alps in late summer or in autumn
miss the great wealth of flowers which form such a feature in
the landscape earlier in the season. Many visitors arrive too
late to see even the lingering blossoms of Rhododendron, the
Alpen Rose or Rose des Alpes, of which the Swiss are so justly proud ;
while the small deep blue Gentians are in August found only on the
higher mountains, and never in the splendid luxuriance of June.
Their place is taken in autumn by the pretty Fringed Gentian
(G. ciliata], a biennial species with long hairs on the margin of the
corolla-lobes — which loves shaly limestone slopes, both in the
Alps and foot-hills, and by Gentiana germanica with its purple-red
flowers which continue in bloom in the sub-Alps until mid-October.
The handsome ultramarine spikes of the Willow Gentian (Gentiana
asclepiadea) may also be seen adorning mountain thickets and
shady slopes until the end of September, brit the plant is rare in
Western Switzerland and the Jura. The beautiful Marsh Gentian
(Gentiana Pneumonanthe) , which brightens some of the damp,
sandy heaths in Dorset, Hants, and Yorkshire is another autumn
flower which is perhaps as beautiful as any when its large blue
bells streaked with green open to the sunlight, and stand erect some-
times singly on a stalk and sometimes in threes and fours on leafy
stems a foot or eighteen inches high. The Marsh Gentian is
more scattered in Switzerland than in England, but perhaps less
abundant locally.

In late summer and in autumn, long after the meadows and
the lower pastures have been mown a second time, and when the
characteristic forest flora has also mostly disappeared, the numerous
red and ' black ' berries are continually attracting the eye of even
the most casual of visitors to the mountains. Long before the
end of such a hot and dry season as that of 1911, when many plants
were withered up prematurely, berries and fruits of various kinds
and many colours were particularly noticeable, and often they
formed the chief means of table decoration in Swiss hotels, in
addition to sounding the loudest note of colour in the woods and
on the mountain-side.

ALPINE FRUITS AND BERRIES 11

But, exceptional as was the weather last summer, in any season
towards the end of July, when the crowds are at their height, the
Alpine berries begin to show themselves, and we realise that ' spring/
even in the Alpine sense, has gone. At best the Alpine summer is
not a long one, and in the short space of about three months much
has to be gone through — the face of Nature is continually and
rapidly changing, and many plants have to develop, blossom, and
ripen their seeds in quite a brief period of time.

It was thought that a short chapter on some of the Alpine berries
and fruits might be of interest to some of the vast multitudes of
late visitors to Switzerland, who may be attracted by the abundance
of the crop, but who are not, perhaps, in every case familiar with
earlier stages of the plants ; or in other cases they may know the
flowering stage well enough but fail to recognise the fruit which
follows it.

The Bilberry or Whortleberry (V actinium Myrtilus), which often
grows finer in the Alps, and particularly in the Chamonix valley,
than at home, was losing its flavour by mid-September last year,
when its leaves were turning a brilliant crimson so that mountain
sides seemed ablaze with them. But wild Raspberries were even
at that late date in the best of condition at about 6000 feet, and as
delicately flavoured as any in gardens. The Wild Strawberry also
lingered on until plants in some of the higher regions must have
been embedded in the first September snows. That year in the
Mont Blanc district the first cold spell came about I5th September,
but by ist October the weather was extremely cold and wet, and
snow covered the mountains to within a thousand feet of Geneva.

But to return to the Bilberry, whose fruit begins to ripen in
sub-alpine regions usually about mid- July, it is interesting to note
that not infrequently on the older rocks — it is rarely seen on
limestone — this common plant ascends to 9000 feet in the Maritime
Alps, as, for example, on Monte Santa Maria, and it may sometimes
be found as high in Savoy and in the Southern Swiss Alps. The
Bog Whortleberry (V actinium uliginosum) ascends even higher in
Alpine turbaries in Switzerland, where it has been recorded from
3000 metres, or nearly 10,000 feet. Its leaves are bluish green or
glaucous on the under side, and always entire (not slightly toothed),
and its berries resemble those of the Common Bilberry, but are
insipid to the taste, and often rather smaller.

The Cowberry (V actinium Vitis idcea] is very beautiful in both
flower and fruit. It is a low shrub, sometimes not six inches in
height, with wax-like, flesh-coloured blossoms, evergreen leaves,
often turning red in autumn, and brilliant scarlet berries which are
very attractive. It grows abundantly in Alpine woods and on
moors or on beds of mould about rocks from the plains up to 10,000
feet in Switzerland. The Cranberry, of still the same genus (V.
oxy coccus), grows only in sphagnum bogs, as in Britain, but its

12 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

delicate drooping crimson flowers on long slender pedicels are
fugitive and very difficult to find, being less conspicuous than the
well-known yellowish red fruit. We have not seen the Cranberry
at a higher elevation than 5000 feet, as, for example, in the marsh
by the picturesque Lac Champex in Switzerland. The stems are
very wiry, and the leaves quite small, rolled in at the margin, glossy
green above and glaucous beneath.

Closely allied to the Vacciniums are the Bearberries (Arctosta-
phylos alpina and A . Uva ursi) , both of which are distinctly Alpine
in character and habitat, though the latter species descends to the
plains in Switzerland. The Alpine Bearberry has black berries,
which ripen the second year, and thin, netted veined annual leaves,
finely toothed at the margin. The Red Bearberry (Arctostaphylos
Uva ursi) has red berries and thick, leathery, evergreen leaves of a

flossy green on the upper side, with sunken dots on the under side,
t is chiefly found on limestone. Both species are found in Scotland,
and the latter appears also in the north of England and north-west
Ireland. Sometimes great mats are formed by these prostrate
shrubs. The flowers resemble those of the Arbutus more than those
of any other plant.

The Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) is a low, wiry shrub, with
heath-like leaves and small blue-black fruit, smaller than those of
the Bilberry, which often ascends to a high altitude and sometimes
covers enormous areas of moorland where little else will grow but
lichen. It grows not only in the mountains of Europe, and in the
British Isles, but penetrates the Arctic regions of Iceland, Green-
land, Siberia and Labrador. It gives its name to the extremely
small family of Empetracece, which comprises only four species in
the whole world.

Among other low bushes bearing berries in the mountains is the
Stone Bramble (Rubus saxatilis), which is frequent in Scotland and
the north of England, as well as in some of the hills in South Wales
and the West of England. In the Alps it is found in open woods
and bushy places, and it is scattered over the mountain regions of
Europe, Central Asia, and Siberia. The Stone Bramble is a very
dwarf and distinct species, whose rootstock sends out a few creeping
runners rooting at the nodes and ascending stems often only six
or eight inches high, with a few small prickles, though sometimes
quite unarmed. There are usually three pale green leaflets, rather
thin in texture and resembling those of the Dewberry ; and the
petals are a dirty white or greenish colour and very narrow. The
berries or drupes are a rich red, few in number, but large and
tempting to the eye in their luscious transparency. However, they
are disappointing when eaten, for they are strongly acid and each
drupe consists chiefly of a large pip or seed. The Cloudberry
(Rubus Chamcemorus), so well known in Norway, where its orange-
red fruit is stewed and served at table under the name of Multebcer,

ALPINE FRUITS AND BERRIES 13

does not appear to grow in the Alps, but its large, solitary, white
blossoms, on stems only a few inches high, are often seen in turfy
swamps and wet heaths in Northern Europe, Asia, and America.
This species of Rubus is one of the few British plants not'found
at all in Switzerland or France. The berries are first red, and they
turn yellow on ripening. Of the ordinary kinds of Blackberry, or
Rubus, many of which grow in the Swiss lowlands, very few appear
to reach the mountain forests. Perhaps Rubus tomentosus is the
most distinct of any which flourish in such places. It is a pretty
Bramble, and easily known by the greyish tomentum or felt which
covers its leaves and calyx, and by its small yellowish white flowers.
It is abundant in the Eastern Pyrenees, and extends right across
Central Europe and as far east as Persia. Probably in that very
mountainous country it reaches a higher altitude than in Europe.

Among Roses there are several in addition to the beautiful Rosa
alpina found in Alpine or sub-alpine regions. The true Alpine Rose,
or Eglantine, whose deep rose blossoms adorn the open woods
and broken, rocky pastures up to nearly 8000 feet in June and
July, usually has long, narrow hips of the richest red. The hips of
Rosa pomifem, which is widely spread throughout the Swiss Alps,
though very rare in the Jura, are very large and round and generally,
though not always, covered with bristly glands. In early autumn
their rich orange colour, deepening to a beautiful crimson, makes
them an attractive feature in the landscape. The pretty little
Burnet or Scotch Rose (Rosa pimpinellifolia) is very rare in Switzer-
land, except on the borders of the Jura. Though this very prickly
little rose grows close to the sandy seashore in parts of England
and Wales, we once found its delicate cream-coloured blossoms at
7000 feet in the south of Savoy. To find even a few plants of this
Rose on the stony southern slope of a mountain at that height
intermingled with some truly Alpine species, was one of the sur-
prises of an eventful season devoted to the exploration of the
Western Alps and their supremely rich flora. The fruit of the
Burnet Rose is nearly globular, and blackish red at maturity.

The poisonous scarlet berries of the Mezereon (Daphne Mezereum)
are often seen hi the woods of the plains and on stony pastures and
slopes of debris up to about 7000 feet ; but, as in England, this
bush is more often seen singly or in pairs than in groups. The
pink, scented flowers appear in March, before the leaves, or a
month later in the higher elevations.

There are two or three Alpine species of Honeysuckle, or Lonicera,
in Europe ; the Blue-fruited Honeysuckle (L. ccerulea) is a shrub
three to six feet high and of stiff habit. The yellowish white
flowers are scentless and in pairs, but their ovaries coalesce into one
globular and bluish-black berry. It is spread over the Coniferous
forest zone ; on moors it descends lower, and occasionally, as at
Saas Fee, it ascends the rocky slopes to a height of 8000 feet.

14 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Lonicera alpigena is a bush of about three feet which has much
larger leaves and a shining berry resembling a small, double cherry.
It frequents woods and rocky places in the mountains. The
Black Honeysuckle (L. nigrd) is a sub-alpine shrub, a yard or two in
height, with small flowers in pairs, which develop into a pair of
black, rounded berries united at the base.

In many of the shady ravines and wooded gorges one sees an
elegant Alpine Elder -tree (Sambucus racemosa), which in late
summer and autumn is usually heavily laden with dense clusters
of small round berries of a blood-red colour. It grows well among
the granite boulders and tall ferns bordering the road which skirts
the Tete Noir and overlooks the famous Trient Gorge between
Martigny and Argentiere. Indeed, most of the fruit-bearing
shrubs and bushes mentioned in this chapter can be seen in a walk
along that picturesque route. Here also can sometimes be found
the fruits of two kinds of Polygonatum, or Solomon's Seal, as well
as those of an allied plant called Streptopus amplexifolius, or Knot-
foot. The globular, crimson fruits hang on delicate flower-stalks
springing from the leaf-axils and always bent at right angles half-
way down, so that this curious plant with very handsome ' berries '
is unmistakable when once seen. It is, however, by no means
common. It sometimes grows by the side of huge granite boulders,
as near the main road crossing the Col des Montets, and occasionally
it can be seen under the shade of a Mountain Ash, whose scarlet
berries ripen at the end of August in the higher regions.

Autumn visitors to the Alps sometimes have their attention
arrested by a spiny bush of stiff habit, with narrow, olive-green
leaves and orange-yellow almost stemless berries, which are much
more densely attached in axillary clusters to the main axis of the
shrub than to its branches. This is the Sea Buckthorn (Hippophcz
rhamnoides). In other countries it grows on the sea coast, and in
England and the north of France it is planted on sand-hills to mat
the sand together, but in parts of the Alps it grows naturally in the
sandy beds of rivers, both by glacier streams and large rivers such
as the Rhone. At the foot of the Col de Balme we have often seen
bushes of it situated as high as 5500 feet. It is a somewhat curious
example of a littoral plant which ascends to considerable heights in
the mountains, though where it does so it is always either in river
beds or on steep, sandy screes. But even in such places on the
mountains it very probably answers the same useful purpose and
prevents the steep slopes of sand and debris from being washed
away by torrents of surface water.

Wild Gooseberries (Ribes Gwssularia) are frequent in many parts
of Switzerland, particularly by roadsides and stony, bushy places
in sub-alpine valleys. The berries are usually small and yellowish
when ripe, generally glabrous in the mountains, but often covered
with stiff glandular hairs in the lowlands.

ALPINE FRUITS AND BERRIES 15

One of the commonest and most picturesque of the bushes
bearing berries is the Barberry (Berberis vulgaris). It is a glabrous
shrub, six or eight feet in height, with yellow wood like others of
its family. The branches are armed with three-lobed thorns at the
base of the tufts of leaves. The yellow flowers, in elegant drooping
racemes, appear in May or June. The berries are oblong and very
acid, green at first, then golden and finally bright red. In a single
walk such as that spoken of above, from Martigny over the Col de
la Forclaz (nearly 5000 ft.) down the steep escarpment to Trient,
round the Tete Noir and down to Chatelard on the French frontier
the fruit of the Barberry can be seen early in August in every shade
of green, yellow and red, according to the altitude. In the hot
slopes above Martigny it will be already crimson, while nearer the
Forclaz the young fruit is still in its tender green stage. Similar
transformations can, of course, be seen in walking from the Rhone
Valley up any of the beautiful valleys to the south leading into the
heart of the Pennine Chain.

CHAPTER III

THE CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS

THE culture of Alpine and rock plants as a hobby is increasing
by leaps and bounds. We remarked a year ago that nothing was
more indicative of this increasing fashion than the number of books
issued in recent years on the subject, and the amount of space
devoted to it in horticultural journals. Since then several more
books have appeared, including a practical and prettily illustrated
little volume on Rock Gardens and Alpine Plants by Mr. E. H.
Jenkins, who has had much experience in the making of rockeries
and the management of Alpine and other hardy plants.

In Mr. Flemwell's last volume, The Flower-fields of Alpine
Switzerland, the latter portion of that beautifully illustrated work
was devoted to a plea for the formation of Alpine fields in England,
and some very plausible arguments were advanced for the intro-
duction of Swiss pasture and meadow plants into grassland as an
adjunct to our rock-gardens. It was also proposed to decorate
with Alpine flowers not only some of our parks and public places,
but it was suggested that many a wayside field, copse, bank or
railway-cutting might be improved ' by taking a leaf from Nature's
Alpine book.'

Theoretically such an idea is excellent, and it is true that many
of the handsome sub-alpine plants of the Swiss meadows and open
woods would figure largely in any such scheme ; and that some of
these flowers of the lower mountains have been neglected by
gardeners. Some horticulturists are ready to look kindly only upon
anything that will grow on a rock, and to call it ' Alpine ' ; and
certain small Alpine meadow and pasture plants frequently planted
on dry rockeries in England languish and die because they are out
of their natural habitat.

For the suggestion that a small field or enclosure adjacent to a
rock-garden should be converted, with skill and taste, into an
Alpine pasture, we have nothing but praise ; and it has already
been successfully done by several gentlemen. It is only fitting that
a large rock-work should, where practicable, be completed or
supplemented by an ' Alp ' or small field where numerous meadow
and woodland plants could be established and grown to advantage.
But, we say — let it stop there, and chiefly for this reason. If many

THE CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 17

foreign plants were introduced into out fields, copses, and railway-
cuttings, and especially any Alpine species which do not already
grow wild in England, it would soon upset the balance of distribu-
tion of our native flora, and the calculations of future generations
of students in geographical botany. It must not be forgotten that
the topographical distribution of the native plants even in these
small islands is a subject abounding in interesting points, and the
fact that it has been suggested of recent years that some of the
commonest species such as the White Dead-Nettie (Lamium
album), hitherto supposed to be indigenous, were introduced by the
Romans or more recently, makes it all the more incumbent upon us
not to ' make confusion worse confounded.' Therefore, however
poor in floral wealth and colour some of our own fields and meadows
may be in comparison with those of Alpine countries, let us be
satisfied with our Primroses and Bluebells, our Buttercups and
Daisies,and not sacrifice science to artistic effect, however tempting
the experiment may be.

In regard to the making of rock-gardens, we do not propose to
offer more than a few very general remarks, for, in addition to the
fact that there are practical books already devoted to the subject,
this is emphatically a case in which a little practice is worth much
theory. Much can be learnt by observing Nature, and by noticing
the way in which many plants grow upon the rocks at home, and
how they adapt themselves to different local conditions. A single
visit to the Alps will teach still more.

In making a rockery the chief thing to secure is thorough drainage
of the subsoil, and this can usually be obtained by digging away a
foot or two of the soil before any rocks are laid, and placing a layer
of broken stones, etc. of various sizes before the soil is replaced.
It must not be forgotten that in the Alps the plants grow, for the
most part, in naturally drained places, where water does not
stagnate. In the long Alpine winter they are kept dry and at a
fairly even temperature by a deep coating of snow ; and when
spring arrives, the melting of the snow around the plants gives
them a good start, while as the growing season advances the deeply
penetrating roots are given a copious supply of water from the
ever-melting snow above, which moisture sinks into the porous
ground or trickles down the mountain slopes. Therefore, in our
gardens, the first thing to guard against is excessive moisture in
winter — we can well imagine the numbers of ' Alpines ' which have
been killed by the persistent rains of the present winter, 1911-12.
The second precaution must be made in spring. In early spring
there is a danger of some of the more delicate subjects being
shrivelled up by cold east winds and brilliant sun, so that they
should be watered carefully and only when there is no sign of frost.
As early summer approaches most ' Alpines ' should be well watered
once or twice a day.

i8 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Much can be done in order to protect some plants from the
effects of our damp and comparatively sunless winter. Sometimes
if a piece of glass or slab of stone be placed in a horizontal position
above delicate plants they will be protected from excessive rainfall
or drip. The soil around the base of the stems or rosettes of leaves
should not be allowed to become clogged and foul, or coated with
green liverwort, moss, or other weeds. This can be easily prevented
by carefully disturbing the top soil, removing the moss, etc., and
top-dressing with grit, sandy loam, bits of limestone, sandstone, or
sometimes a dressing of leaf-mould. This top-dressing is of the
greatest importance, and when done judiciously it cannot fail to be
of benefit. It applies even more to young plants in pots or boxes in
greenhouses and frames, for it is in such places that the growth of
liverwort, etc., is often most rapid.

We have found the simplest way to remove the green moss or
Marchantia is with the flat, sharpened end of a thin piece of wood,
such as an ordinary plant label. By holding the pot in one hand,
and the flat wooden tool between the finger and thumb of the other,
so that it does not deeply penetrate the soil, the coating of green
slime or moss can very quickly be removed. A few small pieces of
grit or a little dry sandy loam should then take its place.

Another thing to guard against is the ' coddling ' of Alpines in
warm or ill-ventilated greenhouses. They cannot have too much
air, and most of them do far better in the open than under any
glass. This somewhat artificial method of cultivating hardy plants
may be necessary sometimes, but it frequently tends to produce a
less robust race, with many individual specimens drawn out in
quite an unnatural manner.

It is well known that one of the most characteristic features of
nearly all the higher Alpine species is their dwarf habit, with stems
frequently only a few inches in height, often with a rosette of leaves
at the base, and very long fibrous roots which sometimes penetrate
several feet into the soil. By this means they are prevented from
being blown away by the furious blasts of wind so frequent in high
mountains, and at the same time the long thick fibres absorb
moisture and nourishment from the soil through which they pass.

Most Alpine plants can be grown from seed, and many are better
obtained from this source than from established plants, because
much of the material sent to England by collectors arrives with
insufficient root. It is very difficult to get up the complete fibrous
tap root of such things as Anemone alpina, Campanula barbata,
Gentiana asclepiadea, etc. Again, many plants die in transit to a
distant country. Moreover, when seed is collected, rather than
roots, there is less chance of disfiguring the mountain side. Seed
should be sown as soon as possible after its collection. In saying
this we merely follow Nature ; and it has been proved that many
seeds refuse to germinate after a certain limited time.

THE CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 19

Although many Alpines may be sown in a suitably prepared bed
in a sheltered position out of doors, some of the rarest and best
kinds should be sown in pots or boxes in the following manner.
The pots should be well drained and filled either with a mixture of
sifted loam and sand, or with sifted sandy heath soil. The best
preventative against weeds is either to bake the soil or soak it in
the prepared pots with absolutely boiling water, which will destroy
the seeds and spores of weeds and kill all insects at the same time.
After the boiling water is used the pots must be left for a day or
two before sowing the seed. The seeds should be sown on a firm
level surface and have a very light and shallow covering, and some
of the very small ones might be lightly covered only with triturated
moss. The pots or boxes should then be gently watered with an
extremely fine rose, placed in a frame or cool greenhouse, well shaded
and kept at a uniform moisture. As soon as the seedlings appear
they should be gradually hardened and exposed to the air, but not
allowed to grow too lengthy, or nothing can be done with them.
It is astonishing how rapidly some seedlings become too tall to be
manageable in this delicate stage if proper care be not exercised.
A few hours' sun might draw them up to such an extent that they
cannot be watered without being beaten down like a field of mowing
grass is after a heavy storm, which would make the subsequent
operation of pricking out into larger pots or boxes one of great
difficulty. This pricking out is a tedious business. The young
seedlings are put in rows an inch or two apart, according to their
size, kept again at a fairly uniform moisture, and more or less
shaded from the hot sun, until large enough to be planted in the
open. More usually, however, they are planted singly or a few
together in pots, and placed in a frame and kept rather moist.
In the winter they may be more freely exposed to the air and kept
dry and clean. When the weather permits in spring, they can be
transplanted into the open and treated like the old plants. It is
important that every Alpine plant should be planted firmly, and the
soil or stones should be pressed well round the plant.

Alpine plants are also propagated by cuttings, by division of
the rootstock or by layers. This is best done in spring, before
growth begins, or in the autumn after it is completed. Most rock,
Alpine, and sub-alpine plants and nearly all the Saxifrages, Semper-
vivums, Primulas, and Androsaces can be easily increased by
division.

Saxifrages are among the easiest of all Alpine plants to grow,
and many will thrive under ordinary conditions in an English
garden. Special care should be taken that all, except a few water-
loving species, such as Saxifraga Hirculus, S. aizoides, and 5.
stellaris should be in rather dry, sunny places and not under trees
where water drips. However, such species as 5. rotundifolia and
S. cuneifolia like to be in the shade of trees and especially among

20 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

big boulders. S. cuneifolia is particularly useful for quickly covering
up rocks and ugly banks with its great tangled mass of pretty
foliage.

Most of the ' encrusted ' section will benefit by top-dressing with
gritty loam in early autumn. Some should be wedged tightly
between stones ; and in dealing with small kinds, such as ccesia,
diapensoides, Burseriana, etc., care should be taken that they do
not get washed out of their place in winter. The small rosettes of
encrusted Saxifrages may be transplanted at any time, and it
strengthens the flowering shoot if the offshoots are removed.
They may be planted in ordinary pots filled with sandy loam.
S. longifolia may be placed between a couple of more or less upright
rocks, so that water cannot collect in the large rosettes. It takes
two or three years to come to maturity, and after flowering and
seeding it dies. 5. florulenta is another handsome species to be
treated in the same way, but it prefers a vertical position, and
has a still greater hatred of surface moisture. It should, however,
have plenty of moisture in the soil.

Grit is beneficial to most of the Saxifrages because it checks the
evaporation of moisture in summer, and prevents damp from
stagnating round the collar of plants in winter. The reason why
roots are often found in a network over the surface of a stone is
because stones in the soil remain cool and moist, even in summer.
It is therefore well to mix a quantity of stone chips with ordinary
loam when making a rockery. They tend to keep the soil open and
porous rather than sodden and water-logged. The air can penetrate
further, and frost exercises its pulverising influence on a broken,
gritty soil better than on a dense, compact one.

Saxifrages of the oppositifolia group die away in two or three
years and should be taken up and pulled to pieces in fresh soil,
and grit and leaf-mould may be worked into the shoots as a top-
dressing.

Though in the wild state many Saxifrages grow almost solely on
limestone, and a few seem to thrive only on granitic rocks, it has
been found in cultivation that they are not so particular, and the
great majority will live in an ordinary loamy soil, especially if it
contains a fair proportion of lime.

In my former volume x I did not sufficiently emphasise the fact
that in the Alps themselves certain plants avoid calcareous soil in
some districts, while they tolerate it in others ; and in a few cases
I was tempted to generalise about them in a manner which further
observations and reading have proved unwise. For example,
one of my kindest critics points out that the common Ling (Calluna
vulgaris) is not strictly speaking a lime hater, for it is fairly common
on the hillsides of the Dolomites, where it grows mixed with
Erica carnea, which almost always affects limestone soils. Then

1 Alpine Plants of Europe, p. 5.

THE CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 21

again Rhododendron ferrugineum does not invariably grow on pri-
mary rocks. I saw it last year on the limestone in Switzerland ;
though possibly it was an apparent congener and growing there
with the other species (R. hirsutum] because a sufficient thickness of
peat separated it from the subsoil. Mr. Reginald Farrer has also
pointed out in his last volume (Among the Hills) that "no reliance
can be placed on rigid assignments of a plant to one stratum or
another," and that this applies even to Anemone alpina and
A. sulphur ea. But generally speaking the chemical and physical
nature of soil is a factor of far greater importance in the distribu-
tion of plants in relatively small areas than the physical configura-
tion of the land.

Many of the Primulas, such as P. Auricula, P. viscosa Vill., and
P. latifolia, which grow on rocks in the Alps, may be planted in deep
crevices between rocks ; but there must be plenty of good compost
made of a mixture of peat, sand, and loam, or leaf-mould instead of
the peat. The roots should be tightly wedged between two stones.
Mr. W. A. Clark recommends the use of clay instead of loam to
wedge the plants in, because it will hold moisture longer.

The roots of Primulas should be well watered in spring and early
summer. Some species such as P. glutinosa and P. involucrata
do better in a northerly aspect, sheltered from the sun. P. integri-
folia will cover damp, flat rocks if the soil is moist and yet well
drained. It wants an abundance of water in spring, for it usually
thrives best in the Alps just below the melting snow. The tiny
P. minima hates lime, and likes sandy peat in a bare, open spot,
though neither it nor the rare P. Allioni should be allowed to become
very dry. P. Allioni is endemic in the Maritime Alps, and grows
most luxuriantly in limestone grottos or small caves. Mr. W. A.
Clark suggested the placing of a large stone to hang over this
Primula, about a foot above the plant, sloping in towards the bank,
so that rain may run off to the roots in a sort of little pit lined with
clay and filled with loam and broken limestone.

To propagate Alpine plants by cuttings, a method particularly
applicable to shrubs and certain hard- wooded plants, such as
Helianthemum, Cistus, Daphne, Rhamnus, etc., half-ripe branches
should be cut off in autumn and placed in a shallow pan or bed.
The cuttings should not be more than three or four inches long ;
the lower leaves should be trimmed off, and the shoots must be cut
immediately below a joint, whence the roots will spring. There
should be good drainage, and the compost of loam and sharp sand
can be made more porous by adding pieces of charcoal. Each
cutting should be firmly placed in little holes about an inch and a
half deep, which are drilled with a stick or ordinary lead pencil,
and a little silver sand can be dropped into each hole. After the
earth has been firmly rammed down, the cuttings may be placed
in a cool frame, or in some shady place covered with a bell-glass,

22 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

and allowed fresh air daily. They should be kept uniformly moist,
but not too moist. When the young shoots have grown some size
and become rooted they should be gradually accustomed to the
open air until ready to be transplanted. Many of the Helian-
themums, or Rock-roses, can be grown from cuttings in a properly
prepared bed in a sheltered position in the open.

Lastly, those Alpine plants which have runners, such as Linncza
borealis, can be increased by merely detaching separate pieces
and replanting them firmly in shaded beds or in pots. Some of the
dwarf Campanulas with a creeping rootstock can be similarly
treated. Some hard-wooded shrubs, such as Azalea, certain
Daphnes, and Rhododendrons, which don't ripen their seeds in this
country, and are difficult to strike from cuttings, can be increased
by layering. A suitable branch near the ground is chosen, cut
half through near a joint, and then pegged down firmly and covered
with a compost of loam and sand an inch or two deep. If by the
following spring roots have been formed, the layered portion can
then be cut from the old stock.

The greater number of sub-alpine plants which grow in the woods
and meadows, and many of the true Alpines, may, if desired, be
treated like ordinary garden plants. Even forty years ago this was
realised by Messrs. James Backhouse and Son, who said in issuing
their Catalogue for 1871 : ' A large proportion of the truly Alpine
species, which find their natural home in the crevices of rocks at a
great elevation, grow with perfect ease in an open border in ordinary
loamy soil. And, strange to say, some that succeed with difficulty
on artificial rockwork, flourish well under such circumstances,
and thus bring within the range of every garden a large and varied
amount of beauty.' Many could be planted in turf, and perhaps
some of the woodland denizens might be tried under trees, where
little else will grow, provided the foliage is not very dense. Some
of the Orchids, Butterworts, Parnassia, Primula farinosa, and
many others frequenting damp places, should have a peat or bog
garden prepared for them at the foot of the rockery.

CHAPTER IV

SOME ALPINE GARDENS 1

BOTANIC gardens are increasing in numbers in the Alps, just as
rock gardens are becoming more and more numerous in the British
Isles. The most recent of the Swiss Alpine gardens is that at
Rigi Scheidegg, at about 5400 feet, which was opened by Professor
Carl Schroeter, of Zurich, in July, 1909, and of which Dr. Bachman,
of the Lucerne Gymnasium, is the Director. The German-Swiss
have taken the lead from Monsieur H. Correvon and his Geneva
friends in starting these interesting and useful mountain gardens.

Monsieur Correvon was the President of the Association for the
Protection of Plants, founded in Geneva in 1883 to struggle against
the destruction of the Alpine flora ; but in 1908 the Association
was amalgamated with the Swiss League for the Protection of
Natural Beauty, which corresponds in many respects to our
Selborne Society.

It is wall-culture that the Swiss understand perhaps better than
most people ; and Monsieur Correvon, at Chene Bourg, near
Geneva, has a low wall which is a perfect paradise of interesting
and rare saxatile flowers in early summer. We have also seen the
famous wall at Valleyres, at the foot of the Jura, in Canton Vaud,
which Boissier made in 1856, and where he cultivated some of the
best Saxifrages and rock Primulas, including a very fine patch of
Saxifraga Kotschyi from Asia Minor. They are still thriving, for
his son-in-law, Monsieur William Barbey, has taken the same
interest in the plants, and does all he can to cherish and extend
the work started by his illustrious relative.

The town of Geneva has planted many wall-plants on what
remains of the old fortifications, and these are doing well. Some
of the mountain railway companies have also decorated the walls
bordering their railways with rock-plants, which tend greatly to
brighten the scene in spring and early summer.

The oldest of the gardens in the Swiss Alps is the LINNJEA, on
a hillock which dominates the quaint village of Bourg St. Pierre, the
last village on the road to the great St. Bernard Hospice. It was
founded in 1889, with Professor Chodat of Geneva as President

1 Some of these notes are based upon articles by the author already published
(sometimes anonymously) in the Gardeners' Chronicle.

24 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

of the International Committee, and with Monsieur Correvon as
Director. Lord Avebury, the President of the Selborne Society,
the late Professor Romanes, Miss Willmott> and other well-known
English scientists have always taken a keen interest in the garden,
and it was with their help that the ground was bought in 1888.

The garden now comprises about three thousand kinds of plants,
of which the majority seem well established. It is on granite, and
over two hundred of the granite-loving plants growing naturally
in the district have been left to their own devices on the rocky
prominence which overlooks the picturesque but dirty village of
St. Pierre at a height of about 5500 feet.

Bourg St. Pierre is about fifteen miles on the great St. Bernard
route from Martigny in the Rhone Valley to the beautiful city of
Aosta in Piedmont, a total distance of forty-five miles. Visitors
to the famous Hospice (8100 ft.) who are interested in flowers
should spend an hour at the Linnaea garden en route; and if they
have the time they will do well to stay the night at the little Hotel
du Combin just beyond the garden, which modest hostelry will be
found clean though primitive. The village of St. Pierre contains
relics of more important days, like Lanslebourg, at the foot of the
Mont Cenis, with which the nistory of the famous Pass is bound up.
The church is very ancient, and in the churchyard wall is a Roman
milestone of the younger Constantine. As early as the ninth century
the original Hospice was here. In May, 1800, Napoleon's visit
to the village with 30,000 men on his way across the Great St. Ber-
nard is commemorated by the name of the older inn, " Au Dejeuner
de Napoleon," the room which he occupied being worthy of a
visit.

The flora is interesting all the way from Martigny to the top
of the grand St. Bernard Pass, and in the lower part of Val d'Entre-
mont, above Sembrancher, where the picturesque Val de Bagnes
joins the main valley on the east, the botanist will find various
plants usually characteristic of a warmer climate together with
Alpine species which have descended from the neighbouring moun-
tains. Thus the yellow Ononis Natrioc and bright pink 0. rotundi-
folia, the very handsome purple Vicia onobrychioides (common in
the Pyrenees) , Caucalis grandiflora, the deep yellow Euphrasia lutea
and Campanula bononiensis (of chestnut groves in the Maritime
Alps) may be found side by side with Scutellaria alpina, Sempervivum
montanum and S. arachnoideum, Poa alpina, Juniperus Sabina, etc.
At Sembrancher the celebrated botanist, L. J. Murith,1 was born
in 1742. He was a Canon of the St. Bernard Hospice, and a corre-
spondent of de Saussure. He was the first to ascend Mont Velan,
that ice-clad peak which forms such a beautiful object from the
Jardin de la Linnaea or from the lovely Valsorey just beyond.
Murith's name is commemorated in Saxifraga Murithiana, a form

1 In 1810 Murith published a Guide du Botanist* qui voyage dans le Valais.

SOME ALPINE GARDENS 25

of 5. oppositifolia which grows in the Western Alps and Pyrenees.
The Botanical Society of the Valais also bears his name.

On entering the Linnaea garden from the road on the north side,
several shady, winding paths lead up the steep hillside which is
clothed with the tall mauve spikes of Mulgedium alpinum, the rosy
heads of Adenostyles> with leaves like Coltsfoot, the nodding
blossoms of Cortusa Mathioli, and those of the lemon-yellow
Primula Sikkimensis. The red-brown Gentian (G. purpurea),
and its speckled yellow relative, G. punctata, grow naturally on
this slope, and so do the handsome purple madder Lilium Martagon,
the steel-blue Eryngium alpinum and the great white Achillea
macrophylla with deeply cut leaves. Then on the bit of natural
cliff above are such plants as Saxifraga Cotyledon, whose great
panicles of white blossom, eighteen inches in length, festoon the
black, weather-worn cliffs on the Italian side of the Simplon, just
above the village of Iselle.

Before reaching the summit of the garden we pass rockeries de-
voted to Saxifrages, Sempervivums, Pinks, and Primulas, and others
which are devoted to the plants of special countries or mountainous
regions. Besides the European Alps and the Jura, the Pyrenees,
Caucasus, Himalaya, Atlas, North America, and the Arctic regions
are all represented by separate rockeries. In the Balkan rockery,
built by King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, is a fine selection of Balkan
plants sent by his Majesty from Sofia. Self-sown poppies (P.
nudicaule) of Siberia and other Arctic regions, in yellow, white, and
orange, give a blaze of colour to the scene, and the smaller, more
delicate Alpine Poppy thrives there equally well, and sometimes
hybridises with the other.

On our first visit to this garden at the end of June, 1908, among
the Arctic plants noticed were Epilobium latifolium from Labrador,
with blossoms two inches across, Chrysosplenium glaciale, from
Lapland, and Polemonium campanulatum in abundance. We saw
the beautiful pink Androsace Chumbyi and Primula Cashmeriana
from the Himalaya, and Lindelfia speclabilis with its drooping
flowers in purplish blue.

The collections of Primula and Saxifraga are particularly good.
Saxifraga cochlearis, endemic in the Ligurian and Maritime Alps,
grows well at this altitude, notwithstanding the colder climate,
and S. Aizoon rosea, with red stem and calyx, forms a striking
variety of this common but very beautiful and variable species.
The Pyrenees are well represented by such species as Saxifraga
capilata, S. longifolia, Erinus hirsutus, Reseda glauca, Geum
pyrenaicum, Eryngium Bourgatii, and the tiny Dianthus brachyan-
thus, only two inches in height. Saxifraga Camposii, with its large,
pure white flowers, was represented from the Spanish Sierras.

Among the orange-red Composites, so conspicuous by their
brilliant colouring, were Senecio tiroliensis, S. aurantiacus, and the

26 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

bright red Hieracium aurantiacum. These plants afford good
examples of the deepening in colour at high altitudes of plants of
two genera, the species of which are almost always characterised
by yellow flowers in the plains. Primula is another genus in which a
pale yellow colour predominates in the lowlands, but which is
represented chiefly by red or purple flowers in the high mountains.
Again, in the great Saxifrage genus there are several in the high
Alps with red flowers, such as 5. oppositifolia, S. biflora, and S.
retusa, though we do not know a single red-flowered Saxifrage
indigenous in the plains of Central Europe.

The THOMASIA garden at Pont de Nant above Bex, in Canton de
Vaud, is smaller though quite as beautiful, and it is one of those
which are laid out on strictly scientific lines. This garden is called
Thomasia, after an early botanist at Bex, who belonged to a family
who made collections of dried plants and minerals for sale. Some
of the Thomas family were among the earliest visitors to Zermatt
in the middle of the eighteenth century in search of rare plants.
The garden is on limestone formation, and is situated at the foot
of the precipitous sides of the Grand Muveran, at about 3800 feet
above the sea. Started originally by a society in Bex, it was after-
wards taken over by the Canton de Vaud and affiliated to the
University of Lausanne, and it is under the management of Professor
Wilczeck.

The RAMBERTIA is also a limestone garden. It is romantically
situated at the summit of the Rochers de Naye, above Montreux,
and is one of the very highest gardens in Europe, being at an eleva-
tion of 6900 feet. For the most part it is laid out on the southern
face of a more or less precipitous cliff, from which in fine weather
a magnificent panorama of mountains can be enjoyed. Here again
Monsieur Correvon has made the most of striking surroundings,
and the result is an attractive display of Alpine flowers growing in
unique circumstances, while everywhere the Iceland Poppy seems
to have found a home for itself.

Let us now pass to Geneva, the Mecca of botanical science, and
say a few words about its new Botanic garden, for of all the gardens
we have ever visited the Geneva Alpine garden is arranged in the
most thorough geographical order. Landscape gardening, as
practised in England, seems hardly to be understood on the Conti-
nent, especially in France and Germany ; so that for neatness
combined with artistic effect we have seen nothing abroad to equal
some of the English rock-gardens. Too often the stones are dumped
down anyhow, as they still are in many suburban gardens in
London and elsewhere. But at Geneva it is different ; and great
skill has been shown not only in the conception of the garden, but
in the arrangement and disposition of the rocks, and it is obvious
that geological knowledge was shown in the execution of the whole
thing. In all probability the distinguished botanist, Dr. John

SOME ALPINE GARDENS 27

Briquet, who acts as Director of the Conservatoire Botanique
and the Gardens, was himself largely responsible for their design.

The Botanical Gardens occupy 75,000 square metres, or about
sixteen acres of land overlooking the beautiful Lake Leman, with
Mt. Blanc fifty miles beyond ; and they are separated by the railway
from the Ariana Park. They comprise a systematic garden with the
plants arranged according to Engler and Prantl, a young arboretum,
greenhouses, etc., and the fine Alpine garden under discussion.
The culminating rocks are those of the Swiss Alps, three groups
comprising the flora of calcareous regions, and two granite masses
represent the crystalline rocks. In early spring large clumps of
Erica camea give colour to these rocks. Close at hand are several
rockeries for plants of the Western Alps (Savoy, Dauphiny, and
Piedmont) ; then comes one for those of the Maritime Alps, and a
large mass for the Pyrenees, with various endemic species. Near
them come the Spanish Peninsula and the Atlas Mountains. To the
north-east are the following groups, viz. the Eastern Alps, Car-
pathians and Balkans, the Caucasus, the Orient, the Himalaya,
Altai and Siberia, Thibet and China and Japan. Among less
important groups are the Central Plateau of France, the Vosges,
Cevennes, Jura, with a splendid collection of its interesting plants,
the Apennines and Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. Towards the
lower end are the isolated masses of the New Zealand Alps, with
their shrubby Veronicas, etc., the Andes, and lastly North America
with a very rich collection. From a grotto in the highest rocks
of the Swiss Alps a stream of water emerges, and descending in a
sinuous course across the Alpine garden, forms a small lake where
various aquatic plants are grown.

Probably the first botanic garden at Geneva was the one laid out
many years ago on the natural system of classification by Pyrame
de Candolle, who was Professor of Botany at Montpellier University
in the south of France and Director of the ancient botanic garden
there. It was he who began the famous Prodromus, which was con-
tinued by his son Alphonse, the great authority on geographical
botany, and finally finished by his grandson, Monsieur Casimir de
Candolle, the present head of the family.

Geneva has given birth to many distinguished men, and the
town and district have been the chosen abode of many others ;
but her botanists alone were enough to make the place celebrated.
In addition to the de Candolles, Edmond Boissier, the author
of the Flora Orientalis, lived and died in the vicinity ; and of the
distinguished living botanists it would ill become me to speak,
except to say that they are carrying on the work which has helped
to make their beautiful city famous. There are at Geneva no less
than four important Botanical Institutions, including the private
establishment of Messrs, de Candolle, with its fine herbarium and
unique library, and 1'Herbier Boissier at Chambesy, with its library

28 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

and unrivalled collection of plants from the Orient. Then there
is the Botanical department of the University under the control
of the distinguished and energetic rector (Professor Chodat),
and the Conservatoire Botanique, opposite the Botanic garden,
which now contains as fine and complete an herbarium of European
plants as any to be seen in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, or London.

In a word, thanks to the kindness of individuals and to the
public spirit of the town, it would be difficult for students desirous
of studying European plants, both living and dead, and of in-
vestigating their geographical distribution, to find a more suitable
or congenial place than Geneva in which to prosecute their labours.
There is also at Geneva an excellent school of horticulture.

Having spoken thus of Geneva, it is only natural to make a brief
allusion to another important Swiss centre of botanical research, viz.
Zurich. Indeed, for young students the facilities offered there are
remarkable, for in addition to the University and a small but useful
botanic garden, under the able directorship of Dr. Schinz, the
Professor of Botany, there is the famous State Polytechnicum,
perhaps the best of its kind in Europe. Its botany school is under
Professor Carl Schroeter, who is so well known for his extensive
work on the Alpine flora. Alpine vegetation in all its branches
is very thoroughly studied at Zurich, and that place is the head-
quarters in Switzerland of the modern science of Vegetable Ecology
or the study of Plant Associations. Those who wish to hear more
on the subject should read the very useful pamphlet by T. W. Wood-
head,1 reprinted from The Naturalist, May and June, 1908.

Travellers in the Dauphiny Mountains will find a small but
interesting Alpine garden, containing good specimens of rare plants,
at the Col du Lautaret (6800 feet) and adjacent to the hotel. It is
in the keeping of the Faculty of Science of Grenoble University.
The surrounding scenery is very grand, and the district renowned
for the variety of its flora.2 Acting on the assumption that
monopolies are, generally speaking, not good, and from actual
experience of both places, we have no hesitation in suggesting
that La Grave, with its two comfortable hotels, will be found in
some respects a more convenient and satisfactory place at which
to make a stay in that delightful district.

1 T. W. Woodhead, Plant Geography and Ecology in Switzerland.

2 So long ago as 1843, when J. D. Forbes wrote his Travels through the Alps,
he alluded to the Col du Lautaret and the neighbouring mountains being "clothed
to a great height with pasturages of the utmost luxuriance, filled with a greater and
more gorgeous variety of flowers than I recollect to have seen in any other part of
the Alps."

CHAPTER V

ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING PLANTS

SOME hints on how to collect plants and dry and mount them
for an herbarium may be useful to some readers, particularly as the
subject is discussed either very briefly or not at all in most botanical
books.

Plants can be collected and preserved in Switzerland, or any
other extra-tropical country, much in the same way as in the British
Isles. Specimens are usually put into a japanned or painted tin,
commonly called a vasculum ; while an ordinary large sponge-bag
would in the Alps be found a useful adjunct or alternative, for it
can easily be carried in the ruck-sack when on mountain expeditions,
and is more convenient than a tin. Sponge-bags are light and fairly
waterproof, and for many small fleshy plants, such as Saxifrages and
Sempervivums, they are both convenient and handy. Some
botanists, however, prefer to take into the field a light portfolio,
furnished with leather straps and sheets of drying-paper, so that
the plants, and particularly the more delicate ones, and those,
like Veronicas, whose blossoms drop easily, can be put straight
into paper, and sorted and rearranged in a proper press on returning
to the house. We do not, however, much recommend the use of
such a portable press, especially as it wastes time and is quite useless
in wet or windy weather.

Many of the tins carried by young botanists are bought ready-
made, and are too short. For ordinary purposes the tin should be
about fifteen inches long, seven or eight inches wide, and about
two and a half or three inches deep. It should have rounded edges,
and the opening, which is on the broad side, should be large enough
to admit average specimens without difficulty or needless doubling.
The cover to the opening is attached by a couple of hinges, and it
fastens at the side by a sliding wire bolt. If this should work loose
and there be danger of the lid falling open when carried, the bolt
can be bent the least bit out of the straight and it will then hold
firmly. The plant-tin is most conveniently carried from the
shoulders by a leather strap ; but sometimes it has a thick wire
handle at the top, which is convenient on occasion. On hot days
the vasculum should be kept as much as possible out of the sun,
for the metal gets very hot if exposed to brilliant sunshine. To

30 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

combat this difficulty, or rather to prevent its consequences, the
writer often lays the first delicate specimens in a bed of fresh green
leaves placed in the tin. If necessary these can be removed as the
tin gets too full.

When a sponge-bag is not carried, it is often an advantage to
have a smaller tin, such as is sometimes called a sandwich-tin,
which will go within the coat-pocket. Small and delicate specimens
can thus be carried, or it can be used for wet or dirty roots which
might damage delicate flowers in the larger box.

A perfect specimen should have root, stem, leaves, flowers, and
fruit — both young and mature if possible. If, as is often the case,
the fruit cannot be obtained on the same plant with the flowers,
it should be gathered separately from another. It is most important
to get the fruit, and in a more or less developed state, for in some
families, such as Crucifera, Leguminosce, and Umbelliferce, it is
at times impossible without it to determine a plant correctly. Good
typical specimens should be selected, not necessarily the largest,
but the most perfect and convenient in size. When possible a root-
leaf or two should be collected as well as stem-leaves, but, of course,
in many small plants most of the leaves will be root-leaves.

The sheets of paper upon which the specimens are finally mounted
should not be less than about 15 x 10 inches, which is the size most
cartridge paper cuts into, but i6Jxio is still better, and this is
about the size adopted in the Kew Herbarium, and quite large
enough for ordinary purposes, though exceeded in several of the
other great public herbaria.

When plants are not more than about fifteen inches tall it is
better to put them into the tin and the press whole — not cut or
doubled. When, however, a tall plant or shrub is dealt with, a
good flowering branch should be cut off with several of the lower
stem leaves, and the root leaves, if any, should be added separately,
so as to give the complete habit as much as possible.

A notebook should always be taken into the field, in which the
names, when known, of all the rarer and more interesting plants
should be entered, together with date, habitat, locality, and any-
thing of special interest worth recording. These notebooks form
the basis of both the temporary and permanent labels referred to
later. When in a foreign country it is sometimes desirable for
botanists to enter the names of all the interesting species they
come across in their walks, whether they keep dry specimens or
not, for such notes are sometimes useful long afterwards, and it is
astonishing how quickly such things are forgotten if not noted down.

A press is very simply made from two stout boards, about i6| x
loj inches, and of sufficient thickness not to warp. The boards
are best clamped together by cross-pieces at the ends, in the
manner that drawing-boards are made ; and they are either
furnished with strong leather straps — screws are not advisable —

ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING PLANTS 31

or the pressure can be obtained by placing glazed bricks, boxes of
pebbles, or heavy iron weights on top. Such automatic pressure is
best, for it adjusts itself to the diminishing thickness of the contents
of the press as the specimens dry. A press of this kind, or a pair of
them, can be taken to the Continent without much trouble ; but
if a few plants only are to be collected, it would suffice to take a couple
of pieces of thick millboard with either leather straps or thinner
straps made of a kind of braid, or of the cloth that saddlers use,
with buckles attached. Elastic bands are not recommended, for
they break easily and cannot be adjusted like straps.

To separate half-dried specimens from fresh ones, and to keep
the whole mass fairly level, and generally to hasten the process of
drying, we have found a few thin wooden ' ventilators ' or frames
the size of the press, made of cross-pieces of wood half an inch
wide and one-eighth inch thick, very useful. Sometimes strong
wire work frames or lattices can be bought, which answer the
same purpose, or they could be used instead of the wooden boards
to form an actual drying-press

Common blotting-paper should never be used for drying plants
in ; it is too tender, it does not last, costs too much, and the plants
often stick to it. Any coarse, stout, and unsized paper will do, and
even old newspapers may be used as a last resort. It is not necessary
to buy the specially made grey, absorbent paper, though as it lasts
a lifetime it is not expensive in the end. Such drying-paper is
supplied in four sizes by Messrs. West, Newman, and Co., of
54, Hatton Garden, London, at is. id. per quire or 155. a ream
for the smallest size, which measures 16x10 inches when folded
Suitable paper cannot always be bought in Swiss resorts, and if the
stock has run short it is better to ask the stationer for some of his
ordinary rough wrapping-paper. In Italy and France the tough,
yellow or grey paper frequently used in grocers' shops will form
quite a good drying-paper.

Before the specimens are placed in the press they should be
examined, and any superfluous branches, leaves, or buds removed,
if a fairly flat object cannot be otherwise attained. Roots should
have soil or sand shaken from them, and they should be washed if
necessary, and dried in a duster. The plant is then laid out as
naturally as possible on a sheet of drying-paper, and others are
placed by it until the sheet is fairly covered. Several sheets of
paper should be placed between this lot and the next, according to
the nature of the plants and the thickness of the paper ; but the
great idea in pressing plants is to dry them quickly, and thus preserve
the colour as naturally as possible. The more paper used and the
oftener it is changed and dried the better. At first the papers should
be dried every day, in the sun or by the fire ; afterwards less often.
If the paper is hot, all the better, and a hot iron is often a useful
adjunct. The pressure should be light at first, and increased after

32 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

the first day, but the flowers and delicate leaves of some plants will
shrivel if the pressure is not even and adequate. However, many
a youthful collector is apt to forget that drying is the chief thing,
and that the pressure can be easily overdone. At the first changing
of papers the specimens can be rearranged while pliable, and super-
abundant parts removed with scissors. Any stems with broken
or ragged ends should also be cut clean. When quite fresh many
specimens do not so easily yield to necessary treatment as now.

Generally it is better to leave plants in the tin, rather than put
them in water, if it is inconvenient to press them within one or two
days, while many small kinds would remain fresh a week in the tin
if in a cool place, though both leaves and flowers might lose some
colour during that time. Most of the very thick or fleshy portions
of plants, such as the head of a thistle, the bulb of a Daffodil, or
the stem of an Orobanche, should be cut in two before being dried.
In fact, the whole of a thick Orobanche or of a plant like Campanula
thyrsoidea had better be split in two from top to bottom. Usually
both halves are worth preserving. Woody stems also are better
split in two, or at any rate thinned.

In order to aid the drying of any such thick or fleshy plants or
portions of plants, it is well to make pads of cotton-wool and place
them both above and below the specimens. Cotton-wool can be
bought in long sheets and easily cut with scissors the size of the
drying-paper. It is better that the plants should not touch the
cotton-wool itself ; but useful and more or less permanent pads
can very quickly be made by loosely stitching together with a
needle and thread a pair of folded sheets of drying-paper with the
wool inside.

Many succulent plants such as Orchids, Lilies, Sedums, and
Semper vivums can be dried with the help of these pads, but it is
best first to dip them in boiling water up to the base of the flowers.
This kills the plant at once, and enables it to be dried more quickly,
and with much less loss of colour. Thick Orchids should always be
killed in this way, and their tubers and stems might first be pricked
with the point of a knife to hasten the process of scalding, for the
final result, particularly in regard to the green colour of the leaves,
makes it well worth the trouble. Dipping in boiling water is also
recommended in the case of Heaths, which shed their leaves while
being dried.

With the help of the notebook or diary already referred to, it
is well to write on a rough, temporary label the name of the plant,
if known, the place where it came from, date, and approximate
altitude. It is interesting sometimes to add the kind of soil or
geological formation. These labels should be placed with the
specimens they refer to, and afterwards copied when the plants are
mounted. If a series of one species or variety, especially when
belonging to a critical genus, be collected, every example should

ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING PLANTS 33

have a little label or ticket with the same number, while one label
only need have the full particulars.

When the specimens are quite dry and stiff they can be packed
close together, with only a single sheet of paper between each layer,
and this paper need not be absorbent, but if it is unglazed the
specimens will keep in position better when travelling, and not
slip about so readily if the parcel is not quite tight.

In hot countries it is desirable to poison collections of dried plants
by painting them over with a solution of mercuric chloride or
corrosive sublimate, to protect them against insects. This is done
at Kew Herbarium, and also by a few amateur Botanists in this
country ; but in England it is not really necessary, if camphor or
napthaline be freely used, as is the case in the National Herbarium
at South Kensington. In addition to spoiling some specimens,
and to the subsequent peculiar blackening of the mounting paper
in many cases, and to the offensive fumes which in hot weather
sometimes rise from specimens treated with corrosive sublimate,
the solution is, of course, a most deadly poison, and must be handled
with great care.

The preservative solution used at Kew is as follows :

J oz. corrosive sublimate,

| oz. carbolic acid,

i pint methylated spirit.

It is better that the specimens should be quite dry before they
are poisoned. It is usually done with a large camel-hair brush,
but there should be no metal mountings about it, and all steel
instruments such as knives, scissors, or forceps must be kept away
from the solution or it will quickly corrode them. If the solution
contains too much chloride of mercury a white crystalline deposit
will be left on the specimens. But we say again emphatically
that in this country ' the game is not worth the candle.' If further
proof be needed it may be mentioned that the writer has in his own
herbarium many hundreds of perfect specimens collected eighty or
more years ago which were never ' poisoned/ but which have
suffered nothing from the attacks of insects, and are to-day as
complete and in as good condition as ever.

It has been customary in this country to mount dried plants on
paper by means of paste, good gum, or liquid glue. When fre-
quently handled this may have its advantages, and especially if
little envelopes containing loose portions of the flower and fruit are
attached for careful examination or dissection ; but many amateur
botanists attach their specimens to the paper with narrow strips
of gummed paper, so that they can be examined on both sides, and
altogether removed if desired. The little rolls of transparent
adhesive paper sold by stationers for repairing torn music, books,
etc., cannot be improved upon for this purpose. Another method

34 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

sometimes adopted on the Continent is to .attach the thin portions
of stem, etc., to the paper by means of ordinary pins, of course
placed horizontally. If gum be used it is best made of a mixture
of gum Acacia (gum Arabic) and gum Tragacanth, it being both
clean to use and very adhesive. In rare instances collections of
plants are not mounted at all, but simply left loose in folded
sheets of paper. However, they are better more or less mounted,
and the paper should be a thick, white cartridge or some similar
paper, which will remain rigid and flat when one end is held in
the hand.

After the plants are mounted they should be labelled. The
labels should be about 3 J X 2 inches in size, of rather thin but good
white paper so that they can easily be gummed or pasted in a
corner of the mount. In British collections it is usual to have the
name of the owner neatly printed at the head of the label after the
contracted word ' Herb. ' (before which ' Ex. ' can be written
when specimens are exchanged or given away). A broad space is
then left for the name of the plant, and usually there are lines for
the habitat and locality, and half-lines for the Vice-County, collector's
name, date and number in the last edition of the London Catalogue
of British Plants. But for European herbaria a simpler label is
usually adopted, with the same simple line border, and either
with the heading ' Herbarium Europaeum, A. B.C.— -' or ' Flora
of Switzerland/ ' Plants of Norway,' or something of that sort.
It saves time when many specimens have been collected by the
same person to have the collector's name, preceded by ' Coll. ' or
' Legit/ printed in small type at the base of the label.

It should have been mentioned that in mounting many specimens
which do not fill a sheet, it is important not to place them always
in the centre, but rather at one side if narrow, or in one corner if
very small. This will not only tend to keep the bundles of sheets
fairly level, but allow several examples of the same species from
other districts or from other countries to be added later. The label
should, of course, be placed near the plant, and it is sometimes
well to rule off with a pencil line one specimen from another from
a different district. In this way it is quite easy to have four or five
gatherings of the smaller Alpine plants with different labels mounted
on the same sheet. In starting a continental collection young
botanists are tempted to economise in paper and space by mounting
different species on the same sheet. This is greatly to be dis-
couraged, for, apart from the want of systematic order, the space
may be needed on future occasions for plants of the same species or
variety.

As previously suggested, it is an excellent plan to have a series
of very small envelopes, which can be home-made, in which to keep
seeds, fruits, and sometimes individual specimens of the flowers
or even some leaves, so that they can be easily examined either

ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING PLANTS 35

with an ordinary pocket-lens or under the microscope. Such en-
velopes should be gummed at the back to the sheet of mounting-
paper, preferably with the name of the plant and its collection
number, if any. These field numbers are quoted, and save much
trouble and needless explanation in the event of any subsequent
correspondence on the specimens they refer to. In collecting
obscure forms and little known varieties and all plants such as
Hawkweeds, Willows, Roses, Sedges, etc., in any quantity, all of
one gathering should bear the same numeral. This is particularly
the custom with collectors of sets of rare plants in new or little-
known countries, and these numbers are referred to and quoted
afterwards in books written on the flora of those countries. In
working at any special genus or at the plants of one country, whether
it be at Petersburg, Vienna, London, or New York, it is a great help
to find a collector's specimens all uniformly numbered thus.

The arrangement of the specimens in genus covers, and of the
herbarium generally in a cabinet, must depend upon the individual
taste of the botanist and upon the size of his collection. But except
in very small collections when several genera can be placed together
in one cover, with its name and that of the various genera neatly
written outside, it is better to place all the species of one genus
only in a cover. These genus covers should be made of stout brown
paper folded to a slightly larger size than the mounting paper.
The name of the genus should be written on the end of the cover
so that it can be readily found when packed in the cabinet. As the
collection grows it may be necessary to have more than one cover
for many of the larger genera.

Cabinets should be made of well-seasoned wood — what is called
American whitewood is a very good and inexpensive material.
The usual form is a tall, upright cupboard, divided perpendicularly
into two equal parts, and with two closely fitting doors opening
in the middle (two doors are very much better than one). The
shelves should be made very carefully of thin wood which will not
warp, and they should slide easily in shallow grooves cut in the
framework of the cupboard. They are better supported in this
way than on narrow strips of wood nailed to the sides, for such
strips interfere with the papers when the shelves are very full.

CHAPTER VI

A GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS

ACHENE, a dry, indehiscent i -seeded fruit, such as the single ' seed '

of a Ranunculus.
ACICULAR, applied to linear leaves which are stiff and needle-like,

such as those of Pine.
ACUMINATE, suddenly narrowed at the top and then prolonged into

a point.

ACUTE, tapering to a point.
ADHESION, the union of dissimilar parts of a flower, such as the

petals and sepals ; cf . Cohesion.
ADVENTITIOUS ROOTS, those which appear as outgrowths from the

stem or leaves.

ESTIVATION, the arrangement of the petals in the unexpanded bud.
ALTERNATE, applied to leaves which are not arranged opposite to

one another on the stem.
AMPLEXICAUL, when a leaf, bract, or stipule more or less embraces

the stem.

ANDRCECIUM, the male organs or stamens, considered as a whole.
ANGIOSPERM, a Flowering Plant whose ovules are enclosed in

ovaries ; cf . Gymnosperm.
ANNUAL, applied to plants which pass through their life-history in

one year and then die.

ANTHER, the upper portion of a stamen containing pollen.
APETALOUS, without petals, or with very small rudimentary ones.
AQUATIC, growing actually in water.
ARILLUS, a fleshy covering of some seeds.
ARISTATE, when the point of a leaf is fine like a hair.
ARTICULATE, jointed, applied to organs which can be separated

(without tearing) into several similar parts, e.g. an articulated

capsule.
ASCENDING, applied to stems which are first prostrate and then

rise more or less vertically.
ASEXUAL, applied to the reproduction by organs other than the

stamens and carpels.

ASSOCIATION, a colony or community of plants living together.
AWN, a thread-like extension of a seed or other organ, such as in

Barley or in Anemone alpina.

A GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS 37

AXIL, the angle formed, for example, at the attachment of a leaf

to a stem.

AXILLARY, growing in an axil.
Axis, usually applied to the stem.

BEAK, sometimes applied to the curved and pointed extremity of

a fruit ; or the hooded portion of a corolla, such as Pedicularis.
BIENNIAL, requiring two years to complete its life-history, after

which the plant dies.
BIFID, 2-cleft.

BIPINNATE, twice-pinnate ; e.g. the leaflets of Osmunda.
BIPINNATIFID, applied to pinnate leaves whose segments are doubly

cut or lobed ; e.g. Matricaria.
BRACT, a small leaf at the base of a flower-stalk ; or the divisions

of an involucre.

BUD, the unopened leaf or flower.
BULB, a modified stem, usually subterranean, consisting of a series

of succulent leaves, containing reserve material, such as an

onion.
BULBIL, a bud which falls from certain flowers or leaves and is

capable of reproducing the plant, as in some Alliums and

Lilies.

CESPITOSE, tufted, when stems are very short, close, and many

together.
CALCICOLE, applied to plants which thrive best on calcareous, or

limestone, soils.

CALCIFUGE, applied to plants which avoid calcareous soils.
CALYX, the sepals considered as a whole.
CAMPANULATE, in the form of a bell.
CAPILLARY, hair-like ; very fine, but hollow.

CAPITULUM or HEAD, an inflorescence in which the flowers are stem-
less, and arranged on a terminal expansion of the axis ; e.g.

many Composite.
CAPSULE, a dry seed-vessel containing many seeds and composed

of two or more carpels.
CARPEL, the divisions of the ovary or capsule.
CARPOPHORE, a small support to the capsules of certain plants,

as in many Silenes.
CARTILAGINOUS, of the consistence and colour of cartilage ; e.g. the

border of many Saxifrage leaves.
CATKIN, a dense spike of unisexual apetalous flowers, which are

shed as a whole. $

CELLS, the units of which plant or animal tissue is built up.
CELLULAR, composed of cells.

CHLOROPHYLL, the green colouring-matter of plants.
CILIATED, fringed with longish hairs or cilia.

38 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

CIRCINATE, curled up.

CLAW, the narrowed part at the base of a petal.

CLEISTOGAMOUS flowers are those which never open and are self-
fertilised ; very rare among Alpine plants.

CLUB-SHAPED, cylindrical, but becoming larger towards the apex.

COHESION, the union of similar parts of a flower ; cf . Adhesion.

CONE, the scaly fruit of the Conifercz or Pine family.

CONICAL, cone-shaped.

CONIFEROUS, applied to the Pine and Fir family, which bear cones.

CONVOLUTE, rolled together.

CORDATE, heart-shaped.

CORIACEOUS, firm and tough like leather.

CORM, a bulb-shaped, modified and swollen underground stem, in
which reserve material is stored ; e.g. a Crocus corm.

COROLLA, the petals of a flower considered as a whole.

CORONA, a circular rim within the corolla or perianth, such as the
' trumpet ' of a Daffodil.

COTYLEDONS, the first pair of seed-leaves.

CRENATE, applied to leaves with obtuse, rounded teeth, such as
those of Violet and Ground Ivy.

CRYPTOGAMIC, plants reproduced by spores, like Ferns and Mosses,
in which the stamens and pistils are wanting.

CUNEATE or CUNEIFORM, wedge-shaped ; i.e. broadest above the
middle and tapering towards the base.

CUSPIDATE, imperceptibly lengthened into a sharp point.

CUTICLE, the outer skin of an animal or plant.

CYME, an inflorescence in which the flowers are produced in suc-
cessive, lateral axes ; e.g. Myosotis, Lychnis.

DECIDUOUS, applied to plants, and especially trees, whose leaves

are shed each autumn.

DECURRENT, applied to leaves which run down the stem.
DEHISCENT, applied to fruits which open at one or more points to

allow the seed to escape.
DICHOTAMOUS, applied to a stem, branch, panicle, or cyme which

is forked again and again.

DICOTYLEDON, a plant having two seed-leaves ; cf. Monocotyledon.
DIGITATE leaves are those whose lobes are disposed like the fingers

of the hand, but from one centre, as in Lupine.
DIOECIOUS plants are those having stamens and pistils in separate

flowers on different plants.

Disc, the central part of a capitulum of Composite ; also the glan-
dular space above the receptacle of some flowers.
DRUPE, a fleshy, indehiscent fruit containing a stone in which the

seed is enclosed ; e.g. a cherry.

EBRACTEATE, without bracts.

A GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS 39

ECOLOGY, the study of plants in relation to their environment.

ELLIPTICAL, in the form of an oval with both ends tapering alike.

EMARGINATE, notched ; usually applied to petals.

ENDEMIC, peculiar to a district or country.

ENDOSPERM, the store of food outside the embryo in certain seeds,
and absorbed by it in germination.

ENTIRE, applied to leaves which are not cut or toothed.

EPICALYX, the outer portion of a double calyx ; e.g. in Dry as and
Potentilla.

EPIPETALOUS, applied to stamens borne upon petals.

EPIPHYTE, a plant which grows upon another, but not as a parasite.
Lichens and many Orchids are epiphytes.

EVERGREEN, applied to plants with green foliage all the year, and
to leaves which last more than one season.

EXALBUMINOUS seeds have no endosperm, and the embryo occu-
pies the whole cavity.

EXSTIPULATE, having no stipules.

FALCATE, sickle-shaped.

FAMILY = Natural Order; a group of genera of greater or less

affinity.

FASCICLED, in bundles or tufts.
FILAMENT, the slender stalk of a stamen.
FILIFORM, long and slender or thread-like.

FISTULAR, cylindrical and hollow, like many umbelliferous stems.
FLACCID, limp or flabby.
FLEXUOSE, bent more or less in a zigzag.
FOLLICLE, a carpel or seed capsule dehiscing longitudinally at the

inner suture ; e.g. Helleborus, Aconitum.
FREE, not united.

FRUIT, the seed or group of seeds with its whole covering.
FUSIFORM, spindle-shaped.

GALL, a growth caused by an insect or fungus ; e.g. an ' Oak apple.'

GAMOPETALOUS flowers have the petals all united, as opposed
to polypetalous.

GENUS (plural genera), a group of species of greater or less affinity.

GIBBOUS, swollen at the base.

GLABROUS, without hairs.

GLAND, an organ of secretion.

GLANDULAR HAIRS are those with enlarged apices containing a
secretion, as in Drosera or Arnica montana.

GLAUCOUS, covered with a pale bluish green bloom.

GLOBOSE, spherical.

GLUME, the bract which encloses the spikelet in Grasses and Sedges.

GLUMELLA or GLUMULE, the bract which forms the exterior cover-
ing of each flower of a spikelet in Grasses,

40 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

GYMNOSPERM, a flowering plant whose ovules are not enclosed in
carpels. The Conifercz are the chief Gymnosperms.

GYNGECIUM, the carpels or female organs of a flower considered as
a whole.

HABIT, the outward form, shape, or build of a plant.

HABITAT, the kind of locality in which a plant grows. Not the

locality itself, which may be called a station.
HASTATE, halbert-shaped.
HERBACEOUS, not woody.
HERMAPHRODITE, or bisexual flowers, have both stamens and pistils

present.

HISPID, bristly, thickly covered with stiff hairs.
HONEY, the nectar secreted by many flowers to attract insects.
HUMUS, organic matter in the soil, more or less decomposed.
HYBRID, a cross between two species.
HYPOGYNOUS flowers have the calyx and corolla borne on the

receptacle, and the ovary is superior.

IMBRICATED, overlapping like the tiles of a roof, such as the leaves

of Gentiana imbricata.
INDEHISCENT fruits are those which do not open to allow the seed

to escape.

INDIGENOUS, native, not introduced.

INFERIOR, applied to the ovaries of flowers whose calyx-tube en-
closes the ovary ; cf. Superior.
INFLORESCENCE, the manner in which flowers are arranged on the

main stem or on lateral branches.
INSECTIVOROUS plants are those which absorb nutriment from

flies and other insects.
INTERNODE, the portion of a stem between the attachment of two

alternate leaves.

INVOLUCEL, the involucre of a partial umbel.
INVOLUCRE, the whorl of bracts below an inflorescence or below

a single flower.
IRREGULAR, unequally divided.

KEEL, the two lower united petals of Leguminous flowers ; keeled
is also applied as an adjective to certain leaves.

LABELLUM, the lower lip of Orchids, Labiates, etc.

L ACINI ATE, when leaf -lobes are narrow and very irregular.

LAMINA, the blade or broad part of a leaf.

LANCEOLATE, tapering at both ends, but more so at the upper end ;
a somewhat comprehensive term applied to leaves, etc., which
are about three or more times as long as broad,

JUGULATE, strap-shaped.

A GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS 41

LIGULE, a small membranous bract embracing the stem of grasses

and forming part of the sheath.
LIMB, the broader part of a petal or leaf.
LINEAR, very narrow and with parallel edges.
LOBES, the divisions of a leaf, calyx, or corolla in a broad sense.
LYRATE, applied to a pinnatifid leaf with a rounded terminal lobe

and smaller divisions towards the base, as in Geum montanum.

MEMBRANOUS, thin and transparent like a membrane.

MIDRIB, the principal vein of a leaf.

MONOCOTYLEDON, a plant having only one seed-leaf. Grasses,

Sedges, Lilies, and many bulbous and tuberous plants are

Monocotyledons.
MONCECIOUS plants are those which have the stamens and pistil in

separate flowers, but on the same plant.
MUCRONATE, suddenly terminated by a short and stiff point or

needle, called a mucro. In leaves it is the prolongation of the

midrib.

NATURALISED, of foreign origin, but established and growing

naturally in a country.

NECTARY, an organ secreting nectar or honey.
NITROGENOUS, containing nitrogen.
NODE, the point of insertion of a leaf on a stem.
NUT, a dry fruit with a hard, woody shell or pericarp.

OBCORDATE, inversely heart-shaped.

OBOVATE, inversely egg-shaped.

OBTUSE, more or less rounded at the top.

OFFSET, the bud at the end of a runner or stolon.

OPPOSITE, applied to leaves which are in pairs at the same level

on the stem ; cf. Alternate.
ORBICULAR, round, spherical.
OVARY, a carpel enclosing one or more ovules.
OVULE, the embryo seed enclosed in the ovary.

PALEACEOUS, chaffy.

PALE.E, or CHAFF, the inner bracts or scales in Composite, Grami-
nece, etc.

PALMATE, divided like a hand into several lobes.

PANICLE, a branched raceme.

PAPPUS, a feathery appendage of the seed of many Compositce.

PARASITE, a plant living on or in another (the host) from which it
derives part of its food ; e.g. Orobanche. Semi-parasites in-
clude Pedicularis, Rhinanthus, Euphrasia, etc.

PATENT, spreading open.

PECTINATE, finely divided like the teeth of a comb,

42 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

PEDICEL, the stalk of a flower in a compound inflorescence.
PEDUNCLE, the stalk of an inflorescence, or of a solitary flower.
PELTATE, applied to leaves which are more or less round, with the

stalk in the middle (Hydrocotyle).
PERFOLIATE, when the stem passes through a pair of leaves, as in

Chlora perfoliata.
PERIANTH, the floral envelope replacing the calyx and corolla in

the Monochlamydeae and Monocotyledons ; e.g. the flower

of a Crocus.

PERICARP, the wall of the developed ovary as seen in the fruit.
PERENNIAL, lasting more than two years.
PERSISTENT, not falling off.
PETAL, a unit of the corolla.
PETALOID, in the colour or form of a petal.
PETIOLATE, having a leaf-stalk.
PETIOLE, a leaf-stalk.
PHANEROGAM, a flowering plant.
PILOSE, sparsely covered with rather long hairs.
PINNATE, when several segments succeed each other on each side

of a petiole, compared to the branches of a feather.
PINNATIFID, lobed in a pinnate manner.
PISTIL, the portion of the flower comprising the ovary, style, and

stigma.

PLACENTA, the portion of the ovary to which the ovules are attached.
POLLEN, fertilising powder contained in the anthers.
POLLINATION, the act of dusting the stigma with pollen.
POLLINIUM, the pollen-mass of an Orchid.
POLYGAMOUS, bearing hermaphrodite and unisexual flowers at the

same time.

POLYMORPHIC, variable in shape or form.

POLYPETALOUS flowers having the petals free from one another.
PREMORSE, bitten off.

PRICKLE, a sharply pointed excrescence on a branch or leaf, etc.
PTERIDOPHYTES, Fern plants.
PUBERULENT, feebly pubescent.
PuBESCENT,pdowny, furnished with fine, soft, short hairs.

RACEME, an inflorescence in which stalked flowers are borne on a

central stem, the lowest flowers opening first.
RACHIS, the stalk of a compound leaf ; the primary axis of certain

kinds of inflorescence.
RADICAL, springing from the root.
RADICLE, the embryo root.

RAY FLORETS, the outer flowers of the Composite ; cf . Disc Florets.
RECEPTACLE, the top portion of the axis of a flower which bears

the floral envelope and the male and female organs ; also the

axis bearing the florets in Composite,

A GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS 43

REFLEXED, bent back.

REGULAR, divided equally.

RENIFORM, kidney-shaped or bean-shaped.

RETICULATED, like a network.

RETUSE, very obtuse or truncate and slightly indented.

RHIZOME, a creeping, prostrate underground stem, bearing erect

or sometimes prostrate shoots.
RINGENT, strongly 2-lipped and gaping.
ROOTSTOCK, the rhizome ; or the crown of the root.
ROSETTE, a somewhat circular group of leaves arranged in a close

and spreading manner, often flat on the ground ; e.g. Ramondia.
ROSTRATE, beaked.
RUGOSE, wrinkled.
RUNCINATE, pinnatifid, with the lobes pointing backwards ; e.g.

a Dandelion leaf.
RUNNER, a slender, prostrate, and generally rooting stem-branch.

SAGITTATE, arrow-shaped.

SCABROUS, rough to the touch.

SCALE, a thin, disc-like growth on the exposed surface of some
leaves and stems.

SCAPE, a naked flower-stem springing direct from the root and
bearing a single flower.

SCARIOUS, thin and more or less transparent and not green ;
scaly.

SEED, a fertilised ovule.

SEPAL, one of the calyx-leaves.

SERRATE, edged like a saw.

SESSILE, stemless.

SETACEOUS, like a bristle.

SHRUB, a woody perennial plant without a main trunk.

SILICULE, a short seed-pod in Cruciferous plants, such as Draba ;
adj. Siliculose.

SILIQUA, a linear seed-pod in Cruciferous plants, such as Wall-
flower ; adj . Siliquose.

SINUOUS or SINUATE, wavy ; when teeth on the margin of a leaf
are broad and irregular.

SPADIX, a fleshy spike, as in Arum maculatum.

SPATHE, a sheath-like leaf enveloping a flower, as in Arum.

SPATHULATE, broadened in the short upper half and narrowly con-
tracted below.

SPECIES, a unit of a genus of greater or less affinity.

SPERMATOPHYTES, seed-plants.

SPIKE, a simple inflorescence of sessile flowers attached to a simple
axis.

SPORES, the powdery grains of Mosses, Ferns, etc., which corre-
spond to the ' seeds ' in flowering plants.

44 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

SPUR, a prolonged portion of a flower, usually somewhat tubular.
STAMEN, the male organ of a flower considered as a whole.
STANDARD, the large upper petal of a Leguminous flower.
STELLATE, star-shaped ; often applied to certain hairs.
STERILE, having stamens, but no pistils ; barren.
STIGMA, the receptive upper portion of a pistil, where the pollen is

dusted. The adj. stigmatic means sticky.
STIPULATE, possessing stipules.
STIPULES, leaf-like appendages, often in pairs and winged at the

junction of leaves with the stem.
STOLON, a horizontal runner or stem-branch.
STOMATA, the minute pores in the epidermis of a leaf, especially on

the under side ; sing. STOMA.
STRIATE, marked with parallel longitudinal lines.
STYLE, the central portion of the pistil which bears the stigma.
SUBULATE, awl-shaped.
SUPERIOR, applied to an ovary which is free from and not enclosed

by the floral envelope.

TAP-ROOT, the main descending root.

TEETH, small pointed lobes on the margins of leaves, etc.

TENDRIL, a thread-like organ used for climbing.

TERETE, long and cylindrical.

TERNATE, in threes.

TESTA, the outer coat of seeds.

THALAMUS, the receptacle.

THALLUS, a vegetative body not differentiated into stem and leaf.

THORN, a sharply pointed extremity of a branch or stalk having a
woody centre ; a spine.

THROAT, the upper part of a corolla-tube.

THYRSOID, applied to a narrow, pyramidal panicle, such as the in-
florescence of Campanula thyrsoides.

TOMENTOSE, covered with tomentum or dense, white hair.

TOMENTUM, a thick coating of short, cottony hairs, usually whitish
or grey ; e.g. Edelweiss.

TRANSPIRATION, the act of giving off water from the leaves of a
plant, through the stomata.

TRIFID, 3-cleft.

TRUNCATE, ending abruptly, as if cut off square.

TUBER, a short, thick underground stem containing food material,
such as an Artichoke.

TUBERCULATE, covered with small obtuse, wart-like excrescences.

UMBEL, an inflorescence in which the flower-stalks radiate from a

common point and are nearly of the same length ; e.g. Carrot.
UNCINATE, hooked.
UNILATERAL, one-sided.

A GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS 45

UNISEXUAL FLOWERS are those which contain either male or

female organs, but not both.
URCEOLATE, pitcher-shaped, or urn-shaped.

VASCULAR, built up of vessels.
VERMICULAR or VERMIFORM, worm-like.
VERNATION, the state of leaves in bud.
VERRUCOSE, warty.

VERSATILE anthers are those which are balanced on the filament.
VERTICILLATE, whorled.
VESICLE, a bladder.
VILLOUS, shaggy.
Viscous, sticky, clammy.

VIVIPAROUS, applied to the production of young plants (not seeds)
attached to the parent plant.

WHORL, three or more leaves or flowers arranged around the stem
on the same level ; e.g. Galium, Gentiana lutea.

WING, a prolongation of a fruit or seed or of a stem ; the side petal
of a Leguminous flower.

WOOLLY, when the hairs are long and loose, like wool.

The best Glossary of Botanic Terms is that by Dr. B. Day don
Jackson ; 2nd Ed. 1905. The author regrets he had not it before
him when compiling the above.

PART II
CLASS I. DICOTYLEDONS

RANUNCULACE.E

HERBS with alternate or radical leaves, or in Clematis, climbers
with opposite leaves. Leaves often cut and flowers solitary or in
terminal racemes. Sepals distinct, usually 5. Petals distinct,
usually 5, but sometimes deformed or very minute or altogether
wanting. Stamens numerous, inserted on the receptacle. Carpels
several, distinct or partially united, each bearing a distinct style
and enclosing a single cell with one or more ovules or seeds attached
to the base or inner angle of the cavity. Many possess acrid or
poisonous properties, and several are used in medicine. A family
widely spread over the globe, but especially in temperate or cool
climates, and comprising about 700 species. In the tropics almost
entirely confined to high mountain ranges.

CLEMATIS L.

Stem usually climbing and often woody at the base. Leaves
opposite. Sepals 4 or 5, volvate in the bud, coloured and petal-like.
No real petals. Stamens numerous. Carpels numerous, i-seeded.
Widely spread over the globe, and almost the only representative of
the family in tropical climates.

Clematis alpina Mill. (Atragene alpina L.).

A creeping shrub. Stem branched, woody, spreading, decumbent
or climbing, swollen at the joints, scaly, leafy, and provided with
3-branched dry tendrils (the dead leaf -stalks of the previous year).
Leaves opposite, stalked, usually doubly ternate and slightly hairy ;
segments ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, unequally serrate, often
lobed or connate at the base. Flowers large and solitary, violet, on
long stalks, axillary, dependent. Petals small, erect, spathulate.
Sepals lanceolate, erect or patent. Carpels terminating in a long
beard, by which they are disseminated by the wind.

Stony places in the Alps, and in woody sub-alpine districts,
especially on limestone ; often covering rocks and shrubs. 2500-
7000 feet. June to August. Occasionally in shady valleys down
to 2000 feet.

i. THAUCTRUM AQUILKGI FOLIUM.
;. UN I'M TENUIKOL1UM.

2. RHODODENDRON FERRUGINEUM
(WITH WHITE VARIETY).

RANUNCULACE^ 47

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central and Western Alps ;
rare in Switzerland (Grisons, Bernese Oberland, etc.) ; Tran-
sylvania, Northern Russia, Lapland, Northern Asia, and North
America.

Clematis Vitalba L. Traveller's Joy, Old Man's Beard.

A taller climber than the last, its woody stems being sometimes
as thick as the wrist and several yards'injiength, whilst the young
shoots spread greatly over shrubs and trees, to which they cling
by their twisted petioles. Leaves pinnate, usually with 5-stalked
segments. Flowers greenish white, in loose panicles at the ends
of short branches. Carpels with long, feathery awns, which give the
plant the name of Old Man's Beard.

Hedges, thickets and open woods, especially on limestone.
Occasionally ascending to the sub-alpine zone in Switzerland.
July and August.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe ; France, England,
Caucasus.

In France the long stems are used in basket-work, the leaves
given to beasts as fodder, and the young shoots are occasionally
eaten by the. peasants.

THALICTRUM L

Herbs with a short perennial rootstock and much-divided leaf-
stalks, bearing distinct segments or leaflets. Sepals 4 or 5, small,
coloured and petal-like, but no real petals. Stamens numerous,
with long anthers projecting beyond the calyx. Carpels several,
i-seeded, furrowed. Flowers sometimes polygamous. A genus of
about 70 species diffused over the northern hemisphere ; variable
and difficult to characterise.

Thalictrum aquilegifolium L. (Plate III.)

Stem sometimes a yard high, robust, glabrous, finely furrowed.
Leaves roundly triangular, 2-4 times pinnate, with membranous
stipellse at the branches of the leaf-stalk, light green above, bluish
green below ; auricles of leaf-sheaths blunt ; leaflets roundish,
obovate or wedge-shaped, often oblique or cordate at the base,
obtuse, crenate, 3-lobed or undivided. Flowers erect, in dense
terminal cymes. Stamens erect. Carpels 3-edged, winged, stalked,
pendent. Sepals and stamens in various shades of lilac, and some-
times nearly white ; anthers yellowish.

Rich upland meadows of the lower Alps, descending far into the
plains, in meadows or margins of woods, etc. ; often in stony places
and ravines with Rhododendron, and ascending to 6000 feet.
May to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central and Western Alps ;

48 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Black Forest, Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees, and almost all mountainous
Europe, including Southern Scandinavia ; Northern Asia.

Thalictrum minus L.

A most variable species ; in dry limestone soils usually only
about a foot high, of a glaucous colour or slightly downy ; in moist
situations it is larger and greener, with stems often 3 feet high,
flexuous, furrowed, glaucous, glabrous or pubescent-glandular.
Leaves large, with leaflets glaucous below and rather large. Flowers
yellow, pendent, in branched leafy panicles, flower-stalks slender.
Carpels oval, with longitudinal ribs.

Rocky places in the hills, chestnut groves and fields, especially
in the sub-alpine district. June and July. Well worth cultivating
for its beautiful foliage, resembling robust and wiry Maidenhair fern.

Distribution. — Europe, Russian Asia, Africa, Alaska (British).
Thalictrum alpinum L. Alpine Meadow-rue.

Root slender, creeping. Stem 2-4 inches high, almost naked,
simple. Leaves radical, glabrous ; leaflets oboval, 3-cleft, crenate,
greyish green. Flowers in a simple terminal raceme, greenish yellow,
pendent ; flower-stalks recurved. The smallest of the genus.

Moist Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, rare ; 3300-8000 feet.
June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central and Western Alps ; in Switzer-
land only in Grisons ; Eastern and Central Pyrenees, Caucasus,
Northern Europe and Asia (British).

In Norway it reaches about 3400 feet.

Thalictrum fcetidum L.

Rhizome short. Stem 4-12 inches high, flexuous, feebly striated,
glandular pubescent, and foetid like the whole plant. Leaves as
broad as long, somewhat triangular ; leaflets small, toothed,
usually densely pubescent, rarely glabrous ; foliage like Maidenhair
fern except in colour. Flowers yellow, pendent, in a much-branched
panicle. Carpels rounded at the base, oval-orbicular with prominent
ribs. Another polymorphic species found in rocky places among the
mountains up to 8000 feet. June to August. It is very common
about Zinal.

Distribution. — Alps of Central Europe, Eastern Pyrenees, Central
and Northern Asia.

Thalictrum tuberosum L.

Roots tuberous, spindle-shaped. Plant distinguished from all
other species of Thalictrum by its flowers having 4 or rarely 5
large yellowish white sepals.

Dry, rocky places up to 4000 feet in the Pyrenees, Corbieres and
Spain.

The European species of Thalictrum are easily naturalised in

RANUNCULACE^: 49

Britain in almost any soil, and readily increased from seed or by
division in early spring. T. aquilegifolium is particularly ornamental
in gardens, and likes shade and a light soil.

ANEMONE L.

Rootstock perennial. Leaves radical. Involucral bracts com-
pound and often leaf-like. Flowers usually solitary. No petals.
Sepals 5 or more, coloured and petal-like, longer than the stamens,
which are numerous. Carpels numerous, i-seeded, often ending
in a long feathery awn.

A large genus of some 85 species, found in most of the temperate
regions of the world, and chiefly characterised by the three ' leaves '
placed in a whorl from half-way up the stem to very near the flowers,
according to the species.

Anemone Hepatica L. (Plate IV.)

Root short, fibrous. Stem naked, velvety. Leaves leathery,
heart-shaped at the base with 3 equal lobes, often purple below,
persistent and with long petioles. Flowers blue, rose, or white,
solitary. Involucre of 3 oval, entire leaflets, resembling a calyx.
Sepals 6-9, glabrous. Carpels covered with tomentum, with short,
glabrous beak.

The blue form is the commonest, and it is abundant in shady
places and woods among the hills, especially on Jurassic limestone.
In the Eastern Pyrenees it flourishes from about 2500-4500 feet.
March to June, according to situation.

Distribution. — Nearly all Europe ; Siberia, North America.

In Mr. Flemwell's Alpine Flowers and Gardens, where is a most
delicate picture of Hepatica in the woods at Bex, in the Rhone Valley,
he says : ' As the snow recedes, the brown bed of the pine forests
is decked with myriads of Hepatica ; their thick clusters of mauve-
blue blossoms, relieved here and there by the rarer forms of white
and rose, glint gaily among the sombre tree-trunks, creating a
veritable laughing fairyland where, usually, all is sedate, if not
actually gloomy.' In gardens it likes a deep, light soil, with some
leaf-mould, and should be disturbed as little as possible.

Anemone narcissiflora L.

Rootstock oblique, premorse, with branching fibres. Stem erect,
4-12 inches high, simple, with several leaves at the base, villous
like the leaves, and bearing a terminal 3-6 flowered umbel. Root-
leaves stalked, palmate, 3-5 partite, sparsely villous or glabrous
on the upper side ; the segments usually doubly 3-cleft. Bracts
3-4, sessile, smaller and less divided than the root-leaves and often
only 2-3 cleft. Sepals usually 5, glabrous on both sides. Flowers
white, often tinted with pale rose, f to i J inch in diameter ; seed-
vessel erect. Carpels not bearded, very shortly beaked.

50 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Alpine pastures and steep, partially wooded banks and hillsides ;
but nearly always on calcareous soil, from 3000 to 6800 feet, and
often covering large tracts. End of May to August, according to
situation.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central and Western Alps ; Erzgebirge,
Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees, Transylvania, Balkans, Caucasus, Western
and Central Asia ; Steppes of Russia and Siberia ; North America.

This beautiful Anemone likes rich, loamy soil, with plenty of
leaf -mould mixed with lime. Care should be taken to get up the
whole root of this and other members of the genus if success is to
be expected from collected specimens.

Anemone apennina L.

Root tuberous, blackish. Stem 6-10 inches high, slender,
glabrescent. Leaves resembling those of the common Wood
Anemone ; bracts of the involucre petioled, having the appearance
of leaves. Peduncle erect. Flowers pale blue, solitary. Sepals
10-15, almost linear. Carpels shortly pubescent, elliptic, with
glabrous beak.

Woods and rocky places. April.

Distribution. — Southern Europe ; Italy, Corsica, Dalmatia,
Herzegovina, Montenegro, Corfu. Occasionally it is found in
plantations and woods in England, but is certainly not native.

It looks best in large clumps, and is a very ornamental plant
for open shrubberies and glades, and for establishing round the base
of some tree which will allow the sun to open its flowers in spring,
but protect it from the fiercer heat of summer. A top-dressing of
leaf-mould and peat is beneficial.

Anemone nemorosa L. Wood Anemone.

Rhizome horizontal, nearly black, sending up 2 or 3 leaves
at the extremity and a single flower-stalk, either glabrous or slightly
downy. Leafstalks long, with 3 ovate or lanceolate leaflets,
toothed or lobed. Peduncle 3 to 8 inches high, with involucral
leaves at about two- thirds of its height, smaller, and on shorter
stalks than the real leaves. Sepals 6, white, often bluish or pinkish
outside, glabrous. Carpels downy, longly pointed, but not feathery.

Woods of the sub-alps and plains, damp meadows and broad
hedges. March to May.

Sometimes seen growing in Switzerland up to 6000 feet, as e.g.
on the Simplon Pass, where in June, 1908, we found it accompanied
by the Sulphur Anemone. The colour of the sub-alpine forms is
generally deeper than that of the plains.

Distribution. — Nearly all Europe ; North - west Asia, North
America. Abundant in Britain.

Anemone ranunculoides L.

Rhizome horizontal. Stem and whole plant about the size of the

4/7 NATURAL SI/K

PLATE IV.

i. PHYTKUMA HKTOXICI FOLIUM. 2. GXAPHAl.IUM SYI.YATICUM.

3. PHYTKUMA SPICATUM. 4- ANK.MOXK HKPATICA.

s. I'HYTKU.MA OR1UCUI.ARK.

RANUNCULACE^: 51

Wood Anemone, which it much resembles in habit as well as in
habitat. Leaves spring far from the stem, with 3-5 shortly petioled
segments ; leaflets of the involucre shortly petioled and resembling
true leaves. Flowers bright yellow, usually solitary, but some-
times in twos or threes. Sepals 5-8 oval. Carpels pubescent,
with long glabrous beak.

Woods and meadows, and damp, shady places, and by streams,
especially on a limestone soil. March to May.

Distribution. — Throughout France, including the mountains
above the Riviera, though rare elsewhere in the South, and fairly
spread through Europe, though rare in Switzerland except in the
Jura ; Western Asia.

Occasionally found in England and the south of Scotland, but is
probably not indigenous. It is a useful plant to naturalise in shrub-
beries, but in this country it is rarely seen so fine as on the Continent,
as, for example, in Savoy, in the neighbourhood of Aix-les-Bains,etc.

Anemone sylvestris L.

Root short with matted fibres. Stem 10-20. inches high or more,
slender, downy. Leaves downy, cut into 5 rhomboidal segments,
bi-trifid, toothed irregularly. Leaflets of the involucre stalked,
resembling true leaves ; peduncle always erect. Flowers white,
large, solitary. Sepals 5-8, oval, silky outside. Carpels woolly,
numerous, forming a tight oblong head.

Woody places and stony hills ; rare. May, June.

Distribution. — North of France, Alsace-Lorraine, Central Europe,
Southern Sweden, Caucasus, Russia, Western Asia. In Switzerland
only in Canton Bale.

A very ornamental plant for the borders of shrubberies and
shady places in gardens ; and it looks particularly well with large
ferns in a rockery.

Anemone trifolia L.

Radical leaves usually wanting at time of flowering. Involucral
bracts 3, petioled, with simple, broadly lanceolate and regularly
serrated segments. Flowers solitary. Sepals usually 6, oblong,
glabrous beneath, white, but very rarely blue (var. ccerulescens
Hausm.).

Bushy places and woods up to about 5500 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Southern Tyrol to Carinthia, where it is often
abundant. Woods, pastures, and chestnut-groves in Liguria, at
about 2000 feet. According to Moggridge it replaces A. nemorosa
along the coast from San Remo to Genoa, while the Wood Anemone
usually grows higher among the mountains (Flora of Mentone, etc.).
Anemone alpina L.

Rootstock thick, and extending into a long, fibrous tap-root.
Stem 6-18 inches high. Root-leaves ternate, bipinnatifid, with

52 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

deeply cut segments. Involucral bracts ternate, shortly stalked,
and resembling the root-leaves. Flowers solitary, white, often
tinged with blue below, large, but variable in size, and blossoming
before the leaves are fully developed. Sepals usually 6. Carpels,
as well as the very long awn or beard, villous. The heads of feathery
seeds of this and A. sulphur ea form conspicuous objects in late
summer. The seeds are at first reddish brown, and arranged spirally,
and they all turn upwards stiffly ; then they gradually bend hori-
zontal and downwards, and the colour becomes a dull mauve.

Pastures and rough ground on steep slopes in the Alps and sub-
Alps, especially on calcareous soil. May to July, remaining till
August in the higher situations.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central and Western Alps,
Vosges, Jura, Auvergne, Erzgebirge, Pyrenees, Corsica, Caucasus,
North America.

Anemone sulphur ea L. (Plate V.)

Probably only a variety of A. alpina, but usually growing on
'the older siliceous and granite rocks. The flowers are a pale, clear
yellow colour and often larger than those of the white one.

The habitat and distribution, except as to geological formation,
are fairly similar to the last. The seeds, collected in August usually,
are difficult to germinate, but sometimes come up the second year
when sown in the autumn in good, peaty soil, watered with a fine
spray, and screened from the sun in a greenhouse or cold frame.

As suggested in the Gardeners' Chronicle in 1910, and in Alpine
Plants of Europe, we again recommend that this Anemone be tried
in flower beds, and also in turf and rough pastures in parks, etc.,
for clumps of these beautiful flowers would look remarkably well.
But the plant dislikes lime, and probably for that reason it does
not appear to be found in the Jura mountains. Specimens with
double flowers were recorded many years ago from between Saas
and Monte Moro, having been found by the Rev. T. Butler near the
Mattmark See.

Anemone vernalis L.

Stem 3-5 inches high, silky. Leaves pinnate, shaggy ; leaflets
broadly wedge-shaped, in 2-3 pairs, 3-cleft, the divisions ovate,
entire, or 2-3 toothed. Involucre of 3 sessile, multipinnate bracts,
villous, with yellowish red hairs. Flowers large, nearly erect.
Sepals connivent, white within, reddish, and finally bluish on the
outside, villous, with yellowish red hairs. Carpels oblong, villous,
with long plumose beak. It opens its flowers immediately after
the snow has melted, but when fertilised they are usually closed
again.

Dry Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, 3500-9000 feet. April to
July. Rather local and preferring siliceous soil.

Pl.ATK V.

i. LINARIA ALPINA. 2. LINARIA PETR/KA.
4. POLVGALA CHAM.tBUXUS.
6. ANEMONE PULSATILLA.

4/7 XATUKAL SIZE.

ERIOPHORUM VAGINATUM.
DIAXTHUS SUPERBUS.
ANEMONE SULPHUREA.

RANUNCULACE^: 53

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees,
Riesengebirge, Alsace-Lorraine, North Germany, Carpathians,
Scandinavia, Siberia. In Norway it reaches the limit of eternal
snow.

Anemone Halleri All.

Stem taller than the last. Plant villous, with white, shining
glandular hairs. Leaves pinnate, with segments in 2-3 pairs,
pinnatifid, the lobes 2-3 cleft ; ultimate segments entire or 3-cleft.
Bracts of involucre sessile, linear-lanceolate, very hairy. Flowers
usually pale violet, rarely white or rose-coloured, large, erect, solitary.
Sepals 6, elliptic, silky outside. Carpels with long plumose beard.

Southern slopes and dry pastures at about 5000 feet, though
occasionally descending lower. It usually blooms in May and June.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern Alps, Switzerland (only
in Valais), Savoy, Dauphiny, Provence, Italian Alps, Poland,
Southern Bohemia.

Anemone Pulsatilla L. Pasque-flower. (Plate V.)

A smaller plant than the last. Leaves deeply cut into linear

segments, and the whole plant very hairy. Flowers large, solitary,

erect or finally drooping, purple. Carpels with a long plumose

beard. A very acrid plant with medicinal properties.

Dry, stony, sunny places, especially on chalk and limestone.

It frequents the lower hills rather than the mountains. March to

May.
Distribution. — Almost all Europe ; Siberia. In Britain confined

to a few chalk hills in the south and east of England. Local in

Switzerland.

Anemone montana Hoppe.

Plant 6-12 inches high, covered at first with silky hairs, later
almost glabrous. Leaves with linear segments. Petiole broadened
into a sheath at the base. Flowers solitary, dark violet, drooping,
very silky outside ; bell-shaped at first, star-shaped later, darker
in colour and smaller than those of A. Pulsatilla. Rarely the
flowers are blue, rose or whitish.

Sunny, stony places on the hills and lower Alps up to about
6500 feet — local. March and April. Autumn flowering specimens
were found by the author near Sierre in the Rhone valley in 1911.

Distribution. — Switzerland, Dauphiny, Auvergne, S. Tyrol and
Transylvania.

ADONIS L. Pheasant's Eye.

Characters those of Ranunculus, except that the petals have
no nectary, though often deeply coloured at the base, and the
seed is suspended and not erect, in the carpel. Leaves with very
narrow7 segments.

54 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

A small genus, chiefly confined to Southern Europe and Western
Asia.

Adonis vernalis L.

Stem about a foot high, almost glabrous ; lower leaves reduced
to scales, the others herbaceous, multifid, with linear segments.
Flowers pale yellow, large, petals 10-15, lanceolate or oblong.
Carpels oval, rounded, pubescent, with short recurved beak. Sepals
pubescent.

Dry pastures, stony or wooded. April, May.

Distribution. — In several places in the Valais ; Cevennes, Alsace,
Spain, Central and South-Eastern Europe.

Both the late A. W. Bennett, in his Flora of the Alps, and F. E.
Hulme, in Familiar Swiss Flowers, were in error in stating that
this is a weed in cultivated ground in Switzerland. If on cultivated
land it has been planted for sale in the market.

Adonis pyrenaica DC.

Stem about a foot high, slightly hairy ; leaves all herbaceous,
the lower ones large and longly petioled, 3-4 pinnate with linear
segments. Flowers bright yellow ; petals 10-15 oboval. Carpels
angular, pubescent, with long, tapering, recurved beak.

Rock and cliffs ; rare, 5000 to 6500 feet in the Eastern Pyrenees.
June, July.

Distribution. — French and Spanish Pyrenees ; and in one or
two places in the Maritime Alps.

Adonis autumnalis L., with deep red petals, often with a black
spot, and A. czstivalis L., with red and sometimes yellow flowers
and glabrous sepals are annuals sometimes found among crops
and in waste places in the mountains ; but they cannot be con-
sidered sub-alpine. We have specimens of A. cestivalis from Mont
Cenis, at about 6300 feet above the sea.

RANUNCULUS L. Buttercup.

Annual or perennial herbs, sometimes entirely aquatic. Leaves
entire or more or less divided. Flowers usually yellow or white.
Sepals 5, very rarely 3. Petals 5 or more, each with a thickened
hollow spot at the base, often covered by a minute scale. Stamens
numerous. Carpels numerous, without awns, in a globular or
oblong head, each with a single ovule attached near its base. A
large genus, spread widely over the temperate regions of the globe,
and even found in the tropics.

Ranunculus aconitifolius L. (Plate VI.)

Rootstock short, premorse, tufted with thick fibres. Stem erect,
1-3 feet, leafy, branched above, 3-many-flowered, flexuous, glabrous
like the leaves or with a few scattered hairs. Root-leaves and lower

RANUNCULACE^E 55

stem-leaves stalked, developing before the flowers, palmate, 3-7
cleft ; segments 2-3 cleft, or undivided, unequally serrate, acute ;
stem-leaves more shortly stalked or sessile, less divided, less serrate.
Flowers forming a terminal cyme. Petals white, obovate, obtuse.
Carpels veined and furrowed, large, glabrous, with a short curved
beak. The sepals, which envelop the buds before opening (when
they fall) are a beautiful purplish colour. Very variable, both in
the height of stem and in the numbers of leaves and flowers.
The leaves are thin and dark green.

The variety platanifolius L., commoner in the Eastern Alps, has
a tough, not zigzag stem and glabrous peduncles. In Norway it is
found up to the birch limit.

Wet meadows, borders of streams, and shady, stony places, in
clefts of rocks and by springs in the mountains ; and often brought
down to a low elevation by mountain torrents. June to August.
2000-8000 feet.

In cultivation it does best in cool, damp, rocky places under
trees, and can be associated with such vigorous plants as Adeno-
styles, Achillea macrophylla, Mulgedium alpinum, etc.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central and Western Alps; Carpa-
thians ; Sudetic Mountains ; Black Forest ; Vosges ; Jura ;
Cevennes ; Corbieres and Pyrenees ; Corsica.

Ranunculus crenatus W. et Kit.

Stem erect, 3-6 inches high, usually i-leaved and i-flowered,
glabrous. Leaves roundish cordate or reniform, undivided or
slightly 3-cleft near the apex, crenate ; stem-leaves linear. Flower-
stalk furrowed. Calyx glabrous. Flowers white. Petals obovate,
with wavy margin, crenate. Achenes smooth without any mem-
branous margin, glabrous, globular, drawn out into a striated
hooked beak. August.

Distribution. — Meadows on primitive rocks, 3500-6800 feet, rare ;
Carpathians, Styria, and Eastern Alps.

Ranunculus alpestris L.

Rootstock cylindrical, oblique or vertical, tufted, covered with
thick fibres. Stem erect, 2-4 inches high, leafless or 1-2 leaved,
simple, usually i-flowered, glabrous like the entire plant. Root-
leaves stalked, cordate-rounded or reniform, undivided or digitate,
or cleft and coarsely crenate, appearing before the flowers. Stem-
leaves smaller, linear or wedge-shaped, entire, obtuse, sessile, the
base broader and membranous at the margin, leaves somewhat
rugose, shining on the upper side. Flowers snow-white. Petals
usually 5, obcordate, often 3-lobed. Achenes smooth, glabrous,
with a long-hooked beak.

Locally abundant (especially on calcareous soil) in pastures and
damp, stony places on the Alps from 4600-8500 feet. June, July.

56 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Below the famous Joch Pass, leading from Engelberg to Meiringen,
the damp rocks and stony pastures at about 7000 feet are in July
purple and white with myriads of blossoms of Primula integrifolia
and R. alpestris. But directly one gets west of Switzerland this
buttercup becomes rare.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern and Central Alps ; rarely in
Savoy and Dauphiny ; Jura, Eastern and Central Pyrenees.

R. alpestris can be planted in a mixture of peat, loam, and leaf-
mould, with a little grit added, but the place must be well drained
and with a little shade. Snails must be kept off in the early spring,
as they are fond of eating the crowns when just appearing.

Ranunculus Traunfellneri Hoppe.

Stem 1-3 inches high ; leaves not shining, where it differs chiefly
from A. alpestris, which it resembles, and of which it is sometimes
considered a variety. Leaves veined ; root-leaves 3-partite, reni-
form in outline, the central lobe 3-cleft, the divisions lanceolate.
Stem i-flowered, usually with one leaf ; stem-leaf linear, undivided.
Flower-stalk furrowed. Calyx glabrous. Petals obcordate or
3-lobed, white.

Dry places on limestone, at about 5000 feet ; rare. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern Alps ; Tyrol to Carniola.
Ranunculus montanus Willd.

Stem 4-12 inches high, erect. Root-leaves palmate ; divisions
obovate, 3-cleft, obtusely toothed. Lowermost stem-leaf 5-cleft ;
divisions linear, palmately diverging ; upper stem-leaf 3-cleft.
Flowers 1-3, yellow. Sepals spreading, pubescent. Carpels
marginate, convex on both sides ; beak somewhat curved, very
short. Receptacle bristly.

Alpine and sub-alpine woods and pastures ; 3500-8200 feet.
Common. June to August. Very variable, and with several
named varieties, of which R. Villarsii DC. is a very striking^dwarf
form.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Jura, Black Forest, Corbieres, Pyrenees, Western Asia and W.
Africa.

Ranunculus lanuginosus L.

A tall Buttercup, the size of R. acris. Stems hollow branched,
densely woolly. Leaves hairy beneath, lower ones 5-partite with
broadly obovate lobes, irregularly toothed, the upper leaves
tripartite with lanceolate lobes ; peduncles not furrowed. Flowers
bright yellow. Sepals spreading, hairy ; receptacle glabrous.
Carpels glabrous, with hooked beak nearly half the length of the
carpel.

^Mountain woods, especially in the Conifer zone. June to August.

RANUNCULACE^: 57

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Dept. of the Var, Corsica ; Central
and Southern Europe from Denmark to Italy, Greece and the
Caucasus.

Ranunculus bulbosus, R. acris, and R. repens are often found
in the sub-alpine meadows ; R. acris especially ascending some
distance into the mountains. R. auricomus does not get higher
than the woods of the Swiss foot-hills.

Ranunculus Thora L.

Rootstock with spindle-shaped roots in bundles. Stem 4-12
inches high, 1-5 flowered, simple, glabrous like the whole plant.
Lower stem-leaves sessile or shortly petioled, roundly kidney-
shaped, toothed or crenate-toothed, the next leaves with 3-5 lobes,
and the others lanceolate entire. Flowers small, yellow. Petals 5.
Sepals glabrous. Carpels almost globular, with a short beak.

Steep, stony places in the Alps, in the Pine region and above, up
to 7000 feet. June, July ; not common.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps, Switzerland, Jura,
Savoy, and Dauphiny ; Italian Alps and Central Pyrenees.

Ranunculus scutatus Schott.

This species closely resembles the last, of which it is considered
a variety by some botanists. It is taller and stouter, with more
branched stem and larger flowers.

Its habitat is similar, but it is not found quite so high in* the
Alps. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern Alps (Styria).

CALTHA L.

Flowers regular. Sepals usually 5, large and yellow, petaloid,
no real petals. Stamens numerous. Carpels 5-10 compressed,
each with several seeds.

A very small genus, inhabiting the temperate and cold regions
of both northern and southern hemispheres.

Caltha palustris L. Marsh Marigold.

Stems about a foot long, often rooting at the lower nodes. Leaves
mostly radical, on long stalks, orbicular or kidney-shaped with
cordate base and crenate margin, very glossy. Flowers large and
handsome, bright yellow.

Marshy places, by streams, and damp mountain slopes from the
plains up to 8000 feet, and very abundant in the lower Alps from
3000 to 5000 feet. In Norway to 4300 feet, or above the birch
limit. March to July.

Distribution, — Europe, Temperate Asia, N. America (British).

58 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

TROLLIUS L.

Perennial herbs with divided leaves and yellow or orange flowers.
Sepals 5 to 15, large and petaloid. Real petals small, linear, and
flat. Stamens numerous. Carpels several, each with several seeds.

There are a few species from N. Asia and N. America, besides the
European species.

Trollius europceus L. Globe-flower (Plate X.)

Stem erect, ij-2j feet, simple and i-flowered or branched and
2-3 flowered, glabrous like the whole plant. Leaves palmately
5-cleft, lower ones stalked, upper leaves sessile ; divisions rhom-
boidal, 3-cleft, unequally cut. Sepals yellow, almost closed into
a ball. Follicles glabrous, linear, obliquely wrinkled, turning black
when ripe, seeds black.

Damp Alpine and sub-alpine meadows and mountain declivities,
often in great masses, sometimes extending to 8000 feet in altitude.
In Great Britain it is almost confined to sub-alpine districts in the
north and west ; but it actually descends, or did fifteen years ago,
the valley of the Taff to within a mile or two of the town of Cardiff.
May to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Black Forest, Vosges, Jura, Auvergne, Cevennes ; Corbieres and
Pyrenees ; Europe, especially northern and central, as far as the
Caucasus.

It grows freely in almost any soil, and thrives in a stiff loam with
a moist subsoil. Globe-flowers rarely vegetate until the spring
following the year in which the seeds are sown, but they do not
attain full development until about the fourth year.

HELLEBORUS L. Hellebore.

Perennial herbs with palmately or pedately divided leaves.
Sepals 5, large, often greenish, remaining till the fruit is nearly ripe.
Real petals 8-10, very small, tubular. Stamens numerous. Carpels
several, large, with several seeds.

Helleborus niger L. Christmas Rose.

Rootstock thick, oblique, knobbed, with black fibres. Stem
erect, simple, glabrous like the whole plant, 3-6 inches high, usually
I, rarely 2-flowered, leafless, having 2 or 3 elliptical or ovate bracts
in the upper part. Leaves radical, large, coriaceous, stalked,
pedate, 7-9 cleft ; divisions undivided or 2-3 cleft, linear-lanceolate
or wedge-shaped, acute, toothed. Flowers nodding, handsome,
2-3 inches in diameter, white or rose-tinted, ultimately green. Petals
and stamens yellow. Sepals petaloid, elliptical. Follicle (capsule)
elongate, obliquely veined, with a long beak.

The leaves spring up after the flowers, but remain through the

RANUNCULACE^: 59

following winter. The rootstock contains a narcotic poison of a
very fatal character. It is officinal.

Calcareous sub-alpine woods and rocky, wooded slopes, as high
as the zone of Pinus montanus. January to April.

Distribution. — In Switzerland only in Canton Tessin. It is fre-
quent in woods above Lago Lugano < Carpathians and Central
Europe from Tessin to Roumania.

If deep cultivation is given on planting, Helleborus niger seems
indifferent to subsequent treatment, provided it is not much
disturbed. Lifting and dividing should be done in July, when the
plant is strongest. Though garden specimens are often protected
by a hand frame before and during flowering, the Christmas Rose
sometimes suffers when removed from under glass, for though very
hardy the protection of a glass tends to bring on the young foliage
before its time.

Helleborus viridis L. Green Hellebore.

Plant 10-20 inches high. Radical leaves large, on long stalks,
divided into 7-11 oblong, acute, toothed segments, 3-4 inches long,
the central ones free, the lateral ones connected together at the base.
Flowers 2-4, large, drooping, yellowish green.

Woods and hedges, especially on limestone, and about old
buildings in the plains and hills. March, April.

Distribution. — Western and Central Europe (British).
Helleborus fcetidus L. Foetid Hellebore.

About 2 feet high, robust, with perennial leafy stems. Lower
leaves not all radical, but forming a larger and thicker tuft than in
H. viridis. Segments narrower, less toothed, and more shining.
Flower-stem about a foot high, with a large close panicle of droop-
ing flowers, of a pale green tinged with purple.

Common in stony pastures, chiefly in limestone districts, and
sometimes in great masses on mountain slopes, such as those of the
Jura. February to May.

Distribution. — Western and Central Europe as far as Styria.
Spread through France, but rare in England.

Helleborus lividus Ait. (H. corsicus Willd.).

This handsome species has prickly leaves divided into 3 lanceo-
late segments, and white or rose-coloured flowers with spreading
sepals.

Distribution. — Mountain region of Corsica, Sardinia, and the
Balearic Isles. November to April.

60 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

ERANTHIS Salisb.

A genus of only 5 species inhabiting the mountains of Europe
and Asia. Flowers regular. Sepals petaloid, deciduous. Petals
small, 2-lipped.

Eranthis hiemalis Salisb. Winter Aconite.

Yellow petals and sepals. Flowers solitary and sessile in an in-
volucre of green ' leaves.' Leaves glabrous, shining, appearing
after the flowers, orbicular, but deeply cut into segments. Sepals
petaloid, 5-8. Follicles 5-8, free, divergent, with a beak half their
length.

Damp, wooded places, sometimes extending up to 5000 feet in
the Alps, though very local. February and March. Frequently
naturalised in shrubberies, etc., in Switzerland and Normandy, and
well known in English gardens. Even in 1633 Gerard wrote, "We
have great quantities of it in our London gardens."

Distribution. — Vosges, Jura, Alps of Dauphiny and Provence ;
Central Europe as far as Servia. In Switzerland it is rare, and only
naturalised in orchards, vineyards, etc.

AQUILEGIA L. Columbine.

Perennial herbs with the leaves mostly radical, ternately divided,
with distinct stalked segments or leaflets. Sepals 5, coloured.
Petals 5, each prolonged below into a horn-shaped spur. Stamens
numerous. Carpels 5, each with several seeds.

A small genus, spread over the temperate regions of the northern
hemisphere, especially in hilly districts.

Aquilegia alpina L. Alpine Columbine.

Stem 1-2 feet high, 1-3 flowered. Leaves doubly ternate ;
leaflets deeply incised and 3-cleft, crenate. Flowers very large, the
petaloid sepals broadly ovate, deep blue, the spur of the nectary
somewhat curved. Petals 5, broad, paler blue, rather longer than
the stamens. Follicles 5, densely hairy.

One of the most handsome plants of the Alps. Mr. Reginald
Farrer says of it in My Rock Garden, page 46 : " The flowers,
dancing high on airy stems, are of enormous size, most exquisitely,
daintily balanced, and of a soft, melting blue quite impossible to
describe — a colour deep yet gentle, brilliant yet modest, perfectly
clear and yet not flaunting." The same writer, in speaking of the
cultivation of Columbines, tells us : " The essential is to give them
perfect, quick drainage, and then a soil both rich and light. They
dislike, too, being battered by winds and weather when they are
coming up. The best that we can do is to remember how they
lodge and dodge behind bushes on their native hills when they can,
and give them some such similar protection in the garden."

RANUNCULACE^: 61

Rocky, bushy places and escarpments in the Alps ; 4500-6500
feet. July, August. Scattered and generally rare.

Distribution. — Switzerland, where it attains its eastern limit in
the Engadine ; Alps of Savoy, Dauphiny, and Provence ; Mont
Ventoux and Northern Italy.

Aquilegia Einseleana F. Schulz (A. pyrenaica Koch, not DC.).

Stem 6-12 inches high, tender, more or less covered with viscid,
glandular hairs, especially above. Leaves glabrous, once or twice
ternate, leaflets obovate-spathulate, 2-3 lobed, with rounded entire
or slightly indented lobes. Flowers about I inch broad, purple.
Spur of corolla nearly straight at the apex or curved, but not
rolled up. Receptacle rounded, as long as or longer than the
stamens.

Rocky places in the lower Alps up to 5000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Upper Bavaria, Tyrol (Salzburg), Carinthia, etc.
Aquilegia pyrenaica DC., not Koch.

Stem about a foot high, very slender, almost naked, with 1-3
flowers. Leaves small, 2- or 3-ternate, with entire or divided
leaflets. Flowers blue, rather large, but smaller than those of
A. alpina. Petals with rounded lip. Spur slender, straight, slightly
longer than the lip. Follicles rather small (12-15 mill.).

Rocks and debris-strewn slopes in the Alpine and sub-alpine
region. July, August.

Distribution. — French and Spanish Pyrenees.
Aquilegia Reuteri Boiss.

Stem iJ-2 feet high, simple or slightly branched, often rather
viscid, as several of the Aquilegias are, leafy, with 1-5 flowers.
Radical leaves biternate, with deeply incised lobes ; stem-leaves
with several linear lobes or entire. Flowers clear blue, in a narrow
panicle, shortly peduncled. Petals with lip rounded or sub-truncate.
Spur curved back into a hook, equalling the lip in length. Stamens
as long as the lip. Follicles small.

Woods and rocky places in the Western Alps. June, July.

Distribution. — Western Alps only, as Hautes-Alpes, Basses-
Alpes, Maritime Alps, Var, Liguria, and Piedmont ; abundant in
some of the Ligurian and Maritime Alps, at from 2400 to 5500 feet,
where it takes the place of A. alpina.

Aquilegia vulgaris L. Common Columbine.

Stem 2-3 feet high, pubescent, branched above. Lower leaves
longly petioled, usually biternate, with broad incised segments ;
upper leaves sessile, with lobes often entire. Flowers purple,
rarely white or rose, large, longly peduncled.

Woody places and rough hilly pastures, especially on lime-
stone, from the plains up to 5000 feet. May to July.

62 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Distribution. — Nearly all Europe ; Siberia, Himalaya. In-
digenous in parts of the British Isles, but often introduced.
Aquilegia atrata Koch.

This is probably a variety of the Common Columbine, with
violet-black flowers about an inch in diameter, which occasionally
grows at about 5000 feet in the Italian Maritime Alps and the
Jura, and flowers in June and July. The stamens are longer than
in the common Aquilegia.

Hoffmann speaks of its being " widely, and in some places
abundantly, distributed over the Alps and sub-Alps, and regarded
by many botanists as an Alpine form of the Common Columbine " ;
but he and some other botanists include in this category the
ordinary mountain plants with " purple-brown " flowers, which
are so common and so decorative in many Alpine pastures, as e.g.
those about Engelberg.

The Alpine species of Aquilegia are rather more difficult to
cultivate than the common one, and they are best sown from seed
in spring obtained direct from the Alps, pricked out into pans
or a cold frame, and planted in early autumn in deep, well-drained
loam with some grit in it. On rockeries they do well in half-shady
but well-drained positions, but A. alpina likes rather more sun.

DELPHINIUM L. Larkspur.

Mostly annual herbs having much divided leaves with narrow
segments. Sepals 5, coloured and spurred. Petals lengthened into
a spur. Carpels 1-5 each with several seeds.

A considerable genus, widely spread over the northern hemi-
sphere without the tropics.

The two following sub-alpine species are perennials and deserve
to be more cultivated in gardens.

Delphinium fissum Waldst. and Kit.

Glabrous or hairy, sometimes a yard high, robust. Leaves
cut into 5-7 linear lobes, trifid, incised-dentate. Petioles dilated
into a sheath at the base. Flower-stalks erect, pubescent, with
two linear bracts near the centre. Flowers bright blue, at first
often tinged with green ; in long spikes. Spur long and pointed.
Petals bifid, the 2 inferior downy at the base. Follicles 3-5, glabrous
or hairy. Seeds numerous, with imbricated scales.

Rocky and shrubby places in the south. June to August.

Distribution. — Hautes-Alpes, Basses-Alpes, Maritime Alps (at
about 2000 feet in the chestnut zone), Var, Bouches-du-Rhone,
Gard, Southern Europe as far as the Caucasus ; Western Asia.

Delphinium elatum L. Alpine Larkspur.

Stem 1-2 yards high, robust. Leaves palmately divided into
5-7 divisions, similar to those of E. fissum, but the lobes less linear,

RANUNCULACE^E 63

and there is no sheath at the base of the petiole. Flowers bright
blue, in long spikes. Petals downy.

Very local, in fresh, stony places in the mountains between 4800
and 6500 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Central Europe (not in the Jura), but including
Carpathians, Silesia, Bohemia and as far as the Caucasus, Provence,
Eastern Pyrenees ; Siberia, India.

Delphinium Consolida L.

Annual. Almost glabrous. Stem slender, 8-18 inches, with
spreading branches ; leaves multifid, with linear segments ; bracts
simple and entire, linear, spike short, few-flowered. Flowers deep
blue, with long spur. Carpels glabrous, solitary. Seeds black.

Among crops on calcareous soil. June to August.

In the sub-Alps this beautiful blue weed is occasionally seen
up to about 4000 feet, as e.g. in a small arable field in the Val
d'Anniviers (Valais), where we saw it again in 1911 after a lapse
of eight years, and in cornfields below Lanslebourg in Savoy.

Distribution. — Nearly all Europe ; Western Asia.

ACONITUM L.

Perennial herbs with much-divided leaves, the segments palmate.
Sepals 5, coloured, the upper one helmet-shaped, the two lateral
broader than the two lower. Petals 2-5, concealed within the
calyx. Stamens numerous. Carpels 3-5, each with several seeds.

A rather small genus inhabiting the mountainous parts of Europe,
Asia, and North America ; though a number of new species have
recently been determined from the Himalaya.

Aconitum Anthora L.

Rootstock with 1-3 globular tubers covered with fibres. Stem
erect, 1-2 feet high, glabrous below, downy above, like the flower-
stalks and calyx. Leaves pedately or palmately 5-9 cleft, usually
glabrous, except the root-leaves ; divisions palmately multisect,
with narrowly linear segments. Flowers in a simple or branched
terminal raceme, yellow. Calyx persistent after withering. Hood
hemispherical and helmet-shaped. Follicle hispid or ultimately
glabrous.

Stony places and pastures in the Alps. July to September.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Jura, Switzerland (Tessin), Eastern
Alps, Corbieres and Pyrenees ; Western Asia.

Aconitum Lycoctonum L.

Stem attaining a yard in height, pubescent, branched. Leaves
deeply palmately cut, with 5-^7 broad segments, incised-dentate.
Flowers pale yellow, in oval, elongated spikes. Sepals pubescent,
soon falling. Hood cylindric-conical, much longer (higher) than

64 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

broad. Follicles 3, glabrous or glabrescent, with seeds striated on
every side.

Woods, gorges, and damp, shady places in the mountains. The
writer has seen this as high as 7750 feet in Dauphiny. Somewhat
polymorphic ; poison. June to August.

Distribution. — Almost all Europe ; Western Asia, India, Morocco.

Aconitum Napellus L. Monkshood.

Tubers 1-3, turnip-like, covered with fibres. Stem erect, 2-5
feet high, lower part glabrous like the leaves, upper part downy
like the flower-stalks and calyx, rarely quite glabrous, leafless
below, densely leafy above. Leaves shiny, palmate, 5-7 cleft.
Segments lozenge-shaped in outline, once or several times divided
with linear or lanceolate acute teeth. Flowers dark violet, very
rarely purple, light blue, or white, in a terminal, elongated, crowded,
simple, cylindrical raceme, rarely branched at the base into a pan-
icle. Calyx deciduous. Hood obliquely hemispherical ; claw of
the two upper petals nearly semicircular, bent forwards, with hori-
zontal or deflected cap. Spur capitate, somewhat bent. Follicles
glabrous, less often downy, at first spreading, afterwards parallel.

Woods and damp meadows and pastures in the Alps and sub-
Alps, especially by the herdmen's huts, descending streams into
the plains ; 3000-8200 feet. June to August. Polymorphic,
poisonous, and medicinal.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Riesengebirge, Eastern, Central, and
Western Alps ; Jura, Vosges, Black Forest ; Erzgebirge, locally
in Germany as for as Holstein ; France (except West and South),
Central Asia, Siberia. In Britain in woods and by streams in South
Wales and the south-west of England.

Aconitum paniculatum L.

Rootstock with tubers like turnips. Stem 2-4 feet high, very
leafy, flexuous, pubescent at the top. Leaves not shining, shortly
stalked, more broadly and coarsely divided than in the last. Raceme
more leafy, rarely quite simple, frequently paniculate from the
branching of the lower branches. Flowers violet, often paler or
white or greenish towards the base, very rarely quite white or
blue. Hood handsome, i-i J inches, but variable in size and height.
In the same inflorescence are often flowers in which the two upper
petals have straight and curved claws, and the hood is erect,
oblique or nearly horizontal. Follicles 4, glabrous, spreading.

Damp woods and thickets, and occasionally on more open moun-
tain sides, generally at about 5000 feet altitude. July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Erzgebirge, Jura (rare), Alps of
Savoy and Dauphiny ; Central Europe as far east as Roumania.

4/7 NATURAL SIZE.

PLATE VI.

i. POLVC.OXUM VIVIPARUM. 2. RANUNCULUS ACONITIFOLIUS.

3. POLYCIONUM BISTORTA. 4. PARNASSIA PALUSTRIS.

5. SOLUANKLLA ALPINA. 6. ACHILLEA MACROPHYLLA.

7. THESIU-M ALPINU.M.

RANUNCULACE^E 65

All these Aconitums can be easily naturalised in shrubberies
or copses, or in the bushier and more shady positions of large rock-
gardens.

ACTJEA. L.

Flowers nearly regular, small. Leaves chiefly radical, with
distinct segments. Sepals 4, small, petal-like. Petals 4, small,
clawed. Stamens numerous, with small anthers. Carpel solitary,
becoming a berry when ripe.

A small genus, spread over the northern hemisphere.

Actcea spicata L. Baneberry.

Rootstock thick, blackish. Stem 1-2 feet high, glabrous, with
2 or 3 leaves in the upper part. Leaves large, thin, 2-3 ternate,
with oval-acuminate leaflets, incised-dentate. Flowers white,
small, in a short terminal raceme. Corolla regular, with 4 petaloid
sepals, easily falling. Petals 4, almost invisible. Stigma sessile.
Berry ovoid, green, and finally black and shining, with numerous
seeds.

Damp, stony woods and steep, bushy declivities in sub-alpine
districts up to 5000 feet. May to July. Poisonous.

Distribution. — Nearly all Europe from the Pyrenees to the
Caucasus, and Norway, where it reaches the fir limit ; Siberia,
Himalaya. In Britain in the north.

L. Paeony.

Flowers solitary, red, regular. Petals numerous, very large.
Sepals 5, green, herbaceous. Stamens numerous, inserted on a
fleshy disc. Carpels 2-5, large. Leaves large, with distinct segments
and chiefly radical.

A genus of very few species, indigenous in Southern Europe
and temperate Asia.

Pceonia peregrina Miller (P. officinalis L.).

Stem 1-2 feet high, simple, glabrous. Leaves 2-3 ternate,
with rather narrow segments divided into 2-3 lobes, hairy under-
neath. Petals oboval, rose coloured, very large. Anthers shorter
than the filaments. Follicles 2-3, glabrous or with tomentum,
more or less divergent, and spreading at maturity.

Limestone woods and pastures of southern mountains, growing
at from 3250 to 4200 feet on the mountains behind Mentone (Mog-
gridge), and up to 6000 feet in the Ligurian Alps. Very local.
May, June.

Distribution. — Provence, Languedoc, Roussillon up to the
Hautes-Alpes and 1'Aveyron ; Southern Europe from Portugal to
Greece. In Switzerland only in Canton Tessin (Generoso, etc.).

This Paeony can be planted in good moist loam at any time
from October to March, and it requires much the same treatment

66 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

as most of the Paeonies. The ground should be well trenched and
manured if grown in quantity.

BERBERIDACE^E

Shrubs or herbs. Stamens opposite the petals, and the same
number as them. Ovary of I carpel, with seeds attached to the
bottom or to one side of the cavity. A small family spread over
the temperate regions and tropical mountains of the globe.

EPIMEDIUM L.

Sepals, petals and stamens 4 each ; flowers in a very loose raceme.
Epimedium alpinum L.

Rootstock rampant. Stem erect, i-i J feet. Root-leaves scaly ;
stem-leaves biternate ; leaflets petioled, oval, heart-shaped at the
base, with aristate teeth. Flowers in a loose panicle, hairy-glan-
dular, yellow, with blood-red centre.

Groves and thickets. April, May. Occasionally seen in parts
of Switzerland, but, as in Britain, sub-spontaneous and an escape
from gardens. Not found in France.

Distribution. — Tyrol, Carniola, South and S.E. of Europe.

BERBERIS L. Barberry.

Shrubs, with usually prickly leaves. Sepals 8 or 9, yellow,
outer sepals minute. Petals 6, in 2 series, with honeyed glands
at the base. Stamens 6. Fruit a berry. A genus of numerous
species indigenous chiefly in Asia and America. Many exotic
species are cultivated in English gardens ; some, belonging to a
section with pinnate leaves, are occasionally classed as a genus
called Mahonia.

Berberis vulgaris L. Common Barberry.

A glabrous shrub with yellow wood, 6 or 8 feet in height, the
branches armed with 3-lobed thorns at the base of the tufts of
leaves. Leaves alternate or clustered, obovate, sharply toothed.
Flowers yellow, in elegant drooping racemes. Berries small, oblong,
acid, green, and then yellow, and finally bright red.

Hedges, open woods and hillsides from the plains up to 5000
feet, the colouring of the berries in^early autumn being a beautiful
sight. The flowers appear in May and June.

Distribution. — Nearly all Europe, and extending from temperate
Asia to the Himalaya. But it has been so frequently planted that
in Europe its real limits cannot easily be determined. In Britain
it is scattered, but doubtfully indigenous.

PAPAVERACE^: 67

Berberis cetnensis Roem. et Schult.

A smaller shrub, much branched and usually decumbent. Leaves
ovate-oblong, stiff, very finely serrated at the edge. Thorns very
strong, often longer than the leaves. Flowers in short clusters.
Berries bluish black when ripe.

Distribution. — Mountains of Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, flower-
ing in May and June.

NYMPH/BAGE^E

Flowers regular. Stamens numerous. Stigma sessile on the
many-celled ovary. A small family of aquatic plants, with large
handsome flowers and floating leaves. About 35 species growing
in the waters of almost the whole globe.

Castalia alba (White Water-lily) and Nymphcea lutea, the Yellow
Water-lily, are found in lakes "and ponds in the lowlands of Switzer-
land, etc., and Nymphaa pumila Hoffm. is much less common in
mountain lakes in Switzerland, Tyrol, Carinthia, and the Vosges.
It is smaller than the Common Yellow Water-lily, with much
smaller flowers, unguiculate petals, and oblong, slightly peltate
leaves.

PAPAVERACE.E

Herbs with alternate leaves and milky juice. Flowers regular,
usually of 4 petals. Sepals usually 2. Stamens indefinite. Ovules
parietal. A family represented in the Alps and sub-Alps by very
few species.

Papaver alpinum L. Alpine Poppy.

Root tapering, with prostrate, scaly branches and loosely tufted.
Stem erect, simple, leafless, i-flowered, hispid, like the whole plant.
Leaves all radical, stalked, doubly pinnate. Segments linear
lanceolate or wedge-shaped, entire. Flowers white with yellow
centre, or yellow or orange when on granite soil. Stamens subulate.
Capsules obovate, with stiff adpressed hairs.

Principally on limestone, or on granitic debris of the high Alps
(5500-9000 feet), and sometimes descending into the valleys and
beds of streams. June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Carpathians,
Balkans, Apennines ; high mountains of Europe from Spain to
Norway ; Northern and Central Asia.

In Switzerland it is represented by two sub-species : P. Burseri
Crantz, a glabrous form found in the Alps of Gruyere, Chateau
d'Oex, etc. ; and P. Sendtneri Kerner, a hairy form with less cut
leaves, which also grows above Chateau d'Oex and on Pilatus, etc.

The Arctic or Iceland Poppy (P. nudicaulis) is very similar to

68 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

P. alpinum ; and P. pyrenaicum Willd. is only a fornvof P. alpinum,
though formerly some botanists considered it a distinct species.

Papaver aurantiacum Loisel. (P. rhceticum Leresche).

Flowers yellow or orange. Leaves pinnatifid; segments thick,
oval or broadly lanceolate, hairy. Flowering stem very hairy.
Sepals covered with dark brown hairs. Capsule obovate, hispid,
with erect, silky hairs.

Moraines and debris, especially on limestone. July, August.

Distribution. — In Switzerland in the Engadine and Valais, rare ;
Tyrol (Salzburg) and Carinthia.

The Alpine and Iceland Poppies are easily grown from seed,
and they adapt themselves to any part of the rockery in sandy
loam. The plants are best left undisturbed.

MECONOPSIS Viguier.

Ovary ovoid, with a short style and slightly dilated stigma of
4-6 rays. Capsule opening at the top in as many short valves, the
placentas inside lining the cavity, but not projecting to the centre.

A small genus containing, besides the European species, a few
from Central Asia and North- West America.

Meconopsis cambrica Vig. Welsh Poppy.

Rootstock perennial, and forming large tufts, with thick tapering
roots. Stems erect, about a foot high. Leaves on long stalks, pale
green and slightly hairy, pinnate, the segments usually distinct,
ovate or lanceolate, toothed or lobed. Flowers large, pale yellow,
on long peduncles. Capsules narrow, ovate or oblong, glabrous.

Rocky woods and shady places in hilly districts. June-August.

Distribution. — Western Europe from Spain to Ireland, including
the Pyrenees, Central Plateau of France, Wales, and Western
England. Probably not in Switzerland.

CHELIDONIUM L.

Leaves much divided. Flowers yellow. Ovary i -celled. Capsule
linear, valves thin. Only 2 species. They extend from Europe
to Japan.

Chelidonium majus L. Greater Celandine.

Though more strictly a plant of the plains, this well-known herb,
with yellow flowers and handsome leaves and yellow juice, is not
infrequently met with in the sub-alpine region, though even there
it is usually in the neighbourhood of houses as, e.g. close to the
villages of Evolene and Zinal in the Valais. The recently published
coloured prints of Chelidonium, after the beautiful work of Albrecht
Diirer 400 years ago, show the accuracy of form and colour that
great master possessed.

FUMARIACE^: 69

FUMARIACE^:

Flowers irregular. Sepals 2, deciduous. Petals 4, one or two
of them gibbous or spurred. Stamens 6, in two bundles of -3 each.
Ovary i -celled. A small family, chiefly of western distribution.

CORYDALIS DC.

Flowers usually larger than in Fumaria, white, yellow, or purple ;
one petal only spurred. Fruit a 2-valved capsule, or narrow pod,
many-seeded.

The species are spread over Europe, Temperate Asia, and North
America, and many are handsome plants.

Corydalis cava Miller.

Root tuberous, hollow. Stem 8-18 inches high, with I or 2
deeply cut leaves, with no scale beneath as in C. fabacea. Flowers
purple, lilac, white, or mottled, with thick curved spur.

Orchards, hedges, and copses, in colonies in the plains and hills,
but local in Switzerland. April, May.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, from Portugal to
the Caucasus, and Sweden.

Corydalis fabacea Pers. (C. intermedia Ehrh.).

Tuber solid, bulb-shaped. Stem shorter than the last, with 1-2
leaves, having a scale below. Leaflets less cut up. Flowers purple,
in a shorter terminal spike, nearly sessile, and with straight spur.

Woods and bushy places in the Alps and sub-Alps. April, May.

Distribution. — Ardennes, Vosges, Jura, Switzerland, Savoy,
Dauphiny, Corsica, Central Europe from Sweden to Southern
Russia.

Corydalis solida Swartz (C. bulbosa DC.).

Tuber solid, like a small bulb. Plant about the height of the first
species, with 2-4 leaves, with 1-3 scales. Leaves twice ternate, with
small incised lobes. Flowers purple, on longer stalks, spur straight.
Flowers in a dense panicle which gets elongated after flowering.
Peduncle as long as the capsule.

Hedges, hilly woods, and meadows, very local in Switzerland.
March to May.

Distribution. — Western Switzerland, Jura, Vosges, Pyrenees,
Central and Southern Europe, Northern and Western Asia. Not
uncommon in the mountains of the Var, and extending almost
throughout France.

Corydalis claviculata DC.

This pretty climbing plant, with very pale yellow or nearly
white flowers, is not found in Switzerland, though in the Department

70 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

of Hautes-Alpes ; but it grows in bushy places among the siliceous
hills in the Pyrenees and Western Europe from Portugal to the
South- West of Norway, and in Britain.

CRUCIFER.E

Herbs or rarely under-shrubs with alternate leaves, and no
stipules. The flowers in terminal racemes, which are usually very
short, but lengthen out as flowering advances. Sepals 4. Petals 4,
equal, or the two outer larger. Stamens 6, of which two are generally
shorter. Ovary solitary, 2-celled. Style single, often very short,
with a capitate or 2-lobed stigma. Fruit a pod, divided into 2 cells
by a thin partition, from which the valves generally separate at
maturity ; or, in a few genera, the pod is i-celled and indehiscent,
or separates into several transverse joints.

An extensive family widely spread over the globe, but chiefly in
the northern hemisphere. The characters of the genera are chiefly
derived from the pod and seed ; therefore to name a Crucifer it is
almost necessary to have the specimen in fruit.

ARABIS L.

Annuals or perennials, usually erect and hairy, at least at their
base, with a spreading tuft of radical leaves, which are occasionally
lobed ; the stem-leaves undivided, sessile or clasping the stem.
Flowers white or purple. Pods long and linear, the stigma nearly
sessile, the valves flat or slightly convex. Seeds more or less
flattened, often winged.

A large genus spread over the temperate regions of the northern
hemisphere.

Arabis alpina L. Alpine Rock-cress.

Stem 3-12 inches high, covered like the leaves with forked hairs.
Leaves coarsely toothed, often with a wavy margin ; root-leaves
wedge-shaped ; stem-leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate. Petals
white, rather large, 3 lines long. Siliquas spreading, flat, about an
inch long. Seed surrounded by a narrow membranous rim. Very
polymorphic. Leaves thin and glabrescent when in shady places
under rocks or trees.

Damp rocky places, especially on limestone in the Alps and
sub-Alps up to 10,000 feet, and often descending to the plains in
the beds of streams. May to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Auvergne, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corsica, Riesengebirge, Harz
and Westphalia, Scandinavia (to above the birch limit), Siberia,
Himalaya.

Easily cultivated from seed in sandy loam, as indeed many

CRUCIFER^E 71

species of Arabis are. In August, 1911, the writer found A. alpina
growing as high as 10,500 feet on the north ridge of the Diablons
in Valais.

Arabis arenosa Scop.

Biennial. Stems 6-12 inches high, slender, branched, hairy like
the whole plant. Root-leaves lyrate - pinnatifid ; upper leaves
few, dentate or entire. Flowers pale pink or lilac or rarely white.
Sepals gibbous. Siliquas spreading, slender, forming a loose,
spreading raceme.

Sandy places among rocks, local. Rare in Switzerland ; got at
Engelberg in 1910. April to July.

Distribution. — Northern and Central Switzerland, Central Jura,
Vosges, Central France, Bulgaria.

A few Swiss specimens with pale lilac flowers have developed
pure white blossoms in a West of England garden.

Arabis stricta Huds. (A. scabra All.) Bristol Rock-cress.

Stem 3—10 inches, erect, simple, covered with hispid hairs like
the leaves. Leaves leathery, shining, dark green and occasionally
purplish, ciliated, wavy, with a few rounded teeth ; radical leaves
in a dense rosette ; cauline leaves 1-3, sessile, not auricled. Flowers
a dirty white. Sepals as long as the pedicels. Fruiting-spike short,
with widely erect pedicels. Siliqua erect, compressed. Seeds
truncate and slightly winged at the summit.

Rocks, cliffs, and debris on limestone in the lower Alps and plains.
May to July.

Distribution. — East and South of France, Switzerland (Common
on the Saleve near Geneve), Jura, Pyrenees, Spain. On carbon-
iferous limestone rocks and screes near Bristol on both sides of the
Avon.

Arabis bellidifolia Jacq.

A glabrous and shining plant, or sometimes sparsely covered
with simple hairs. Stem 6-20 inches high, erect, simple, leafy.
Leaves thick ; the root-leaves oblong-spathulate, slightly wavy ;
the stem-leaves oval or oblong, entire or toothed, half-embracing
the stem. Flowers white. Side sepals 'swollen at the base, shorter
than the pedicel. Anthers oblong. Fruiting-spike elongated, with
erect pedicels. Siliquas long, numerous, erect, much compressed,
seeds broadly winged.

Springs and damp pastures in the high mountains, commonest
at about 5000-6000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Pyrenees, Norway.

72 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Arabis pumila Wulf.

Root tapering, branched, with several crowns ; root-crowns often
resembling stolons, tufted. Stem erect or ascending, 3-5 inches
high, simple, glabrous, or with fine hairs below. Leaves entire or
slightly toothed, acute or obtuse, with simple and forked hairs, or
only ciliate ; root-leaves in a rosette, obovate or wedge-shaped,
gradually narrowed below ; stem-leaves linear or lanceolate, sessile.
Petals white, obovate-lanceolate, patent. Seed-vessel erect, com-
pressed. Seed surrounded by a membranous ring half the width
of the seed.

Rocks and stony places in the calcareous Alps up to 8200 feet,
often descending to the sub-alpine region. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Alps, and Apennines.
Arabis perfoliata L. (Turritis glabra Lamk.).

A biennial, glabrous and glaucous plant 2 to 3 feet high, robust.
Stem pubescent at the base. Radical leaves downy, dentate-
sinuate, in a rosette which soon withers ; stem-leaves entire,
glabrous, auricled at the base. Flowers yellowish white. Sepals
equalling the pedicels. Frui ting-spike very long, narrow, and
crowded. Siliquas long, compressed. Style very short.

Hedges, woods, and pastures. May to July.

Distribution. — Almost all Europe ; local in Switzerland and
Britain ; Western Asia as far as the Himalaya ; North America.

Arabis Turrita L. Tower Cress.

A tall, stiff, erect biennial, rough and hoary, with short stellate
or forked hairs. Radical leaves spreading and stalked ; stem-
leaves oblong-lanceolate, sessile, and clasping the stem by their
rounded auricles, all slightly toothed. Flowers small, dirty yellowish
white. Pods 3 inches long, on short erect pedicels, all curved down-
wards to one side, in a long, dense, nodding raceme.

Rocks and stony woods on limestone mountains. May to July.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe including the Jura
and Switzerland ; Western Asia, Algeria, Australian Alps.

Introduced into Britain on walls at Oxford, Cambridge, etc.

Arabis hirsuta, A. muralis Bert., A. auriculata Lamk., A. saxatilis
AIL, and A. arcuata Shuttle., are also occasionally met with in the
sub-Alps of Switzerland and Central Europe.

Arabis serpyllifolia Vill.

Stem flexuose, and, like the leaves, whitish grey from branched
hairs. Leaves narrowly ovate, entire, or slightly dentate ; radical
leaves prolonged into a leaf-stalk ; stem-leaves sessile. Flowers
white. Siliquas on short stalks, somewhat spreading, scarcely
broader than the stalk, long, flattened, with a somewhat prominent
midrib and lateral nerves, Seed not winged.

CRUCIFER^: 73

Rocks in the calcareous and lower Alps up to 6000 feet. June
to July.
Distribution. — Jura; Central and Western Alps.

NASTURTIUM R.Br.

Capsule not more than 3 times as long as broad, long-stalked,
and usually curved. Flowers small, white or yellow. Sepals equal,
spreading. Leaves pinnatifid.

Glabrous annuals or perennials, widely spread over the whole
area of the family (Cruciferae).

Nasturtium pyrenaicum R.Br.

Stem 6-12 inches. Root-leaves long-stalked, oval, simple, or
auricled ; lower stem-leaves lyrate, the upper ones deeply pinnatifid.
Petals yellow, nearly twice as long as the sepals. Siliqua one third
the length of its pedicel.

Damp, sandy places from the plains up to 5500 feet, very local.
May to August.

Distribution. — Central and southern Europe, Pyrenees, Switzer-
land, Vosges, Valley of Elbe, Baden, Alsace, widely spread in France
except in the north.

CARDAMINE L.

Annual or perennial herbs, usually glabrous. Leaves pinnate or,
if undivided, on long stalks. Flowers white or pink. Stigma
capitate or small. Pod narrow-linear ; the valves flat, without any
conspicuous midrib.

A large genus, widely spread over the temperate and colder
regions of both northern and southern hemispheres.

Cardamine trifolia L.

Rootstock slender, stoloniferous, knotted. Stem slender, naked
or with one small leaf. Leaves ternate ; leaflets rounded, petioled
almost equal, thick, shining, crenate. Flowers white. Anthers
yellow. Fruiting-spike short, erect. Plant with creeping runners.

Damp and shady places in lower mountains. April to June.

Distribution. — Eastern Alps, Bavaria, Bohemia, Silesia ; Central
Europe from the Jura to Italy, and Transylvania. Very local in
Switzerland (Chasseral, Bex, etc.), and in France only known from
Mont Pouillerel in the Jura.

On rockeries it is easily grown in shady places and, owing to its
creeping habit, it soon covers a large area, and must be kept in
check.

Cardamine asarifolia L.

A glabrous, bright green plant. Stem leafy, i-ij feet high.
Leaves all simple, cordate-orbicular, coarsely dentate, shining.

74 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Flowers white, rather large. Anthers violet. Pods erect, twice as
long as the stalk.

Damp, stony places in the mountains, especially by streams.

July.

Distribution. — Basses-Alpes, and both French and Italian Mari-
time Alps, Piedmont, Tyrol, Spain. In Switzerland, near Poschiavo.

Easily cultivated in wet, stony places, but not often seen in
gardens, though a very distinct plant. It does not object to the
shade of trees or rocks.

Cardamine latifolia Vahl.

Similar in habit and culture to the last species, from which it
differs in having lyrate leaves with 3-7 large leaflets which are
shortly stalked ; the terminal leaflet is larger and suborbicular.
The flowers are lilac and the anthers yellow. The pods are erect,
more spreading, and on longer stalks than in A . asarifolia.

Springs and rivulets in the lower mountains (at about 3500 feet
in the Eastern Pyrenees). May to July.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Corbieres, Spain, N. Italy.

Cardamine pratensis L. (Cuckoo-flower), C. amara L. (flowers
white, anthers violet), C. impatiens L., C. fie%uosa With, (with
zigzag stem), are four British species spread throughout the plains
of Switzerland, and often seen in damp mountainous woods or
meadows up to 5000 feet, both in the Alps and Eastern Pyrenees.

Cardamine bulbifera Crantz (Dentaria bulbifera L.). Coralroot.

Rootstock scaly, whitish. Stem weak, 1-2 feet high, bearing
several leaves, often with a small ovoid bulbil at their axil ; lower
leaves pinnate with 5 or 7 segments, the upper ones with fewer
segments or quite undivided ; all segments lanceolate, entire, or
toothed, iJ-2 inches long. Flowers few, rather large, bright lilac,
rarely white. The pod is seldom formed, as the plant is propagated
by the axillary bulbils falling to the ground and growing.

Woods and shady places in the plains and hills. April to June.

Distribution. — Spread over Continental Europe from Scandinavia
and the north of France to the Caucasus. In England in some of the
' home counties.'
Cardamine pentaphylla R. Br. (Dentaria digitata Lamk.).

This is a smaller plant with no bulbils. The leaves are digitate
and divided into 3-5 leaflets, which are oblong-lanceolate and
toothed irregularly. Flowers rose or lilac. Siliqua erect, spreading.
Rootstock fleshy, scaly.

Figured in Curtis's Bot. Mag., tab. 2202 (1821).

Mountain woods. May, June.

Distribution. — Widely spread in Switzerland, and in France from
the Jura and Vosges to the Pyrenees ; Central and Southern Europe.

CRUCIFER^E 75

Cardamine pinnata R.Br. (Dentaria pinnata Lamk.).

Rootstock scaly, obtuse. Stem stout > I J-2 feet. Leaves pinnate,
with 5-9 leaflets which are opposite, ovate-lanceolate, and irregu-
larly toothed. No bulbils. Flowers large, lilac, rose, or white.
Petals 3 times longer than the calyx. Siliqua and pedicels erect,
spreading.

Mountain woods in Switzerland, Central and Southern Europe
from Spain to Styria. Coste says, " Not in the west or north of
France and rare in the south." l April to June.

Cardamine polyphylla O. E. Schulz (Dentaria polyphylla Waldst.
and Kit.).

Rootstock scaly. Stem with 2-4 leaves and 7-14 flowers. Leaves
pinnatisect, with lanceolate segments, very acuminate, and with
sharp teeth. Petals yellowish white.

Bushy places among mountains, rather rare, up to 5000 feet.
April to May.

Distribution. — Switzerland, rarely in a few Cantons only.

In Switzerland Dentaria digitata is the commonest of the four
species found in the country. In Tyrol and the Eastern Alps
several other species occur in the lower mountains, viz. D. cunea-
phyllos L. with yellowish white petals and ternate leaves in whorls
of three ; D. alternifolia Hausm. with yellowish white flowers and
ternately-digitate leaves, and D. intermedia Sond. with lilac or
white flowers and leaves quinately digitate.

The Dentarias, as they are still commonly called, are useful
spring flowers for shrubberies and shady borders. They do well in
sand and peat or in sandy leaf-mould, and can easily be increased
from the small tuber-like roots, or by planting the bulbils of
D. bulbifera.

MATTHIOLA Br. Stock.

Annual or perennial shrubby plants covered with hoary tomen-
tum. Leaves entire or sinuate. Flowers usually purple or lilac,
never yellow, rather large. Petals spreading, on long erect claws.
Pod long and narrow. Stigmas sessile, erect, sometimes with a
horizontal horn at the base of each.

Mostly sea-coast plants from the Mediterranean and Western
Europe, with two British species.

Matthiola vallesiaca Boiss.

Stem very leafy at the base, about a foot high, though sometimes
higher in older plants. Leaves linear, obtuse, entire, covered
with glandular and stellate hairs, lengthened at the base and
dilated into a sheath. Flowers reddish violet or mauve. Pod
compressed, tomentose. Stigma bilobed.

1 Found in 1903, by the writer, in a wood above Carcanieres, Pyr. Or., at about
4000 feet.

76 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Dry, rocky places in the sub-Alps, very rare. May to July.

Distribution. — Formerly only known to grow in the Valais on the
Simplon and near Binn in the Maurienne and possibly in Tyrol ;
but Prof. Chodat has recorded it from Susa near Turin and in the
Cogne Valley.1

LUNARIA L.

Petals purple or lilac. Fruit very large, flat, oval, or oblong,
lengthened into a false pedicel above the real pedicel. Valves with-
out nerves. Seeds few.

Only 2 species inhabiting Europe and Western Asia.

Lunaria rediviva L.

Stem about 3 feet high, erect, branched at the top, generally,
though not always, glabrous. Leaves petioled ovate-cordate, finely
toothed. Flowers violet, veined, sweet-scented. Pods oblong-
elliptic, pointed at both ends, drooping finally.

Mountain woods up to 5000 feet. May to July.

Distribution. — Almost all Europe, from Portugal to Sweden and
Russia ; Siberia. Very local in Switzerland as, e.g. in woods near
Engelberg and^'on the Saleve near Geneva.

It might betgrown in shady gardens and at the back of big
rockeries under^trees.

The only other species is the well-known ' Honesty ' L. biennis
Moench. It grows in Switzerland about Orsieres and Lugano, etc.,
but probably as an escape from gardens. Native in S.W. Europe.

HESPERIS L.

Erect herbs, more or less hairy, with toothed leaves and hand-
some purple flowers. Sepals saccate. Pods long and linear.
Stigma oblong, erect, and shortly divided into 2 lobes.

A small genus confined to Europe and Northern Asia.

Hesperis matronalis L. Dame's Violet.

Stems 2-3 feet high, slightly branched. Leaves shortly stalked or
tapering at the base, toothed, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 2-3
inches long, the upper ones smaller. Flowers large, white or lilac-
violet, usually fragrant in the evening. Pods 2-4 inches long,
almost cylindrical, but contracted between the seeds.

Hedges, woods, thickets, and watersides in the plains and lower
mountains. May to June. Probably naturalised in Switzerland as
in England.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Northern and
Western Asia. Often cultivated in cottage gardens.

1 Chodat et Pampanini, " Sur la distribution des plants des Alpes Austro-
Orientales" in Le Globe (Geneve), 1902, p. 50.

CRUCIFER^: 77

VESICARIA Poir.

About ,30 species indigenous to Southern Europe and America.
(Silicule globular, many-seeded.)

Vesicaria utriculata Lamk.

Stem 12-18 inches high, rather woody at the base. Leaves entire,
oblong, glabrous ; lower leaves ciliated, almost spathulate. Inflor-
escence umbellate at first, elongated later. Flowers yellow, rather
large. Petals longer than the calyx. Silicules 8-12 mm. long, oval,
glabrous. Seeds broadly winged.

Rocky places and limestone de*bris in the sub-alpine region and
lower valleys. Very local in Switzerland.

Distribution. — Switzerland (Lower Rhone Valley, Trient and
Bagnes valleys), Savoy, Dauphiny ; Southern Europe as far east
as Greece ; Bithynia.

ALYSSUM L.

Annuals or low-branching perennials, with hoary or short
stellate down and white or yellow flowers. Filaments of the stamens
usually winged near the base, or thickened, or furnished with small
teeth. Pod sessile within the calyx, orbicular or oval, the partition
broad, the valves convex and not veined. Seeds 1-4, or very
rarely more.

A large genus extending over Europe and Northern Asia. Dis-
tinguished from Draba chiefly by the short few-seeded pod, with
more convex valves.

Alyssum montanum L.

Stem diffuse, downy, woody at the base, whole plant greyish
green, with adpressed, stellate pubescence. Leaves oboval or
oblong-lanceolate. Flowers bright yellow. Petals emarginate ;
longer filaments winged. Silicule circular, swelling in the middle,
slightly emarginate. Style equalling the silicule or shorter. Seeds
narrowly winged.

Sandy places and limestone hills, in sunny places, 2000-6000 feet.
May to July.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees ; Central and Southern Europe,
Western Asia, N. Africa.

Alyssum alpestre L.

Stem somewhat shrubby at base, diffuse, hoary, like the whole
plant. Raceme simple, corymbose. Flowers yellow. Petals entire,
rounded. Silicules small, obovate-oblong, swelling in the middle.
Seeds slightly winged. Plant covered with stellate hairs.

Rocky and sandy places in the mountains, especially in river beds.
June to August. Very variable.

Distribution. — Savoy, Dauphine", Provence, Cevennes, Eastern

78 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Pyrenees ; Zermatt Valley in Switzerland ; Mont Cenis, Southern
Europe ; Western Asia ; North Africa.

A. serpyllifolium Desf. is a small-leaved, pale yellow- flowered,
and very hoary variety, found at Mont Cenis and in Spain, etc.

Alyssum halimifolium L.

Plant shrubby, I foot high, with twisting branches. Leaves
oblong, obtuse, silvery. Flowers white, large. Petals slightly
emarginate, oval. Fruiting-spike a dense corymb. Silicules
circular, glabrous, twice as long as the style. Seeds broadly winged.

Limestone rocks in the low mountains of the South. May, June.

Distribution. — Maritime Alps and Department of the Var ;
Liguria, Col di Tenda, and Piedmont. Very local.

This very distinct species might be more cultivated in warm
places in limy soil on the rockery.

All the rock and Alpine Alyssums are easily grown in light, sandy,
or other dry soil. A. saxatile, from Southern Russia, is the best-
known species in gardens, where it makes great masses of yellow
colour in April and May. None of the Alyssums can have too much
sun in summer, or too little damp in winter. Several are very
liable to attacks by slugs.

CLYPEOLA L.

A genus of about 8 species inhabiting southern Europe, Western
Asia, and N. Africa. Flowers very small, yellow, turning whiter.
Silicule orbicular, edged, compressed, i-celled, and i-seeded.

Clypeola Gaudini Trach.

Stem ascending, 3-6 inches long. Leaves grey, covered with
stellate hairs, small, sessile, oblong spathulate. Flowers very small,
yellow, then white, in a long spike. Silicules orbicular, flat, rather
large (4 mm.), glabrous, on arched peduncles.

Sandy places and stony hills. Local. April, May.

Distribution. — Rhone Valley in Switzerland, Maritime Alps,
Southern France, Mediterranean Europe, Corsica, Western Asia.

BERTEROA DC.

Stem leafy. Filaments of stamens short, furnished with a
distinct tooth. Otherwise like Alyssum.
Berteroa incana DC. (Alyssum incanum L., Farsetia incana R.Br.).

A biennial plant, grey, with stellate hairs, 1-2 feet high. Stem
erect, generally branched above. Leaves sinuate-dentate. Fruit
elliptic. Petals white, bifid.

Sandy roadsides in hot valleys. June.

Distribution. — Rare in Switzerland (Geneva, Martigny, Merges,
etc.), North, East, and South-East Europe, Western Asia. Natural-
ised in a large part of France, and in England.

CRUCIFER^: 79

DRABA L.

Small annuals or perennials, usually hairy or hoary, with spread-
ing or tufted radical leaves, entire or toothed, with few or no stem-
leaves. Flowers white or yellow. Filaments of the stamens without
appendages. Pod oblong or elliptical, more or less flattened ; the
partition broad ; the valves flat or convex. Seeds several in each
cell. They mostly differ from Alyssum in their longer pod.

A considerable genus, ranging over the northern hemisphere,
ascending to the highest elevations and to high Arctic latitudes ;
and extending along the great mountain chain of America into the
southern hemisphere.

Draba aizoides L.

Stem erect, 1-4 inches high, simple, glabrous, leafless. Leaves
in a radical rosette, linear or linear-lanceolate, acute, entire,
ciliated, with long stiff .bristles, otherwise glabrous, shining.
Flowers bright yellow. Petals slightly emarginate. Silicule oval,
elliptical, or lanceolate, usually glabrous, surmounted by a long
style.

Limestone rocks and debris, descending to stony places in the
lower mountains and hills. May to August, according to altitude.
Few plants have so wide a range of altitude. The writer has seen it
at various heights from 2000 feet in Haute-Savoie to about 11,000
on the Diablons in Switzerland. In England it grows at sea-level
in Glamorgan, where it was probably introduced.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Carpathians,
Var, Pyrenees, Corbieres, Cevennes, Jura.

The variety montana Koch, which is frequent in the Jura, is
distinguished by its robust habit and its oblong head of golden
yellow flowers, few in number.

The variety Hoppeana Reichb. (D. Zahlbruckneri Host.) is a
small dwarf form found on the higher mountains. It has a style
much shorter than the diameter of the silicule.

Draba nemorosa L.

Annual. Stem erect, simple, hairy and leafy below, glabrous and
naked above. Leaves oval, entire or toothed ; stem-leaves sessile,
close together, not auricled. Flowers yellowish, small. Petals
emarginate. Fruiting-spike elongated, loose, with spreading
pedicels 2 or 3 times the length of the silicules, which are oblong and
pubescent. Style almost wanting.

Woods and screes in the mountains. May to July.

Distribution. — Savoy, Eastern Pyrenees, Caucasus. Europe from
Spain to Scandinavia ; Asia, N. America*

8o SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Draba muralis L.

Annual. Stem erect, slender, hisped with bifid hairs, leafy.
Radical leaves oval, toothed, petioled ; stem-leaves distant,
amplexicaul, strongly toothed. Flowers white, very small, in a
loose spike, with spreading pedicels. Silicule elliptic.

Walls, rocky and shady places in the plains and hills. April to
June. Local.

Distribution. — Rare in Switzerland (Bale, Martigny, etc.).
Almost all Europe ; Western Asia, Canada. British.

Draba incana L.

Plant greyish white, with stellate hairs. Stem erect, very leafy.
Leaves entire or toothed ; the root-leaves in a rosette, lanceolate ;
stem-leaves oval or lanceolate, sessile. Flowers white, in a long
spike. Silicules linear-oblong, on short pedicels, glabrous or
pubescent, arranged densely on the axis.

Stony places and mountain pastures, both in the Alps and sub-
Alps. Local in Switzerland. May to July.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees ; Northern and Central Europe ;
Caucasus, Iceland. Asia, N. America.

Draba verna L. (Erophila vulgaris DC.).

This little annual plant, so well known in England, and so
variable, is common in various forms and varieties in Switzerland,
and ascends the Alps of Central Europe to the Pine-forest zone at
least. February to May.

Distribution. — Europe, Asia, Africa, N. America. British.

KERNERA Medikus.

Sepals short, spreading. Flowers small, white. Pods many-
seeded.

A very small genus scarcely distinct from Cochlearia.

Kernera saxatilis Reichb. (Cochlearia saxatilis Lam.).

Stem erect, 6-12 inches high, glabrous like the leaves, or slightly
hairy in lower parts, usually branched. Root-leaves in a rosette,
oblong, obtuse, entire or toothed, slightly hispid ; upper leaves
lanceolate, obtuse. Flowers milk-white. Silicules glabrous, oboval.
Style very short. Six seeds in two rows.

Rocks and stony places in the calcareous Alps and lower Alps
(e.g. the Saleve and Mole) and descending sub-alpine valleys.
May to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Cevennes, Corbieres, Pyrenees, Var,
Central and Southern Europe from Spain to Greece.

CRUCIFER/E 81

CAMELINA Crantz.

Flowers small, yellow. Pod obovoid, valves very convex, mid-
rib distinct, with flattened edges forming a narrow margin round
the pod. Style slender. Erect annuals with auricled leaves.

A genus of only about 3 species (Europe and North Asia) growing
in crops. Bentham said they may " possibly be reducible to one
species."

In Switzerland botanists have named three forms : C. saliva
Crantz, which is subspontaneous here and there, C. microcarpa
Andrz., and C. Alyssum Thellung, which is usually found in fields
of Flax.

One of these forms we noticed in 1911 in a field where Flax had
been previously grown at 4500 feet, near Argentiere in Haute-
Savoie.

SISYMBRIUM L.

Annual, or rarely perennial, erect herbs, glabrous or with spread-
ing hairs. Flowers small, yellow or white. Pods linear, nearly
cylindrical, the lateral nerves of the valves more or less distinct.
Stigma entire, small or capitate, closely sessile on the summit of
the valves. Seeds in a single row, ovoid or oblong, not flattened.

A large genus spread over the northern hemisphere, but with
very few Alpine species.

Sisymbrium tanacetifolium L. (Hugueninia tanacetifolia Reich.).

Stem 2 feet high or more, erect, branching at the top, very leafy.
Leaves pinnatifid, with numerous lanceolate, incised, dentate lobes,
pale green. Flowers yellow, small. Sepals 2-3 times shorter than
the pedicel. Fruiting-spikes short, in corymbose panicles, with
erect pedicels. Silicules ascending, short, compressed. Valves
with i nerve. Seeds large, oval, brown, finely spotted.

Pastures and stony places in siliceous mountains, especially in
the Mountain Alder zone. July, August.

Distribution. — Savoie, Dauphine", Provence, Central Pyrenees,
Spain, Piedmont, as at Mont Cenis. In Switzerland only in Valais.

A useful plant for the shadier parts of the rock garden among
big stones ; the foliage being handsome.

Sisymbrium strictissimum L.

A large perennial species, 3 feet or more high, erect, branching,
and very leafy, pubescent. Leaves lanceolate, entire, or toothed,
often glandular. Flowers yellow, larger than in most species,
fragrant. Sepals shorter than the pedicels, which are erect, but
spreading. Silicules spreading or curved, long, cylindrical, slender.
Valves with 3 nerves. Seeds linear-oblong, brown, glossy, in one
row.

82 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Hedges, roadsides, and thickets in the sub-alpine region, local.
June to August.

Distribution. — Alps of Savoy and Dauphiny, occasionally in
Switzerland (Engadine, etc.), Central and Eastern Europe.

ERYSIMUM L.

Erect annuals or perennials, pale or hoary, with closely adpressed
hairs, rarely quite glabrous. Leaves entire or slightly toothed.
Flowers yellow or rarely white. Pod linear, nearly quadrangular
from the prominent midrib of the valves. Stigma broadly capitate,
or with short, spreading lobes. Seed ovoid or oblong, the seed-stalk
not flattened.

A rather numerous genus in the northern hemisphere ; differing
from Wallflower and Sisymbrium in the seed-pods.

Erysimum dubium Thellung (E. ochroleucum DC.).

Root thick. Stem angular,' 9-18 inches high. Leaves linear-
lanceolate, entire or slightly toothed. Flowers large, lemon-yellow
and then straw-coloured, scented. Sepals dilated at the base, 1-3
times longer than the pedicel. Pod compressedly 4-edged. Style
3 times width of pod. Stigma 2-lobed.

Rocky places in the Alps and sub-Alps. May, June.

Distribution. — Jura (Dole, Reculet, etc., not otherwise in
Switzerland), Mont Ventoux, Corbieres, Pyrenees, Spanish Penin-
sular, Carpathians.

Erysimum longifolium DC. (E. australe Gay.).

A greyish green plant, with rootstock sending up erect branches.
Stem about a foot high or higher, erect, angular. Leaves linear or
linear-lanceolate, entire or sinuate-dentate ; stem-leaves numerous.
Flowers fairly large, but smaller than in the last, bright yellow.
Sepals 1-2 times longer than the pedicel. Pods erect, spreading.
Stigma somewhat thick, obtuse. Calyx hoary, yellowish. Hairs
simple, adpressed.

Rocky places in the mountains. May to August.

Distribution. — S. and S.-E. of France, Alps of Savoy, Southern
and Central Europe.

Erysimum helveticum DC.

Sometimes considered a variety of the last, with larger flowers
and longer pods. Stem usually erect, angular. Leaves narrow,
decreasing in width at each end, entire or slightly sinuate-dentate.
Pedicels and pods spreading erect, the pods being often 20 times the
length of the pedicels.

Waste and rocky places in the lower mountains. June.

Distribution. — Switzerland (Tessin, Grisons, and Valais), Savoy.

CRUCIFER^: 83

Erysimum hieracifolium L.

A biennial species. Stem iJ-3 feet high, erect, stiff, angular,
simple or branched. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, entire or toothed,
with trifid hairs. Flowers bright or pale yellow. Lateral sepals
slightly inflated at the base, half as long again as the thick pedicel.
Petals small, spreading. Fruiting-spike dense. Seeds winged at
the top.

Rocky mountainous places and roadsides. June.

Distribution. — Almost all Europe from Norway to the Caucasus ;
Western Asia. Common in the East of France, but only occasional
in Switzerland.

E. virgatum Roth, is a sub-species with linear-lanceolate and
usually entire leaves.

In cultivation Erysima do best in ordinary loam in sunny places
on the rockery, and E. dubium is apt to die out on heavy soils.
E. pumilum, a high Alpine species described in Alpine Plants of
Europe, is a dwarf plant which can be tightly wedged between two
stones in a hot, dry place with small bits of limestone scattered
round it.

THLASPI L. Pennycress.

Annuals or low perennials. Leaves usually undivided, the upper
ones clasping the stem. Flowers small, white, mauve, or rose.
Petals equal or nearly so. Pod orbicular or obovate, flattened
laterally at right-angles to the narrow partition, the valves boat-
shaped, their midrib or keel more or less expanded into a green
wing surrounding the pod. Seeds two or more in each cell. ^

A small genus spread over Europe, Northern and Central A^ia,
and N.W. America, distinguished from Iberis by having more than
one seed in each cell of the pod, from all others by the winged pod.

Thlaspi alpinum Crantz.

Root fusiform. Stem simple, loosely caespitose, erect or ascend-
ing, 2-4 inches high, glabrous, like the entire plant. Leaves bluish
green, entire or toothed ; root-leaves spathulate and forming
rosettes ; stem-leaves ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, cordate,
amplexicaul. Pods obcordate-lanceolate at base, narrow at apex,
J inch broad, narrowly winged, pointed at lower end, slightly
emarginate at the summit. Style prominent, filiform, 1-4 seeded.
Flowers white. Seeds smooth.

Pastures and stony places in the calcareous mountains. June,
July.

Distribution. — Eastern and Western Alps. In Switzerland near
Zermatt and possibly in Tessin.

Not to be confused with T. alpestre L., which is very similar and
grows on limestone hills in Central and Western Europe and in
Northern England and in Somerset ; nor with T, montanum L.,

84 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

which is found in similar places in Central and Southern Europe,
but not in Great Britain.

Thlaspi alpestre L.

Usually glabrous, 4-15 inches high, biennial or perennial, forming
a branched or tufted stock, with obovate-oval or oblong, stalked,
radical leaves. Stems simple, erect or ascending. Stem-leaves
narrow, clasping the stem with small auricles, entire or toothed.
Petals white, occasionally pinkish. Pod oboval, winged at the
summit, less broad than in T. montanum or T. perfoliatum, slightly
emarginate. Style prominent, as it is in T. montanum.

Mountain pastures and rocky places, especially on limestone in
the Alps, sub- Alps, and plains. May, June.

Distribution. — 'Western and Central Europe, extending north-
ward to Southern Sweden. Himalaya. British.

In Switzerland, the Jura, and elsewhere at least two sub-species
are known, viz. : T. brachypetalum Jordan, whose anthers remain
yellow after pollination, and T. sylvestre Jordan^ whose violet
anthers turn blackish after pollination. T. virens Jordan is some-
times considered a distinct species. Its leaves are a bright green
and the flowers are larger than in alpestre. The style is also longer
and more prominent. The anthers are violet and then blackish.
It is usually found at higher elevations, at any rate in Switzerland.

Thlaspi montanum L.

A glabrous and glaucous plant, 6— 10 inches high, with stoloni-
ferous shoots springing from the rootstock. Stem simple. Radical
leaves oblong, petioled ; stem-leaves oblong, auricled or heart-
shaped, sessile. Flowers rather large, Petals twice the length of
sepals. Anthers pale lilac. Pods oboval, rounded at base, with a
broad shallow notch, and rounded, obtuse wings. Style prominent.
Seeds shining, 1-2 in each cell.

Hills and rocky places, especially on limestone. April to June.

Distribution. — Central and Eastern France, Eastern Pyrenees,
Jura, rare in Switzerland. Central and Southern Europe.

Thlaspi rotundifolium Gaudin.

This beautiful violet or mauve-coloured species (described and
figured in Alpine Plants of Europe, p. 62, is usually seen only on
detritus at high elevations, but Mr. Reginald Malby has a photo-
graph of it growing in a river bed in Switzerland at the remarkably
low elevation of about 3000 feet.

IBERIS L. Candytuft.

Glabrous or minutely downy annuals or branching perennials,
with narrow or pinnatifid leaves, and white or pink flowers, 2
adjoining exterior petals larger than the 2 others. Filaments

CRUCIFER^: 85

without appendages. Pod orbicular or oval, laterally flattened,
notched at the top, the valves boat-shaped, the keel or midrib
expanded into a wing. One seed only in each cell.

About 20 species inhabiting Southern Europe, Asia Minor, and
Algeria, of which several are cultivated under the name of Candy-
tufts, and all readily known by the unequal petals.

Iberis sempervirens L.

Stem 5-10 inches, woody and twisted at the base, diffuse, trailing.
Flowering-stems glabrous. Leaves smooth, linear, oblong, obtuse,
entire, ciliated, numerous, and close together. Flowers white,
rather large. Sepals whitish at the borders. Filaments violet at
the top. Fruiting panicle rather loose, with spreading pedicels.
Silicules large, oval, broadly winged, each lobe pointed. Style
passing beyond the lobes.

Rocks and stony places in the mountains. June to August.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Corbieres, Basses- Alpes ; Southern
Europe from Portugal to Greece ; Asia Minor.

This is the commonest perennial Candytuft. Being half-shrubby,
dwarf, and evergreen it is a useful edging for beds or shrubberies, for
on any soil it quickly forms low masses of dark green foliage, which
in April and May in England change into sheets of white. It loves
the sun, and can be increased by seed or from cuttings.

Iberis saxatilis L.

Stems 3-8 inches high, woody and twisted at the base. Leaves
entire, linear, alternate, rather fleshy, the upper ones pointed or
mucronate, the lower ones obtuse, glabrous or ciliate, numerous,
and close together. Flowers white, rather large. Sepals coloured
at the edges. Filaments white. Silicules large, oval or oboval,
slightly notched, broadly winged. Style short.

Rocks and limestone hills. May to July.

Distribution. — Jura, very rare in Switzerland, Dauphiny,
Provence, Cevennes, Corbieres, Spain, Italy, Taurus.

This species differs from the last, which it closely resembles, in
having pubescent flowering stems, almost linear leaves, silicules
more openly emarginate and the two lobes are rounded at the top,
and the style is shorter.

Iberis Candolleana Jord.

Biennial, glabrous. Stems 2-6 inches high, simple, leafy to the
top. Leaves fleshy, not ciliated, entire, the radical leaves oboval,
the stem-leaves spathulate, oblong or linear-oblong. Flowers
purple-lilac, rather large. Fruiting-head in a tight corymb, with
short, thick pedicels. Silicules large, oval, with rounded base,
obtusely notched, with short, pointed lobes, and a style longer than
the lobes.

86 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Screes and limestone rocks. June to August. Very local.
Distribution. — South-East of France (Drome, Vaucluse, Alpes
Maritimes).

^ETHIONEMA R.Br.

Sepals erect. Petals equal. Filaments broadly winged. Silicules
suborbicular, emarginate, compressed, dehiscent, with keeled
valves and broadly winged. Flowers usually pink, veined, small.
Leaves thick, entire, oboval or lanceolate. Glabrous, perennial
plants.

About 40 species, inhabiting Southern Europe, Western Asia,
and N. Africa, several of which are now cultivated in this country.
They require deep soil and a sunny position.

Mthionema saxatile R.Br.

Stem ascending, often curved and prostrate, almost woody at
the base, 8-12 inches high, simple or branched, glabrous and
glaucous like the whole plant, very leafy. Leaves leathery, often
of a violet tinge, shortly petioled, entire, the lower ones obovate,
almost sessile, the upper lanceolate-acute. Sepals sessile, with 3
nerves. Flowers white, mauve, or flesh-coloured. Fruiting-spike
elongated, with spreading pedicels. Silicules rounded at the base,
emarginate, with 2 many-seeded cells. Style shorter than the lobes.

Rocky places and debris in the mountains and sub- Alps, especially
on limestone. April to June.

Distribution.— Jura, East and South of France, Switzerland
(rather rare), Cevennes, Corbieres, Pyrenees, Carpathians, Southern
and Central Europe ; Algeria, Asia Minor.

BISCUTELLA L.

Sepals usually equal. Flowers yellow. Silicule circular and
separating into 2 distinct i-seeded valves. Style long. A genus of
about 5 species only.

Biscutella Icevigata L.

Root tapering, branched, tufted, with many heads. Stem erect,
branched, glabrous or with stiff hairs on the lower part. Leaves
very variable, entire or more or less dentate, acute, generally hairy,
dark green, shining, the lowest leaves lanceolate and narrowed into a
foot-stalk, the upper lanceolate or linear, sessile, with rounded,
semi - amplexicaul base. Flowers yellow, fragrant. Silicules of
two circular flattened lobes, with winged membranous border.
Style about as long as the diameter of one lobe.

A polymorphic plant, generally considered Alpine, for it is very
frequent in the Alps up to 8000 feet, but it is also found in un-
cultivated and rocky places throughout Central and Southern
Europe from Belgium to Portugal and Roumania. May to August.

CISTACE^E 87

There are only about 5 species of Biscutella, all characterised by
the peculiar circular silicules and long style, but we believe B.
lavigata is the only perennial example of the genus ; e.g. B. cichorii-
folia Lois, is a handsome annual of hispid growth and wavy leaves
embracing the stem, which is often seen in waste or rocky places
in the South of Europe. It grows in one or two places in Tessin
and the Valais (Capolago, Aubonne).

HUTCHINSIA R.Br.

Flowers small, white. Petals equal. Filaments without scales.
Leaves pinnatifid. A genus of only 4 species, but represented in all
the continents.

Hutchinsia alpina R.Br. (Nocccea alpina Reich.).

Stem simple, ascending or recumbent, leafy at the base, 1-4
inches high, slender, sometimes pubescent. Leaves glabrous,
pinnate, with small oval or oblong lobes. Flowers pure white,
rather large for the plant. Petals oboval, twice the length of the
calyx. Raceme long and loose when in fruit, with spreading erect
pedicels equalling the silicules. Silicules elliptical, acute at both
ends. Style short, with 2 seeds in each cell.

Damp, stony, and often shady places in the Alps, up to 10,000
feet and above. Common, especially on limestone. May to August.

Sometimes carried long distances by Alpine torrents, in the
sandy bed of which its roots penetrate far.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura, Py-
renees, Carpathians.

CISTACE^

Flowers fugacious, usually large. Sepals and petals usually 5.
Stamens numerous. Ovary usually i-celled, with 3 parietal
placentae. Style i. Stigmas 3. Herbs or shrubs, often fragrant
and resinous.

HELIANTHEMUM L.

Sepals 3-5, the 2 outer usually smaller. Petals 5, crumpled in
the bud. Ovoles numerous. Style jointed at the base. Stigma
capitate or 3-lobed. Leaves opposite.

About 35 species, chiefly spread over Southern and Western
Europe and N. Africa, with a few in America.

Helianthemum alpestre Dunal.

Shrubby, about 6 inches high, woody at the base. Branches
ascending. Leaves opposite, lanceolate, narrowed at the base,
more or less hairy, shortly stalked, without stipules. Racemes
loose, bracteate. Petals golden yellow, twice as long as calyx.
Style as long as. the ovary.

88 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Stony Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, especially on limestone,
extending to 8200 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Apennines, Southern France, Spain, and
Portugal.

Helianthemum canum Baumg.

A rather shrubby prostrate plant, covered with silky hairs,
especially on the younger leaves, which are elliptical, sometimes
silver-white on the upper side and covered with a grey felt on the
under side. Flowers small, yellow. Racemes numerous and short,
with small bracts at the base of the pedicels.

Stony, hilly districts, especially in the forest region. May to
August.

Distribution. — Central, Western, and S. -Western Europe from
Southern Sweden to Spain. In Switzerland only on the Jura
frontier and Valais. On limestone rocks rarely in N.-W. England
and Ireland.

Helianthemum apenninum Lam. et DC. (H. polifolium DC.).

A shrubby plant about 6 inches to a foot high, with woody base,
and less straggling habit than H. vulgare. Leaves narrow, rolled
back at the edges, hoary on both sides but especially beneath.
Flowers white, with yellow eye. Capsule large, sub-globular,
tomentose. Seeds numerous, granular.

Dry, stony limestone hills, local. May, June.

Distribution. — South, Western, and parts of Central Europe,
rare in Switzerland (near Geneva and Locarno, etc.), Algeria. In
England on Brean Down, Somerset, and near Torquay.

Helianthemum vulgare Gaertn., H. Chamacistus Miller. Common
Rock-rose. (Plate XL)

A low undershrub, with short, much-branched, woody stem,
and annual flowering branches from 3-10 inches long. Leaves
shortly stalked, more or less oblong, but varying from ovate -to
lanceolate, glabrous or slightly hairy, and more or less hoary beneath.
Stipules linear-lanceolate. Racemes loose, the pedicels deflected.
The 3 larger sepals marked with 3 prominent ribs, the 2 outer very
small. Petals bright yellow, broadly spreading. Very polymorphic.

Dry pastures and fields, from the plains to a considerable distance
in the mountains. Above 8500 feet on the Col de Torrent, Switzer-
land, in 1911. Very common. May to August.

Distribution. — Nearly all Europe, Western Asia. England and
Eastern Scotland, but apparently in Ireland only as a casual.

Helianthemum grandiflorum DC. (H. virescens Gren. and Godr.).

This is possibly only a large-flowered variety of the last, which
assumes so many forms in the Alps. Flowers up to 26 mm. in

CISTACE^E 89

diameter, solitary or in twos or threes. Leaves bright green on both
sides and generally broader than those of H. vulgare.

Dry Alpine pastures up to 7400 feet. June to August.

This large-flowered variety is particularly fine at Mont Cenis, in
Savoy and the Ligurian Alps.

Messrs. Schinz and Keller in their Flore de la Suisse give two
sub-species of H. vulgare, viz. H. barbalum Lam. and H. nummul-
arium Miller. The leaves of the former are green and glabrescent,
and those of the latter white-tomentose beneath.

In the Ligurian and Maritime Alps there are two pretty rose-
coloured plants which Mr. Bicknell l describes under H. vulgare :

Var. roseum Burnat=£T. roseum Bert.

Plant greyish by reason of the short hairs covering the stems,
leaves, and pedicels. Flowers usually pink, rarely crimson or nearly
white. Very common on dry banks in the littoral region.

Var. semiglabrum Burnat=#. semiglabrum Bad.=#. Jacquini Ard.

Leaves light green, narrow, and shining, the upper ones as well
as the pedicels glabrous, or nearly so. Flowers pink. Not common
in the littoral region. Val Nervia, etc. It is very common about
Pigna in the Ligurian Mountains.

Various other species grow in Spain and the Mediterranean
district, among the foot-hills and lower mountains, several of which
are worth cultivating.

The Rock Roses are of the easiest culture in almost any light,
rather poor soil fully exposed to the sun ; and they strike
readily from cuttings. If cut back after flowering they tend to grow
more compact. The hybrids are very numerous and many of them
extremely beautiful, being in all shades of yellow, salmon-pink,
rose, and crimson. Few plants are of greater value for the rockery,
for in addition to their beauty they grow very quickly. The
nomenclature, however, of this genus seems somewhat confused.
The tendency to hybridise may partly account for this.

FUMANA Spach.

A genus closely allied to the last. The flowers are usually smaller
and the habit shrubbier. The sepals are always 5, the 2 exterior
being smaller ; and the capsule is 3-celled.

Fumana procumbens Gren. et Godr.

A recumbent small undershrub, 3-10 inches high, with woody
base and branching stems. Leaves linear, sub-obtuse, mucronate,
green, not stipuled, rough-edged. Flowers solitary, yellow, 1-4 on
the upper part of the branches. Pedicels thick, deflexed, shorter

J Flora of Bordighiera and San Remo (1896).

90 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

than the sepals. Valves of the capsules slightly open at maturity
and containing 12 seeds.

Dry screes and limestone rocks. Common. May to July.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe as far north as the
Baltic Isles ; Mediterranean region, Western Asia. In Switzerland
locally in Tessin, Grisons, the Rhone Valley, and other warm places.
On Monte Torraggio in Liguria we have seen this plant at some
4000 feet.

VIOLACE.E

A family represented in Europe by a single genus.

VIOLA L.

Leaves radical or alternate, stipulate. Flowers axillary, solitary,
or in cymes, with 2 small bracts. Sepals 5, usually unequal, and
produced at the base beyond their insertion. Corolla irregular, of
5 spreading petals, the lowest produced into a spur at the base.
Style single, with a dilated or thickened or hooked stigma. Capsule
i-celled, 3-valved. Seeds attached to 3 parietal placentae.

There are about 150 species of Viola spread more or less through-
out the globe.

Viola pinnata L.

Glabrous. Leaves all radical, digitate, multi-partite, with obtuse
teeth. Flowers pale violet or blue, rarely white, fragrant. Petals
small. Capsule trigonous.

Stony, rocky places in the Alps from 4500-7000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; very local.
Rare in Switzerland and commoner in Tyrol and Carinthia ; Ural
Mountains, Siberia.

Viola bifiora L. (Plate VII.)

Rootstock cylindrical, scaly, fleshy, oblique, branched above.
Stem erect or ascending, limp, glabrous like the flowers and leaf-
stalks. Leaves reniform, crenate, obtuse, or shortly acuminate,
finely ciliated, otherwise mostly glabrous, bright green. Stipules
ovate-lanceolate, acute, entire. Flowers usually 2 in a leaf -axil.
Petals yellow, the odd one streaked with brown at the base. Calyx-
teeth acute. Stigma abrupt, hollow, somewhat 2-lobed. Capsule
elongated, obtuse, glabrous, pendent.

Bushy, stony places and damp rocks, and in moist mountain
woods ; 4000-9000 feet, though rarely above 8000 feet. June to
August.

Distribution. — Throughout the Alpine Chain ; Carpathians,
Scandinavia, Jura, Corsica, Pyrenees: Asia, from the Urals and
Caucasus to India ; N. America.

Easily grown in a deep loam with plenty of leaf-mould, and

Pl.ATK VII.

T. VIOLA CALCARATA L. 2. V. IM FLORA L.
4. V. ALPESTRIS (DC.) WITTR.

4/7 NATURAL SIXK.

3. V. MONTANA L.

.. V. SYLVATICA FRIKS.

VIOLACE^; 91

thrives in half-shade, especially among damp boulders and under
dripping rocks or in shallow caves.

Viola calcarata L. (Plate VII.)

Leaves crenate, ovate, the upper ones lanceolate. Stipules entire,
tripartite, or pinnatifid. Stem i-flowered, erect, 3 inches or more
in height. Flowers at least an inch in diameter, usually violet-blue,
rarely yellow or white. Spur as long as corolla, i.e. at least f inch,
and so long and narrow that only butterflies with a sufficiently long
proboscis can penetrate as far as the nectar at its extremity. Plant
glabrous, branched, and leafy at the base, with creeping runners.

Alpine pastures from 5000-9000 feet, often so abundant as to
form a carpet of violet-blue. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura,
Apennines, Central and Southern Europe from Bavaria to Sicily
and Greece.

Viola lutea Hudson.

Stem usually simple, ascending, leafy. Leaves crenate, the
lower ones ovate-cordate or ovate-lanceolate, upper ones lanceolate.
Stipules palmate-multifid, with linear or linear-oblong lobes. Spur
scarcely longer than the auricles of the sepals. Flowers yellow,
more rarely violet or yellow and violet.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures (limestone and schist) up to 7500
feet. May to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Erzgebirge, Eastern, Central, and
Western Alps ; rare in the Pyrenees. British.

Viola valderia All.

Stem 6-10 inches high, spreading. Leaves small, the lower
broadly ovate, the upper oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, mostly entire.
Stipules multifid, with 2-7 unequal lobes. Flowers rather large,
usually pale violet but variable. " The lateral and lower petals have
a pencilled purple dash and beard at their junction; which gives
intelligence to the expression of the soft lavender flowers, with their
delicate golden eyes" (Reginald Farrer in Gard. Chron., July 23rd,
1910). Flowers longly petioled. Sepals lanceolate-acute. Capsule
oval, pointed, equalling the calyx.

Sandy, stony slopes and screes at 4000-5000 feet ; rare. April
to July.

Distribution. — Peculiar to a few places in the French and Italian
Maritime Alps, and the mountains of Liguria on the east side of the
Col di Tenda.

Viola cornuta L.

Root fibrous. Stem ascending, leafy. Leaves rounded, crenate,
ciliate ; upper leaves oval-cordate or truncate at the base. Stipules
large, obliquely cordate, incised-dentate, ciliate. Sepals subulate.
Spur subulate, larger than the calyx. Capsule obtuse.

92 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Pastures in the Alpine and sub-alpine regions ; local. June to
August.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Spain, Haute Savoie (Grammont),
Apennines.

Viola palustris L. Marsh Violet.

The rootstock often sends out runners, as in V. odorata. A small
perfectly glabrous plant, or with rarely a few hairs on the peduncles.
Leaves reniform or orbicular, cordate at the base, very slightly
crenate. Flowers small, pale blue or bluish lilac with purple streaks,
scentless. Sepals obtuse. Spur very short. Stigma broad.

Marshy ground and bogs in woods and on mountains, extending
well above the sub-alpine region. May to June.

Distribution. — All Europe except the Mediterranean region,
Northern Asia, N. America. British. In Norway it ascends above
the birch limit.

Viola mirabilis L.

A tall species, sometimes a foot in height, with robust stems
having a line of hairs throughout, and broadly ovate leaves, heart-
shaped at the base. Stipules ovate-lanceolate, 'entire, or ciliated.
Lower leaves longly petioled, the 2 upper leaves subsessile. Flowers
large, pale lilac. Sepals ovate-lanceolate. Capsule glabrous.

Mountain woods. April to June.

Distribution. — South - Eastern France, Cevennes, Switzerland
(widely spread), Central and Southern Europe. Occasional in
Norway to above the fir limit.

Viola montana L. (Plate VII.)

Leaves oblong-ovate, heart-shaped at base. Stipules 10-20 mm.
long. Flowers large, blue to whitish. Petals oblong. Stems erect, few.

Meadows, marshes, and borders of woods from the plains to the
lower Alps. May, June.

Distribution. — Switzerland, Savoy.

Viola alpestris Jordan (Plate VII) =Viola tricolor L. sub-sp.
alpestris (DC.) Wittr.

A large-flowered, erect, and bushy variety of the common
V. tricolor. Calyx half the length of corolla. Upper petals obovate,
usually yellow. Spur very long. " Approaches V. variata very
closely and has often been confused with it " (Dr. E. Drabble).

Meadows, rocky places, etc., in the sub-alpine region. May, June.

Distribution. — Switzerland, Savoy, Norway. British.

Figures of V. alpestris Jordan appear in an article by Dr. Eric
Drabble on "The British Pansies" in Journal of Royal Hort. Soc.,1
xxxv. (1909), Pt. II.

1 "The flowers are yellow, and thus differ from the typical form of V. variata;
but the latter may also possess yellow flowers, and it is such plants that have been
confused with V. alpestris."— E. Drabble, loc. cit.

POLYGALACE/E 93

Viola sylvatica Fries. Common Wood Violet. (Plate VII.)

Leaves ovate, heart-shaped, acuminate, glabrous or with
scattered hairs. Petals oblong, lilac or violet, the lower one
shaded with darker colour. Stigma hairy on both sides and slightly
arched beneath the top. Stipules linear-lanceolate, fringed-ciliate.
Capsule glabrous.

Woods, thickets, etc., up to 5000 feet in Switzerland and to 6000
feet in the Eastern Pyrenees. April, May.

Distribution. — Europe, Asia from Siberia to Japan, Algeria,
Canary Isles. British.

POLYGALACE^E

A family represented in Europe only by Polygala itself. The other
genera being chiefly tropical and differ from Polygala in the form
of the fruit, or, in minor details, in the structure of their flowers.

POLYGALA Linn.

Herbs or shrubs, with entire leaves, usually alternate, no stipules,
and very irregular flowers in terminal racemes. Sepals 5, of which
the two inner are larger, usually petal-like, and commonly called
wings. Petals 3, 4, or 5, the lowest very small and subulate, and
all more or less united with the stamens. Stamens united in two
parcels. Style I, with a single stigma. Ovary and capsule flat,
2-celled, with a single pendulous seed in each cell.

A numerous genus, widely spread over most parts of the globe.
Some of the showy S. African species are often cultivated in our
greenhouses.

Polygala Chamcebuxus L. (Plate V.)

Stem shrubby, creeping, branched ; branches prostrate or
ascending, glabrous like the whole plant. Leaves narrowly lanceo-
late or elliptical, entire, mucronate, the lower ones smaller, obovate.
Flowers solitary or in pairs, terminal, or in the axils of the leaves.
Corolla with a small, 4-lobed crest, as long as or shorter than the
wing-sepals, which are ovate, oblique, erect or recurved, nerveless,
with branched veins. Wings pale yellow before fertilization, often
red, brownish or purple later. Corolla tube deep yellow, but pur-
plish after fertilization.

Woods and rocky or grassy places in the mountains, extending
up to the Alpine region, where it is usually dwarfer and more
floriferous. Very common. A difficult plant to get up by the long,
slender roots, for they penetrate long distances, and yet there is
little of them to survive a journey to this country. May to July.

Distribution. — Central Europe from the Eastern Pyrenees to
Roumania. Rare in the Jura.

94 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

This evergreen creeping shrub likes a shady place in sandy peat
and loam, or in good leaf mould, and can be increased when well
established by careful division.

Poly gala alpinum Steudel.

A small species, 2-4 inches high, with branched, recumbent stems.
Leaves oboval or oblong, forming a rosette ; stem-leaves narrower
and much smaller. Flowers pale blue, very small, in small, dense,
terminal heads. Capsule small, rather shorter, but broader than the
wings.

Mountain pastures ; local. June, July.

Distribution. — Western Alps, including Southern Switzerland,
Pyrenees.

Poly gala alpestris Reichb.

Stems numerous, woody, filiform, spreading, ascending. Lower
leaves short, broadly ovate, often forming a rosette ; upper leaves
longer, clothing the lower part of the panicle. Flowers small, pale
blue. Wings of calyx ovate, as broad as, and longer than the
capsule.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, especially on limestone. June,

July.

Distribution. — Juras, Central and Western Alps, including
Piedmont.

This species is not much understood, and is often confused with
P. alpina Perr. et Long. P. alpestris may perhaps be a form of
P. amara L., and it is synonymous with P. amarella Crantz var.
alpestris Borbas.

For the rock-garden there are other more beautiful species than
the above which, though not Alpine, are more worthy of a place on
rockeries. P. nicaensis Risso, a Mediterranean plant extending
into the Maritime Alps up to 2000 feet, has handsome purple flowers.
The Common Milkwort P. vulgaris L., with flowers of blue, rose, pur-
ple, or white, attains a remarkable size in the mountains, and is
well worth more attention in our gardens, for it will grow anywhere
and is very pretty.

CARYOPHYLLACE^:

Annual or perennial herbs, with opposite, entire leaves, and no
stipules, except in a few genera which have small, scarious stipules ;
the branches usually knotted at each pair of leaves. Flowers
frequently in dichotomous cymes or panicles. Sepals 4 or 5, free
or united into a tubular calyx. Petals 4 or 5, twisted in the bud,
sometimes minute. Stamens free, inserted under the ovary.
Styles 2 to 5, linear, stigmatic along their whole length. Capsule
i-celled, or divided into cells at the base only, opening at the top
into twice as many teeth as there are styles. Ovules numerous.

CARYOPHYLLACE^E 95

A large family widely spread over the globe, and very numerous
in temperate regions, especially in the northern hemisphere,
extending into the Arctic Circle and to the summits of the Alps.
The genera into which species are distributed are often very arti-
ficial, depending on the number of sepals, petals, stamens, or styles.
As these numbers are not strictly constant, even in different flowers
of the same species, care must be taken in some of the small-flowered
Alsinece to count the parts of several flowers if hesitation be felt
as to the genus it should be referred to.

DIANTHUS L. Pink.

Stiff perennials, or more rarely annuals, with narrow leaves.
Calyx tubular-campanulate, 5-toothed, with 2-6 imbricating
scales at the base. Petals usually crenate, or jagged. Stamens 10.
Styles 2. Capsule stalked within the calyx, opening at the top in
4 teeth or short valves.

A large genus, spread over Europe and Asia, with a few in S.
Africa.

Dianthus prolifer L. (Tunica prolifera Scop.).

A stiff, erect, glabrous, annual species, simple or with -a few
erect branches, 6-12 inches high. Leaves few, narrow, erect, and
usually pointed. Flowers small, pink, in compact, oblong terminal
heads, the calyx concealed by broad, dry, shining, imbricated scales,
from the top of which the small, spreading petals appear.

Dry places, roadsides, and hilly pastures, from the plains to the
sub-alpine region, as, e.g. in the Gorge de Trient at about 3500 feet.
May to September.

Distribution. — Almost all Europe; Western Asia, N. Africa.
British.

A hairy, glandular variety, with longer sheath to the leaves and
pedicelled calyx, is called D. velutinus Guss.

Dianthus saxifragus L. (Tunica saxifraga Scop.).

Stem slender, glabrous, 6-8 inches high, with spreading branches.
Leaves linear-acute. Corolla pale rose, veined, small, solitary.
Calyx bell-shaped. Capsule ovoid.

Arid places from the plains up to about 5500 feet in the Alps, as
e.g. near Evolene in 1911. June to August.

Distribution. — From the Pyrenees and France to Eastern Europe ;
Western Asia as far as Persia. It has recently appeared in Pem-
brokeshire as an escape from cultivation.

TUNICA is a small genus, not always separated from Dianthus,
and differing from it in the calyx being pentagonous and the corolla
having no corona.

96 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Dianthus superbus L. (Plate V.)

Stem 18 inches high, rounded, branched above. Leaves linear-
lanceolate, soft, but rough at edges, the inferior sub-obtuse, the
superior acute. Scales oval, mucronate, J or J length of calyx- tube,
purple-red. Petals large, slit and fringed, pink or lilac, with reddish
hairs and green spots at the base, rarely white, scented.

Woods and damp meadows from the plains up to 6500 feet. June
to September.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe ; Western Asia,
Japan.

D. speciosus Reichb. is a rare Alpine variety, found in meadows
in Southern Switzerland and Tyrol from 5000-7500 feet.

D. superbus does not live very long, and is generally treated as a
biennial. It requires deep, peaty soil or a mixture of sand and leaf-
mould.

Dianthus monspessulanus L.

This belongs to the same group as superbus, and may be treated
in a similar way, though it grows in drier places. The variety
alpicola Koch (D. alpestris Sternb. and Hoppe) has i-flowered stems.
It is found locally in meadows in Southern Tyrol and Carinthia, at
from 1600-2400 metres.

D. monspessulanus is a native of Southern Europe.

Dianthus Carthusianorum L. (Plate VIII.)

Stem about a foot high or higher, simple. Leaves linear-acute ;
the stem-leaves with a long sheath. Flowers a deep red, sub-
sessile, 2-8 in a dense panicle, surrounded with coriaceous bracts.
Scales of calyx scarious, the point reaching the centre of the
calyx-tube. Calyx dark purple. Petals obovate, hairy at the
throat, toothed ; capsule cylindrical.

Arid, stony, and bushy places in the Alps and plains, up to 7000
or 8000 feet in the Alps. June to September.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, but rare in the
Mediterranean region.

A very variable plant with several named varieties, such as atro-
rubens, vaginatus, etc.

Dianthus Seguieri Vill.

Glabrous ; forming tufts of leaves, Stem 12-18 inches high,
branching, angular. Leaves linear, flat. Flowers pink, with a purple
circle round the centre, in heads of 2-4. Scales long, striated, with
erect spreading point, equalling the tube of the calyx. Calyx rather
long, striated throughout, with sharp lanceolate teeth. Petals hairy
at the throat, deeply toothed. Capsule cylindric.

Dry, bushy places in the lower mountains and hills ; local.
June to August.

i. SILEXE IXFLATA (\VITH MAUVK FORM). 2. DIAXTHCS SVLVKSTRIS.
5. UIANTHUS CARTHUSIAXORUAI.

CARYOPHYLLACEyE 97

Distribution. — Western Alps, Eastern Pyrenees, Central Europe
and Western Asia. Only in trans-alpine Switzerland.

Dianthus furcatus Balb.

Glabrous. Stem 5-9 inches high, angular. Leaves soft, the lower
ones short and broadly linear, obtuse, with 3-5 nerves ; the stem-
leaves longer and pointed. Scales 4, erect, the lower two herbaceous,
oval, the point reaching half the length of the calyx. Calyx rather
short, 13-16 mm., narrow, striated throughout its length, teeth
lanceolate acuminate. Petals glabrous, entire or toothed. Flowers
pink or whitish, 1-3 at the top of the stem, longly petioled. Capsule
cylindric, extending slightly beyond the calyx.

Rocks and dry pastures in the Southern Alps ; rare. June to
August.

Distribution. — Maritime Alps, Liguria, Piedmont ; Hautes-Alpes
and Basses- Alpes.

Dianthus sylvestris Wulf. (Plate VIII.)

Considered by some a sub-species of D. Caryophyllus L., which is
not Alpine, but grows on rocks and walls in Southern Europe,
and in Algeria and Morocco. D. sylvestris is a dwarf er plant, more
tufted, with 2 small scales to the calyx, and a slight scent. The
flowers are bright pink and rather large, and usually in panicles of
1-3 on longish peduncles. The leaves are narrow, linear, acute,
pale green or glaucous. A polymorphic plant.

Steep hillsides and rocks in the mountains, and sometimes in
open woods ; common. It attains 7500 feet, and descends to the
plains. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Corsica ; Pyrenees ; Central and Southern Europe.

It should have an open, sunny position in dry, stony loam, or in
rock crevices with plenty of soil.

Dianthus glaucus Huds. (D. ccesius L.). Cheddar Pink.

A very glaucous plant, forming a short, densely tufted, almost
woody stock. Lower leaves crowded, stiff, narrow-linear, but
obtuse, about an inch long. Flower-stems 5-10 inches high,
simple, i-flowered, or rarely forked, with a few pointed leaves.
Flowers rather large, fragrant. Calyx thick, with short teeth, the
4 outer scales broad, shortly pointed, not half-length of calyx.
Petals broad, irregularly crenate or toothed.

Dry, rocky places, especially on limestone, very local. June, July.

Distribution. — Jura, Alps of Savoy and Dauphine*,, Swiss plains,
but not in the Alps ; Central Europe. Cheddar Cliffs in England.
It grows very well on garden walls.

98 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Dianthus subacaulis Vill.

This small species is well-suited to the rockery, and especially
on limestone, like the Cheddar Pink, but it does not seem known
in this country. The root is woody, and it sends up tufts of short,
rough, linear leaves ; stem angular, simple, from 2-6 inches high.
Flowers rose, rather small, solitary. Scales of the calyx broad,
short (J to J the length of the calyx), and with short point. Calyx
short, striated above, with ovate teeth. Petals entire or crenate.
Capsule conical. A variable species.

Rocks and rocky pastures, especially on limestone. May to
August.

Distribution. — Alps of Dauphine and Provence, Cevennes,
Eastern Pyrenees ; Spain. j g

GYPSOPHILA L.

Calyx short, campanulate, pentagonal, without scales at the base.
Petals 5, gradually narrowed to the base, without a corona. Styles 2.
Stamens 10. Capsule with i cell and numerous seeds.

About 55 species inhabiting Europe and Asia.

Gypsophila repens L. (Plate XV.)

Root tapering, branched. Stem 3-6 inches high, erect or ascend-
ing, simple or branched above, glabrous like the leaves. Leaves
linear-lanceolate or linear, entire, acute, bluish green, moderately
thick. Flowers in loose paniculate cymes. Petals 2-3 lines long,
white or pale rose-coloured, more or less emarginate. Calyx bell-
shaped, 5-cleft ; teeth lanceolate, membranous at the margin,
i-nerved, straight, obtuse, with a short mucro. Capsule sub-
globular, obtuse, with a very short carpophore.

Dry, rocky, and gravelly places in the calcareous Alps and
sub-Alps,1 3000-8000 feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, from Savoy
to Roumania and the Carpathians ; Central Pyrenees, Jura, Poland,
Germany.

Very easily grown in dry, sunny places, and increased by layers,
or from seed. It quickly forms mats of dense foliage and flowering
spikes, and hence is very suitable for covering ugly rocks, etc.

SAPONARIA

Calyx tubular, 5-toothed, without scales at the base. Petals with
a corona. Disc small. Styles 2. Ovary 2-celled at the base.
Capsule 4-valved.

This genus, artificially distinguished by the number of styles,
as Bentham says, comprises several European and West Asiatic
species.

1 On granite its place is taken by Silene rupestris.

CARYOPHYLLACE^E 99

Saponaria ocymoides L. (Plate XX.)

Stem trailing. Plant hairy, glandular at the top. Leaves broadly
lanceolate or oblong, ciliated, with I nerve. Flowers bright rose,
sometimes paler, and rarely white, shortly petioled, in panicles.
Calyx cylindric, hairy, glandular, with 15—20 nerves and obtuse
teeth, often very red. Capsule oval, 4 times the length of the
glabrous carpophore.

Stony places and limestone rocks in full sun. May to July.
In the Alps it extends up to 7800 feet, but it is by no means a purely
Alpine plant, being, e.g. found over the greater portion of hilly
France.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe from the Iberian
peninsula to Bavaria and Carinthia ; Corsica, Sardinia.

Of very easy culture in sunny positions in deep, loamy soil.
Being such a good trailer it is best to plant it so that it will fall over
or decorate a rock or bank. It prefers dry soils, and is often killed
in wet English winters.

Saponaria officinalis L. Common Soapwort.

This tall and rather handsome species, with large pink flowers, is
sometimes seen by streams in the foot-hills of Switzerland and
France.

Saponaria Vaccaria L. is an annual found in waste places and in
crops. In 191 1 it was growing in a crop of flax above Argentiere, near
Chamonix, at a height of 4500 feet.

LYCHNIS L.

Calyx tubular or inflated, with 5 teeth. Petals 5, with erect claws
and a spreading lamina, entire or 2-cleft. Stamens 10. Styles 5,
or very rarely 4. Capsule i-celled, or divided at the base into 5 cells,
and opening in 5 or 10 teeth or short valves at the top.

About 40 species, widely spread over the northern hemisphere
without the tropics.

Lychnis alpina L.

In Alpine Plants of Europe, p. 80, this plant, now usually called
Viscaria alpina Don, was erroneously stated to be unrecorded from
Switzerland. As a matter of fact it is occasionally found in Orisons
(Engadine, Poschiavo, etc.), the Bernese Oberland (Gemmi), and
the Valais, as at Zermatt and above Zinal (at 8500 feet in August,
1911). It does not appear to descend to the sub-alpine region of
Central Europe, but we have seen it in the Eastern Pyrenees in
abundance in some of the more open pine forests at about 5500 feet.
It extends upwards in that district to 7000 feet.

Lychnis viscaria L.

Stems 6 inches to a foot high, glabrous, very viscid in the upper
part. Leaves long and narrow, resembling those of the last species.

loo SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Flowers red, in close, sessile, or shortly stalked, opposite clusters,
forming an oblong panicle or head. Calyx tubular, with 10 veins
and 5 short teeth. Petals slightly notched.

Rocks and hilly pastures. May to July.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe to Norway ; Siberia ;
Caucasus ; a few places in N. Wales and Scotland.

Lychnis Flos Jovis Desr.

Plant covered with whitish, silky tomentum. Stems 10-18 inches
high, erect, simple. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, the
upper ones narrower. Flowers deep pink, crowded. Petals deeply
divided. Calyx coriaceous, with 10 prominent nerves and broadly
acute teeth. Capsule oblong-acute, with five teeth, much shorter
than the carpophore.

Sub-alpine pastures and broken ground. June to August.

Distribution. — Western and Southern Alps, Southern Switzerland,
Italy, Tyrol.

Lychnis Coronaria L.

A taller plant, covered with dense white silky tomentum. Leaves
oblong-lanceolate, acute. Flower solitary, axillary, and terminal,
large and handsome, reddish purple, or rarely white, longly petioled
in a loose, dichotomous spray. Calyx with 10 unequal nerves and
linear teeth, much shorter than the corolla. Petals entire or slightly
crenate. Capsule oblong-acute, without carpophore, 5-toothed.

Wooded hills and rocky, bushy places in the plains and sub- Alps.
Reaches a considerable height in Val Tournanche and the Saas
Valley. May to July.

Distribution. — Southern Europe from Portugal to the Caucasus ;
probably only in Valais in Switzerland, except where it has escaped
from gardens, it being a favourite plant in cottage gardens, as in
England.

SILENE L.

Calyx, corolla, and stamens as in Lychnis. Styles 3. Capsules
opening at the top in 6 teeth or short valves. A very large genus, of
about 256 species, widely spread over Europe, Central and Northern
Asia and N. America, with a few species in S. Africa.

Silene acaulis L.

Usually stemless or with stems J to I inch high.

Root woody, branched, with many aerial shoots, covered with the
withered leaves, and bearing a rosette of fresh leaves forming dense,
cushion-like tufts. Sometimes hemispherical masses a foot across
are seen covering rocks or grassy ground in Alpine pastures. Leaves
radical, linear, acute or acuminate, entire, shortly ciliated, other-
wise glabrous. Flowers dioecious or hermaphrodite, solitary at the
extremity of the shoots. Calyx cylindrical, or bell-shaped, with

CARYOPHYLLACE^: 101

10 nerves ; teeth ovate, obtuse. Petals obovate, lanceolate, rose-
coloured, slightly emarginate.

Rocks and pastures in the Alps ; common, 5000-11,000 feet.
May to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Pyrenees, British Isles, Arctic Europe, Asia and America ; Iceland,
Spitzbergen. Rocky Mountains of Canada.

There are two varieties which grow in the Alpine zone only :

Var. exscapa DC., a stemless, small form with lighter pink flowers,
and Var. elongata DC., a rare form with longer stems than in the
type, larger flowers, and a looser habit.

Though a shy bloomer in this country, Silene acaulis is a very
useful rockery plant. It should have plenty of sun, and a poor,
gritty soil, or it will make too much soft green growth, which gets
cut off in winter. It may be wedged between stones in crevices of
rock.

Silene inflata Smith (S. Cucubalus Wibel.). Bladder Campion.
(Plate VIII.)

Loosely branched at the base, with ascending or erect stems a foot
or more long, of a glaucous green, and usually glabrous. Leaves
ovate, oblong, or rarely nearly linear, and usually pointed. Flowers
few, white, or pinkish in the mountains, often slightly drooping,
in loose terminal panicles. Calyx becoming at length globular,
inflated, and much veined. Petals deeply 2-cleft. A variable species,
especially in the mountains, where it sometimes assumes a pinkish
tinge, as in the plate.

Fields, waste places, and Alpine pastures ; very common. April
to August.

Distribution. — All Europe, Western and Central Asia, Northern
Africa, N. America. British.

In Mr. F. N. Williams' European Varieties of Silene inflata1 he
describes the var. alpina, Mert. and Koch, and mentions that it
was gathered by the present writer on the Col du Galibier in Dau-
phiny at 2440 m., " the greatest altitude hitherto recorded for the
plant." It was however, recorded at 3000 m. on the Corner Grat,2
by Heer.

Silene Elizabethce Jan.

Rootstock densely covered with leaves ; stem simple, ascending,
3-6 inches high, finely glandular, hairy above. Root-leaves lan-
ceolate, acute, narrowed at the base ; stem-leaves ovate-lanceolate.
Flowers 1-3, terminal, very large and handsome, bright pink ;
lamina of petals obcordate, fan-shaped, cut and toothed. Calyx
5-cleft.

1 In Bulletin de r Her bier Boissier (1908).

2 Professor Lino Vaccari, La Flora Nivale del Monte Rosa (1911), p. 14.

102 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Alpine pastures on limestone, 4000-5000 feet ; rare. June, July.
Distribution. — South-west Tyrol, Val Vestino.
Silene alpestris Jacq.

Root tapering, branched, with woody shoots, tufted. Stems
erect or ascending, 6-12 inches high, stiff, glabrous, or with scattered
hairs, dichotomously branched above, and viscid at upper part,
like the flower-stalks. Leaves lanceolate, acute or obtuse, thick,
entire, ciliated near the base, otherwise glabrous, connate ; lower
leaves narrowed into a foot-stalk. Flowers in a terminal, loose
few-flowered cyme, white or pinkish. Petals 4-5 toothed. Corona
acutely toothed. Calyx finely glandular, downy, or rough, erect,
not changed when fruit is ripe ; calyx teeth ovate, obtuse. Capsule
twice as long as calyx, i-celled, dehiscent, with twice as many teeth
as styles. Seeds reniform, compressed, surrounded at edge by a
radiate, 4-nerved crest of linear scales.

Abundant in the calcareous Alps and lower Alps, 3000-6000 feet,
often descending into the valleys with debris. May to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps (Tyrol to Carinthia).
Silene Saxifraga L.

Root tapering, branched, tufted, with woody shoots. Stem
prostrate or ascending, swollen at the nodes, 4-6 inches high, grass-
green like the leaves, usually simple, finely downy or glabrous above,
1-2 flowered, rarely more. Leaves narrowly linear, acute, entire,
rough at the edge, sessile, with narrowed connate bases. Calyx
turbinate, lo-nerved, glabrous, erect, pale green or brownish ;
calyx- teeth ovate or obtuse. Flowers white or pink within, greenish
red without; Petals 2-cleft. Corona scale-like.

Stony places and debris on the calcareous lower Alps ; local.
Up to 6600 feet in Valais.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Switzerland to Carinthia.
In cultivation there must be lime in the soil, and it should have
plenty of sun.

Silene quadrifida L. (Heliosperma quadrifidum Reichb.).

Root with fusiform branches, and tufts of procumbent, slender,
brittle stems. Stems 2-6 inches high, viscid above, glabrous, or
with a few scattered hairs, dichotomously branched above. Leaves
narrowly linear, acute, entire, ciliated at the base, slightly connate,
the lowermost gradually narrowed into the leafstalk. Flowers
in a terminal, loose, few-flowered cyme, white. Petals 4-toothed.
Corona sharply dentate. Calyx glabrous, erect, teeth ovate,
obtuse, unchanged when fruit is ripe. Capsule as long as calyx.
A very slender little plant, growing in shaded, moist limestone
rocks and cliffs in the Alps, from 3500 to 7600 feet. June to August.

CARYOPHYLLACE^E 103

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura (Reculet) ; Central and Western Pyrenees. From Spain to
Macedonia.

Silene rupestris L. (Plate XV.)

Stems dichotomously branched, ascending or erect, glabrous and
glaucous like the whole plant. Leaves lanceolate, narrowed at the
base, sessile ; upper leaves broader. Flowers milk-white or rose-
coloured. Petals emarginate, almost twice as long as the calyx.

Rocky Alpine and sub-alpine situations, preferring granite and
siliceous rocks ; its counterpart on limestone being Gypsophila
repens. It extends up to 9000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Spain,
Pyrenees, Cevennes, Vosges, Corsica, Lapland, Scandinavia, Altai.

Like many of the genus it is easily propagated'from seed, and,
disliking lime, it should have plenty of grit or granite chips.

Silene nutans L. Nottingham Catchfly.

Stock tufted, with a rather thick top-root, short, procumbent,
barren shoots, and erect flowering stems, 1-2 feet high, more or less
hoary with short hairs and viscid in the upper part. Lower leaves
oblong-obovate, pointed, narrowed into a long stalk ; stem-leaves
few, narrow, and sessile. Flowers nodding in a loose panicle, 3 or 5
together on short opposite peduncles. Calyx tubular, 8-12 mm.
long. Petals white or greenish underneath, deeply 2-cleft, with
long claws, the style and stamens projecting beyond the flower.

Hilly or stony pastures, rocky and waste places by roadsides ;
very common. June, July.

Distribution. — Nearly all Europe, Russian Asia to the Arctic
Circle. British.

It is a common plant in the sub-alpine region, and we once found
the var. spathultzfolia Burnat as high as 8000 feet, near La Grave
in Dauphiny.

Silene cordifolia All.

A pubescent-viscous and leafy species, with ascending stems,
about 10 inches high. Leaves ovate-acuminate, the upper ones
larger and heart-shaped at base. Flowers white or pink, shortly
peduncled, erect, 1-4 on the branches. Calyx broad, with 10 nerves
and linear-lanceolate teeth. Petals deeply 2-cleft, often reflexed.
Capsule oblong, twice as long as the glabrous carpophore.

Rocks and screes of the Alpine and sub-alpine region in the French
and Italian Maritime Alps ; rare. July, August.

Silene vallesia L.

A robust but dwarf pubescent-glandular species. Stems 4-6
inches high, 1-3 flowered, leafy. Leaves lanceolate acute ; stem-
leaves sessile ; root-leaves narrowed into a petiole, Calyx tubular,

io4 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

glandular, with lanceolate teeth. Petals bifid, pinkish white above,
crimson underneath. Capsule pubescent and equalling the glabrous
carpophore in length.

Stony places on siliceous rocks ; very local. July, August.

Distribution. — In Switzerland only on some of the Southern Alps
in Valais, on the Italian frontier ; Alps of Savoy and Dauphine (as
at La Grave), Italy, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, etc.

This little known plant is worth introducing into gardens and
may be treated much as 5. rupestris is.

CERASTIUM L.

Small herbs, usually hairy or downy and often viscid, branching
at the base, with white flowers in terminal forked cymes, or rarely
solitary ; the upper bracts often, like the sepals, scarious at the
edges. Sepals 5, rarely 4. Petals 5, rarely 4, usually 2-cleft, some-
times minute or wanting. Stamens 10 or occasionally 5 or fewer.
Styles 5, rarely 4 or 3. Capsule opening at the top in twice as many
short teeth as there are styles.

A rather large genus, spread over the globe, but most numerous
in the temperate regions, especially of the northern hemisphere.

Cerastium arvense L. Mouse-ear Chickweed.

Stem perennial and much branched at the base, and frequently
prostrate and creeping, ascending to about 6 inches high. Leaves
crowded in lower parts, narrow, linear-lanceolate, glabrescent.
Flowers large and white, in loose cymes on rather long pedicels.
Petals twice the length of the sepals, cleft to the middle. Capsule
oblique, usually longer than the calyx. A variable plant.

Dry, hilly fields, pastures, and banks, extending from the low-
lands of England to 8700 feet in the Alps, and often mistaken there
for C. alpinum. May to July.

Distribution. — Europe, Russian Asia, N. America, Andes of S.
America, Morocco.

There are several Alpine varieties, the commonest of which is
strictum Haenke (alpicolum Fenzl.), which is smaller, very thick-set,
and with narrower leaves and smaller flowers. We have gathered
it at 9000 feet on the Aiguille du Gole*on in Dauphine and on the
Col de la Leisse in Savoy at the same elevation.

Cerastium grandiflorum W. and K.

A useful and well-known rock-plant, covered with greenish grey
tomentum. Leaves linear, fleshy, often with curled hairs at the
base. Flowers large, handsome, sometimes covering the whole
plant with white. Teeth of capsule revolute.

Rocky pastures in Upper Styria and elsewhere in the Eastern
Alps ; rare. July, August.

Grows easily and freely from cuttings or by division, but is

CARYOPHYLLACE^E 105

somewhat too rampant to associate with the smallest and choicest
Alpines.

The majority of the Cerastia are either lowland plants or distinctly
high Alpine ; though occasionally in the sub- Alps we find C.
pumilum and semidecandrum from the plains, and C. trigynum and
C. alpinum descending from the higher mountains.

ALSINE Wahl.

Petals 5, or rarely 4, entire or slightly notched. Stamens 5, 8, or
10, all attached to the disc. Styles usually 3. Capsule 3-valved.
Leaves mostly linear or linear-lanceolate.

A considerable genus spread throughout the greater part of the
globe, but especially in temperate regions. Most species are now
placed in MINUARTIA Leofling.

Alsine fasciculata Mert. and Koch.

Annual or biennial, glabrous or downy. Stems 2-10 inches high,
erect, stiff. Leaves linear-awl-shaped. Flowers in thick, erect
corymbs. Pedicels shorter than calyx. Sepals scarious lanceolate-
acuminate, with i nerve. Petals half length of sepals. Stamens 10.
Capsule oblong-conical, equalling or shorter than the calyx. Seeds
tuberculous.

Rocks and arid, sandy places in the mountains and hills. June
to August.

Distribution. — Jura, Alsace, Savoy, Dauphiny, Cevennes,
Pyrenees, Southern Switzerland. Southern Europe, Morocco.

Alsine rostrata Koch (A. mucronata L.).

Stems upright and loosely csespitose in habit. Leaves usually in
tufts, linear, subulate, stiff. Sepals almost entirely scarious, or, in
other words, white with 2 green stripes on the back, lanceolate-
acuminate, i-nerved. Petals almost equalling the sepals. Flowers
small, in little loose corymbs.

Dry, rocky, sunny places from 4000-7200 feet. May to August.

A very variable plant both in size and habit, and with at least
two hairy or glandular named varieties.

Distribution. — Western Alps, Switzerland, West Tyrol, Cevennes,
Corbieres, Pyrenees, Corsica, Spain, Italy, Algeria.

Alsine laricifolia Crantz.

Stem erect or ascending, 3-10 inches high, simple or branched,
finely downy like the flower-stalks and calyx, or viscid-glandular
above. Leaves linear or subulate, semi-cylindrical, rough at the
margin with fine notches, otherwise glabrous. Flowers large, white,
like those of Cerastium arvense, in 1-3 flowered panicles ; flower-
stalks erect, spreading. Petals twice as long as calyx, wedge-shaped
or obovate, obtuse. Calyx-teeth, lanceolate, obtuse, green, mem-

106 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

branous at the margin, 3-nerved. Seeds covered with little dots or
excrescences.

Debris and rocks of the granitic Alps, 5000-7500 feet, descend-
ing into the valleys along the courses of streams ; often abundant.
June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps.
Alsine lini flora Heg.

Closely allied to the preceding and possibly only a limestone
form of it. Rootstock woody as in laricifolia. Sepals with nerves
slightly beyond the middle (the nerves are longer in laricifolia).
Capsule longer than the calyx, instead of equalling it. Flowers
similar to those of laricifolia.

Rocky places and pastures in the calcareous mountains up to
6800 feet. July, August.

It often forms great masses densely covered with milk-white
bloom. These two species should be more cultivated in gardens,
care being taken to give granite chips in one case and limestone in
the other.

Alsine Villarsii Mert. and Koch.

Stem 5-10 inches, 3-7 flowered, slender. Leaves 3-nerved, with
intermediate finer nerves, linear, flat. Flowers on very long
pedicels. Petals long and narrow, obtuse. Sepals lanceolate-acute,
with 3 nerves. Capsule ovoid, about equalling the calyx. Seeds
tuberculous.

Rocky places in the Alps, especially on limestone, up to 6000 feet
at least ; rather rare. July, August.

Distribution. — Western Alps as far south as the Var, Central and
Eastern Alps to Carinthia ; Spain, Caucasus, Ural Mountains,
Siberia. A. W. Bennett recorded this from " Southern Switzer-
land," and Koch l gave a frontier station, actually in Italy. I am
unaware of a recent record for it in Switzerland. Bouvier mentions
the Dent du Midi.2

Alsine verna Bartl.

Usually pubescent, glandular. Rootstock not woody. Stem
forming dense tufts from 2-6 inches high, slender. Leaves green,
linear-subulate, stiff ; upper leaves shorter and broader. Flowers
in loose forked cymes, pedicels usually rather downy. Sepals with
3 prominent nerves, pointed. Petals obovate, spreading beyond
the points of the sepals. Capsule 3-valved.

Stony mountain pastures up to 9000 feet (Goleon 9300 feet) ;
common. May to August.

Distribution. — Mountains of Europe, Western Asia, N. Africa,
N. America. British.

1 Koch, Synopsis Fl. Germ, et Helvet., vol. ii. p. 123 (2nd ed. 1843).

2 E. Bouvier, Flore des Alpes de la Suisse ft de la Savoie, 2nd ed. (1882), p. 101,

CARYOPHYLLACE^: 107

Alsine stricta Wahl. (Arenaria uliginosa Schleich.).

Perennial tufts like those of A . verna, but the subulate leaves are
rather thicker, somewhat succulent, the stems longer, with few
distant pairs of leaves, the pedicels much longer, often an inch or
more, and always glabrous, and the sepals are broader. Petals
about equalling the calyx. Capsule 3-valved.

Bogs on mountains ; rather rare. July, August.

Distribution. — Jura, not otherwise in Switzerland, Southern
Germany, Northern and Arctic Europe and Asia, Greenland. In
Britain only known on Widdybank Fell in Teesdale. In Norway it
reaches perpetual snow.

ARENARIA L.

Petals 4-5. Stamens 8-10. Styles usually 3. Capsule 6-lobed.
Seed without any appendage. Leaves usually roundish-ovate.

About as large a genus as Alsine and, like it, spread over the
greater part of the globe.

Arenaria grandiflora L.

Stem 3-6 inches high, ascending, branched, softly hairy above.
Leaves linear subulate, finely acuminate, thickened at the margin,
ciliated with bristles at the base, otherwise glabrous. Stem 1-3
flowered. Flowers half an inch wide, pure white. Petals twice as
long as calyx.

Rocky places among debris of the calcareous Alps from 4000-
5500 feet ; local. June to August.

Distribution. — Moravia, Eastern Alps, some of the Western Alps,
Jura, Saleve, but not actually in Switzerland, Pyrenees, Central
and Southern Europe ; Algeria.

Arenaria ciliata L.

Stem prostrate, creeping, branches ascending, densely covered
with small, nearly round leaves, lower part of stem covered with
short hairs. Leaves obovate, shortly acuminate, nearly sessile,
glabrous, ciliated towards the base. Flowers terminal or in forks
of the branches, solitary, or in a 3-partite cyme, often axillary,
flower-stalks erect, filiform, with soft hairs in lower part. Sepals
lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, with narrow membranous margin,
glabrous, slightly ciliated towards apex. Petals elliptical, longer
than calyx. Capsule nearly globular, longer than calyx, 6-lobed.
Seeds kidney-shaped, finely warty.

Damp stony places in the Alpine limestone region up to 9000 feet ;
frequent. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Afps ; Car-
pathians, Pyrenees. Central and Northern Europe as far as
Iceland and Spitzbergen. Very rare in the British Isles.

io8 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Arenaria gothica Fries.

Sometimes considered a sub-species of A. ciliata, from which it
differs by the absence of sterile shoots, and by the longer stems,
which are many-flowered. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, ciliate at the
base. Sepals oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, the lateral being
sometimes hardly visible.

It grows by the Lac de Joux in Switzerland, in Sweden, and about
Ingleborough and Ribbleshead in Yorkshire, where it is spreading
fast. It flowers in June. This rare plant was first discovered in
England in 1889. Mr. Wm. Whit well l gave a detailed account in
The Naturalist of its occurrence in several places, and Mr. Arthur
Bennett has written on it in the Journal of Botany, November, 1892.

Arenaria montana L.

A prostrate, greyish green plant, forming large masses, with its
long, barren shoots. Shortly pubescent, but not glandular. Leaves
lanceolate, acuminate, i-nerved. Flowers large, white. Pedicels
2-3 times as long as calyx, finally recurved. Sepals ovate-lanceolate,
i-nerved, petals oboval, twice the length of the sepals. Capsule
sub-globular to ovoid, equalling the calyx, with 3 bidented valves.

Hills, moors, and woods. May to July.

Distribution. — Western and Central France, Cevennes, Pyrenees.
Spain and Portugal.

This is a frequent and most useful plant for the rock-garden.
Most of the Sandworts (Arenaria and Alsine) will do in an ordinary
soil, and several of them form useful carpeters. Propagation is
usually by division.

Arenaria purpurascens Ram.

This small species from the Pyrenees has ovate-lanceolate leaves,
with i nerve, and 1-4 rosy-purple flowers in a terminal cyme.
Flower-stalks hairy, sepals glabrous, lanceolate-acute, 3-5 nerved.
Petals obovate, half as long again as the sepals. Capsule large,
cylindrical, opening into 6 erect teeth.

Distribution. — Rocks in the Alpine region of the French and
Spanish Pyrenees.

It requires plenty of sun, but will grow in ordinary soil and look
very attractive, for it has almost the habit of a Saxifrage with star-
shaped, purplish flowers. It is propagated from seed or by division.

Arenaria Huteri Kerner.

Stem 2 or 3 inches high. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute, covered
with grey hairs. Flowers large, white. Petals ovate. Sepals 4-6
without nerves.

Stony or sandy places in S. Tyrol. June, July.
'This charming little plant requires plenty of sand in the loam
1 " More about Arenaria gothica" in The Naturalist > September, 1895.

CARYOPHYLLACE^: 109

and a south-west aspect. It should be planted in a level part of the
rockery, and a top dressing of sand and leaf-mould will help it
greatly.

MCEHRINGIA L.

Petals 5, rarely 4, expanded. Stamens 10, rarely 8. Capsule
3-6 valved. Styles usually 3. Leaves nerveless, or 1-3 nerved.
Seed with a mantle-like appendage at the base.

A small genus of about 15 species inhabiting Central and Southern
Europe.

M&hringia muscosa L.

Stem fragile, prostrate, or ascending, branched, glabrous like
whole plant. Leaves narrowly linear or acicular, acute, nerveless.
Flowers in small, white, 1-3 flowered, or forked, loose cymes ;
flower-stalks elongated after flowering, and standing out horizontally.
Calyx teeth 4, ovate-lanceolate, acute, i-nerved, with membranous
margins. Petals 4, longer than calyx. Stamens 8. Styles 2.
Capsule 4-valved. Forming large, dense, evergreen patches on
damp rocks, banks, and walls and in mossy, shady places of the
mountain region up to 6500 feet at least. May to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Pyrenees ; Jura, Erzgebirge, Cevennes. Europe, from Spain to
Servia.

A useful evergreen plant for filling up gaps in moist shady places
in rock-gardens.

Mcehringia ciliata (Scop.) Dalla Torre (M. polygonoides Mert. and
Koch.).

Stem 2-6 inches high, very brittle, prostrate, or ascending,
branched, glabrous, like the whole plant, except for a few fine hairs
on the leaves and flower-stalks. Leaves narrowly linear, rather flat,
acute, or obtuse, nerveless, grass-green, somewhat wrinkled, short.
Flowers in 1-2 flowered cymes ; flower-stalks erect after flowering.
Flowers pale white, a little larger than in muscosa. Calyx teeth
5, ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, 1-3 nerved, membranous at the margin.
Petals 5, larger than calyx. Stamens 10. Styles 3. Capsule
6-lobed. More crowded in structure than the former species and
with shorter leaves, but in cultivation it is said to merge into it.

Damp limestone debris in the Alps. July.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Bavaria.

Mcehringia Ponce Fenzl.

Stems elongated, tufted, 1-2 inches high. Leaves linear, obtuse,
shortly mucronate, nerveless, fleshy, glabrous, sea-green, all
cylindrical, or the upper ones flat on the upper side. Flower-stalks

I io SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

terminal, usually 2-flowered ; flowers white, like those of the last
species. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, 3-nerved.

Steep rocks in the lower Alps, descending to the valleys. May.

Distribution. — Eastern Alps.

PARONYCHIA Juss.

These curious little silvery plants are mostly Mediterranean, but
there are two species which attain a considerable height in the
Pyrenees and the Alps of Savoy, Dauphiny, and Provence.

Paronychia polygonifolia DC.

Stems spreading from a woody rootstock and forming a dense
cushion of small, opposite, lanceolate, glabrous leaves, oval-
acuminate stipules and lanceolate, acuminate, silvery bracts.
Flowers very small, greenish.

Sandy and rocky places in siliceous mountains up to 7000 feet.
June to September.

Distribution. — Western and Southern Alps ; Pyrenees, Corsica,
Asia Minor.

Paronychia capitata Lamk.

A small plant with woody, twisted rootstock, and ascending
stems, which are densely leafy, pubescent. Leaves opposite, oval or
lanceolate, obtuse, ciliate. Stipules lanceolate-acute, often longer
than the leaves. Flowers in dense heads, silvery white, at the top
of the branches. Bracts broad, obtuse or mucronate, scarious and
silvery. Sepals equal, linear-obtuse, not membranous at the edges.
Stamens 5.

Sandy, rocky places on hills and mountains ; local. May to July.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Western and Southern Alps (not in
Switzerland). Southern Europe, Algeria.

Paronychia serpyllifolia DC.

Sometimes considered a variety of P. capitata Lamk., from which
it differs by its rounded, obovate leaves and more prostrate habit.
Its dense heads of silvery white bracts, which are large and broadly
obovate, are very beautiful.

It flowers in June, and we have it from 5500 feet on Monte
Toraggio in the Ligurian Alps, on which mountains it is not rare.
It is a plant to introduce in hot, sandy places on the rockery.

SCLERANTHUS L.

Scleranthus perennis L. Perennial Knawel.

This much resembles 5. annuus so well known in sandy places
in England and in Switzerland, etc., but the root is larger and stems
more tufted. The flowering-stems are more rigid, and the flowers

HYPERICACE^: ill

more densely collected in terminal cymes ; and the calyx is rather
smaller, though bordered with a more conspicuous white edging.

Sandy and rocky places in the hills and plains, ascending to at
least 5000 feet in the Alps.

Distribution. — Europe, especially Central ; Western, and Northern
Asia. Rare in England.

Scleranthus uncinatus Schur.

Resembles the last, but the flowers are greener. Sepals lanceo-
late-acute, very narrowly edged, spreading and much open at
maturity, and terminated by a hooked point.

Sandy places in the mountains. June to August.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Cevennes, Spain, Austria, Roumania,
Balkan Peninsula, Western Asia.

HYPERICACE.E

Herbs or shrubs with opposite or whorled leaves, often marked
with pellucid dots (glands). Flowers usually in terminal cymes,
regular. Sepals 5, rarely 4. Petals 5, rarely 4, usually twisted in
the bud. Stamens indefinite. Ovary usually 3-5 celled, with as
many styles ; placentation axillary. Seeds exalbuminous.

Hypericum is the only European genus.

HYPERICUM L. St. John's Wort.

Leaves opposite and entire, and no stipules. Flowers regular,
usually yellow. Sepals 5. Petals 5, hypogynous. Stamens in-
definite, united at the base into 3 or 5 bundles. Capsule more or
less divided into 3 or 5 cells by as many placentae projecting from
the sides to the axis, and usually opening in 3 or 5 valves.

An extensive genus, particularly abundant in Southern Europe,
Western Asia, and N. America, but represented also in the tropics
and in the southern hemisphere.

Hypericum Coris L.

Glabrous. Stems 6-12 inches high, slender, erect ; leaves in
whorls of 3 or 4, linear, with edges recurved, spotted with glands.
Flowers yellow, streaked with red, rather large, in a short corymb.
Sepals linear-oblong, obtuse, glandular ciliate. Petals 4-5 times
longer than sepals. Capsule ovoid, twice as long as calyx.

Dry hills and rocks, especially on limestone up to 5000 feet ;
local. June to August.

Distribution. — Maritime Alps, Var, Basses-Alpes, Italy, Tyrol,
very rare in Switzerland (as near Stans, etc.).

This beautiful dwarf species is easily cultivated on limestone
rocks, and forms a showy mass of gold.

112 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Hypericum nummularium L.

Stem ascending, 6-10 inches high, glabrous like the whole plant.
Leaves roundish-cordate, the lower ones shortly petioled, smooth,
pale below. Flowers large, usually 3-5 on a stem. Petals round,
3-4 times longer than calyx, crenate, pale yellow. Sepals blunt,
serrated, glandular-ciliated. Capsule ovoid, slightly passing the
calyx, and with 3 prominent styles.

Stony, damp places in calcareous mountains ; rare. June to
August.

Distribution. — Alps of Savoy and Piedmont, Northern Spain,
Central and Western Pyrenees.

Can be planted in a sunny place on a bank, with plenty of sandy
soil for its rampant roots to penetrate.

Hypericum Richeri Vill. (Plate XIII.)

Glabrous. Stem erect, a foot high or more, almost round.
Leaves oval or oval-lanceolate, opposite, edged with black spots,
slightly clasping the stem. Flowers large, yellow, in a few-flowered
corymb. Petals three times longer than the calyx, spotted with
black. Sepals oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, finely but strongly
toothed at the edge. Capsule ovoid, slightly longer than the calyx.
A handsome species.

Pastures and mountain woods up to 6000 feet, as at Lautaret,
in Dauphiny, and above Argentiere in Haute Savoie ; very local.
June to August.

Distribution. — Jura, Savoy, rare in Switzerland, Pyrenees,
Central and Southern Europe.

Hypericum quadrangulum L. (H. maculatum Crantz). (Plate XIII.)

Readily known by the 4 prominent angles of the stem. Leaves
ovate, about an inch long, clasping the stem at the base, with many
pellucid nerves and dots, and a few black spots round the margin.
Sepals lanceolate, pointed. Petals usually without any black dots.

Pastures and waste places in mountainous regions up to the
sub-alpine zone. June to August.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, Pyrenees, Alps,
Western Siberia. British.

In Britain it grows mostly in damp meadows.

In the Alps, and especially in the granitic Alps, the flowers of this
species are sometimes pale yellow, as in the plate. The figure was
drawn from a specimen obtained from Le Planet, above Argentine,
at the head of the Chamonix valley, at about 4600 feet.

Schinz and Keller give an Alpine sub-species, eumaculatum Schinz
et Thellung, with rounded sepals, and erosum Schinz, with sepals
toothed or irregularly laciniate, but sometimes acute. The later
sub-species frequents the Swiss plains, and the mountain region.

LINAGES 113

LINAGES

Herbs or under-shrubs with entire, alternate leaves, no stipules,
and regular flowers. Sepals 5, rarely fewer, distinct or united at
the base. Petals 4 or 5, twisted in the bud. Stamens usually 10,
usually free. Styles 5, rarely fewer. Ovary with as many cells
as styles. Ovules I or 2 in each cell.

A small family widely spread over the globe.

LINUM L. Flax.

Sepals, petals, and stamens 5. Cells of the capsule 5, -though
apparently 10, each being divided into two by a nearly complete
partition.

A rather large genus, particularly abundant in the Mediterranean
region and Western Asia.

Linum alpinum Jacq.

Rootstock woody. Stem glabrous like the whole plant, few-
flowered. Leaves linear-lanceolate. Flowers large ; petals azure
blue, obovate. Sepals ovate, shortly mucronate, shorter than the
capsule.

Stony places in calcareous Alps. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Jura, and in many parts of hilly France ; Western Asia.

Linum tenuifolium L. (Plate III.)

Rootstock rather woody. Stem a foot high, downy below.
Leaves linear, acute, rough at the edges. Sepals lanceolate,
acuminate, subulate, glandular-ciliate, longer than the capsule.
Petals lilac or rose, obovate, shortly acuminate.

Dry stony places in the hills and sub-alps. May to July.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe ; Western Asia ;
Algeria.

Linum viscosum L.

A downy, glandular flax, with thick root. Stems 1-2 feet high,
erect. Leaves velvety, oblong-lanceolate, entire, with 3-5 nerves.
Flowers rose or rose-lilac, large and handsome, in long corymbs,
sub-sessile. Sepals oval-acuminate, ciliate, glandular, 3-nerved.
Petals 3 times longer than the sepals, veined with violet. Capsule
globular- apicula t e .

Meadows and pastures in the hills and sub-Alps. May to July.

Distribution. — Maritime Alps, Liguria, Pyrenees, N. Italy, Spain,
Portugal, Austria, Southern Germany.

Linum salsoloides Lamk.

Woody stock, stems about a foot high, downy above. Leaves
very close together below, linear, stiff, i-nerved. Flowers rose or
flesh-coloured, pedicelled. Sepals oval-lanceolate, acuminate,

ii4 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

ciliate, glandular, 3-nerved. Petals oboval, quite round at the top,
veined darker, 3-4 times longer than the sepals. Capsule ovoid.

Dry pastures and limestone hills in the south. June, July.

Distribution. — Liguria, e.g. on Monte Toraggio, South-central
France, Northern Spain.

Linum catharticum L. Cathartic Flax.

This small, but well-known annual, with small white flowers
and oblong, opposite leaves, is often found in the Alps and sub- Alps.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia, Canary Isles.

TAMARICACE.E

A very small European, North African, and Central Asiatic family,
with one Mexican genus. Mostly shrubs, with alternate leaves,
and ovules and seeds inserted on 3 distinct placentas, arising from
the base of the cavity of the ovary. Seeds plumose.

Myricaria germanica Desv. (Plate XIII.) (Tamarix germanica L.)

A cypress-like shrub, i-ij yard high, with slender branches in
bundles. Leaves very small, close together, in the form of needle-
shaped scales. Flowers pale pink, in a long terminal spike. Sepals
and petals 5, rarely 4, free, surrounding the ripe fruit. Stamens 10,
welded into a tube at the base. Capsule many seeded. Seeds
with a shortly stalked plume.

River beds and sandy sides of torrents ; local. June, July.

In the Alps it ascends to about 5000 feet, generally in the debris
of glacier streams, as in the Val Ferret above Pras de Fort, the
Trient Valley below Trient village, and the bed of the Arve about
Argentiere.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees, Corbieres, Alsace, East and South
of France, Switzerland, Europe, Western Asia.

Very probably it has the faculty of preventing the sand and
gravel of rivers being washed away, like Hippophae Rhamnoides,
with which it sometimes grows.

GERANIACE.E

Annual or perennial herbs, or rarely low shrubs, with opposite
or rarely alternate leaves, usually stipulate, divided, and compound.
Flowers regular in the chief European genera. Sepals 5. Petals
usually 5, twisted in the bud. Stamens 5 or 10, often united at the
base. Ovary 3-5 celled, with I or more seed in each, all attached to
the central axis. Styles 5. About 750 species.

GERANIUM L.

Herbs with forked stems, often swollen at the nodes, opposite,
palmately divided leaves and purplish or pink flowers, solitary or

GERANIACE^: 115

two together, on axillary peduncles. Stamens 10, of which 5 are
shorter. Ovary 5-lobed, terminating in a short beak, with 5 long
stigmas at the top. Capsule separating into 5 one-seeded carpels,
which curl upwards, and with a long elastic awn, detached from the
beak.

A genus of about 150 species spread over the northern hemisphere,
with a few- species in the southern (extra tropical).

Geranium macrorrhizum L.

Rootstock oblique or horizontal, thick, and covered with the
tufts of withered leaves. Stem about a foot high, erect, branching
dichotomously. Leaves shiny, palmately 7-fid, cut and serrated.
Flower-stalks 2-flowered ; pedicels erect after flowering. Petals
somewhat spathulate, bright reddish purple. Stamens curved
downwards. Capsule glabrous, wrinkled transversely. A strongly
scented plant.

Stony places, especially in river beds in the lower Alps up to 5000
feet ; very local. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps, Maritime Alps, N.
Italy, Balkan Provinces, Greece.

This handsome plant should be cultivated in English rock-gardens.
Place it between stones in a sunny aspect, give it plenty of water
at first, and after getting well established it must not be allowed
to get rampant.

Geranium sylvaticum L. (Plate XXX.)

Slightly pubescent, and somewhat glandular in the upper portion.
Stem erect, i to 2 feet high, robust. Radical leaves on long stalks,
palmately and deeply divided with 5 or 7 pointed lobes, more or
less cut and serrated. Stem-leaves few, on much shorter stalks.
Upper part of stem repeatedly forked, forming a rather dense
panicle of handsome purplish flowers. Peduncles short, each with
2 flowers, on short pedicels, remaining erect when the fruit is ripe.
Sepals sharply mucronate. Petals obovate, slightly notched, nearly
twice the length of the calyx.

Meadows and bushy places in the mountains up to 7000 feet,
and rarely in the south extending to 8000 feet (Col du Galibier).
Before the meadows are mown in June or July this geranium often
covers large areas and gives quite a purple haze to the landscape.
To a certain extent it takes the place of our G. pratense, which is
rare in Switzerland.

In Britain sylvaticum is more confined to some of the woods in the
west and north, and is not often seen in meadows.

Distribution. — Throughout Europe and Russian Asia, extending
to the Arctic regions. In Norway to above the birch limit.

ii6 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Geranium phceum L. Dusky Geranium.

Rootstock thick, knotted, oblique or horizontal. Stems 1-2 feet
high, erect, simple or branched, covered like the whole plant with
woolly hairs. Leaves roundish cordate in outline, palmately 5-7
lobed, lower leaves stalked, upper sessile ; lobes 3-cleft, coarsely
cut and serrated. Flowers dark purple, in loose racemose cymes ;
flower-stalk 2-flowered, pedicel erect or horizontal after flowering.
Petals patent during flowering, roundish ovate, shortly apiculate.
Carpels with 3 or 4 wrinkles in the upper part ; beak finely downy,
not glandular.

Thickets, ravines, and meadows of the lower Alps up to 5300 feet ;
local. May, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Jura, Central Europe ; from Scotland to Bulgaria and Thrace.

In Switzerland rather rare ; but a pale violet variety seems
frequent in several places at about 5000 feet, as at the Col de la
Forclaz between Chamonix and Martigny.

Geranium nodosum L.

Closely allied to G. striatum L., about i J feet high, covered with a
fine pubescence. Stems less downy and strongly inflated at the
nodes. Leaves 3-5 lobed, lobes ovate-acuminate, serrate. Petals
pale violet or pink, obcordate. Peduncles 2-flowered. Sepals ter-
minating in a long point, pubescent. Carpels finely downy.

Woods and by streams in the mountains ; rare. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, rare in Switzerland (Jura, Valais), Cevennes,
Pyrenees, Central France, Corsica, Spain, Italy, Dalmatia, Mon-
tenegro. Occasionally in England, but probably not native.

RHAMNACE^E

A large family, widely spread throughout the globe, but with very
few European genera.

RHAMNUS L. Buckthorn

Shrubs with alternate, entire leaves, and small green flowers
on short pedicels, usually clustered in the axils of the leaves. Petals
none or very small. Calyx with 4 or 5 short deciduous teeth.
Stamens 4 or 5, alternating with the teeth of the calyx, and inserted
on a disk. Ovary free, 3 or 4-celled. Style very short. Fruit a
small berry (or drupe), enclosing 3 or 4 small nuts. A rather large
genus, spread over the northern hemisphere of both Old and New
World, and penetrating into the tropics.

Rhamnus pumila Turra.

A small under-shrub, with prostrate branches, clinging to the
rocks. Leaves entire, finely toothed, with 4-7 somewhat curved
lateral parallel veins on each side of the midrib. Flowers in small

LEGUMINOS^E 117

axillary cymes, unisexual, greenish, very small. Petals narrow or
wanting. Sepals with 4 lanceolate lobes.

Calcareous rocks of the Alps and lower Alps up to about 7200 feet,
and occasionally higher in Savoie. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps; Pyrenees,
Corbieres, Bavaria.

Rhamnus alpina L. Alpine Buckthorn.

A much larger (erect) shrub, 1-3 yards high. Leaves large, oval,
suddenly contracted into a triangular apex, or sometimes obtuse,
lateral veins, 8-14. Flowers similar. Lobes of the calyx triangular.

Dry, rocky places, and among debris up to 5500 feet. May, June.

Distribution.- — Western Europe, Jura, Alps, Cevennes, Corbieres,
Pyrenees, Italy, Switzerland, Sardinia, Spain ; Morocco, Algeria,
Western Asia.

LEGUMINOS^E

Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with alternate and generally compound
leaves, usually furnished with stipules. Flowers very irregular,
consisting of 5 petals, the upper one, called the standard, usually
the broadest, the two lateral ones called wings are between the
standard and the two lower ones which are inside of all and united
more or less by their outer edges into a single one called the keel.
Stamens 10, the filaments united into a sheath or the upper one
distinct. Ovary i-celled, with 1-2 or more ovules arranged in i or 2
rows on the ventral suture. Fruit a legume or pod, usually opening
in two valves. Seeds with two large cotyledons.

A very large family of some 7000 species, widely spread over the

f'obe. An enormous number of species are found in Southern
urope.

GENISTA L.

Low branching shrubs or under-shrubs, with usually simple or
rarely trifoliate leaves and yellow flowers. Calyx with 5 teeth, the
2 upper much longer. Standard oblong. Keel usually reflexed after
flowering. Stamens all united in a sheath. Podjlonger than the
calyx.

A large genus, chiefly Mediterranean and from Western Asia.
Some species are not easily separated from Cytisus and other allied
genera.

Genista sagittalis L. (Plate XV.) (Cytisus sagittalis Koch.)

A small green under-shrub. Stem rampant, with ascending
branches which are herbaceous and have 3 leafy wings compressed
at each node. Leaves few, simple, sessile, lanceolate, no stipules.
Flowers numerous, in dense, terminal heads. Calyx hairy, with
unequal lobes. Standard glabrous, equalling the keel. Pod 15-20
mm. by 5, compressed, pointed, hairy, with 3-6 seeds.

ii8 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Hillsides, woods, and pastures from the plains to the sub- Alps ;
common. May to July.

Distribution. — Most of Continental Europe except the North.

CYTISUS L.

Herbs, small trees, or shrubs. Leaves usually 3-lobed, rarely
simple. Upper lip of calyx truncate or bidentate. Flowers yellow.
Other characters as in Genista.

Many species inhabiting Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Cytisus alpinus L. " Alpine Laburnum."

A small glabrous tree, 6-20 feet high. Leaves trifoliate, on long
stalks ; leaflets large, entire, pointed, shortly stalked, green on both
sides, glabrous or hairy only at the margin. Flowers rather smaller
than in C. Laburnum, in a large, pendent, downy raceme. Legume
glabrous, shining, with a winged keel to the upper suture.

Mountain woods and bushy places up to 5000 feet ; local. June,

July-

Distribution. — Jura, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps.
Cytisus Laburnum L. Laburnum.

A rather taller tree than the last. Leaves glaucous below, instead
of being green on both sides. Pod downy and then nearly glabrous
instead of being always glabrous.

Mountain woods. May, June.

Distribution.— Switzerland, Eastern France ; Alpes-Maritimes ;
naturalised elsewhere in France. Central and Southern Europe.

Cytisus radiatus Koch.

A small under-shrub about a foot high and much branched.
Branches opposite or radiate, slender, truncate. Leaves shortly
petioled, trifoliate ; leaflets linear, spreading. Inflorescence
terminal, in a 3-10 flowered head. Calyx silky, with almost equal
segments. Standard and keel downy. Pod small, 5 mm. by 3,
oval, with curved point.

Dry hills, rocks, pastures, and mountain woods ; local. June,

July.

Distribution. — Switzerland, only in Grisons and Valais (Montana),
Hautes-Alpes and Basses- Alpes in France. Central and Southern
Europe, as far east as Thessaly.

Cytisus hirsutus L.

A dwarf under-shrub, 1-2 feet high, and of stiff habit. Leaves
3-lobed, petioled, downy on both sides, turning black on being
dried. Leaflets oboval. Flowers lateral, in leafy clusters on the old
branches. Calyx tubular, with stellate hairs.

Hot hills, thickets, and rocky slopes. May to July.

LEGUMINOS^E 119

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe ; Maritime Alps,
Liguria, Tessin only in Switzerland. W. Asia.

It also turns rather black on being dried.

Several more species grow in the southern hills and lower
mountains, e.g. C. sessilifolius L. (not Swiss), C. nigricans L., C.
supinus L., and C. elongatus Waldst. et Kit. (not Swiss).

ONONIS L. Rest-harrow.

Herbs or low undershrubs, with pinnately trifoliate or rarely
simple leaves ; leaflets generally toothed, stipules leafy ; the
flowers solitary on axillary peduncles, often forming leafy racemes.
Calyx with 5 narrow segments. Standard large and striate. Keel
ending in a pointed beak. Pod inflated, with few seeds.

A numerous genus chiefly from the Mediterranean region.

Ononis rotundifolia L.

Pubescent-glandular. Stem about a foot high, erect or ascending.
Leaves large, trifoliate, petioled, with orbicular or oval toothed
leaflets. Flowers rose-coloured, large, 2-3 on axillary peduncles,
terminated by a mucro. Corolla twice as long as the calyx. Pod
25-30 mm. by 6-7, drooping, glandular, hairy, with 5-9 seeds.

Stony places in limestone mountains up to 5700 feet. May to
August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps from France
to Carinthia. Pyrenees and Spain.

Ononis Natrix L. (Plate XVI.)

A robust very viscous plant, 1-2 feet high. Stem-leaves trifoliate,
petioled ; leaflets oboval or oblong, slightly toothed. Stipules oval-
lanceolate. Flowers lemon-yellow streaked with red, large, in
dense leafy heads. Lobes of calyx much longer than the tube.
Pod 15-20 mm. by 2-4 mm., broadly linear, hairy.

Stony or sandy places from the plains up to about 5000 feet in
the Swiss Alps ; and sometimes, as in the Rhone Valley, so plentiful
as to be mown for fodder.

It flowers from May to July, according to situation.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, including most of
France (Eastern Pyrenees at about 3000 feet), Western Asia,
N. Africa.

TRIFOLIUM L. Clover.

Herbs with stipules adhering to the leaf-stalks. Leaves trifoliate ;
leaflets often toothed. Flowers in dense capitate heads. Calyx
5-toothed. Petals narrow, usually remaining round the pod after
fading. Stamens diadelphous, the upper ones entirely free. Pod
scarcely protruding beyond the calyx, containing from 1-4 seeds.

A numerous and widely spread genus, particularly in the northern
hemisphere,

120 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Trifolium alpinum L. (Plate IX.) Alpine Clover.

A small, glabrous, stemless plant, the leaves and flowers being
all radical. Leaflets linear-lanceolate, toothed, mucronate. Scape
terminating in a dense head of stalked and finally pendent flowers,
3—8 in an umbel. Flowers twice as long as the glabrous calyx,
flesh-coloured, rose, or rarely white.

Grassy Alpine and sub-alpine declivities, preferring the siliceous
rocks and sometimes forming a regular sward ; 4000-9000 feet.
June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees,
Spain.

Trifolium montanum L. Mountain Clover.

Stems erect, about a foot high, pubescent. Leaflets elliptic,
mucronate, pubescent below, glabrous above, strongly nerved,
finely toothed. Flower-heads globular or oval, peduncled ; flowers
white or cream-coloured, rarely rose. Calyx hairy, with equal
teeth.

Dry Alpine pastures, mountain woods, etc. ; common. May to
August.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees, Jura, etc. Most of Continental
Europe ; Western Asia.

Trifolium badium Schreb. (Plate IX.)

Almost glabrous. Stems erect or ascending, 6-12 inches high.
Spikes finally globular. Flowers golden yellow and then light
brown. Peduncles thick, longer than the leaves. Stipules lanceo-
late-acute, shorter than the petiole. Upper leaves opposite ;
leaflets sessile, obovate, toothed.

Rocky pastures of the Alps, 4000-9000 feet ; especially on
limestone, but widely spread. July, August.

Distribution. — Jura, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Cevennes, Pyrenees, Apennines, Carpathians ; Western Asia.

Trifolium alpestre L.

Somewhat resembling the common T. pratense, but stiffer in
habit. Leaves shortly petioled ; leaflets oblong-lanceolate, strongly
nerved, finely toothed. Stipules narrow, upper portion linear,
entire. Flowers purple-red, in a globular, terminal, and usually
solitary head, the heads being sessile between the 2 upper leaves.
Calyx hairy, with 20 nerves and ciliate teeth, the inferior tooth
being longer than the tube.

Woods and mountain pastures. June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern France (Maritime Alps, etc.), Cevennes,
Pyrenees, Auvergne. Southern and Central Europe, including
parts of Switzerland ; Western Asia.

4 7 NATURAL

PLATE IX.

i. TK1FOUUM HADR'.M. 2. TRIFOLIU.M ALP1XUM.

i. LATHVKCS LL'TEUS.

LEGUMINOS^: 121

ANTHYLLIS L.

Rather dwarf herbs, with pinnate leaves and yellow, red, or
purple flowers, in crowded heads, with a deeply divided bract close
underneath. Stipules small or o. Calyx inflated, with 5 small
teeth. Stamens united in an entire sheath. Pod enclosed in the
calyx.

A small genus, chiefly from the Mediterranean region.

Anthyllis montana L.

Stem woody at the base, ascending, 6-12 inches high, tufted,
covered with silky wool like the whole plant. Leaflets in 8-20 pairs,
all the same size. Bracts shorter than the head of flowers, which is
about i inch in diameter. Flowers 15-16 mm. long, rose-coloured.
Calyx with plumose, unequal teeth, suddenly spreading. Occasion-
ally the flowers are a deep carmine.

Rocks and hot stony places on limestone from 4500-6500 feet.
May to July.

Distribution. — Jura, Central and Western Alps, Cevennes.
Pyrenees, Algeria. Very rare in Switzerland (Saleve).

In cultivation it is best planted between blocks of limestone in a
well-drained, sunny position.

Anthyllis Vulneraria L. Lady's-fmgers. (Plate XVII.)

Radical leaves with 1-4 leaflets ; stem-leaves with 4-10 small
leaflets, the terminal one being large. Calyx greatly swollen, with
oblique mouth and short triangular teeth. Petals golden yellow or,
in the Alps, nearly white (var. alpestris Heg.) [Plate XVII.], or
partly blood-red (var. rubriflora Koch =A. Dillenii Schultz). A
polymorphic species.

Pastures and dry hillsides, sometimes very abundant and covering
large areas. May to August.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia, N. Africa. In Norway it
almost reaches the birch limit.

LOTUS L.

Leaves pinnately or palmately 4-5 fid. Stipules minute or
o. Calyx not inflated, 2-lipped or with 5 nearly equal teeth.
Flowers usually yellow, in capitate or umbellate, axillary cymes.
Legume septate between the seeds. About 50 species widely
distributed over the world.

Lotus corniculatus L. Bird's-foot Trefoil.

A small glabrous plant, 3-8 inches high, tufted, but very variable
in habit. Leaves very shortly petioled. Flowers very shortly
pedicelled, bright yellow, often streaked with crimson and turning
green when dry, 5-10 flowers in a decumbent umbel or head about an

122 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

inch across, on long peduncles ; 2 upper calyx teeth triangular.
Pods about an inch long.

Pastures from the plains to 9000 feet (var. alpinus Schl.) in the
Alps. May to July.

Distribution. — Europe, to the Arctic regions, N. Africa, N. and W.
Asia, India.

ASTRAGALUS L.

Herbs with pinnate leaves and flowers in axillary cymes or
spikes, without leafy bracts. Stipules entire at the base. Calyx
with 5 teeth. Petals usually narrow. Keel obtuse. Stamens
diadelphous. Pod cylindrical or inflated, usually divided length-
wise by a complete or partial partition proceeding from the side of
the keel.

One of the largest genera known (about 900 species), distributed
all over Europe, Central and Northern Asia, N. America, and down
the Andes of S. America. Some penetrate far into the Arctic.

Astragalus alpinus L. (Phaca astragalina DC.).

Stem procumbent, then ascending, 3-8 inches high, slender,
covered like the leaves with an adpressed down. Leaves pinnate,
with 8-12 pairs of lanceolate or oval leaflets. Spike compact, corym-
bose ; flowers shortly stalked. Standard blue. Wings white. Keel
violet at apex, nearly as long as standard. Legume pendent,
elongated, covered with rough, black hairs. Fruit-stalk longer than
calyx.

Stony or grassy places and pastures in the Alps, especially on
the primary formations, 5000-8200 feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Alps and Pyrenees. High mountains of Europe as
far north as Lapland. In Norway it extends above the birch.
Very rare in Britain.

Astragalus glycyphyllus L.

Glabrous, bright green in colour, with strong zigzag stems,
spreading several feet along the ground. Stipules free. Leaflets
about a dozen, ovate, i-i J inches long, on a common leaf -stalk 6 or 7
inches long. Flowers dingy yellow, in racemes rather shorter than
the leaves. Pods erect, curved, glabrous, I J inches long, divided into
2 cells by a thin double partition.

Open woods, grassy and uncultivated places. June to August.

Distribution. — Europe, especially Central ; Western Asia. British.
A frequent plant in sub-alpine regions of Switzerland.

Astragalus Cicer L.

Differs from the last in its more erect habit, and in having pale
yellow flowers, narrower oblong leaflets, and a hispid, globular pod,
which turns black when ripe. Grassy and bushy places in the hills ;
local. June, July.

LEGUMINOS^) 123

Distribution. — Western Alps, Pyrenees, Ardennes, Central and
Southern Europe, rare in Switzerland ; Western Asia.

Astragalus hypoglottis L.

A small, hairy, diffuse plant. Leaflets oblong, 8-12 pairs.
Flowers violet, erect, 10-20 in a dense, sub-globular head. Pedun-
cles longer than the leaves. Calyx hairy, tubular, with short, linear
teeth. Standard oval, emarginate. Pods 10 mm. by 4, erect, oval,
heart-shaped at base, with long, white hairs, divided longitudinally
into 2 cells.

Dry Alpine pastures. June to August.

Distribution. — Central and Western Alps (not in Switzerland),
Northern Europe, and Russian Asia. British.

Likes a well-drained soil, plenty of lime, and a sunny aspect.

Astragalus purpureus Lamk.

Stem spreading, prostrate or ascending, hairy like the whole
plant. Leaflets ovate-lanceolate, in 10— 12 pairs. Petals bright
purple. Calyx hairy, tubular, with irregular linear teeth, standard
oblong, emarginate. Pods 10 or 12 mm. by 5 mm., erect, oval,
heart-shaped at base, hairy.

Limestone hills, 3500-6500 feet. May to July.

Distribution. — Southern and Western Alps, Piedmont, Tyrol,
Montenegro.

Astragalus Onobrychis L.

Very similar to the last, but with 6-12 pairs of leaflets, and
covered with whitish hairs. Calyx-teeth lanceolate, about J length
of the tube. Standard linear-oblong, truncate. Pod 10 or 12 mm. by
5 mm., erect, oval, hairy. A handsome plant, well worth cultivating.

Mountains in hot districts up to 5000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Western Alps, Southern Europe and Western Asia.

Likes sun and prefers limestone, under which conditions it
spreads rapidly, and throws up plenty of long-stalked crimson-
purple spikes.

Astragalus monspessulanus L.

Almost glabrous, green. Stems o, the flower and leaf -stalks
springing from the roots ; 10-20 pairs of elliptic leaflets, stipules
linear-lanceolate. Flowers purple, in oval heads elongated at
maturity. Peduncles equalling the leaves. Calyx glabrescent,
tubular, with teeth about half length of tube. Pods very long,
25-35 mm. by 3 mm., sub-cylindrical, curved, almost glabrous.

Limestone hills in hot places. April to June.

This species has a wide range, both in altitude and longitude, and
it is really a southern plant, as its name implies. We have seen it
at Beaulieu, on the Mediterranean, at Pigna, in the Ligurian Alps
(1200 feet), and as high as 6300 feet on the plateau of Mt. Cenis.

124 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, very local in Switzer-
land, Caucasus, Tunis, Algeria.

Astragalus aristatus L'He*rit.

Woody at the base, and forming great mats of spiny shoots.
Stem very short, whitish pubescent. Leaves with 6-10 pairs of
linear-oblong leaflets. Stipules linear-acuminate. Flowers white
or washed with lilac, erect, 3-8 in short, loose clusters, slightly
peduncled. Bracts lanceolate. Calyx very woolly with setaceous
teeth equalling the tube.

This very marked species is the only one of the spiny kinds which
can be considered Alpine or sub-alpine. We have seen it, near the
top of the Col di Tenda, and on the Aiguille du Goleon in Dauphine,
at the remarkable height of 8500 feet or 2590 m. It prefers lime-
stone or shale.

Distribution. — Western Alps (not in Switzerland), Pyrenees,
Greece, Sicily, Italy.

Should be planted in a limy soil with plenty of stones, and where
it can have room to spread and form a big mat.

PHACA L.

Leaves pinnate. Flowers in axillary racemes. Style subulate,
not bearded ; ovules more than 2. Pod or legume more or less
inflated and membranous, i-celled.

Phaca alpina Jacq.

Stem 1-2 feet high, glabrescent. Leaflets in 9-12 pairs, ovate-
lanceolate, stipules linear-lanceolate. Flower-stalks blackish.
Flowers brownish yellow. Calyx-teeth linear-lanceolate. Legume
half-ovate, when young covered with rough hairs, nearly glabrous
when older, stalk of legume nearly as long as calyx.

Stony places and pastures, 4000-6500 feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees,
Bavaria, Sweden.

OXYTROPIS DC.

Low, tufted perennials, only differing from Astragalus in the keel,
which has a small point at its extremity, either erect or slightly
recurved, and in the pod, which has an incomplete longitudinal
partition projecting into the cavity from the angle next the vexillum,
not from the angle next the keel.

Another large genus, of about 200 species, but not so widely
spread as Astragalus, and chiefly confined to mountain stations
in Europe, Asia, and N. America.

Oxytropis campestris DC.

Stock short and tufted, covered with old leaf-stalks and stipules.
Plant covered with scattered hairs or rather shaggy. Leaflets

LEGUMINOS^: 125

usually in 12 pairs, lanceolate, acute. Peduncle longer than the
leaves, and hairy like the calyx. Spikes capitate, ovate. Bracts
nearly or quite as long as calyx. Flowers lemon-yellow, occasionally
with brownish claws or white, or blue (var. coerulea Koch). Legume
erect, sessile within the calyx, ovate, acuminate, inflated, semi-
bilocular, slightly hairy.

Stony places and pastures in the Alps up to 9500 feet, and
descending into the plains. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Pyrenees ; Scandinavia, Britain (very rare). Found on most of the
high mountains of Europe.

Oxytropis pilosa DC.

Stem erect or ascending, 4-12 inches high, softly woolly, like
the whole plant. Leaves pinnate, with 7-13 pairs of lanceolate
or linear, entire, mucronate leaflets. Stipules lanceolate, sessile at
base of leaf-stalk. Flowers ochre-yellow, in dense ovate heads, at
length elongated spikes. Pod erect, linear-lanceolate, nearly cylin-
drical, woolly, nearly sessile within the calyx.

Sunny hills and stony pastures in the Alps. May to July.

Distribution. — Jura, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Western
and Central Asia as far as China.

COLUTEA L.
Colutea arborescens L. Bladder Senna.

A shrub 6-8 feet high, not spiny. Leaves pinnate, with 7-11 oval
leaflets, finely pubescent. Flowers yellow, rather large, standard
streaked with brown. Pods much inflated, 5 cm. by 2-3, pendent,
membranous, veined and glabrous, closed at the top, while C.
orientalis, which resembles it, has pods open at the top.

Hills and sunny places in the plains, extending in Switzerland
rarely into the sub-alpine zone, as near Stalden, and in the Maritime
Alps to 2000 feet only. May to July.

Distribution. — East and West of France, Eastern Pyrenees,
Switzerland, Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia, Algeria.
Often cultivated and frequently sub-spontaneous.

HEDYSARUM L.
Hedysarum obscurum L.

Stem 6-12 inches high, erect, simple, glabrous or with scattered
hairs. Raceme usually long-stalked, terminal, with sometimes a
secondary axillary raceme. Leaves pinnate ; leaflets ovate or
lanceolate, entire, obtuse or acute. Stipules membraneous, opposite
the leaf, 2-cleft. Calyx, peduncle, and pedicels shortly hairy.
Flowers large, bright reddish purple, somewhat crowded, pendent.
Legume 1-4 chambered, finely downy or glabrous, pendent.

126 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Stony pastures and steep mountain sides and ravines on limestone
or schist ; often somewhat solitary ; 4000-8000 feet. July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Pyrenees ; Arctic Europe ; Nova Zembla ; Caucasus.

CORONILLA L.

Small shrubs with yellow flowers in axillary umbels. Calyx
shortly campanulate. Petals with long claws. Keel acuminate.
Legume nearly straight, cylindrical, or 4-angled. Leaflets often with
white margins.

A small genus of about 20 species, inhabiting Europe, W. Asia,
and N. Africa.

Coronilla vaginalis Lamk.

A low shrub, with leaflets in 3-7 pairs. Flowers small, in umbels
of 4-10 on a peduncle once or twice the length of the leaf. Stipules
in the form of a bifid sheath. Pods pendant, 20-30 mm., straight,
divided horizontally into 3-6 oval chambers, with 6 angles.

Rocky places in limestone mountains, from the plains up to 6500
feet, June to August.

Distribution. — Mountains of Central and Southern Europe, ex-
tending North to Bohemia and the Harz mountains.

Coronilla Emerus L.

A shrub 1-2 yards high. Leaflets oboval, truncate, in 2-4 pairs.
Flowers large, 2-4 on a peduncle. Legume long, straight, and
divided into 7-10 chambers.

Woods and hills, especially on limestone, up to 6000 feet. April
to June. On the Riviera it flowers much earlier.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe ; Norway.
Coronilla minima L.

Stem woody and spreading. Leaflets in 3-5 pairs, oblong, the
lowest pair close to the stem, and occupying the base of the petiole.
Flowers yellow, in elegant heads of 5-8 florets. A small dwarf
species.

Sunny limestone hills and rocky places. June, July.

Distribution. — France, Spain, Valais, Italy, N. Africa.
Coronilla varia L.

Readily known by its pretty pinkish white flowers, or, to be exact,
the standard is pink, the wings white, and the keel white with dark
purple at the tip. Stems recumbent or ascending, and often forming
large masses extending several feet. Leaves with 6-n pairs of
leaflets, which are oblong to linear, glabrous.

Pastures, borders of woods, and waste places. Common in many
parts of Europe and sometimes seen in the Alps up to 5000 or 6000
feet. May to August.

LEGUMINOS^E 127

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia as
far as Persia.

In cultivation this rampant, quick growing plant must be kept
in check, or it will " swamp " more delicate things.

ONOBRYCHIS Miller. Sainfoin.

Leaves pinnate, with a terminal leaflet, leaflets entire. Stipules
scarious. Flowers red, purple or white in axillary spikes or racemes.
Calyx-lobes subulate. Wings short. Keel obliquely truncate.
Pod compressed, not jointed, often spiny, winged, or crested.

About 70 species, inhabiting Europe, temperate Asia, and Africa.

Onobrychis montana DC.

This is probably an Alpine variety of the Common Sainfoin,
0. vicicefolia Scop. (0. saliva Lamk.), with beautifully veined
crimson flowers, but the blossoms vary considerably in colour. The
stems are sub-decumbent, and the leaflets shorter and broader than
in the other, and they are usually in 5 to 7 pairs.

Alpine and sub -alpine pastures up to 6500 feet; common.
June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura, and
most of mountainous Europe.

Onobrychis arenaria DC. (0. Gaudiniana Jordan).

Leaflets oblong-elliptic, 13-20 pairs. Stem more or less prostrate.
Flowers white, streaked with red. Pod pubescent, spiny, keeled,
and strongly veined on both sides.

Sandy hills. Local. May, June.

Distribution. — Southern Switzerland (Tessin, Grisons, Valais),
Pyrenees.

HIPPOCREPIS L.
Hippocrepis comosa L. Horse-shoe Vetch.

Stock with numerous stems branching at the base, short and
tufted or spreading along the ground. Leaflets 9 to 15, rarely less,
small, obovate, oblong, and glabrous, the lowest pair at a distance
form the stem. Flowers yellow, 5-8 in an umbel, like those of
Lotus corniculatus, but rather smaller and never tinged with red
as the Lotus is, particularly in the mountains. Pod about an inch
long, finely pointed, the notches of the inner edge broad and deep,
and giving it an almost zigzag appearance.

Banks, pastures, and rocky places, especially on limestone,
from the plains to the Alps. June, July.

Distribution. — Central, Southern, and Western Europe. British.

VICIA L. Vetch.

Mostly annuals, and either climbing or procumbent. Leaves
with many entire or emarginate leaflets, usually ending in a tendril.

128 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Stipules half sagittate. Flowers in axillary racemes. Wing- petals
adnate to the keel. Style inflexed, cylindrical, or flattened ; ovules
usually many. Legume compressed, two-valved.

A large genus of about 120 species inhabiting^the northern
hemisphere and S. America. The nomenclature of certain groups
is obscure and vague, and the genus should be monographed.

Vicia pyrenaica Pourr.

A small perennial species about 4-6 inches high. Stem ascend-
ing. Lower leaves have 1—2 pairs of obcordate leaflets, upper have
4-6 pairs of wedge-shaped leaflets, truncate. Stipules entire.
Flowers rich violet, large, axillary, solitary, subsessile. Calyx
glabrescent, with almost equal teeth shorter than the tube. Standard
very large. Pod broadly linear, glabrous, blackish when ripe.
Seeds brown.

Pastures up to 6500 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Spain, Hautes-Alpes and Basses- Alpes.
Quite suitable for planting in sunny, open positions on the rockery.

Vicia sepium L.

Stems 1-2 feet high. Stipules small and entire or larger and
toothed. Leaflets in 4-6 pairs, ovate or oblong ; leaf-stalk often
ending in a branched tendril. Flowers pale reddish purple, forming
a sessile cluster or very short raceme. Pod glabrous, about an inch
long.

Bushy places and woods, from the plains up to 5000 feet in
Switzerland. May to September.

Distribution. — Europe and Russian Asia. From the Mediter-
ranean to the Arctic Circle, reaching the birch limit in Norway.
British.

Vicia dumetorum L.

A tall, climbing, glabrous species. Leaflets in 4-5 pairs, oval-
obtuse. Stipules toothed. Flowers purplish and then dirty yellow-
red, rather small, 3-8 in a loose spike, often longer than the leaves.
Pod 35-40 mm. long by about 8 broad, pointed, glabrous, fawn-
coloured at maturity.

Woods in the mountains. June to September.

Distribution. — Jura, Eastern France, Switzerland, Central and
Eastern Europe from Sweden to Turkey.

Vicia pisiformis L.

A large climber with big oval leaflets in pairs of 4 or 5, and rather
small greenish yellow flowers. It grows in limestone woods, but is
rare in the Alps, though widely spread in Central and Eastern
Europe.

PLATE X.

ATt'KAI. SI/K.

TROI.UUS KUROP.f.US.
VIXCKTOXK'UM OFFICINALK
CVCI.AMKX El'KOP.^UM.

2. CUSCUTA KIMTHYMUM.
4. CARKX FKRRUdlNKA.
o. IASIOXE MOX'I'AXA.

LEGUMINOS^E 129

Vicia sylvatica L. Wood Vetch.

This British Vetch is occasionally met with as high as 6500 feet
in Switzerland, as, e.g. below the Triibsee, near Engelberg, where
it assumes a dwarf, tufted habit and grows with Hedysarum obscumm
and Lilium Martagon on a steep, stony slope. Flowers white,
veined with blue or violet. Mountain woods in North, Central and
Eastern Europe.

Vicia onobrychioides L. (Plate IX.)

A very handsome Vetch, 1^-3 feet long, almost glabrous and
climbing. Leaves with 5-8 pairs of linear leaflets. Flowers a
beautiful rich violet with paler keel, large, 6-12 in a loose cluster.
Calyx-teeth very unequal, the two upper short and connivant.
Pods about 30 by 5 mm., glabrous, fawn-coloured at maturity.

Cultivated and waste places in the hills, up to about 4000 feet
in Valais and the Eastern Pyrenees (e.g. Montlouis). May to July.

Distribution. — S. and S.E. France, Valais (Orsieres, etc.), S.
Europe, N. Africa. This is a plant to introduce into our gardens.

LATHYRUS L. Pea.

Herbs with weak stems, sometimes climbing, and sagittate or
half -sagittate stipules. Leaves usually pinnate, with fewer and
larger leaflets than in Vicia, the common leaf-stalk often ending in
a tendril. Flowers solitary or in racemes, on axillary peduncles,
purple, red, white, or yellow. Style, flattened below the stigma,
quite glabrous on outer side. Pods cylindrical or flattened. Seeds
several, usually globular.

A large genus with nearly as wide a geographical range as Vicia.

Lathyrus luteus Peterm. (Orobus luteus L.). (Plate IX.)

Stem angular, 1-3^ feet high, erect, often branched. Stipules
half-sagittate or entire or feebly toothed at the base only. Leaves
usually with 4 pairs of leaflets, which are elliptic and rather acute,
almost glaucous beneath. Flowers yellowish, large, afterwards
yellow-brown. Style linear, bearded at the apex.

Pastures and mountain woods up to 6000 feet ; local. June, July.
Distribution. — Jura, Alps, Corbieres, Pyrenees, Central and
Southern Europe. Siberia.

Lathyrus niger Bernh.

A glabrous plant, 1-2 feet high, turning black on being dried.
Stems angular, erect. Leaves with 4-6 pairs of oval or elliptic
leaflets, glaucous above. Stipules linear. Flowers reddish purple,
then bluish, rather small, 4-8 in a loose cluster, longer than the
leaves. Calyx- teeth very unequal. Pods linear, about ij inches
longer, black when ripe.

Mountain woods, especially on limestone. May to July.

Distribution. — Most of hilly Europe, Caucasus, Algeria.

130 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Lathyrus montanus Bernh.

A glabrous species about a foot high, with winged stem and in-
flated nodes on the underground stolons. (Linnaeus called it
Orobus tuberosus.) Stipules more or less arrow-shaped. Leaves with
2-3 pairs of linear-lanceolate leaflets, glaucous beneath. Some-
times the leaflets are quite linear (var. angustifolia} and occasionally
broadly oval. Inflorescence 4-6 flowered, equalling or longer
than the leaves. Corolla at first purple-red, afterwards turning a
dull blue.

Woods and thickets — common in the plains, hills, and sub-Alps.
April to June.

Distribution. — Europe, especially Western and Central. British.

Lathyrus vernus Bernh.

A glabrous plant about i-ij feet high. Stem angular. Leaves
with 2-4 pairs of oval-lanceolate leaflets, very pointed, bright
green and shining. Flowers reddish violet, then bluish, larger
than the last. Pods linear, glabrous, brown when ripe. Seeds
yellow.

Mountain woods, especially on limestone. April to June.

Distribution. — Most of hilly Europe from the Pyrenees to the
Caucasus, Western Asia.

Lathyrus heterophyllus L.

A climbing species about 3 feet long, glabrous. Stems and leaf
petioles broadly winged. Lower leaves with one pair of leaflets,
upper leaves with 2-3 pairs ; leaflets oval or lanceolate. Corolla
purple ; inflorescence longer than the leaves.

Mountain woods and pastures up to 6000 feet ; local. June,

Distribution. — Alps, Jura ; Central Europe from Portugal to
Sweden and Russia.

ROSACES

Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with mostly alternate leaves, usually
toothed or divided, the stipules seldom wanting and often leaf-
like. Flowers in cymes, or solitary at the end of the year's shoots,
or more rarely in lateral bunches. Sepals 4 or 5, united at the
base into a lobed calyx. Petals 4 or 5 or rarely none. Stamens
numerous, inserted with the petals on the calyx below its lobes.
Ovary of one, two, or more carpels. As the fruit enlarges the carpels
either remain free or are combined with each other or with the calyx.
Often only I or 2 seeds in each carpel.

A numerous family widely spread over the globe, but more in the
northern hemisphere than in the tropics.

ROSACEyE 131

SPIRAEA L.

Herbs or shrubs with much diversity in the foliage. Flowers
usually small and numerous, in terminal cymes or panicles. Calyx
free, 5-lobed. Petals 5. Stamens numerous. Carpels 3, or more
frequently 5, quite free from the calyx, forming as many dry
capsules, opening along the inner edge. A genus spread over the
northern hemisphere, but barely extending to the tropics.

Spircea Aruncus L.

A handsome plant of about 3 feet, with very feathery white
inflorescence. Leaves very large, often a foot long, triangular in
general outline, 2-3 pinnatisect, with opposite petioled segments,
with doubly-toothed margins. No stipules. Flowers white, very
small, usually dioecious, sessile, in elongated spikes forming a large
panicle. Stamens longer than the oblong petals. Carpels 3 or 4,
recurved on maturity.

Mountain woods, gorges, etc., 2000 to 4000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Vosges ; Central Europe,
Northern and Western Asia, N. America.

Spircea Ulmaria L. Meadowsweet.

This well-known plant is often seen in Switzerland extending
from the plains to about 5000 feet in some of the southern valleys.
Its habitat is more variable than in England, for in that country
it is very rarely seen in the mountains. It is found in Europe,
Asia Minor and Northern Asia.

ALCHEMILLA L. Lady's Mantle.

Tufted herbs, annual or with a perennial almost woody root-
stock and annual flowering stems, palmately lobed or divided
leaves, and small green flowers in loose panicles or in small sessile
heads. Calyx free, double, i.e. of 8 divisions, of which 4 alternate
ones are outside and smaller. No petals. Stamens four or less.
Carpels I or 2, i-seeded.

A small genus, widely spread over the northern hemisphere,
chiefly in mountainous districts.

Alchemilla alpina L.

Stem prostrate or ascending, branched, covered like the leaves
with adpressed hairs. Leaves palmate, 5-9 partite, dark green on
the upper side, silver-grey with shining silky hairs on under side ;
segments wedge-shaped, obtuse, serrated. Greenish-yellow flowers
in a terminal, branched, often racemose, cyme.

Pastures and rocky places in the siliceous mountains up to
9000 feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Central and Western Europe, Norway. British.

A characteristic plant of the sub- Alps in granitic districts.

132 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Alchemilla vulgaris L. Common Lady's Mantle.

Rootstock nearly black, stout. Stem 6-18 inches, ascending.
Root-leaves reniform, 6-9 lobed, serrate, 2-6 inches across, green
on both sides ; stem-leaves smaller. Stipules connate, toothed.
Flowers very small, yellow-green, rarely perfect, in irregular
racemes or cymes. Pedicels short. A variable plant, and in the
mountains usually dwarf, with pubescent or silky leaves and
petioles.

Moist pastures in hilly and sub-alpine districts. May, June.

Distribution, — Central, Northern, and Arctic Europe, N. and W.
Asia, Kashmir, Greenland, Labrador.

Alchemilla Hoppeana Biiser.

Plant 4-10 inches high, forming compact tufts. Stems i-ij
times as long as the radical leaves. Leaves glabrous, dull green
above, silky and silvery beneath, with 7-9 leaflets, some of which
are free and others irregularly cut to the base, oblong-lanceolate,
finely serrated at the top. Flowers in clusters forming a rather
loose spike.

Limestone slopes and rocky pastures in the Alps and sub-Alps.
June, July.

* Distribution. Pyrenees, Spain, Italy, French, Swiss, and Tyrolese
Alps.

Various other species of this little understood genus are found
in the sub- Alps, e.g. Alchemilla glaberrima, A. flabellata, A. pu-
bescens, A . hybrida, and A . alpestris.

POTENTILLA L.

Herbs with perennial tufted stock and often creeping runners.
Flowering stems usually annual. Leaves of 3 or more digitate,
distinct, segments. Peduncles i-flowered, solitary or forming a
dichotomous cyme. Calyx free, double, i.e. of twice as many
divisions as there are petals. Petals 5, or rarely 4. Stamens
numerous. Carpels numerous, small, i-seeded, crowded on a
receptacle, which never becomes succulent.

A large genus extending over the whole of the northern hemi-
sphere without the tropics, penetrating the arctic regions, and
descending the Andes to their extremity.

Potentilla caulescens L.

Stem weak, prostrate, ascending or erect, many-leaved, cymosely
branched at the apex, many- flowered, covered with patent hairs
like the leaf-stalks. Root-leaves and lower stem-leaves palmately
5-partite, the root-leaves shorter than those of the stem; upper
stem-leaves tripartite, passing into bracts. Segments elongated
or wedge-shaped, serrated above the middle, silky-villous below

ROSACE^E 133

and at the margin. Petals narrow, wedge-shaped, white. Stamens
and carpels hairy.

Calcareous Alpine and sub-alpine rocks up to 8000 feet. July,
August. Carpathians, Jura, Alps, Pyrenees.

Potenlilla rupestris L.

Flower-stems 10-18 inches high, springing from an almost
woody base. Leaves chiefly radical, pinnate, the common stalk
rather long ; leaflets 5 or 7, ovate, toothed, green ; stem-leaves
few and smaller, often with only three leaflets. Flowers few,
rather large, milk-white, forming a loose corymb.

Rocks and hilly places in the sub- Alps ; local. May, June.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Cevennes, Auvergne, Corsica,
most of mountainous Europe as far north as Sweden. Western
Asia. Rare in Britain.

Potentilla fruticosa L.

This handsome shrub, with silky, sub-digitately pinnate leaves
and bright yellow flowers, grows in the Pyrenees and many districts
in N. and mid-Europe, but not in Switzerland. This is strange,
for it is widely spread elsewhere, and appears in N. and W. Asia,
Himalaya, N. America, and in N. England and Ireland.

Potentilla valderia L.

Densely tomentose. Crown of root covered with silky hairs.
Leaflets 5-7, obovate, wedge-shaped, serrated, velvety on both
sides. Corymb compact. Petals obcordate, white, shorter than
calyx. Filaments hairy. Calyx-teeth lanceolate, acute.

Rocky places and pastures in the Maritime Alps and Balkan
provinces ; rare. July, August.

Potentilla Clusiana Jacq.

Rootstock woody, with thick fibres, many-headed. Stem
filiform, ascending, 1-3 leaved, 1-5 flowered, covered with patent
hairs. Root-leaves palmately 5-cleft, shortly stalked, shorter than
stem ; stem-leaves 3-5 cleft, smaller, segments lanceolate or wedge-
shaped, entire or with 3-5 teeth near the apex, nearly glabrous on
both sides or silky on lower side and margin. Flowers handsome,
milk-white. Petals obovate, longer than calyx-teeth. Filaments
glabrous. Capsule villous. Stem and calyx usually tinged with
purple.

Clefts of rock and debris in the Eastern Alps. Generally on
limestone and rather rare ; 5200-6500 feet. July, August.

Potentilla Tormentilla Scop. Common Tormentil.

Rootstock stout, almost woody. Stems and leaves more or less
silky. Lower leaves shortly stalked, upper ones sessile, consisting
of 3 or 5 deeply toothed leaflets. Flowers small, yellow, on long,

134 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

slender peduncles, springing from the forks of the stem on the
axils of the upper leaves. A variable plant.

Heaths, moors, and pastures, and open woods in the plains and
Alps.

Distribution. — Europe, Arctic Asia, Azores.
Potentilla argentea L. Hoary Cinquefoil. (Plate XI.)

Stem ascending, branched above, covered with white silky hairs.
Leaflets usually 5, incised, very white beneath, oboval, wedge-
shaped ; lower leaves stalked ; upper leaves nearly sessile. Flowers
small, yellow, in a loose, leafy corymb or panicle.

Dry pastures and waste, gravelly places in the plains and lower
mountains. May to July.

Distribution. — Northern and Central Europe, including the
British Isles. Rarely in the Mediterranean district; Western
Asia, Himalaya, N. America.
Potentilla multifida L.

Stem ascending, 6-12 inches high, branched above. Leaves
pinnate, covered on under side with silvery, silky hairs, pinnae few,
deeply pinnatifid, lobes linear. Flowers rather small, yellow, 2-7
yi a terminal cyme. Petals obovate, wedge-shaped, emarginate.

Stony places on the Alps and lower Alps on primary rocks.
June to August.

Distribution. — Western Alps; rare in Switzerland, Caucasus,
Russia, Siberia, Lapland, Thibet.

Potentilla aurea L. (Plate XL)

Rootstock woody and tufted. Stem erect or ascending, covered
with adpressed hairs like the whole plant, branched above, several-
flowered. Leaves few, palmately 5-partite, or the upper one tri-
partite ; segments obovate or wedge-shaped, deeply veined above,
grass-green and shining, with pale, long silky hairs on the under
side, and deeply serrated. Flowers large, bright yellow, with an
orange streak at the base. Achenes glabrous.

Abundant in Alpine and sub-alpine pastures up to 9000 feet (Aig.
du Goleon). June to September.

Distribution. — Jura, Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western
Alps ; Cevennes, Corbieres, Pyrenees ; Norway.

Potentilla grandiflora L. (Plate XVI.)

All the leaves trifoliate. Stem erect, 4-12 inches high, branched,
2-5 flowered, covered with long patent hairs. Leaves trifoliate ;
leaflets obovate, coarsely serrate, woolly beneath. Flowers large,
yellow (considerably larger than in P. aurea). But the drawing
is of the variety minor.

Rocky places and pasture in the Alps, 5000-9000 feet ; rather
rare. July, August.

PLATE XI.

NATURAL SIZE.

POTKNTILLA ARGENTEA. 2. SENECIO SVLVATICUS.

POTKNTILLA AUREA. 4. SOLI DAGO VIRGA-AUREA.

5. HELIANTHEMUM VULGARE.

ROSACE/E 135

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Eastern
Pyrenees.

Potentillaverna L. Spring Cinquefoil.

Stems short and tufted, sometimes procumbent at the base.
Lower leaves on long stalks with 5 or 7 oblong, toothed leaflets;
upper leaves nearly sessile or shortly stalked, with 5 or rarely 3
leaflets, covered with silky hairs. Flowers small, yellow, in irregular
panicles at the ends of the short stems. Petals broad, longer than
the calyx. A very variable plant, especially in being sometimes
almost glabrous, and at other times densely coated with silky hairs.

Dry pastures and rocks in hilly districts, especially on limestone.
April to July.

Distribution. — Almost all Europe, Western Asia. British.

COMARUM L.
Comarum palustre L. Marsh Cinquefoil. (Potentilla Comarum Nestl.)

Rootstock almost woody, thick, decumbent. Stem i to 2 feet
high, often purplish. Leaflets usually 5, shortly pinnate at the end
of the stalk, oblong, toothed, hoary beneath, or softly hairy on both
sides. Stipules entire. Flowers in a loose, irregular corymb, dingy
purple or very dark red. Inner calyx-segments broad, outer ones
narrow and much smaller. Petals shorter than the calyx. Carpels
many, small, on a rather enlarged receptacle.

Marshes, peat bogs, etc., from the plains to 5000 feet ; not com-
mon in Switzerland. June, July.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe (Norway), Arctic
Asia and N. America. British.

FRAGARIA L. Strawberry.

The habit, foliage, and flowers are those of Potentilla, but the
fruit is succulent, formed of the enlarged receptacle, studded with
numerous i-seeded carpels, looking like seeds.

A small genus, widely spread over the northern hemisphere,
with one or two species in S. America.

In Switzerland, in addition to the Oriental Fragaria indica, which
is sub-spontaneous in Tessin, there are 3 indigenous species :

Fragaria viridis Duchesne (F. collina Ehrh.).

Calyx erect in fruit. Often without stolons. Stems as long as
the leaves, covered with spreading hairs. Flowers often greenish
white. Fruit detached with difficulty from the calyx.

Hills and woods. Common in sub-alpine regions. May.

Distribution. — Europe, Caucasus, Canaries, Siberia.
Fragaria vesca L. Common Strawberry.

Calyx spreading or reflexed in fruit. Usually with slender stolons.
Leaves mostly radical, covered with silky hairs like the stems.

136 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Fruit easily detached from the calyx. Flowers white, rather smaller
than the last.

Woods and clearings, banks, etc., in the plains and sub- Alps. May.

Distribution. — Europe, including British Isles, Asia, N. Africa,
N. and S. America.

Fragaria elatior Ehrh, (F. moschata Duchense) . Hautboy Strawberry.

Stems longer than the leaves. Flowers quite large. Calyx
spreading horizontally. Fruit adhering to the calyx. A larger and
more robust plant. Woods and banks. April to June.

Distribution. — Central and Eastern Europe ; Northern Asia,
Japan.

GEUM L.

Herbs with a short perennial stock and annual erect stems.
Leaves pinnate, with few unequal segments, and yellow, red, or
white flowers, growing singly on long peduncles at the ends of the
stem 'or branches. Calyx of 5 equal divisions, with 5 very .small
outer ones alternating. Petals 5. Stamens numerous. Carpels
numerous, i-seeded, ending in a hairy awn, which is hooked at the

«p.

A small genus, spread over the temperate and colder regions of
Europe, Asia, and North America, and descending along the Andes.

Geum montanum L. (Plate XVI.)

Rootstock more or less horizontal, and with long fibres. Stem
erect, about 6 or 8 inches high, villous like the leaves, i-flowered.
Root-leaves lyrate-pinnatifid ; segments ovate or roundish, obtuse,
unequally crenate, the lower ones much smaller, the terminal one
very large, obscurely lobed ; stem-leaves small, 3-cleft, dentate.
Flowers very handsome, golden yellow. Achenes forming a nearly
globular head, villous. Regarded by the inhabitants of the Alps
as having wonderful properties in healing various diseases.

Pastures and rocky places of the Alps, from 4500-9500 feet.
Much commoner than G. reptans, which is purely Alpine. June> July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Balkans, Eastern, Central, and
Western Alps ; Pyrenees, Corsica.

Geum rivale L. Water Avens.

Stems erect or ascending about a foot high. Leaves mostly
radical, with a large, orbicular terminal segment, coarsely toothed
or lobed, or sometimes divided into 3, and a few very small segments
lower down the stalk. Flowers few, drooping, dull purplish red,
with a tinge of orange. Carpels very hairy, in a globular head.

Damp places near rivers, etc., especially in the mountain districts.
May to July.

Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia, N. America.
British.

ROSACE/E 137

DRYAS L.
Dryas octopetala L.

Stem somewhat shrubby and woody, branched, prostrate,
forming flat cushions, extending sometimes a couple or more feet
from one root. Leaves evergreen, cordate-ovate, crenate, blunt,
glabrous and shining on the upper surface, white and hoary beneath.
Stipules lanceolate-subulate, more or less hairy like the leaf-stalk
and flower-stalk. Calyx and upper part of flower-stalk with short,
glandular hairs. Flowers solitary, large, white, terminal. Seed-
vessel feathery in fruit. Petals 8-9. Calyx 8-9 lobed. •

Rocky places and high pastures, especially on limestone, from
4300 to 9000 feet, and occasionally descending to the plains ;
frequent. June to August.

Distribution. — Mountain ranges of Europe from the Pyrenees to
the Caucasus, Arctic Europe, Siberia, N. America ; Scotland.

There are only 2, or possibly 3, species of this genus ; the present
one is found fossilized in parts of Europe.

RUBUS L.

Except for the Wild Raspberry (Rubus idaus], and the Stone
Bramble (R. saxatilis) very few of this large genus are ever seen
in the sub-alpine region of Switzerland.

Rubus saxatilis L. Stone Bramble.

Rootstock woody but slender, with a few creeping runners
rooting at the nodes, and erect or ascending simple stems, 5-10
inches high, slender and either unarmed or with a few small prickles.
Stipules lanceolate. Leaflets usually 3, pale green and thin in
texture. Flowers on slender pedicels, 2-3 in the axils of the upper
leaves, forming very short racemes. Petals very narrow, dirty
white or greenish yellow. Fruit red, shining, with only 2 or 3'
large drupes.

Open woods and steep mountain sides. Flowers in June ; fruit
in August.

Distribution. — Spread over the mountain regions of Europe,
Central and Northern Asia, and descending to lower elevations
in more northern latitudes. British.

ROSA L.

This well-known and well-marked genus is widely diffused over
the northern hemisphere, in the new world as well as the old.

In the sub-alpine region of Switzerland and the Jura, the chief
species are the following :

R. alpina L., R. pomifera Herrm. (with very large fruits) ; R.
spinosissima L. (fairly common in the Jura) ; R. tomentosa Lin.,

138 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

R. agrestis Savi, R. elliptica Tausch, R. eglanteria L., R. abietina
Gren. and R. glauca Vill.

Rosa alpina L. R. pendulina L. (Plate XII.)

Stem 1-4 feet high, according to position. Prickles straight,
horizontal or pointing downwards, crowded on the barren shoots,
usually wanting on the flowering stems. Leaflets in 3-5 pairs,
elliptical, serrate, glabrous or hairy beneath, dark green on upper,
lighter on under side. Flowers solitary, deep rose-red, fragrant,
the size of an ordinary dog-rose. Calyx-teeth entire, broader near
the apex, as long or longer than petals. Hip scarlet, elliptical, but
narrowed to a neck at the top, or rarely globular, and sometimes
flask-shaped, fleshy, drooping, crowned by the erect calyx-teeth.

Margins of woods, stony pastures, and bushy places from 3000 to
8000 feet, but not often above 6000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Vosges, Jura, Cevennes, Corbieres, Pyrenees.
Alpine chain from east to west. Dalmatia, Croatia, Transylvania.

Rosa pomifera Herrm. (Plate XII.)

Leaflets 5-7, lanceolate or elliptical, greyish green beneath, or
sometimes purplish, usually glandular-pubescent on both sides.
Sepals glandular-ciliate, usually all pinnatifid, as long as the petals.
Fruit globular, large, often covered with bristles, but very variable.
A rather low, tufted bush.

Roadsides and mountain slopes up to 5000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; rare in the
Jura ; Central Europe ; Western Asia.

SORBUS L.

Sorbus Aria Crantz. White Beam-tree. (Plate XVIII.)

Sometimes a mere shrub, but growing into a moderate-sized tree.
Leaves ovate or elliptic, green and glabrous on upper side, covered
with a soft white cotton on the under side, doubly toothed, or
occasionally slightly lobed, the lobes decreasing towards the base.
Flowers white, in corymbs at the ends of the short leafy branches.
Styles 2. Fruit an orange-red globular berry, with mealy pulp
and slightly acid taste.

Woods and rocks among the mountains, extending at least to
4500 feet, as on the Col des Montets and the Col des Aravis in Haute
Savoie. On the latter Col there is a fine tree above the village of
La Giettaz. It flowers in May, and the fruit is ripe in September.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, extending north-
ward into Scandinavia and the British Isles, Central Asia, Altai
and Himalaya ; N. Africa.

N.B. — See p. 261 for the closely allied S. scandica, etc.

4/7 NATURAL SIXK.

PLATE XII.

ROSA ALPINA. 2. ROSA POMIFERA.

VACCINIUM VI'l-IS-ID-^A. 4. ARC'I'OSTAPH YLOS UVA URSI.

ON AG RACEME 139

AMELANCHIER Medicus.

Amelanchier vulgaris Moench. (Aronia rotundifolia Pers.). (Plate
XVIII.)

A shrub of from 3 to 6 feet high. Leaves ovate, obtuse, finely
toothed, white tomentose beneath, but finally glabrous and leathery,
blade twice the length of the petiole. Flowers white, in small
corymbs. Petals 5, rather long and narrow. Styles 5, united at the
base. Ovary inferior. Fruit globular, pulpy, sweet, as large as a
large pea, bluish black at maturity.

Rocks, dry hillsides, and stony places in the lower mountains,
especially in the south. The bit figured came from above Argentiere,
in Savoy, at about 4500 feet. Flowers, April, May ; fruit, August,
September.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia,
N. Africa. It seems to prefer limestone hills.

ONAGRACE.E

Herbs with opposite or alternate leaves, and often showy flowers,
which are usually regular, 4-merous or 2-merous. Calyx-lobes 2 or 4,
valvate in bud. Petals 2 or 4. Stamens 2-8. Ovary 2-6 celled,
when many-seeded with axillary placentation.

A considerable family, ranging over the whole world, but in the
greatest variety in N. America.

EPILOBIUM L. Willow-herb.

Herbs mostly erect, with annual flowering stems and creeping
stolons. Flowers axillary or in terminal spikes. Calyx-tube long,
slender, with 4-partite limb. Petals 4. Stamens 8. Ovary 4-celled.
Stigma 4-lobed. Seeds tipped with a tuft of long hairs.

This genus is diffused over nearly the whole world, from the
extreme Arctic regions to the tropics.

Epilobium alpinum L.

Allied to E. alsinefolium, but much smaller in its leaves, flowers
and stature. Stem 2-6 inches high, erect, or ascending from a
creeping base, simple, 2-sided from 2 downy lines running down from
the margins of the leaves, otherwise glabrous, like the leaves.
Leaves obtuse, entire, or with a few small teeth. Upper leaves
lanceolate, alternate. Flowers small, rose-coloured in the axils
of the uppermost leaves. Stigma club-shaped. Capsule glabrous,
with a few scattered hairs.

Damp, sandy places by springs and streams in the Alps and lower
Alps up to 8600 feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Mountains of Europe, including the Arctic regions,
N. America, Central and Northern Asia. British.

UO SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Epilobium angustifolium L. Rose-bay. (Plate XXIII.)

A handsome plant, 2-4 feet high, simple or slightly branched,
glabrous or somewhat hoary. Rootstock creeping, and hence and
also to the numerous light seeds carried by the wind, this plant is
rapidly increasing in Europe. Leaves lanceolate, very shortly
stalked, finely toothed or entire. Flowers large, purplish rose, or
very rarely pale pink or flesh-coloured, in long terminal racemes.
Pod 1-2 inches long, slightly hoary. Stigma deeply 4-lobed.

Banks, woods and hillsides from the plains up to 5000 feet in
Switzerland. June, July.

Distribution. — Mountains of Central Europe and Asia, and the
plains of Northern Europe, and in Norway nearly to the birch limit ;
Northern Asia and N. America. British. It appears frequently
in waste places, and has lately established itself on waste ground in
central London.

Epilobium Fleischeri Hochst. (Plate XXIII.)

Sometimes considered a dwarf Alpine variety of E. rosmarini-
folium Haenke =E. Dodonczi Vill. Stem ascending from a creeping
and woody base. Leaves linear or narrowly lanceolate, the same
colour on both sides, glabrous, not veined. Flowers large and hand-
some, bright rose-purple. Style hairy up to above the middle,
half as long as stamens. A cymose panicle of few flowers. Some-
what variable. Calyx usually dark carmine.

Moraines and sandy, stony places by mountain torrents in the
Alps and sub- Alps, especially on primary formations and siliceous
rocks ; local, and not often seen above 7000 feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central and Western Alps ; rare in the
Jura. Transylvania.

CIROEA L.
Circcea alpina L.

A small, delicate green and glabrous plant resembling the common
Enchanter's Night-shade, but smaller in all its parts. Seldom more
than 6 inches high. Leaves very thin, and often glossy ; the
capsules smaller, less hairy, and much narrower than in the common
species.

Damp, shady, and stony places and mountain woods, up to
6000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Jura, Alps, Vosges, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corsica ;
Europe from Scandinavia to the Caucasus ; Northern Asia, N.
America. British.

CRASSULACE^E-

Herbs or shrubs with succulent leaves, mostly alternate ; no
stipules, and flowers in terminal racemes or cymes. Sepals 3 or more,
usually 5. Petals as many, sometimes united in a single corolla.

4 7 NATURAL SIZE.

PLATE XIII.

i. AXTKNNARIA DIOICA. 2. HYi'KRICUM RICHKRI.

3. PYROL-V UXIFLORA. 4. PYROLA SFCUXDA.

?. HYPERICUM MACULATU-M. 6. MYRICARIA GERMANICA.

CRASSULACE^ 141

Stamens as many or twice as many, inserted with the petals at base
of calyx. Ovary superior. Carpels 3-5 or more, usually quite
distinct. Ovules numerous, attached to the ventral suture.
A large family spread over the greater part of the globe.

SEDUM L.

Succulent herbs, sometimes woody at the base, with scattered
leaves, sometimes opposite or whorled, especially at the base or on
barren stems. Sepals 4-6, usually 5. Petals as many. Stamens
twice as many. Carpels as many as the petals, each with an entire
or emarginate scale at the base, and with several seeds.

A large and widely spread genus, especially in Central and
Southern Europe and Central Asia.

Sedum album L. White Stonecrop. (Plate XVI.)

Stock creeping and procumbent, with short, barren stems, and
erect, flowering branches, 4-6 inches high, glabrous. Leaves oblong
or cylindrical. Flowers usually pure white, but sometimes pale
pink, numerous, in beautiful terminal cymes. Sepals short, oval,
obtuse. Petals oblong and obtuse.

Rocks, walls, etc., very common from the plains to the sub-
alpine region. July, August.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia and Siberia, N. Africa.
British.

Sedum villosum L. Hairy Sedum.

An annual, with erect, simple stems, 4 to 5 inches high. The
upper portion of the plant more or less covered with short, viscid
hairs. Leaves alternate or scattered, oblong or cylindrical. Flowers
few, pale rose-colour, in a loose terminal cyme. Sepals green, ovate.
Petals ovate, twice as long as the sepals.

Marshes and turf bogs, and by rivulets in the mountains. Extends
in Switzerland up to the Alpine region, but is local. June, July.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, Greenland, Algeria.
British.

Sedum atratum L. (S. rubens Wulf.).

Stem 1-3 inches high, ascending or erect, simple or branched at
the base, glabrous like the whole plant, often dotted or streaked
with red. Leaves club-shaped, fleshy, obtuse, somewhat flat on
upper side. Flowers yellowish or greenish white, in a terminal,
often unilateral, cyme. Calyx reddish brown ; capsule dusky
purple, and the whole plant reddish when older. Annual or biennial.

Alpine rocks and dry pastures, 4300-9000 feet, or higher. July,
August.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Pyrenees, Balkan provinces.

142 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Sedum annuum L.

Annual. Quite glabrous and very small. Leaves slender, linear
or sometimes cylindrical, green. Flowers in elongated cymes,
yellow. Sepals obtuse.

Dry, stony places and rocks of primary formation up to 8200 feet.
July, August.

Distribution. — Nearly all Europe, Western Asia, Greenland.
Sedum roseum Scop. (Rhodiola rosea L.). Rose-root.

Robust, 6-12 inches high. Rootstock tuberous and thick, with
scent of roses. Buds scaly. Stem simple, erect, very leafy. Leaves
ovate-elliptical, serrate towards the apex, densely crowded. Flowers
small, greenish yellow or reddish, unisexual and dioecious.

Primary rocks, 4000-8000 feet ; local. July, August.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, Siberia, Himalaya,
N.America. British. Canadian Rockies, 7000 feet. (E.Whymper.)

SEMPERVIVUM L.

Robust fleshy herbs, with perfect flowers in panicled or corymbose
cymes. Petals and calyx-teeth 6 or more, the petals being distinct or
connate. Stamens generally twice as many as petals. Carpels
free or connate, adnate to calyx-tube, many-seeded.

About 50 species, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Sempervivum tectorum L. House-leek.

Rosettes large, and whole plant robust and often a foot or more
high. Rosette leaves suddenly narrowed into a mucro ; stem-leaves
broadly linear, spreading. Petals lanceolate or linear, twice as long
as calyx-teeth, pink.

Rocks, especially limestone, up to 8200 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Europe, especially central ; Caucasus, Persia.

Naturalised in Britain, and generally in Europe, except in the
Alps. It was formerly planted on roofs and walls as a supposed pro-
tection against lightning.

Sempervivum arachnoideum L.

Rosettes with lanceolate or obovate leaves, abruptly acute,
covered with short glandular hairs, stiffly ciliated, bearded at the
apex, with radiating, spider's web-like hairs, uniting the ends of
the leaves. Petals narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, 3 times as long
as the calyx, rose-red, sometimes with a darker streak. The stem
and stem-leaves often reddish.

Rocks of the Alps and sub-Alps, 4000-9500 feet ; widely spread
but local, and much rarer on limestone than siliceous rock, e.g. it has
not been recorded from the whole range of the Jura, where its place
is taken on the Reculet, etc., by a somewhat similar species, 5. Fau-
conneti Reuter, intermediate (though not a hybrid) between this
and S. montanum.

SAXIFRAGACE^E 143

S. arachnoideum sometimes covers the rocks in immense masses,
and the rosettes are often quite white with ' spiders' webs.'

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Pyrenees, Central Plateau of France, Cevennes, Corbieres, Apen-
nines.

Sempervivum montanum L.

Rosettes with lanceolate - wedge - shaped, shortly acuminate
leaves, glandular-villous on both sides, obscurely ciliated with
longish hairs. Stem-leaves lanceolate, somewhat broader towards
apex. Petals lanceolate-subulate, very acute, 3 or 4 times as long
as the calyx, deep lilac, with a darker streak.

A taller and more robust plant than the last, and less common,
though widely spread on primary rocks, and especially on the
isolated blocks of rock called ' Befen.' It reaches 9600 feet, and
rarely descends into the valleys.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Pyrenees, Corsica.

Sempervivums are most attractive plants for walls and rockeries,
and they are readily increased by division of the offshoots. They
are all of very easy culture in any light soil in hot aspects, and may
be grown on almost any kind of rock. They can be attached to
rock by means of fairly moist clay and the plant dibbled in, and
they will soon grow and make a good clump.

SAXIFRAGACE^)

Herbs (in Europe) with alternate or opposite leaves, and no
stipules. Calyx free, or more or less adherent to the ovary, with
4 or 5 lobes or segments. Petals as many, perigynous, or none.
Stamens as many, or twice as many, perigynous. Ovary 1-3 celled.
Ovules numerous, on axillary placentae. Fruit a 2-4~celled capsule.
Seeds usually many.

An extensive family, ranging over nearly the whole world.

SAXIFRAGA L.

Herbs, mostly with a perennial tufted stock, with radical or
alternate or sometimes opposite leaves, no stipules. Flowers
terminal, solitary, or in cymes or panicles. Calyx free or partly
adnate to the ovary. Ovary 2-lobed, 2-celled. Styles 2. Capsule
2-valved, 2-beaked.

A large genus of about 200 species and many varieties, chiefly
mountain or rock plants, found in all the great mountain chains of
the northern hemisphere, some extending to the further Arctic
stations, and thus along the Andes to the Antarctic circle, and a few
descend to the hot limestone rocks of the Mediterranean region.

144 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Saxifraga *petrcea L.

Stem solitary, decumbent, leafy, paniculate. Flower-stalks
i-flowered, with 2 bracts. Leaves pinnately 3-cleft, inciso-dentate
lower leaves, nearly reniform ; uppermost wedge-shaped at base,
entire or 3-cleft, the lobes acuminate ; leaf-stalk of lower leaves
elongated, furrowed. Petals white, obovate, twice as long as calyx.

Damp rocky places on limestone, often descending to a low
elevation ; 2000-5300 feet. May to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps ; rare.

Saxifraga paradoxa Sternb. (Zahlbrucknera paradoxa Rchb.).

Stem prostrate. Leaves distant, lower ones long-stalked, cordate-
reniform, 5-7 lobed, lobes obtuse or shortly acuminate ; upper
leaves 3-lobed. Flowers solitary, at length long-stalked. Petals
green, shorter than the sepals. Calyx half-inferior ; the small
calyx-teeth narrowly lanceolate, acute.

Damp rocks, especially overhanging slabs of gneiss, preferring
the darkest corners of the hollows ; 3300-6000 ; rare.

Distribution. — Only in Western Styria, Carinthia, Southern Tyrol,
and on the border between Tyrol and Lombardy.

Saxifraga rotundifolia L. Round-leaved Saxifrage. (Plate XIV.)
Stem erect or ascending, leafy, terminating in a loose, paniculate,
glandular-downy cyme. Leaves hairy, cordate, roundish or reni-
form ; root-leaves and lower stem-leaves long-stalked, coarsely
dentate, uppermost sessile, broadly wedge-shaped, and unequally
cut. Calyx-teeth spreading. Flowers star-like, milk-white, spotted
with red above and yellow below the middle. Petals narrowly
lanceolate.

Damp Alpine and sub-alpine woods and shady places from
3000-7000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees, Central and Southern Europe,
Corsica, Caucasus, Asia Minor, Armenia.

Saxifraga Hirculus L.

Perennial stock often reduced to a mere tuft. Leaves alternate,
almost linear, entire. Flowering-stems ascending to about 6 inches,
leafy, and terminating in a large, single yellow flower, with narrow-
obovate or oblong petals. Capsule rather large. Calyx-segments
reflexed, not half the length of the petals.

Sphagnum bogs and wet mountain moors. July, August.

Distribution. — Jura, rare in Switzerland, Central, Northern, and
Arctic Europe ; Caucasus, Thibet, Himalaya ; North and Arctic
America ; rare in Britain.

Saxifraga tridactylites L.

A small annual, 2-5 inches high, usually branched and more or
less covered with glandular down. Leaves very small, entire or

PLATE XIV.

i. SAXIFRA<;A ROTUXDI FOLIA. 2. s. STKI.LARIS.

3. S. CUNEIKOL1A. 4. S. AIZOIDES (WITH RKI) VARIKTV).

5. S. A I ZOO N.

SAXIFRAGACE^E 145

3-lobed. Flowers small, white, single, on longish pedicels. Calyx-
segments barely half as long as the petals.

Rocks, walls, and stony hillsides ; common. Seen as high as
7000 feet in Switzerland. April to July.

Distribution. — Europe from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle,
Russian Asia. British.

Saxifraga stellaris L. (Plate XIV.)

Stem erect, 1-4 inches high, leafless, with exception of the bracts,
bearing a 3 or more-flowered cymose corymb, covered, like the
whole plant, with scattered glandular hairs. Leaves forming a loose
rosette, grass-green, wedge-shaped or obovate, coarsely serrate near
the apex. Calyx with revolute teeth. Petals lanceolate, rather
acute and small, expanded like a star, white, with 2 yellow spots at
the base ; anthers vermilion-red.

Damp shady rocks, and exposed mountain tops and Cols near
the snow ; 4000-8500 feet ; common on primary rocks. July,
August. It grows at the extreme summit of Ben Nevis, the highest
point in the British Isles.

Distribution. — Mountains of Central and Northern Europe as far
as the Arctic Circle ; Alps, Pyrenees, Vosges, Cevennes, Siberia,
N. America, British Isles.

S. stellaris var. robusta Engler (S. Engleri Dalla Torre) appears
to be a strong form of S. stellaris with unequal petals, found in
Switzerland and Tyrol. We have such a form also from Norway,
with very thick and large leaves.

Saxifraga cuneifolia L. (Plate XIV.)

Stem 4 inches to a foot high, very brittle. Shoots in a series of
rosettes one above the other. Leaves roundish-obovate, wedge-
shaped or spathulate, very obtuse, wavy-crenate, quite glabrous,
with cartilaginous margin. Leaf-stalk flat, wedge-shaped, glabrous.
Inflorescence paniculate. Calyx-teeth recurved. Petals milk-white,
with 2 coalescent yellow spots. Filaments broader upwards.

Damp, shady woods and rocks, and steep rocky declivities of the
lower Alps ; 3000-6500 feet ; local ; but sometimes covering
rocks and banks in woods with enormous mats. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corbieres, Spain, Apennines.

A very useful plant for covering rocks or unsightly banks or old
walls in the shadier parts of the rock-garden.

Saxifraga aspera L.

Stem with prostrate, tufted branches. Leaves on fertile stem,
and barren shoots spreading, stem-leaves rigid, linear-lanceolate,
with stiff cilia, entire. Stem 3-7 flowered, about 6 inches high,
Flowers pale yellow. Calyx patent. Anthers yellow.

146 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Rather moist, stony places on the primary rocks ; 3300-8000
feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees,
Spain.

Saxifraga mutata L.

Stem erect, springing from a rosette of large leaves. Stem ends
in a racemose cyme, covered with viscous hairs, like the bracts,
flower - stalks, and calyx ; ultimate branches i-many flowered.
Rosette-leaves thick, stiff, glabrous, tongue-shaped, or obovate-
lanceolate, flat, obtuse, with a cartilaginous white margin, densely
fringed below, inconspicuously serrate towards apex or entire, with
distant, inconspicuous dots which are encrusted with lime when
young. Stem-leaves smaller and passing into bracts. Petals linear-
lanceolate, acute, orange-yellow. Sepals oval, obtuse, much broader
than the petals.

Damp, rocky places and among debris in limestone mountains,
descending into the valleys. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps.
Not found in the Jura or high Swiss Alps, but occasionally in the
plains.

Saxifraga Aizoon Jacq. (Plate XIV.)

Root putting out naked runners bearing half-closed rosettes of
leaves. Stem erect, 3-10 inches high, bearing a loose racemose
cyme, glandular-hairy like the bracts, flower-stalks, and calyx, or
calyx and lower part of stems glabrous. Branches 1-3 flowered.
Rosette-leaves thick, stiff, glabrous, with cartilaginous teeth, and
depressed dots near the margin ; teeth sharp, covered like the dots
with a white, at length deciduous, calcareous incrustation. Stem-
leaves much smaller and more wedge-shaped, passing into the
bracts. Petals obovate, obtuse, snow-white or sometimes cream-
coloured, and often dotted with red. Very variable in size, colour,
and habit, but nurserymen are too apt to give names to so-called
varieties which are not always constant in their characters.

Common in rocky places in calcareous mountains up to 8500 feet.
June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Silesia, Bohemia, Eastern, Central,
and Western Alps ; Jura, Vosges, Black Forest, Corbieres, Pyrenees,
Caucasus, Siberia ; North America.

Saxifraga Cotyledon L.

Stem 10-16 inches high, forming a many-flowered, loose, some-
what pyramidal panicle, branched from the base, glandular-hairy ;
the middle branches 5-15 flowered. Leaves of radical rosettes
tongue-shaped, entire, pointed or mucronate, dotted near the
serrated margin with an incrustation of lime, serratures carti-

SAXIFRAGACE^: 147

laginous at the apex. Stem-leaves smaller, passing into bracts.
Petals white, often spotted with red, or more rarely with purple,
wedge-shaped.

Primary rocks, especially granite, from 3500-6500 feet. July,
August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, abundant on
Italian side of Simplon Pass ; Pyrenees, Scandinavia, Iceland.

Saxifraga lingulata Bellardi.

Stem 6-1 8 inches long, glabrous, rather slender, and often droop-
ing, branching from the middle or sometimes lower, with several
small linear and sometimes indented leaves. Rosette-leaves linear-
oblong, elongated, channelled above, rather pointed at apex, thick,
entire, with an encrusted indentation at the curved-in margin.
Rosettes somewhat loose and erect. Flowers milk-white, in long and
rather unilateral panicles, with branches of 2-6 flowers. Calyx
glabrous, but slightly rugged, with lanceolate-obtuse lobes. Petals
ovate, wedge-shaped. Stamens subulate.

Limestone rocks from 3000-5300 feet ; very local. June, July.

Distribution. — French and Italian Maritime Alps and Ligurian
Alps, with the Col di Tenda as a centre ; Hautes-Alpes, Basses-
Alpes, Var, Sardinia, Sicily.

It forms exquisite drooping plumes of blossom on the rocks about
Tenda in company with the rather smaller 5. cochlearis.

Saxifraga lantoscana Boiss. et Reut.

Stem usually shorter than in S. lingulata, of which it is sometimes
considered a variety. Rosette-leaves linear-spathulate, broader
towards the apex, with white calcareous patches, obtuse and
shorter than in lingulata and not channelled. Flowers milk-white,
with fine lines of red dots. Inflorescence more or less unilateral.
Calyx campanulate, with lanceolate-obtuse teeth.

Limestone rocks in the district round St. Martin Lantosque in
the Maritime Alps, at Mont de la Chen in the Var, and possibly in
Liguria.

The long discussion upon the last two Saxifrages alluded to in
Alpine Plants of Europe was summed up by Mr. T. A. Sprague,
B.SC., in a paper entitled Saxifraga lingulata and S. lantoscana.*

Saxifraga cochlearis Reichb.

Stem 4-12 inches long, glandular except at the summit, slender,
reddish brown, branching above the middle into a rather dense,
usually short and sometimes glandular panicle, with usually 3
flowers on each branch. The panicle in exceptionally large speci-
mens from Tenda, which the writer measured, was 7 inches in length.
Rosette-leaves quite short, broadly linear at the base and suddenly

1 Kew Bulletin (1911), No. 3. See also Gardener's Chronicle, March i6th, 1912,
and December, 1874,

I48 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

dilated into a sub-orbicular limb or rounded, spoon-shaped apex,
coriaceous and rugged in texture, encrusted at the margins with
lime. Stem-leaves narrowly oboval, very small and slightly glandu-
lar. Flowers milk-white. Petals obovate, wedge-shaped. Calyx
glandular with obtuse lobes.

Sub-alpine limestone rocks in the French and Italian Maritime
Alps, particularly about the Tenda road, and also abundantly on
some of the adjoining mountains of Liguria further east, where it
descends to about 1300 feet at Buggio in the Nervia Valley, and
ascends to 5500 feet. Endemic in this district, June, July.

Saxifraga crustata Vest.

Stem 2-4 inches high, erect, racemose above, glandular-hairy,
branches naked, few-flowered at the head of the stems. Rosette-
leaves broadly linear, obtuse, entire, the cartilaginous margin
strongly encrusted. Petals white, obtuse, obovate or wedge-shaped.

High calcareous Alps, but descending below the Alpine region
as, e.g. in the deep and narrow valley at Weitenstein ; 3000-7200
feet, June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Tyrol to Carinthia.

Saxifraga ccesia L.

A small grey species, a few inches high, with cylindrical tufts of
densely imbricate leaves. Stem ascending from a hemispherical
rosette of leaves, and bearing a 1-6 flowered corymbose cyme.
Stem-leaves and calyx glabrous and glaucous, or with a few glan-
dular hairs. Lower leaves with recurved margins, hard, thick, linear-
lanceolate, nearly triquetrous, acute, entire, dotted with pores at
the margin, fringed at the base, when young encrusted. Stem-
leaves smaller, linear. Petals obovate, obtuse, white ; twice as long
as the sepals.

Limestone rocks and screes from the snow-line downwards, and
sometimes descending into valleys with the d6bris of streams.
June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Pyrenees,
Apennines. Plentiful near the top of the Gemmi Pass.

Saxifraga aizo'ides L. S. autumnalis L. is the earlier name, Linnaeus

having given two names to the same plant. (Plate XIV.)
Stem erect or ascending, leafy, bearing a numerous-flowered,
racemose cyme, but often only 2-3 flowered, hairy, especially at the
summit. The root sends out numerous tufts of leafy shoots.
Leaves glabrous, grass-green, nerveless, entire, linear or linear-
lanceolate, more or less ciliate, apiculate, alternate, crowded at the
apex of the shoots. Calyx hairy at base. Petals linear-lanceolate,
as broad as the calyx-teeth, yellow or orange, or indeed any shade
from pale yellow to deep orange-red. Stamens orange-yellow,

SAXIFRAGACE.E 149

Common in damp places by streams, etc., in the Alps ; 3000-8000
feet, and occasionally seen at even 10,000 feet. June to September.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Southern Jura, Pyrenees, Apennines, Central and Arctic Europe,
Ural Mountains, North America. British. It is brought down by
streams to rocks on the Ayrshire coast.

5. atrorubens Bertol. is merely a variety with deep red flowers
and leaves with stiff cilia at the margin. It is recorded from Tyrol,
and we have seen it in the sand of a mountain torrent near Engelberg
in Switzerland and occasionally in Savoy, as above Argentiere.
Probably it is by no means rare.

Saxifraga tenella Wulf.

Shoots prostrate or erect. Stem with buds in the leaf-axils,
ascending, glabrous, branched. Leaves linear-subulate, cuspidate
(or awned), stiffly ciliate or glabrous, with one dot on upper side near
the apex. Calyx-teeth cuspidate. Flowers whitish, small. A
slender, green plant, 4 inches high.

Rocky places from 3300-6000 feet in Styrian and Julian Alps. July.

MUSCARIA GROUP

Most of these are high Alpine plants, but a few descend lower.
Saxifraga moschata Wulf. (S. varians Sieb.).

A most variable and perplexing plant, whose synonymy appears
little understood, and has sometimes been confused with S. mus-
coides All. It is one of the commonest and most variable of high
Alpine Saxifrages. A small, usually hairy-glandular species, 1-4
inches high, forming dense and often large tufts. Stem slender,
with a few small leaves, and branched at the top into a loose cyme
with 2-6 flowers, though sometimes single-flowered. Leaves more
or less glabrous, linear, and entire, or more frequently wedge-
shaped and 2-5 cleft, nerves showing when dry only. Flowers
pale or bright yellow, or rarely purple-brown, with dull yellow
anthers, star-shaped. Petals rounded and slightly longer than the
sepals.

Rocks, belts of turf and mould and Alpine pastures from 4000-
14,000 feet. (At 4000 feet on the Saleve.) June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Southern
Jura, Carpathians, Pyrenees ; Central and Southern Europe,
Caucasus, Altai.

Saxifraga exarata Vill.

A very viscid, glandular, caespitose species, and variable like the
last. Stems slender, with 1-3 small entire or trifid leaves, 4-10
flowered. Lower leaves imbricate, in dense tufts, bright green,
viscous, strongly nerved, linear-oblong or oblong wedge-shaped,

ISO SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

entire or more frequently 2-3 fid at the apex. The older leaves are
reddish brown. Petals yellowish white, small, more or less oboval,
once or twice as long as the sepals, which are oblong-lanceolate
and sub-obtuse.

Damp rocks and Alpine pastures ; 5000-10,800 feet. June to
August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees,
Caucasus, Arctic regions.

This species is found as far south as the mountains of the Var,
the highest ridge, called La Chens, being 1713 metres. There also
appear S. Aizoon, S. lingulata, S. hypnoides, and S. cuneifolia.

Saxifraga obscura G. et G., 5. nervosa Lapeyr, S. iratiana Schultz,
S. pentadactylis Lapeyr., and the handsome S. geranioides L. are
Pyrenean species belonging to this section.

Saxifraga geranioides L.

A hairy-glandular, robust plant, 6-12 inches high. Flowers large,
white, tubular, with very narrow petals. Sepals lanceolate-acute.
Rosette-leaves on a winged petiole with i nerve, sub-orbicular in
outline, with 3-5 almost oval divisions which are entire or toothed.

Distribution. — Rocky places in the Pyrenees and Corbieres.
Saxifraga pedemontana All.

A viscous, glandular plant, about 6 inches high, with 3-9 large,
white, tubular flowers. Stem branched, and forming a loose corymb.
Leaves cuneate or fan-shaped, 3-5 cleft, with each lobe 3-cleft
again ; upper leaves simple. Petals 3-nerved, linear-lanceolate, at
least twice as long as the very acute sepals, and suddenly con-
tracted into a claw.

Granitic rocks in shady and rather moist places, from 5000-7800
feet ; very rare. July.

Distribution. — Piedmont and Liguria ; Maritime Alps, Transyl-
vania, and rarely in Switzerland in the Binn and Monte Rosa
districts. In habit and size of flowers, but not in the leaves, this
resembles the Pyrenean S. geranioides.

Saxifraga hypnoides L.

Leaves of shoots entire and 3-cleft, narrow, linear, and pointed,
those of rosettes 3-5 cleft, glabrous or more or less ciliate. Stems
3-6 inches long, with very few linear leaves, and from i~6 rather
large white flowers. Calyx-segments pointed and not one-third as
long as the petals.

Rather moist, rocky places in the limestone mountains of Western
Europe, descending sometimes to low, hilly districts. Abundant
in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Northern England, but very local
in the south, as e.g. at Cheddar Cliffs. May to July.

SAXIFRAGACE^: 151

Saxifraga caspitosa L.

Much stouter than the last and covered with short, glandular
hairs, and never with the procumbent, barren shoots of that
species ; the leaves are broader, more obtuse, and more frequently
lobed (3-5 segments), and the calyx-lobes are obtuse. The leaves
form very dense green tufts, closely packed together. Flowering-
stems 2-3 inches high, usually covered with short, glandular, downy
hair, and bearing I or 2 white flowers, or occasionally more, in a
loose terminal cluster. Flowers smaller than in hypnoides, being
about twice as long as the obtuse sepals.

Rocks and stony mountains in Northern and Arctic Europe, and
in very small quantity on one or two high Scotch summits. May
to July.

Saxifraga sponhemica Gmel.

A very protean species, with the habit and lower leaves of
S. hypnoides, and like it in sending out long sterile runners. Stem-
leaves often trifid ; root-leaves with a narrow petiole, flat, with
3-5 linear-lanceolate divisions, mucronate. Flowers 2-9 in a loose
panicle. Sepals lanceolate. Petals oboval, with 3 greenish veins,
twice as long as sepals or longer.

Rocky hills in North- Western and Central Europe, and possibly
in Britain, as on Snowdon. June to August.

PARNASSIA L.
Parnassia palustris L. Grass of Parnassus. (Plate VI.)

Stem 6—12 inches high with a single perfoliate leaf below the
middle, with a solitary terminal flower. Root-leaves rather long-
stalked, broadly heart-shaped, acuminate, entire, glabrous. Flowers
white, large. Petals obovate, beautifully veined, spreading, twice
the length of the sepals, which are ovate and spreading. Imperfect
stamens at base of each petal, with a tuft of 10-12 white filaments,
each bearing a small, yellow, globular gland. Capsule globular, 3-4
valved.

Damp heaths and bogs and wet places from sea-level in England
to 8000 feet in the Alps. But mostly sub-alpine. August, September.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, W. Asia, Thibet,
Japan, N. America. Common in Norway to above the birch limit.

This very beautiful and hardy plant might be much more culti-
vated in bogs with heaths, etc., below the rockery. It has dis-
appeared from several places in the south of England, but can
still be seen within seven miles of the centre of Birmingham.
It is very common in Switzerland.

One simple leaf, an emerald heart,

Closes around its slender stem ;
Not all the witchery of art

Could fashion such a faultless gem.— ALFRED HAVES.

152 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

CHRYSOSPLENIUM L. Golden Saxifrage.

Small, fleshy, but delicate herbs, creeping at the base, with
golden yellow flowering stems, orbicular leaves and small yellow
flowers in short, leafy terminal cymes. Petals o. Stamens 8-10.
Ovary inferior, i-celled. Capsule 2-lobed.

A small genus found in the temperate and colder regions of both
hemispheres.

Chrysosplenium oppositifolium L.

In loose, leafy tufts spreading over a considerable area. Stems
4 or 5 inches high, usually forked at the top. Leaves all opposite,
slightly crenate, with a few stiff hairs on the upper surface. Flowers
small, sessile, in little compact yellowish green cymes, surrounded
by similar leaves to the others, but smaller and golden yellow.

Wet, shady places in the sub- Alps and plains. May.

Distribution. — Most of Europe and Russian Asia, British Isles.
Chrysosplenium alternifolium L.

A more slender and rather taller species than the last. Leaves
always alternate, and the lower ones on longer stalks and more
kidney-shaped. Often growing with the other species.

Similar situations to the last, but rarer in Switzerland. May.

Distribution. — Europe, Northern and Central Asia, N. America,
extending to the Arctic regions. Britain.

RIBES L. Currant.

Sometimes given a separate family (RIBESIACE.E). Shrubs with
alternate leaves, no stipules and small, axillary flowers in racemes
or rarely solitary. Styles 2. Stamens, petals, and sepals 4 or 5.
Ovary inferior, i-celled. Fruit a berry, the seeds being surrounded
by pulpy juice.

A genus spread over the temperate regions of the northern hemi-
sphere, with a small number of species in the Andes.

Ribes Grossularia L. Gooseberry.

A small, much - branched, prickly shrub, 2-4 feet high, the
prickles being single or in twos and threes. Leaves orbicular,
palmately divided into 3 or 5 crenated lobes. Flowers green,
hanging on short pedicels. Berry small and yellowish, often
covered with stiff hairs, but in the mountains frequently glabrous.

Stony, bushy places and roadsides in the plains and sub-Alps.
It flowers in April, and the fruit ripens about August. In some
Swiss valleys it ascends to 4500 feet, as for example in Val
d'Anniviers.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe and Western Asia.
N. Africa. Introduced into Britain.

UMBELLIFER^: 153

Ribes rubrum L. Red Currant.

A branching shrub 3-5 feet high, without prickles. Leaves
stalked, larger than in the Gooseberry, more or less glabrous above,
downy beneath. Flowers small, greenish white, in axillary, pendu-
lous racemes at the base of the year's shoots. Pedicels short.
Berries red when ripe, or rarely yellowish.

Sub-spontaneous in rocky woods here and there in Switzerland.
April, May.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, N. and W. Asia,
doubtfully indigenous in Britain. N. America.

Ribes petrceum. Wulfen.

About the height of the last and of R. alpinum. Leaves 3-5
lobed, lobes triangular, acute, doubly serrated, heart-shaped at the
base, pubescent beneath. Inflorescence erect, pendulous after
fertilisation. Sepals roundly oboval, reddish. Berries red, globular,
acid.

Shady, rocky places in mountain and sub-alpine woods and
glens. May, June.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Vosges, Corbieres, Pyrenees, Central
Europe, Caucasus, Armenia, Siberia, Algeria.

Ribes alpinum L.

Flowers small, yellowish green, always dioecious or unisexual;
the males in little erect racemes about an inch long, with slender
pedicels, the females, on separate shrubs, fewer together, in short
racemes, often almost sessile. Berries small, red, tasteless.

Rocky mountain woods. May, June.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, Caucasus, Siberia.
British. N. America.

The Black Currant (Ribes nigrum L.), known by its scent and
black berries, is rarely found wild in Switzerland.

UMBELLIFER^

Herbs with alternate leaves, often much cut and divided. Flowers
small, regular, in terminal or lateral umbels (simple or compound).
At the base of the umbel are often a few bracts constituting the
involucre. Calyx-lobes 5, small or usually entirely wanting.
Petals 5. Stamens 5. Ovary 2-celled, 2-seeded. Styles 2. Fruit
separating when ripe into 2 one-seeded, indehiscent carpels. Leaf-
stalk usually sheathing.

A large family, more or less represented nearly all over the globe,
particularly numerous in Mediterranean districts and Western
Asia.

154 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

HACQUETIA DC.
Hacquetia Epipactis DC.

Stem simple, leafless, about 4 inches high, bearing a single
simple umbel with short rays and a large involucre 3 times the
size of the umbel. Flowers small, greenish yellow. Calyx-limbs
toothed. Leaves all radical, 3-5 lobed, glabrous.

Bushy places up to 5000 feet in the Eastern Alps, from Carinthia
to Carniola. April, May.

ASTRANTIA L.

Herbs with mostly radical, palmately divided leaves. Umbels
simple or compound ; involucre large, membranous, and often
purplish in colour. Flowers polygamous. Petals notched, with a
long inflexed point. Calyx-limb with 5 long teeth. Carpels with
5 inflated crimped ribs.

A small genus extending over Central and Southern Europe to
Western Asia.

Astrantia major L. (Plate XV.)

Stem 1-2 feet high or sometimes higher, erect, furrowed, glabrous
like the entire plant, simple or more usually divided above into
2 or 3 branches. Leaves palmately 5-fid, lobes lanceolate or
obovate-lanceolate, acute, undivided or 2-3 cleft, unequally doubly
serrate ; radical and lower stem-leaves long-stalked, upper ones
mostly sessile. Secondary umbels many-rayed, collected into
I, 2, or 3 irregular umbellate cymes. Bracts of general involucre
net- veined, coloured white and red like the petals, 2-3 cleft or
toothed, upper ones usually entire ; bracts of partial involucre
lanceolate, entire, coloured, radiating, rather longer than the
secondary umbel. Mountain pastures and damp, shady, woody
places in the Alps, descending to the plains. June to September.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Sudenic Mountains, Eastern, Central,
and Western Alps, Jura, Black Forest, Corbieres, Pyrenees. Some-
times naturalised but not native in Britain.

Astrantia minor L. (Plate XV.)

Stem 6-10 inches high, weak. All the leaves digitate, with 7-9
lanceolate, cut and serrated segments. Calyx-teeth ovate-lanceolate,
acuminate. Flowers small, greenish white. Involucral bracts white
with green apex.

Pastures and damp rocks in the granitic Alps, 4000-8000 feet.

Distribution. — Tyrol, Switzerland, Western Alps, Pyrenees, Spain.

This plant will probably not thrive on a limestone or chalky
soil, for it is a great hater of lime. It should have plenty of water
in summer and shade. However, it is a poor species compared
with major.

4 7 NATUKAL SI/K.

PLATE XV.

i. GENISTA SAGITTAUS. 2. GYPSOPHILA REPENS.

3. ASTRANTIA MINOR. 4- ALLIUM SCH(KNOPRASUM.

s. SILEXE RUPESTRIS. 6. HIERACIUM STATICI FOLIUM.

7. ASTRANTIA MAJOR.

UMBELLIFER^: 155

ERYNGIUM L.
Eryngium alpinum L.

The Alpine " Sea-holly " or Reine des Alpes. A thistle-like plant,
with erect, striated stem i-2j feet high, bluish, like the upper
involucral bracts. Leaves ciliate-spiny ; root-leaves entire,
cordate-lanceolate, dark green ; stem-leaves amplexicaul, deeply
incised, and the uppermost almost palmate. Involucre blue, multi-
digitate, somewhat longer than the cylindrical umbel, and with stiff,
bristly teeth.

Meadows and pastures in the limestone Alps, 5000-6000 feet.
July, August. Local.

Distribution. — Switzerland, Jura, Western Alps, Carinthia,
Carniola, Bosnia, Montenegro.

BUPLEURUM L.

Leaves entire, simple, usually glabrous. General and partial
involucres various ; in Alpine species the partial involucre is large.
Flowers small, yellow or green. Petals hooded, with an inflexed
point. Styles short, reflexed.

Bupleurum stellatum L.

Stem erect, simple, with only one linear-lanceolate leaf em-
bracing the stem, or leafless. Root-leaves broadly linear, with one
longitudinal nerve, and reticulate lateral nerves. Involucre of 1-3
bracts ; partial involucre of 9-10 yellow bracts, connate to their
middle, the apices only free. Principal ridges of fruit with membran-
ous wings.

Dry, rocky places in the Alps 5000-7500 feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Tyrol, Carinthia, Switzerland, Western Alps.
Bupleurum longifolium L.

Stem erect, simple or somewhat branched above, round, finely
furrowed, glabrous like the whole plant. Leaves with longitudinal
veins, acute, elliptical, and running down into a long leaf-stalk,
the upper leaves lanceolate or ovate, acute sessile with a cordate
amplexicaul base. Umbel 5-6 branched, general involucre 3-5
leaved, partial involucre 5-7 leaved ; bracts ovate or elliptical,
shortly apiculate. Ridges of the fruit narrow and furrows small.

Rocks and stony places in the Alps and sub- Alps up to 5000 feet.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Europe.
Bupleurum ranunculoides L.

An extremely variable species, subdivided into several sub-
species and varieties and varying in height from 2 inches to a foot.
Stem leafy and more or less branched. Radical leaves ovate or
cordate ; other leaves linear or linear-lanceolate. Partial involucre
often twice as long as umbel, but very variable.

158 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

LONICERA L. Honeysuckle.
Lonicera alpigena L.

An erect shrub, 2-5 feet high. Leaves opposite, stalked, elliptical
ovate or lanceolate, acuminate, nearly glabrous, entire ; paler
on the under side. Flower-stalk solitary, axillary, glabrous, 2-
flowered, usually about an inch long and pendent. Flowers bright
red, 2-lipped, saccate above. Ovaries 2, connate nearly to the
calyx-limb, finally coalescing into an ovate-orbicular red double
berry.

Calcareous lower Alps, up to 5700 feet. May, June.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura,
Cevennes, Corbieres, Pyrenees.
Lonicera ccerulea L.

A shrub barely a yard high, with oval obtuse leaves very shortly
petioled. Flower-stalk much shorter than the yellowish white
petals. Berries blue-black, globular.

Bushy places and damp Alpine pastures up to 6500 feet, especially
on limestone. May, June. Once, above Saas Fee in Switzerland,
this was growing as high as 8000 feet.

Distribution.— Central and Northern Europe, Alps and Pyrenees,
Caucasus, Siberia, N. America.

SAMBUCUS L. Elder.

Trees, shrubs, or tall herbs, with opposite pinnate leaves, and
large corymbs or cymes of numerous small, white, or nearly white,
flowers. Calyx with a border of 5 small teeth. Corolla rotate, with
5 spreading divisions. Stamens 5. Stigmas 3, sessile. Berries
small, globular, with 3 stones, each containing one seed. About
12 species in temperate and tropical regions of the globe.
Sambucus racemosus L. Alpine Elder. (Plate XVIII.)

Flowers pale greenish yellow, in a dense oval panicle. Fruit
scarlet or deep coral red. A small tree, 8-12 feet high. Branches
rather soft, with yellowish pith. Leaf -segments elliptic, longly
acuminate, with sharp teeth. Stipules small, green, falling. In-
florescence erect. Flowers pedicelled. Anthers yellow. A very
handsome object when covered with scarlet berries in autumn.

Mountain woods and shady gorges, to at least 5000 feet ; but
commonest in the Beech and Fir zones. April, May. Fruiting
from July to September.

Distribution. — Switzerland (common), Europe, especially Central,
Siberia, N. America.

The Common Elder (Sambucus nigra) and the Dwarf Elder
(S. Ebulus) are widely spread in Switzerland. The latter is found
in pastures and waste places, and near villages in many Alpine
valleys,

159

Gronov.
Linncea borealis L.

Root creeping, throwing up barren shoots and flowering stems
3 or 4 inches high, naked, glandular, and bearing on slender pedicels
2 or rarely 3 pendent, white, campanulate, sweet-scented flowers
with pink veins. Leaves opposite, shortly stalked, ovate orbicular,
slightly crenate, evergreen, rather coriaceous. Capsule berry-like,
glandular-hairy, inferior.

Creeping in moss and over rocks in damp, shady places in Alpine
woods up to 6600 feet ; local. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Riesengebirge, Harz Mountains, N.
German Plain, Haute-Savoie, near the Swiss frontier (rare), Eastern
Switzerland (Engadine, etc.) and locally, in the southern valleys of
Valais from Bagnes to Saas ; Norway, Scotland, Northern Asia,
and N. America.

RUBIACE.E

Slender herbs (in Europe) with angular stems and entire leaves,
in whorls of 4, 6, or 8, the buds and branches always opposite.
Flowers small, in terminal or rarely axillary heads or panicles.
Calyx more or less combined with the ovary. Corolla mono-
petalous, with 4 or 5 spreading lobes. Stamens as many, inserted
in the tube. Ovary inferior. Style 2-cleft at the top, with a
capitate stigma to each branch. Fruit of 2 i-seeded, indehiscent
lobes.

One of the largest families, with perhaps 4500 species, but
particularly numerous in the tropics, where it includes trees and
shrubs as well as herbs.

GALIUM L. Bedstraw.

Herbs with weak, quadrangular stems, sessile leaves in whorls
of 4, 6, or 8, and small white, yellow, or reddish flowers in axillary
or terminal cymes or panicles. Calyx combined with the ovary
without any visible border. Corolla rotate, the tube scarcely per-
ceptible, with 4 spreading lobes. Fruit small, dry, 2-lobed.

A large genus of about 200 species, spread over the whole of the
temperate regions, and especially abundant in Europe and Northern
Asia, and penetrating into the tropics.

Galium vernum Scop.

A slender, green species, 6-10 inches high, with stoloniferous,
creeping branches and ascending stems, with short internodes.
Leaves in fours, oval-elliptic, obtuse or rarely mucronate, with 3
principal nerves. Flowers yellow, on glabrous pedicels, disposed
in axillary cymes. Fruit glabrous and shining, becoming blackish.
It somewhat resembles the common G, Cruciata, which is also seen

160 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

in sub-alpine woods and clearings, but vernum is smaller and the
leaves broader, and it is much less hairy.

Stony, shady places in sub-alpine woods. April to June.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Corbieres, Cevennes, Alps, Italian
Switzerland, and near Brienz, Corsica, Central and Southern Europe,
Siberia.

Galium rotundifolium L.

A slender, branched plant, 8-12 inches high. Leaves oval, the
inferior often nearly round, delicate, glabrescent, in whorls of 4,
feebly 3-nerved. Flowers white, very small, in a trichotomous
panicle, loose and spreading, few-flowered, and almost naked.
Pedicels divaricate, rather long. Corolla-lobes oval, sub-obtuse.
Fruit covered with hooked hairs.

Mountain woods (especially coniferous) and moors. May to

July.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Corbieres, Vosges, Jura, Alps, Cevennes,
Corsica. Europe from Scandinavia to the Caucasus, and Asia Minor.

Galium verum L. Yellow Bedstraw.

Rootstock woody. Plant glabrous and smooth, except for a slight
roughness at edge of leaves. Stems 1-2 feet high, branched, ending
in a long panicle of numerous small yellow flowers. [Leaves linear,
numerous, in whorls of 6-8. Fruit small, glabrous.

Dry hillsides and pastures from the plains up to the lower Alps,
where it is sometimes very robust. June, July.

Distribution. — Europe, Central and Russian Asia, except in the
extreme north. British.

Galium boreale L.

Rootstock creeping. Stems firm and erect, 6-18 inches high,
not much branched. Leaves 4, in a whorl, lanceolate or linear-
lanceolate, with 3 prominent ribs, slightly rough at the edges.
Flowers numerous, pure white, in oblong panicles. Corolla-lobes
with very short inflected points. Fruit covered with hooked
bristles.

Mountain pastures, meadows, and clearings in woods, especially
on limestone soil. A variable species.

Distribution. — Most of Europe to the Arctic regions, Caucasus,
Armenia, Northern Asia, and N. America. British.

Galium rubrum L.

Rootstock slender, creeping, with stems about a foot high,
glabrous, shining, or more or less downy below. Leaves linear-
lanceolate, acuminate, the lower ones usually broadened at the
apex, nearly glabrous, ciliate at the borders. Flowers in a loose
panicle, very small, red or pink. Lobes of the corolla oval, ending
in a recurved point. Fruit becoming black.

i. GEUM MONTANUM.
3. VERONICA SAX ATI LI S.
6. SEDUM ALIil'M.

Pi. ATE XVI.

47 NATl'KAI. SIXK.

POTENTILLA C.RAXDIFI.OHA VAK. MINOR.
VERONICA URTIC1 FOLIA.
RUM EX SCUTATUS.

161

Dry, stony places in the southern hills and mountains. July,
August.

Distribution. — Alps of Dauphiny, Savoie, and all Provence,
Southern France, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Tyrol, Balearic Isles.

Galium purpureum L.

Rootstock almost woody, with erect stems, 8-18 inches high,
much branched, finely pubescent, with short internodes. Leaves in
whorls of 8-10, linear, green, with one dorsal vein, finely ciliate.
Flowers very small, dark, blood-red. Lobes of corolla oval-acum-
inate. Fruit glabrous, rugose, becoming black.

Stony hills and dry places in the southern mountains. June to
August.

Distribution. — S.E. France from the Var to Basses-Alpes,
Maritime Alps, Southern Tessin (not elsewhere in Switzerland),
Southern Europe, eastward to Turkey.

ASPERULA L.

Differs little from Galium except in the shape of the corolla,
which is funnel- or bell-shaped, with a long tube, often several times
as long as the lobes.

Asperula odorata L. Woodruff.

A small fragrant plant, 6-10 inches high, with creeping rootstock.
Leaves 6-8, in a whorl, lanceolate, acuminate, rough at the edges,
Flowers small, white, in a loose tricotomous cyme. Fruit hispid,
globular.

Woods and shady places in the plains and mountains. May.

Distribution. — Europe and Siberia, except the extreme north.
British.

Asperula taurina L.

A rather taller plant, with erect, simple stem, branched at the
top. Leaves 4, in a whorl, broadly lanceolate, acuminate, 3-nerved,
with silky hairs. Flowers white, crowded, subtended by ciliate
bracts. Fruit glabrous.

Mountain woods. May, June.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, including Switzer-
land, Jura, Dauphiny, etc., Western Asia as far as Persia.

Asperula cynanchica L. Squinancy-wort.

Barren stems, more or less prostrate, the others ascending about
6 inches. Leaves narrow-linear, the lower ones 4 in a whorl, the
upper ones often in pairs. Flowers pinkish white, or occasionally
white, small, funnel-shaped. Fruit small, tubercular or granulated.
A most variable plant, with several Alpine varieties, one of which is

162 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Jordani Briq., with pretty deep pink flowers, which variety is found
from 4000-7000 feet in Savoy, at Mont Cenis, etc.

Dry, hilly places, especially on limestone. June to August.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe to the Caucasus and
Armenia. British.

Asperula glauca Besser.

Stems 1-2 feet high, erect. Leaves linear, glaucous, stiff, mucro-
nate, 8 in a whorl. Flowers white, 4-lobed, with limb longer than
the tube. Fruit glabrous and glossy.

Stony hills ; rare in Switzerland. May to July.

Distribution. — Southern France, Southern and Central Europe,
Asia Minor, Caucasus, Armenia.

Asperula hexaphylla All.

A small tufted, glabrous species, with leaves in whorls of 6,
rather short, linear. Stem branched. Flowers pink, in dense
terminal heads, with involucre of small linear bracts beneath ;
the corolla- tube being 2-3 times as long as the limb. Fruit
glabrous.

Sunny rocks, usually limestone, in the lower mountain region ;
rare. June, July.

Distribution. — Maritime Alps (e.g. Tenda), Northern Italy,
Transylvania, Bosnia, Moldavia.

VALERIANACE.E

Herbs with annual or perennial stock, opposite leaves, and
no stipules. Flowers in terminal corymbs or panicles, usually small
and numerous. Calyx adherent to the ovary, sometimes toothed,
but unrolling later into a feathery pappus. Corolla funnel-shaped,
usually gibbous or spurred at the base. Lobes 3-5, unequal.
Stamens 1-5. Ovary 3-celled, 2 of the cells being empty. Fruit
small, indehiscent, i-celled.

A family widely diffused over the greater part of the globe.

VALERIAN A L.

Stem-leaves opposite or whorled, entire or pinnatifid. Flowers
in corymbose panicled cymes, unisexual or bisexual. Calyx-limb
annular, developing a feathery pappus. Corolla usually 5-lobed,
irregular, usually gibbous at the base. Stamens 3.

A large genus, with the geographical range of the family, but
most abundant in mountain regions.

Valeriana tripteris L. (Plate XVII.)

Rootstock with creeping runners. Stem erect, about a foot high,
simple, furrowed, glabrous like the whole plant, or less often downy,

PLATE XVII.

47 NATURAL Sl'/.E.

i. VALERIAXA TRIPTERIS. 2. AXTHYLLIS VULXERARIA VAR. ALPESTRIS.

3. AXTHYLLIS VULXKRARIA. 4. MAIAXTHEMUM BIFOLIUM.
5. ADEXOSTYLES ALBIFROXS.

DIPSACE.E 163

with 3 or more pairs of leaves. Leaves of barren lateral tufts and
lowest stem-leaves stalked, undivided, ovate or ovate-lanceolate,
acute or obtuse, wavy or irregularly dentate, usually cordate at
the base ; upper stem-leaves with shorter stalks or sessile, 3-partite,
divisions lanceolate, acute, irregularly toothed, the central one
larger. Flowers small, reddish, sweet-scented, arranged in a ter-
minal umbellate cyme.

Rocky places and pastures up to 6000 feet. May, June.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Vosges, Black Forest, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corsica.

Valeriana montana L.

Stem erect, i-ij feet high, glabrous like the entire plant', less
often downy. Leaves in 3 or more pairs, all undivided, ovate or
ovate-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, entire or unequally toothed ;
those of the barren shoots and the lower stem-leaves stalked, often
cordate at the base ; upper stem-leaves more shortly stalked or
sessile, narrower, the uppermost lanceolate. Flowers usually pink,
in a terminal corymbose cyme. The root has a strong odour.
f^Rocky, damp Alpine and sub-alpine places, descending to a low
elevation ; 3000-6500 feet ; common. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Jura, Corbieres, Pyrenees.

DIPSACE^:

Leaves opposite or whorled. Flowers small, collected into a
capitulum surrounded by an involucre of bracts. Calyx-limb cup-
shaped, entire or lobed, surrounded by an involucel. Corolla
funnel-shaped, 4-5 lobed. Stamens 4. Ovary i-celled, with I
pendulous ovule. Style filiform. Stigma capitate. Fruit in-
dehiscent, i-seeded.

A rather small family, spread over the ' ancient world.'

SCABIOSA L.

Capitulum hemispherical or depressed, outer flowers generally
large and rayed. Involucel tubular, 4—5 lobed. Calyx-limb cup-
shaped, with 4 or 5 stiff bristles or awns. Corolla 4-5 lobed.

Scabiosa lucida Vill.

Stem 6-12 inches high, simple, erect, terminating in a single rose-
violet or deep mauve capitulum, with large ray-florets. Lowermost
leaves elongated, stalked, crenate, rather shining ; upper ones
pinnatifid, with linear-lanceolate segments.

Pastures and stony spots in the Alps ; 4500-8000 feet. June to
September.

164 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Erzgebirge, Vosges, Jura ; Pyrenees.
A handsome species and well worth cultivating.

CEPHALARIA Schrader.
Cephalaria alpina Schrad.

A hairy, robust plant, at least a yard high, with an ascending,
angular stem and pinnate leaves, with from 9-15 lanceolate leaflets,
serrated. Corolla pale yellow in a dense globular head.

Rocky pastures in the Alps and sub-Alps up to 6000 feet ; very
local. June, July.

Distribution. — Switzerland, Jura, and Western Alps of Savoy,
Dauphine, Provence, and Piedmont.

KNAUTIA Coulter

Differs from Scabiosa in having the awns of the calyx deciduous.
Knautia sylvatica Duby.

A large, leafy herb, often 3 feet in height, usually hairy, especially
at the base. Leaves lanceolate-elliptic or lanceolate, entire or
toothed, not divided, glabrous, or furnished with long hairs, but
never velvety, bright green. Calyx with 8 teeth. Corolla usually
violet, rarely rose-purple, in hemispherical heads. Somewhat
polymorphic.

Woods and meadows and shady places in the mountains, extend-
ing to the Alpine pastures. June to September.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe.
Knautia longifolia Koch.

Plant i-i J feet high, glabrous below, with a usually simple stem.
Leaves dark green, shining, glabrous, narrowly lanceolate, acumin-
ate, entire or toothed. Flowers rose, in small hemispherical heads.
Involucral bracts oval-lanceolate, acute, almost as long as the
flowers. Calyx with sub-sessile limb, and linear, pointed teeth.

Meadows and damp mountain pastures. June to September.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Alps, Jura, Vosges, Auvergne, Cevennes,
Central and Southern Europe.

COMPOSITE

Herbs or shrubs with alternate or opposite leaves, without
stipules. Flowers or florets collected together into a head, sur-
rounded by an involucre, the whole appearing like a single flower.
The receptacle upon which the florets are inserted within the in-
volucre is either naked or bears chaffy scales and hairs between the
florets. In each floret the calyx is combined with the ovary, either

COMPOSITE 165

completely so or only to appear at its summit as a short border,
or more often as a pappus (or ring of feathery hairs). Corollas
either all tubular or all ligulate, or the outer ones ligulate (ray florets)
and the inner ones tubular (disk florets). Stamens 5 or rarely 4,
inserted in the tube of the corolla. Anthers linear, and united in a
sheath round the style. Ovary inferior, i-celled, i-ovuled. Stigmas
2. Fruit a small dry, seed-like nut, called an achene, either crowned
by the pappus or naked.

The largest family, comprising about 12,000 species, and repre-
sented all over the globe, and in every kind of station.

The family is frequently subdivided into 2 sub-families :

TUBULIFLOR^E and LlGULIFLOR^E

SUB-FAMILY : TUBULIFLOR^
ADENOSTYLES Cass.

Stem leafy. Leaves alternate, stalked. Capitula numerous,
forming a leafless corymb. Involucre of a few leaves, arranged in a
single row. Flowers all tubular, red or white. Seeds nearly terete,
striated.

Adenostyles albifrons Reichb. (Plate XVII.)

Stem 1-2 feet high, erect, striated. Leaves large, stalked,
reniform-cordate, coarsely and unequally doubly dentate, slightly
tomentose beneath. Leaf -stalks often auriculate at the base.
Capitula 3-6 flowered, collected into corymbose umbels. Flowers
rose-purple.

Mountain woods and Alpine and sub-alpine pastures ; 3300-5500
feet ; common, especially on limestone. July, August.

Distribution. — Sudetic Mountains, Riesengebirge, Eastern, Central
and Western Alps ; Jura, Vosges, Black Forest.

Adenostyles alpina Bluff, and Fing. (A. glabra Miller, DC.)

Stem erect, 1-3 feet high, slightly downy above, and often purple
like the involucres, ending in a much-branched, umbellate, pani-
culate, corymbose inflorescence. Leaves nearly round, kidney-
shaped, or roundly triangular, regularly dentate, glabrous or with
scattered hairs above, the uppermost leaves often lanceolate, den-
tate, reticulately veined on under side, and the veins thickly coated
with hairs. Capitula 2-6 flowered, tufted. Flowers pink or flesh-
coloured.

Moist, shady Alpine or sub-alpine places up*to[8ooo^feet, and often
descending to the valleys ; limestone in preference. ? June to
September.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura ;
Corsica.

166 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

HOMOGYNE Cass.

Stem nearly leafless. Leaves mostly radical, stalked, round.
Capitulum usually solitary ; involucre and receptacle as in
Adenostyles. Seeds furrowed, nearly cylindrical.

Homogyne alpina Cass.

Rootstock creeping. Stem erect or ascending, simple, with a
single capitulum, woolly like the leaf-stalks, with 2-4 distant scales.
Leaves radical, appearing at same time as the flowers, stalked,
cordate-orbicular or reniform, dentate, glabrous on upper side,
under side green, not tomentose, hairy on veins beneath. Flowers
light purple-red, rarely white.

Damp, shady places on the Alps and lower Alps, and in mountain
woods ; extending up to 9000 feet. May, June.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western
Alps ; Jura, Black Forest, Pyrenees.

Homogyne sylvestris Cass.

Scape 10-12 inches high, with 1-3 capitula, downy, leafy below,
scaly above. Root-leaves 2 inches broad, on long stalks, cordate-
reniform, incised, 7-9 lobed, outer lobes pointed, inner lobes 3-
toothed, with soft spines ; stem-leaves small, semi-amplexicaul.
Capitula up to i inch in length. Involucre purple-red. Branches
of style warty. Pappus white.

Meadows and pastures up to 5000 feet ; local. May, June.

Distribution. — Eastern Alps from Carinthia to Carniola.

ASTER L.
Aster alpinus L.

Stem erect or ascending, covered with short hairs like the leaves,
thickened at the summit, and bearing a single capitulum. Leaves
wavy, entire, wedge-shaped or spathulate, 3-nerved, obtuse ; upper
leaves linear-lanceolate, sessile, acute. Ray-flowers ligulate, violet
or mauve ; disc-flowers yellow. Capitulum handsome, I \-2 inches
across. Bracts of involucre lanceolate, more or less acute, all nearly
uniform in height and herbaceous.

Rocks, stony places, and pastures in the Alps and lower Alps ;
5000-9000 feet ; more frequent on limestone. July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Erzgebirge, Jura, Cevennes, Pyrenees.

BELLIDIASTRUM Cass.
Bellidiastrum Michelii Cass. (Plate XXI.)

Stem erect, leafless, simple, ending in a single capitulum, shaggy
or covered with short, soft hairs, like the leaves. Leaves all radical,

Pl.ATK XVIII.

i. AMKLAXCHIKR Vl'l^ARIS. 2. ALXUS VIRIDIS.

.5. SAMI'.UCUS RACKMOSUS. 4. SORBl'S ARIA.

S. YACriXIUM ULKIINOSU.M.

4/7 XA'IL'K'AI. S1ZK.

COMPOSITE 167

lanceolate-obovate, narrowed into a foot-stalk, coarsely serrate,
obtuse, dull green. Capitulum rather large. Resembles a large
daisy, but distinguished by the hairy pappus. The figure is of a
robust specimen.

Damp, shady places, and clearings of woods from the sub-alpine
region upwards to 6500 feet, especially on limestone. May to
autumn.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Jura, Black Forest, Var.

ERIGERON L.

Capitula radiate. Disk yellow. Ray violet or mauve. Involucral
bracts in many rows. Receptacle flat, pitted. Ray-flowers in
several rows, ligulate. Disk-flowers bi-sexual. Pappus of many
rows of hairs, persistent.

Erigeron acris L.

An erect annual or biennial, 6-12 inches high, slightly branched,
and covered with short hairs. Leaves linear or lanceolate, entire,
the radical ones stalked. Flower-heads rather small, solitary on the
upper branches, and forming a loose panicle. Florets numerous,
filiform, and short, the outer rows pale purple ; the tubular florets
very few, pale yellow.

Pastures, stony and waste places from the plains to the lower
mountains ; common. June to September.

Distribution. — All Europe, Asia Minor, Siberia, N. America.
British.

Erigeron canadensis L.

This ubiquitous annual weed is frequently seen in sub-alpine
districts and even on the lower glacier moraines. A native of N.
America it has now established itself in almost all temperate and hot
countries. It is usually taller than the last and glabrous except for
a few spreading hairs. The leaves are narrow, entire, or slightly
toothed. Flower-heads extremely small, whitish green, very
numerous, and forming a long, leafy panicle. Florets minute, the
outer ones filiform and slightly tinged with red.

Erigeron Villarsii Bell. (E. atticus Vill.).

A robust Alpine species, 10-12 inches high, with erect, branched
stem, glandular-pubescent above. Leaves lanceolate, entire,
clasping the stem, the root-leaves oblong-lanceolate, all hairy.
Involucre glandular-hispid, the bracts often reddish. Flower-
heads large and handsome, solitary. Ray-florets rose or bright
purple ; central florets yellow and tubular.

Moraines, grassy mountain sides, etc. ; local. July to September.

Distribution, — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Transylvania,

i68 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Quite local in Switzerland and more frequent in the French and
Italian Alps.

Erigeron alpinus L.

This is a smaller plant than the last and less brightly coloured.
It is very polymorphic. Though usually a very high Alpine,
occasionally it descends to the sub- Alps.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Carpathians, Arctic Europe,
Siberia. British.

SOLIDAGO L.

Tall leafy perennials, with numerous small yellow flowers.
Receptacle without scales. Outer florets few, ligulate ; inner ones
tubular. Achenes cylindrical, with a pappus of many simple hairs.

A large N. American genus with a very few European species.

Solidago Virga-aurea L. Golden-rod. (Plate XL)

Stems erect, leafy, 6 inches to 2 feet high, nearly glabrous. Root-
leaves obovate and stalked ; stem - leaves lanceolate, toothed.
Flowers in a crowded terminal panicle, bright yellow ; each flower-
head with a spreading ray of about 10 florets. Alpine forms are
sometimes very short.

Woods and rocky places, especially in the mountains. July to
September.

Distribution. — Europe, including British Isles, Central and
Northern Asia ; N. America to the Arctic regions.

BUPHTHALMUM L.

Buphthalmum salicifolium L.

Stem i j-2 feet high, branched at the top, and bearing several
large yellow capitula about 2 inches across, with narrow, spreading
ray flowers. Leaves lanceolate, undivided ; upper leaves narrowed
at the apex, acute, denticulate. Ray-florets ligulate. Receptacle
paleaceous. Pappus-hairs short, rough.

Dry, bushy places in the plains and sub-alpine situations, as,
e:g. the banks of the Lake of Lucerne, but ascending to about
6000 feet. Prefers a limestone soil, and is very suitable for cultiva-
tion and for gathering. July, August.

Distribution. — Central Europe. In France it extends from the
Mediterranean to Savoy.

GNAPHALIUM L.

Flowers often unisexual and sometimes dioecious. Capitula small,
usually in fascicled corymbs or cymes. Involucral leaves soft,
adpressed, as long as the flowers. Receptacle flat, naked. Ray-
flowers very slender, in one or more rows. Disk-flowers bisexual.
Pappus-hairs in I row, slender.

COMPOSITE 169

Gnaphalium norvegicum Gunner.

Perhaps a sub-species of G. sylvaticum L. Stem simple, erect,
6-12 inches high, very leafy. Leaves lanceolate, densely tomentose,
especially beneath, 3-nerved, lengthened into a petiole ; stem-
leaves half as long as the lower leaves. Involucral bracts dark
brown. Capitula in simple compact spikes.

Alpine pastures and woods between 4000 and 7800 feet. July,
August.

Distribution. — Alps, Vosges, Auvergne, Pyrenees, Scandinavia,
Scotland.

Gnaphalium sylvaticum L. (Plate IV.)

Stock tufted, with stalked, lanceolate leaves. Stems nearly
simple, 3-10 inches high, erect, cottony, and leafy. Leaves linear,
cottony. Flower-heads small, ovoid or cylindrical, in little clusters
in the axils of the leaves, forming a long, leafy spike. Involucres
with brown, shining bracts.

Open woods, moors, and pastures from the plains to the Alps.
July to September.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, and all round the
Arctic Circle. British.

ANTENNARIA Gaertner.
Antennaria dioica Gaertn. (Gnaphalium dioicum L.). (Plate XIII.)

Similar to A. carpatica, but whiter, with creeping stolons and
oboval, spathulate leaves ; the upper ones only are lanceolate. The
capitula are white, broad, obtuse, and spreading in the male, and
red and acuminate in the female. Stems 2-8 inches high, leafy.

Mountain pastures and rocks in Central, Southern, and Arctic
Europe, descending occasionally to nearly sea-level in the British
Isles, and attaining 9400 feet in the Alps. Also found in Russian
Asia and North America.

A useful creeping plant for covering rocks and stones ; it likes
plenty of limestone.

ARTEMISIA L. Wormwood.

Capitula small, few-flowered in racemes or panicles. Involucral
bracts in few rows, margins scarious. Receptacle very narrow.
Flowers all tubular, outer female, inner male or perfect. No
pappus. Bitter or aromatic herbs, often somewhat shrubby.

A numerous genus extending over nearly the whole of the northern
hemisphere from the Arctic regions to the borders of the tropics.
Several are high Alpine species, and known collectively as Genippi
in France and Switzerland. They do not descend to the sub-Alps,
but sometimes in that zone we find A. vulgaris, A. Absinthium, and
A, campestris from the plains and also ;

170 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Artemisia incanescens Jord.

Plant i-2j feet high, smelling like terebinth, covered with
white tomentum, especially in the upper portion, the stem being
almost glabrous below. Leaves white-felted on both sides, not
spotted, divisions of leaflets linear. Flowering heads shortly stalked
and forming a long, loose panicle.

Dry, hot, and stony places in the mountains up to about 5000
feet, as near La Grave in Dauphine" ; local. September.

Distribution. — Departments of Hautes-Alpes, Basses-Alpes, and
the Var in France ; Spain, Italy.

ACHILLEA L.

Leaves alternate, much divided or rarely simple Flower-heads
small, in a terminal corymb with white or pink rays and a yellow
disk. Involucres ovoid or hemispherical, the bracts imbricated,
slightly scarious at the edges. Receptacle small, not convex.
Achenes without any pappus.

A considerable European and West Asiatic genus.

Achillea Clavena L.

Stem erect, 3-8 inches high, leafy, and, like the leaves, covered
with a grey felt of silky hairs, bearing at the summit a cluster of
capitula in a corymbose cyme. Leaves obovate-lanceolate or wedge-
shaped, simply pinnatifid, with linear teeth. Ray-flowers 6-8, as
long as the involucre, or longer. Capitula large ; involucral bracts
with a black margin ; ray white ; disk greenish yellow.

On rocks and debris of the calcareous Alps ; 5000-7000 feet.

Common (in the Eastern Alps) and sometimes descending the
valleys.

Distribution. — Eastern and Central Alps. In Switzerland only
on Monte Generoso.

Achillea Ptarmica L. Sneezewort.

Stems i—2 feet high, erect, glabrous, branched only at the top.
Leaves broadly linear, regularly serrate. Flower-heads few, in a
loose terminal corymb. Involucres hemispherical, rather cottony,
larger than in the Milfoil. Ray-florets from 10-15, short, broad,
white ; disk-florets numerous, interspersed with linear scales.

Damp, hilly pastures, becoming a mountain plant in Southern
Europe, where, e.g. on the Col des Montets on the Franco-Swiss
frontier it ascends to 5000 feet. August, September.

Distribution. — Most of Europe, except the Mediterranean region,
Russian Asia. Britain.

Achillea Millefolium L. Milfoil or Yarrow.

Leaves rather villous, especially on the back, or sometimes
glabrous. Lobes linear-lanceolate, Flowers white or often pink,

PLATE XIX.

4/7 NATURAL SIZE.

i. CREP1S AURKA. 2. HIERACIUM AURANTIACUM.

3. PRENANTHES PURPUREA. 4. HIERACIUM INTY HACEU.M.

5. SENECIO FUCHSII.

COMPOSITE 171

especially in the mountains. Very variable and with one or two
named varieties. The writer has seen this well-known plant above
8000 feet in the French Alps.

Roadsides and grassy places. June to August.

Distribution. — Europe and Russian Asia to the Arctic Circle,
North America. British.

A. setacea W. et K. is an Alpine variety with smaller, dirty
white flowers and setaceous leaf- segments. (Dry hills.)

Achillea tanacetifolia All. (A stricta Schleicher.)

A stout plant i-2j feet high, with pubescent stems and leaves.
Stem-leaves sessile, auricled at the base, oblong-lanceolate, bi-
pinnate, with very numerous segments, which are linear, mucronate.
Capitula glabrous and often nodding. Closely allied to the Milfoil
and to A. dentifera DC., which grows in the Western Alps of France
and Italy.

Pastures and woods in the mountains ; scarce. July to September.

Distribution. — Western Alps, Switzerland, Italy, Carniola.

Achillea macrophylla L. (Plate VI.)

Stem 2-3 feet high, erect, terete, leafy. Leaves pinnatifid, large,
deeply and much divided ; the lower leaves ovate-triangular in
outline, pinnatipartite, with 3-7 segments, the inferior segments
being distinct, the upper confluent, sharply toothed ; uppermost
leaves narrow, lanceolate, not divided, but sharply toothed.
Corymbs very compound. Flowers white, small.

Woods and shady places in the Alps and sub- Alps ; 3000-6800
feet.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; local.

A useful subject for planting in the shade of trees at the back
of a rockery, for the foliage is rather handsome.

CHRYSANTHEMUM L.

Capitula solitary, often large. Ray-florets ligulate, white or
yellow ; disk-florets tubular, perfect, yellow. Receptacle flat or
convex, naked. Involucral bracts imbricate, with scarious margins.
Fruit of ray-flowers ribbed or winged, of disk-flowers compressed.
Leaves toothed or cut. A genus sometimes divided into several
small genera.

Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum L. Ox-eye Daisy. (Plate XXI.)
Stems erect, simple, or slightly branched above. Root-leaves
oboyate and coarsely toothed, on long stalks ; stem-leaves narrow,
sessile, with fewer teeth. Flower-heads solitary, very large,
especially in the Alps, on long, terminal peduncles. Involucral
bracts bordered with a brown, scaly edge.

172 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Pastures, banks, and mountain slopes from the plains up to
7000 and rarely 8000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Europe, Russian Asia. Britain.
Chrysanthemum alpinum L. (Plate XXI.)

The figure depicts a rather small-flowered specimen. Stem
2-6 inches high, with a single capitulum. Leaves mostly radical,
stalked, spathulate, pinnatifid, with 5-7 segments, toothed, the
uppermost linear, entire. Flower-heads about I J inch across, white,
disk yellow.

Pastures and debris on the Alps, particularly on siliceous rocks.
July, August ; 5000-12,000 feet.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Pyrenees, Transylvania.

Easily grown in a well-drained, southerly position, in a compost
of sand and loam. It should be top-dressed each spring.

DORONICUM L.

Root-leaves stalked or o ; stem-leaves amplexicaul. Capitula
solitary or in corymbs, rayed. Ray-flowers ligulate, usually
female ; disk-flowers with free branches of style ; receptacle
conicle. Fruit furrowed. Pappus-hairs rigid.

The nomenclature of the Alpine species of Doronicum (or Aroni-
cum) appears much confused.

Doronicum Pardalianches L. Leopard's-bane.

Root-stock often woolly at the crown. Root-leaves broadly
ovate and deeply cordate at the base. Stem about 2 feet high, with
few ovate-lanceolate leaves, the lower ones broader, stalked
and embracing the stem in a broadly dilated base. Flower-heads
2-5 on long peduncles ; handsome. Yellow ray-Horets numerous
and narrow.

Woods and mountain pastures. May, June.

Distribution. — Rare in Switzerland. Jura, Vosges, Cevennes,
Pyrenees, Central and Northern France, Spain, Italy, Central
Europe. British.

Doronicum cordifolium Sternb. (D. cor datum Schultz.)

Stem ij-2j feet high, erect, more or less covered with soft
hairs or nearly glabrous. Stem-leaves wavy at the margins or
toothed, sessile, lanceolate, acute, lower leaves cordate-ovate,
stalked, sharply-toothed, the cymes formed at the cordate base
broad and open. Flowers yellow. Capitula handsome, 2 inches
across.

Mountain woods and shady Alpine and sub-alpine situations ;
3000-6500 feet ; local. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps (not in Switzerland),
Sudetic Mountains,

COMPOSITE 173

Doronicum Clusii Tausch (Aronicum Doronicum Jacq.).

Stem about a foot high, hollow, covered with rough hairs like
the leaves, simple, leafy. Leaves lanceolate ;j root-leaves often
ovate, entire, or coarsely dentate, or with a wavy margin ; lower
stem-leaves stalked, upper ones sessile, with a narrowed or rarely a
rounded base. Capitulum solitary, large, and handsome, bright
yellow.

Among boulders and on stony pastures and on debris of the Alps
(avoiding limestone) ; 5000-7600 feet. July, August.

More strictly Alpine, a description of this species is given because
it is often confused with other plants, and by novices even with
Arnica.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Spanish Pyrenees. Not in the Jura.

ARNICA L.
Arnica montana L. (Plate XX.)

Stem erect, i-i J feet high, glandular villous, bearing 1-3 capitula,
and i or 2 pairs of small leaves, naked above. Leaves entire, oval-
lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, glabrescent, narrowed into a short
foot-stalk, and forming a rosette ; stem-leaves opposite, lanceolate,
sessile, much smaller. Flowers bright orange-yellow. Capitula
2-2J inches in diameter, though frequently not perfect. A well-
known, bitter, medicinal plant.

Alpine and sub- Alpine pastures and clearings in woods ; 3400-
8000 feet. Especially on granitic or siliceous soil, where it is some-
times very numerous. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Erzgebirge, Black Forest, Vosges, rare in the Jura, Cevennes,
Pyrenees, and the greater part of Europe as far north as Sweden,
N. Asia.

Easily grown in deep soil — a mixture of loam and peat or leaf-
mould is best. Increased by seed or by division.

SENECIO L.

Leaves alternate, toothed or divided, rarely entire. Flower-heads
in terminal corymbs. Disk-florets yellow, and tubular ray-florets
yellow, blue, purple, or white, spreading. Involucre cylindrical
or nearly hemispherical, with i or 2 rows of linear bracts, often
tipped with brown. Receptacle without scales. Achenes cylin-
drical, with a pappus of simple hairs, usually soft and white.

One of the largest genera, if not the largest, in existence, and
spread over the whole globe, though most of the species are con-
fined to a small area only. Several species which have not * the
small outer bracts to the involucre were distinguished by Linnaeus

174 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

under the name of Cineraria, but the character has proved so
uncertain that modern botanists have given it up.

Senecio sylvaticus L. Wood Groundsel. (Plate XI.)

An annual, much resembling the common Groundsel, but a
taller plant, often 2 feet high, slightly downy, or nearly glabrous,
and not so viscid nor so strong-smelling as S. viscosus, which also
grows in sandy or stony places in the Swiss mountains. Flower-
heads rather numerous, in a loose corymb. Involucral bracts 12-15,
the outer ones very small. Outer florets usually ligulate, but
small and rolled back as in the Viscous Senecio, and sometimes
quite absent as in the Groundsel. Achenes covered with minute,
adpressed hairs.

Waste places, banks, borders of woods, and in Switzerland,
especially in the clearings of pine-woods. June to October. The
plant illustrated came from Chamonix.

Distribution. — Most of Europe from Scandinavia to the Mediter-
ranean. Britain. Siberia.

Senecio Doronicum L. (Plate XX.)

Polymorphic. In high situations generally covered with a grey
felt, but becoming glabrescent sometimes in shadier places in
lower altitudes (see notes by R, Farrer, W. Irving, and the author
in Gard. Chron., 1910, p. 56).

Leaves thick, often cottony below, entire or toothed ; lower
leaves oblong, obtuse, prolonged below into a petiole ; the next
sessile, lanceolate, semi-amplexicaul. Ray-flowers 10-20, orange-
yellow. Outer involucre with 10 or more bracts.

Rocky place and pastures> especially on calcareous mountains ;
5000-8800 feet, frequent. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Pyrenees,
Spain, S. Jura, Central Europe, N.W. Balkans.

Senecio abrotanifolius L.

Stem shrubby at the base, annual shoots 3-12 inches long,
glabrous or slightly downy like the leaves, corymbosely branched
above, with 2 or more capitula, less often with a single capitulum.
Lower leaves bi-pinnate, stalked, dark green, shining, finely and
deeply divided ; upper leaves simply pinnate, sessile. Teeth
narrowly linear, acute. Paleae about half length of involucral
bracts. Ray-flowers spreading. Capitula large, orange-yellow.

On rocks, between stones, and on debris of the calcareous Alps ;
4000-5500 feet. July to September.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps, and Switzerland,
but only in Tessin, Grisons, Appenzell and Zermatt valley.

Senecio subalpinus Koch.

Glabrous. Stem 1-2 feet high, with large leaves, somewhat woolly

4/7 NATURAL SIZE.

PLATE XX.

i. SENECIO DORONICUM. 2. SAPOXAKIA OCYMOIDES.

3. EUPHORBIA CVPARISSIAS. 4. ARNICA MONTANA.

5. PRIMULA FARINOSA.

COMPOSITE 175

beneath, and golden yellow flowers. Lower leaves triangular,
sagittate or cordate, longer than broad, coarsely toothed, stalked ;
upper leaves lyrate-pinnatifid or pinnate, auricled. Achenes
glabrous.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures. July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians and Eastern Alps.

Senecio alpinus Scop. (S. cordifolius Clairv.). S. cordatus Koch.

Stems 1-2 feet high. Leaves undivided, cordate-ovate, serrate,
longer than broad, unequally dentate, lowermost webbed ; leaf-
stalk auricled at the base, often with triangular appendages.
Several medium-sized capitula. Flowers yellow.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, especially near chalets and
borders of woods ; 4300-6500 feet. July, August. Very local.

Distribution. — Alps of Central Europe, Haute Savoie, Switzer-
land, Italy; Vosges.

Senecio Fuchsii Gmelin. (Plate XIX.)

A tall plant, 3-4 feet high, with oblong-lanceolate, toothed leaves,
attenuated and sometimes sub-petioled at the base, but never
amplexicaul. Stem-leaves lanceolate-acuminate. Numerous capi-
tula in a large, loose corymb. Ligules 3-5 in number, yellow, one
being longer than the rest.

Mountain gorges and woods, especially in the sub-alpine regions.
July to September.

Distribution. — Central and Western Alps, Switzerland, Jura, and
many districts in Central Europe.

We have seen this plant at elevations of from 6000 to 7000 feet
above La Grave in Dauphiny, and on the Joch and Surenen Passes
in Switzerland, and it is very abundant in the picturesque Gorge
of Trient which skirts the Tete Noir.

Senecio nemorensis L. (S. Jacquinianus Reichb.).

Very similar to the last, but the leaves are rather broader and it
flowers earlier. Leaves with short hairs on the under side, semi-
amplexicaul ; upper and middle stem-leaves suddenly narrowed
into a broadly- winged leaf -stalk. Involucre campanulate-cylindrical.
Pappus as long as the fruit.

Bushy places among boulders and damp gorges, especially
in Alpine valleys and in the Jura. June to September.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura, Vosges,
Germany, Central Europe.

S. aurantiacus DC. (Cineraria aurantiaca Hoppe).

Stem 6-1 8 inches high. Lower leaves ovate or lanceolate, nearly
glabrous, grass-green or greyish, flocculent, most of them narrowed
into a short, broad leaf-stalk. Capitulum about an inch in dia-

i?6 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

meter. Flowers orange-red or rarely yellow. Involucral bracts
tinged with purple entirely or only at the tip, woolly at the base.
Alpine and sub -alpine meadows and pastures; local. June,
July.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western
Alps. In Switzerland on some of the southern calcareous Alps.

5. alpestris DC. (Cineraria alpestris Hoppe).

Stem erect, 10-18 inches high, umbellate at the summit, with
3 or more capitula, covered like the leaves with long wool and
short, thickish hairs. Leaves entire, wavy or toothed, ovate, run-
ning into the leaf-stalk, obtuse ; upper leaves linear-lanceolate,
sessile, acute. Peduncles of the capitula naked. Outer ligulate
flowers radiate, yellow, but often wanting. Ovary and achenes
glabrous.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures and meadows ; frequent. June,

July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps.

S. campestris DC., 5. integrifolius Clairv. (Cineraria campestrisRetz).

Stem erect, simple, 6 inches to 2 feet high. Root-leaves stalked,
oblong or ovate ; stem-leaves longer and narrower, all entire or
slightly crenate, covered with a loose, cottony wool on the under
side, like the stems. Flower-heads few, in a small terminal umbel,
the peduncles starting from nearly the same point. Achenes
downy. Flowers pale yellow.

Dry pastures and meadows, especially on limestone mountains
such as those of the Jura ; very local. July.

Distribution. — Jura, Maritime Alps, Southern Jura of Vaud
only in Switzerland, Prussia, Central and Eastern Europe ; rare
in England.

S. spathulifolius DC. (Cineraria spathulifolia Gmel.).

A taller, cottony plant. Stem erect, simple, hollow, more or less
covered with cottony wool like the leaves. Root-leaves oval,
almost truncate at the base, or sometimes suddenly contracted
into a broad- winged petiole; stem-leaves narrowed into a broad
clasping petiole, upper ones lanceolate, sessile, and smaller. Achenes
brownish, hispid with snow-white pappus.

This species closely resembles the last, but it grows in marshy
places and mountain bogs. June.

Distribution. — In Switzerland widely spread but rather rare,
and it is commoner in the central Jura district.1

1 Godet, Flore dujura (1853), p. 362.

PLATE XXI.

4 7

i. CHRYSANTHKMUM LEUCANTHKMUM. 2. CALAMINTHA ALPIXA.
;. CFIRVSAXTUKMrM AI-PIXUM. 4. P.KI.I.iniASTRUM MICHKLII.

= . lAVTLA Ll'TKA.

COMPOSITE 177

INULA L.

Ray-flowers, female or neuter, in one row. Capitula solitary or
in corymbs. Receptacle flat. Involucral bracts in several rows.

Inula montana, L.

About a foot high, and resembling /. britannica, but with only
one terminal capitulum, and leaves almost linear, not amplexicaul.
The involucre is imbricate, and the fruit twice as large as in that
species. Lower leaves oblong-lanceolate, longly petioled, and
whole plant covered with whitish hairs. Capitulum large and
handsome. Flowers bright yellow, the linear ligules being much
longer than the involucral bracts, which are very unequal.

Dry, arid places on limestone in the Western Alps, Eastern
Pyrenees, Spain, and Piedmont. Formerly near Martigny, but
now not nearer Switzerland than the Aosta Valley. June, July.

CIRSIUM. Thistle.

Involucre ovoid or globose. Involucral bracts narrow, stiff,
acuminate or spiny. Receptacle pitted, bristly. Flowers all
tubular. Branches of style united into a tube with a ring of hairs
at the base. Pappus feathery. Erect herbs with spiny leaves.

Cirsium eriophorum Scop.

A very stout, handsome thistle, 3 feet high or more, with large
and globular flower-heads in clusters of 2 or 3 at the ends of the
branches. Leaves green and hairy above, white and cottony
beneath, deeply pinnate, with narrow lobes ending in very sharp,
stout prickles. Involucres covered with cottony wool, the numerous
bracts ending in a narrow prickle. Corolla purple, rarely white.

Waste places and mountain pastures. June to August.

It ascends to about 5000 feet in the Alps, as, for example, about
the village of Tour below the Col de Balme, where it is a handsome
feature in the landscape.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, as far as the
Caucasus. Southern Britain.

Cirsium acaule Scop. Dwarf Thistle.

Stemless, or with very short stem (var. caulescens Gremli).

A thick, woody stock bearing a tuft of spreading, prickly, pin-
natifid, glabrous leaves, from the centre of which rises one, rarely
more, flower-heads. Involucre ovoid, not cottony, with numerous
lanceolate, rather obtuse bracts. Florets purple.

Dry mountain pastures, especially on limestone, and extending
to a height of 6800 feet.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps. Temperate
Europe and Northern Asia, extending to Southern Scandinavia.
British.

178 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Cirsium oleraceum Scop.

An erect, light green glabrous thistle, from 2 to 3 feet high.
-Stems sometimes slightly branched, and leafy at the top. Leaves
soft, embracing the stem with rounded lobes, pinnatifid, more or
less lyrate, with large segments edged with cilia, not spiny ; the
upper leaves undivided. Involucral leaves linear-lanceolate,
ending in a short, soft spine. Flower-heads large, few, of a dirty
green, close together and with yellowish floral leaves extending
beyond them.

Damp meadows and river-sides from the plains to about 4000
feet ; common. June to August.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, extending as far
north as Paris and Normandy.

Cirsium spinosissimum Scop.

This very spiny species, with conspicuous greenish white in-
volucral bracts, densely leafy stem, and dull yellow flowers,
sometimes descends to the sub- Alps, but it more frequently^ is
truly Alpine (up to 9000 feet in Dauphiny), and frequently large
areas of damp mountain-sides are covered with it, as, e.g. by the
Lognan Inn, above Argentiere. It was figured and described in
Alpine Plants of Europe, p. 164. Flowers, July to September.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura.
Cirsium heterophyllum Hill.

Not prickly. Stems 2—3 feet high, with a little cottony wool,
and furrowed. Leaves clasping the stem, lanceolate, green and
glabrous above, white and cottony beneath, edged with small
bristly teeth ; root-leaves sometimes lobed. Flower-heads single
on long, rather stout peduncles. Involucral bracts glabrous,
lanceolate, often purplish.

Mountain pastures in the sub- Alps. June to August. Rather
local.

Distribution. — Mountains of Central Europe and Asia, and hills
of Northern Europe, including Britain.

CARDUUS L. Thistle.

Differs from Cirsium in the threads of the pappus being glabrous
and never plumose or feathery.

Carduus personatus Jacq.

Stem 2-3 feet high, erect, branched at the top, cottony, winged
and spiny. Leaves soft, whitish beneath, toothed, with spiny
cilia, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, decurrent ; stem-leaves
lyrate pinnatifid. Flower-heads sessile in a small, close bunch.
Involucre globular, glabrous, the bracts being pointed and mucro-
nate. Flowers purple.

COMPOSITE 179

Damp mountain woods and pastures in the Alps and sub- Alps,
and occasionally lower. July, August.

Distribution. — Central Europe, Switzerland, Jura, Vosges, Au-
vergne, Dauphiny, Savoy, Maritime Alps.

Carduus defloratus L.

Perhaps the commonest Thistle in Alpine districts. Stem 12-18
inches high, pubescent and naked for a long distance above, and
bearing a single terminal capitulum. Leaves glabrous, glaucous
below, lanceolate-acute, pinnatifid and deeply lobed, the segments
being distant, ciliate-spinous. Wing of leaves broad at base, and
these suddenly narrowed. Involucral bracts ovate, tip of inner-
most bracts thin, not spiny. Fruit 3 times as long as broad.
Capitulum solitary and very longly peduncled. Flowers purple.

Alpine and sub-alpine meadows and pastures (up to 8700 feet
on the Col du Galibier), and in clearings of woods. July to Sep-
tember.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura, Pyrenees.

CARLINA L. Carline Thistle.

Very prickly and mostly low herbs. Outer involucral bracts very
prickly, inner ones shining or coloured, long and spreading like
the rays of a star. Chaffy scales between the florets. Achenes silky,
with a feathery pappus.

A small European and Asiatic genus, chiefly distinguished by
the involucral bracts.

Carlina vulgaris L.

An erect biennial, 6-12 inches high. Leaves toothed or pinnatifid,
very prickly ; the lower ones narrow and slightly cottony, the
upper ones broader and nearly glabrous. Flower-heads hemispheri-
cal, i-ij inches wide, 2-4 in a terminal corymb. Outer involucral
bracts broadly lanceolate, with small prickly teeth or lobes ; inner
ones linear, entire, smooth and shining, with spreading tips.

Dry, hilly pastures and waste places. July, August.

Distribution. — Europe and Russian Asia ; British Isles.
Carlina acaulis L.

Biennial. Stem simple, very short or wanting, or occasionally
6 inches high, in which case it is leafy, bearing a single terminal
head. Root-leaves shortly petioled, lanceolate, pinnatifid, glabrous
and very spiny, and forming a large rosette. Capitulum large
and handsome, sometimes 3 or 4 inches in diameter when expanded.
Inner involucral bracts linear and of a beautiful silver white,
brownish at the base.

Dry Alpine and sub-alpine pastures (often abundant), up to
8200 feet. July, August.

i8o SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Pyrenees,
Jura, Spain, Central Europe from Alsace to the Var.

The silvery grey heads of this handsome Carline Thistle are very
decorative, and useful to adorn ladies' hats.

CENTAUREA L.

Involucral bracts, imbricate, scarious, fringed or spiny. Re-
ceptacle bristly. Flowers all tubular ; outer ones usually larger,
neuter ; inner ones perfect. Fruit compressed.

One of the largest genera, and especially numerous in the
Mediterranean and Caucasian regions, with a few American species.

Centaur ea montana L. (Plate XXII.)

Stem about a foot high, erect or ascending, simple or slightly
branched above, very often covered with cottony webs or wool.
Leaves soft, lanceolate, acute or acuminate, entire ; lower leaves
narrowed into a foot-stalk, slightly webbed ; upper stem-leaves
decurrent. Involucral bracts ovate or lanceolate, anastomosely
veined, adpressed, with a membranous margin at the apex, fringed
or serrate. Pappus one-third as long as the achene. Ray-flowers
bluish, rarely white ; disk-flowers purple or pink.

Alpine and sub-alpine meadows and pastures, and margins of
woods, especially in stony, bushy places ; common.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Vosges,
Erzgebirge, Jura, Cevennes, Pyrenees.

Centaur ea axillaris Willd. (C. variegata Lam.).

Very similar to the last, but with pinna tifid lower leaves and
oval involucral bracts, which have a brown margin with cartilagi-
nous, silver-white teeth. Flowers blue, rarely red or white.

Dry places and wood clearings up to 5300 feet ; local.

Distribution. — Switzerland and Western Alps. July, August.

Centaurea uniftora L. (Plate XXII.)

Stem 8-12 inches high, erect, simple, and always i-headed,
cottony. Leaves white-cottony on both sides, i-nerved, oblong-
lanceolate, entire or obscurely toothed, the lower leaves prolonged
into a petiole ; upper leaves sessile. Involucre large, sub-globular.
Bracts -dark brown, with the fringed, linear-subulate apex very
long and completely turned back. Cilia of bracts long and plumose.
Flowers bright purple. Before they expand the involucral bracts
form a curious feathery ball.

Alpine pastures and meadows, 5000-8200 feet. July to September.

Distribution. — Central and Western Alps as far south as the
Maritime Alps. Not in Switzerland.

4/7

Pl.ATK XXII.

HARTSIA ALPINA. 2. CKNTAURKA MONTANA.

CKNTAUREA UNIFLORA. 4. CAREX FI.AVA.

5. CAREX LEPORINA (YOUNG STATE).

COMPOSITE 181

Centaurea nervosa Willd.

Resembling the last, but more robust and hispid, and of a grey-
green colour. The leaves have prominent nerves on the under side,
and are irregularly toothed, the stem-leaves being broader and
truncate or auricled at the base.

High pastures up to 7700 feet or 2350 metres. July to September.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; local.

This occurs in Switzerland, and is considered by the modern
Swiss botanists a sub-species of C. uniflora, which does not occur
in their country.

Centaurea Scabiosa L.

Stems about 2 feet high, much branched at the base. Leaves
doubly pinnatifid with more or less lanceolate lobes, often coarsely
toothed or lobed. Flower-heads large, with purple florets, the
outer ones neuter. Involucral bracts broad, bordered with a black
adpressed fringe. Pappus of stiff hairs or bristles, nearly as long
as the achene.

Pastures and roadsides from the plains to the Alps. July,
August.

Distribution. — Europe and Russian Asia, but not in the extreme
north. British Isles.

Centaurea Rhaponticum L. (Rhaponticum scariosum Lamk.).

A tall, robust and handsome plant, with erect, simple stem and
large leaves which are grey-white cotton-felted beneath, entire ;
the lower ones broadly lanceolate, subcordate, petioled, usually
toothed at the margin. Flower-heads large, solitary, terminal.
Outer involucral bracts broadly ovate, scarious, laciniate or strongly
ciliate at the margins, slightly*woolly. Flowers} purple.^ Aj? very
distinct plant.

Rocky mountain-sides from 4000-6000 feet ; scarce. July.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, from Carniola
and Tyrol to the Maritime Alps.

In the Valais this handsome species can be seen in such places as
near Lac Champex and Bourg St. Pierre.

SUB-FAMILY : LIGULIFLOR^

APOSERIS Necker
Aposeris fcetida Less.

Stem erect, leafless, glabrous like the leaves, bearing a single
capitulum, pendent before flowering. Leaves wedge-shaped in
outline, forming a sort of rosette, runcinate-pinnatind, lateral
segments nearly triangular or lozenge-shaped, terminal segment
broad, 3-lobed. Flowers lemon-yellow, twice as long as the involu-
cre. Fcetid, Involucre green, herbaceous, with an exterior in-

182 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

volucre of small scales. An herbaceous plant not unlike the
dandelion in some respects.

Moist, shady Alpine and sub-alpine situations. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps.

HYPOCH^RIS L.

Capitula on simple or dichotomously-branched leafless scapes.
Involucral bracts in several rows. Flowers yellow. Leaves radical.
Fruit striate ; outer ones with very short beak or none ; inner ones
with a long beak. Pappus of one row of feathery hairs, and usually
an outer row of stiff bristles.

Hypochczris maculata L. Spotted Cat's-ear.

Stems 8-24 inches high, slightly thickened beneath the capitulum.
Capitula 1—3 (usually single), golden yellow, fragrant. Leaves
usually spotted with dark brown, forming a rosette, oblong or
oblong-ovate, almost entire or sinuate-dentate. Outer bracts of
involucre lanceolate, the inner ones linear-lanceolate, edged with
yellow, otherwise blackish, hairy.

Sub-alpine pastures ; rare in Switzerland. June, July.

In France, England, and elsewhere it grows in the plains.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe. British.
Hypocharis uniflora Vill.

Stems 8-18 inches high, much thickened beneath the capitulum,
which is large and solitary and 2 inches in diameter. Stems erect,
scape-like, with i or 2 small leaves, hairy. Leaves mostly radical,
lanceolate, dentate, hispid. Flowers pale or bright yellow. In-
volucral bracts blackish, hispid ; the outer ovate, the inner lanceo-
late.

Alpine and sub-alpine meadows and pastures up to 6500 feet.
July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Riesengebirge, Eastern, Central, and
Western Alps.

TRAGOPOGON L. Goafs-beard.

Capitula solitary. Involucral bracts in one row, narrow, usually
longer than the yellow or purple flowers. Leaves entire, amplexi-
caul. Fruit with a long beak, Pappus-hairs in several rows, rigid,
feathery. Very milky plants. Flowers generally closing by
midday.

Tragopogon pratensis L.

Involucral bracts not longer than the flowers, narrow-lanceolate.
Stem not much thickened below the capitulum. Leaves broadened
at the base, insensibly narrowed, linear, usually erect. Flowers
yellow. Achenes long and striate, the slender beak as long as the
achene. Hairs of pappus long and feathery.

COMPOSITE 183

Meadows and rich pastures from the plains to the Alps. Often
in great abundance in mowing grass.

Distribution. — Europe and Western Asia, but not in the extreme
north. British.

PRENANTHES L.
Prenanthes purpurea L. (Plate XIX.)

A tall purple-flowered woodland plant. Stems much-branched,
glabrous like the whole plant. Capitula small, numerous, few-
flowered. Involucral bracts in one row, few. Pappus-hairs simple.
Leaves cordate-amplexicaul, bluish green beneath.

Mountain woods, especially in the Conifer zone. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees,
Corsica, Vosges, Cevennes. Central and Southern Europe.

The drawing shows merely one small branch, the complete plant
being usually 4-5 feet high.

LACTUCA L. Lettuce.

Flowers yellow or blue. Capitula usually small, few-flowered,
corymbose. Involucral bracts in several rows. Pappus of many
soft feathery hairs. Fruit beaked.

Lactuca perennis L.

Capitula large, blue, on long stalks. Involucral bracts cordate.
Stem very thick, 10-18 inches high, glabrous, branched. Leaves
pinnatifid, with narrow segments ; upper ones lanceolate.

Sunny rocks and hillsides up to 4500 feet, especially on lime-
stone ; local. May to July.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe.

The four English species, with yellow flowers, are sometimes seen
in the lower hills of Switzerland, viz. Lactuca muralis Fresn., leaves
lyrate-pinnatifid ; common in woods and under walls. L. virosa L.,
leaves bristly beneath ; waste places. L. Scariola L., leaves less
prickly, capitula smaller ; stony places. L. saligna L., leaves
scarcely ever bristly, linear, entire, arrow-shaped ; capitula sessile,
crowded ; flowers pale yellow. Occasional in Western Switzerland.

MULGEDIUM Cass.

Capitula corymbose. Involucral bracts in several rows, few.
Flowers blue. Fruit beaked, with a crest of bristles. Pappus-hairs
soft, slender, silvery. Tall, robust herbs.

Mulgedium alpinum Lessing (Sonchus alpinus L.). (Plate XXVII.)

Stem 2-4 feet high, purplish, glandular-hairy at the top, branched

and leafy. Inflorescence a dense corymb. Leaves glabrous,

except pi} the dorsal nerve, lyrate-pinnatifid, the last segment

184 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

broadly triangular and very large, amplexicaul and acutely
auricled. Involucral bracts in several rows, few. Flowers blue or
light purplish blue. Fruit beaked with a crest of bristles. Pappus-
hairs soft, slender, silvery.

Damp, shady, bushy or rocky places, particularly in the Rhodo-
dendron and Alder zone, as shown in the picture. July.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees, Jura, etc. Central and Northern
Europe as far north as Scandinavia and the Scotch Highlands.

Mulgedium Plumieri DC.

Stem 2-5 feet high, erect, green, glabrous, branched near the top
into a loose umbellate cyme. Leaves glabrous, like the whole plant,
lyrate-pinnatifid, with very deep segments, amplexicaul, with
broad, rounded auricles. Flowers blue, larger than in alpinum.
Achenes greyish, elliptic, compressed, with 5 ribs on each face.
Capitula few, shortly stalked.

Similar situations, but much less common than the last.

Distribution. — Western Switzerland, Vosges, Black Forest,
Western Alps (of Savoy and Dauphine), Cevennes, Pyrenees.
Spain.

CREPIS L.

Capitula small, usually numerous, panicled or corymbose, rarely
solitary. Involucral bracts numerous, in several rows, with a few
outer scales. Receptacle flat, naked. Flowers yellow, orange, or
rarely purplish. Fruit striated. Pappus -hairs in many rows,
simple. Branched herbs with few-leaved stems. A numerous genus.

Crepis aurea Cass. (Plate XIX.)

Scape 4-6 inches high, erect, simple, leafless, except for a few
leafy bracts, with a solitary terminal capitulum ; or rarely divided
into 2 or 3 branches, each ending in a capitulum ; pubescent and
even glandular at the summit, glabrous below. Leaves glabrous,
but towards the summit covered, like the involucre, with black,
woolly but not glandular hairs. Radical leaves in rosettes, up to
3 inches long, ovate-lanceolate, deeply dentate or pinnatifid, sessile,
with base narrowed into a leaf-stalk, persistent. Stem-leaves very
small, linear, entire, or altogether wanting. Style yellow, black
when dry. Achenes with 20 furrows, narrowed into a beak towards
apex. Pappus pure white. Flowers orange-red, darker on the
under side.

Abundant in Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, up to 9000 feet.
July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura ; Apennines.

Crepis incarnata Tausch.

Scape 6-12 inches high, leafless, branched at the top into a

COMPOSITE 185

corymbose umbel. Leaves all radical, soft, oblanceolate, obtuse,
dentate, hairy. Bracts of the general involucre not awned on either
side. Flowers flesh-coloured, pink, or rarely white.

Pastures and stony places up to 5600 feet ; local. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern Alps from Tyrol to Carinthia.

Crepis paludosa Mcench.

Much like a Hawkweed (Hieracium) in habit. Stems erect,
branched, 1-2 feet high, nearly glabrous like the leaves. Root-leaves
ovate, coarsely toothed, with a few small lobes along the stalk ;
stem-leaves oblong to lanceolate, pointed, toothed, clasping the
stem by large, pointed auricles. Flower-heads rather large, yellow,
8-10 in a corymb. Involucres hairy, blackish. Pappus dirty white,
much like that of a Hawkweed, but the achenes are contracted at
the top.

Moist woods and Alpine meadows. June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps. Vosges,
Jura, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Central and Northern Europe (becoming
a mountain plant in the south), Russia, Scandinavia, British Isles.

HIERACIUM L. Hawkweed.

Herbs with perennial rootstock, entire or toothed leaves, and
yellow or rarely orange-red flowers, either on leafless, radical
peduncles, or in terminal corymbs or panicles on leafy stems.
Involucre more or less imbricated. Receptacle without scales.
Achenes angular or striated, not narrowed at the top ; with a
pappus of simple, generally stiff hairs, of a tawny white or brownish
colour.

A large European and north Asiatic genus, with a few American
species, nearly allied to Crepis, but the achenes are not perceptibly
contracted at the top, and the hairs of the pappus are usually
stiff er and never so white. The habit is also different. Many
species are very variable and difficult to classify.

Sub-Genus PILOSELLA Fries.
Hieracium aurantiacum L. (Plate XIX.)

Rootstock with creeping underground stolons and putting up
barren tufts of leaves as well as flower-stems. Stem erect, scape-
like, very rough with stellate and long simple hairs, bearing from
1-3 leaves on the lower part, and terminating in from 2 to many
capitula arranged in a dense umbel, and rarely only one capitulum.
Leaves grass-green, ovate or linear-lanceolate, entire, acute or
obtuse, sessile or narrowed into a foot-stalk, more or less rough with
long, simple but not stellate hairs. Stalk of capitula and involucres
densely covered with stellate hairs, black glandular bristles, and

186 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

long black hairs. Flowers a beautiful orange-red, sometimes almost
crimson.

Rough Alpine pastures and steep, bushy places up to 7200 feet.
June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Erzgebirge, Black Forest, Vosges, Jura. Northern Europe as far
as Norway. Sometimes naturalized in Britain ; and frequently
seen in cottage-gardens. It seeds very freely.

Hieracium pilosella L. Mouse-ear Hawkweed.

A small and variable species, with spreading tufts of root-leaves
and creeping, leafy, barren shoots. Leaves lanceolate, entire,
tapering at the base, and often stalked, green above, hairy, white
beneath, with short stellate hairs. Peduncles radical, with a single
head of lemon-coloured flowers, sometimes tinged with red on the
outside. Involucres more or less covered with close, whitish down
and stiff, spreading black hairs. Achenes rather short.

Dry pastures and banks from the plains up to 8200 feet. May
to July.

Distribution. — Europe and Russian Asia. Common in Britain.
Very variable in Southern Europe and the Alps.

Sub-genus STENOTHECA Fries
Hieracium staticifolium Vill. (Plate XV.)

Glaucous and glabrous or sometimes somewhat hairy. Stem
simple or slightly branched, usually leafless, with a few bracts at
the top. Leaves radical, linear-lanceolate or linear, entire or
slightly toothed, attenuated into a foot-stalk, glabrous and glaucous.
Capitula 1-3, but usually solitary, large. Flowers pale yellow,
turning green on being dried. Involucral bracts' mealy, linear-
acute.

Moraines and sandy river beds and high stony pastures up to 8000
feet. June to September.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura,
Provence.

Sub-genus EUHIERACIUM Torr. et Gray.
Hieracium glaucum All. (H. porrifolium Vill. non L.).

Closely resembling the last, with which it has sometimes been
confused. Glabrous and glaucous. Stem erect, 10-18 inches high,
leafy, loosely paniculate. Stalk of capitula with small scaly bracts
above, and like the involucre, nearly glabrous or greyish, with a fine
mealy down. Involucral bracts obtuse, adpressed. Leaves rather
thick, very narrow, bluish green, linear-lanceolate, sessile, entire or
slightly toothed. Flowers yellow. Capitula usually solitary.

COMPOSITE 187

Sandy Alpine and sub-alpine valleys, among debris and boulders,
especially in river beds. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps.
Hieracium villosum Jacq.

Densely villous with shaggy hairs. Stem erect, with several
leaves, simple or branching above, each bearing a large, handsome
capitulum, like the involucre covered with stellate hairs as well as
simple, long, white hairs, usually dark at the base. Leaves bluish
green, thin, acute or acuminate, entire or slightly dentate, villous or
rough on both sides, or the lower leaves glabrescent. Root and
lower stem-leaves lanceolate, elliptical, sessile, or narrowed into a
foot-stalk ; upper stem-leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, sessile,
with a rounded or heart-shaped amplexicaul base. Limb of the
ligulate flowers glabrous or slightly hairy or ciliated. Flowers
bright yellow. Involucral bracts very acute, and woolly. A variable
species.

Rocks and rocky pastures of the calcareous Alps up to 8500 feet.
July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western Alps.
Erzgebirge, Jura, Apennines.

Hieracium lanatum Vill.

Stem erect, about a foot high, covered like the whole plant with
a dense, short, grey tomentum, branched above, and bearing
several large capitula. Root -leaves ovate, acuminate, entire,
or obscurely sinuate, stalked ; stem-leaves sessile, lanceolate,
acuminate, amplexicaul. Involucral bracts very woolly, lanceolate,
acuminate, about as long as the fruit with the pappus. Flowers
yellow.

Limestone rocks and cliffs ; 3000-6500 feet ; local. June to
August.

Distribution. — Switzerland (Valais), Western Alps from Haute-
Savoie to the Var and Alpes Maritimes ; Piedmont, Apennines.

A very distinct plant, well worth cultivating on old walls and
limestone rocks in sunny positions.

Hieracium prenanthoides Vill.

Stem-leaves long and lanceolate, and clasping the stem by
rounded auricles, entire or toothed. Stems very leafy, rather hairy,
and much-branched at the top. Flower-heads or capitula rather
small, on slender, glandular peduncles. Involucres sub-cylindrical,
with obtuse bracts glandular. Achenes greyish white. Flowers
yellow.

Meadows and pastures and stony mountain woods. Often quite
common in the sub- Alps from 3000-5000 feet. July to September.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Eastern

i88 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Pyrenees, Apennines, Norway. Most of Europe (rare in Britain),
Siberia, Persia.

Hieracium intybaceum All. (H. albidum Vill.). (Plate XIX.)

A very distinct species, covered with viscid, glandular hairs and
smelling of musk. Stem 6-12 inches high, leafy, usually branched.
Leaves narrowly lanceolate, with wavy or coarsely- toothed margins,
the lowermost narrowed at the base ; upper leaves sessile, or more
or less amplexicaul. Capitula solitary on each branch. Flowers
pale yellow, soon fading. Achenes sometimes brown and some-
times black.

Stony gullies and steep shady places at about 5000 feet, chiefly
on granite soil, as near Le Planet above Argentiere and higher
towards the Col de Balme ; very local. August, September.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, from the
Maritime Alps to Carinthia ; Bavaria.

This is a suitable Hawkweed to introduce into English rockworks,
and we believe Messrs. R. Wallace and Co. of Colchester will
shortly have it established in their nurseries from true seed from
Savoy.

It is quite impossible in a book of this character to describe more
than a very few of the most important of the many Hieracia found
in the lower Alps. Nor can there be much advantage in giving a
bare list of the innumerable species, many of them difficult to
distinguish, which frequent the Alpine and sub-alpine regions. An
up-to-date arrangement of those found in Switzerland alone can be
found in the Flore de la Suisse, by Schinz and Keller, while Gremli's
Swiss Flora (at present out of print in the English edition) also gives
a good account of them.

CAMPANULACE.E

Leaves alternate, entire or toothed, without stipules. Flowers
usually blue or white, either distinct or collected into heads with
a general involucre. Calyx with a free border of 5 teeth or lobes,
sometimes merely bristles. Corolla regular or irregular, with 5
lobes. Stamens 5, inserted at base of corolla. Anthers distinct, or
rarely cohering in a ring round the style. Style single. Ovary and
capsule inferior, divided into 2-5 cells.

A rather large family spread over temperate regions, and crossing
the tropics in mountainous districts.

JASIONE L.

Flowers blue, in terminal, hemispherical heads, surrounded by
an involucre of several bracts. Calyx reduced to 5 very narrow
lobes. Corolla regular, deeply divided into 5 narrow segments.
Anthers united at the base into a ring round the long, club-shaped
style. Capsules many-seeded.

CAMPANULACE^: 189

About 12 species inhabiting temperate Europe and the Medi-
terranean region.

Jasione montana L. Sheep's-bit. (Plate X.)

An annual or biennial. Stems sometimes short and decumbent,
but more often erect, a foot high, with a few spreading branches.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, with wavy margin, more or less hairy.
Flower-heads variable in size, on long terminal peduncles. Invo-
lucral bracts broadly ovate. Florets small, rather pale blue, on
very short pedicels.

Dry, sandy, and heathy places on siliceous soil in the plains and
mountains ; often in large colonies. June to September.

Distribution. — Europe, except the extreme north, and eastward
to Asia Minor and the Caucasus ; North Africa. British Isles.

PHYTEUMA L. Rampion.

Flowers in dense heads or spikes, surrounded by an involucre of
bracts, usually blue. Corolla curved in bud, with 5 linear segments.
Anthers free and distinct. Style cleft at the top into 2 or 3 stigmas.
Capsule dehiscing below the middle, and crowned by the spreading
teeth of the calyx.

A small genus spread over Europe and Western Asia, but chiefly
in mountain districts.

Phyteuma comosum L.

Stem about 8 inches high, somewhat prostrate, leafy. Flowers
on short stalks, forming a large terminal umbel, violet and hand-
some, the tip being darker than the rest of the corolla. Root-leaves
reniform, bright green, sharply serrated like the petioled stem-
leaves. Very distinct from all the other species.

Clefts of Alpine and sub-alpine rocks ; 2300-5000 ft. May- July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Tyrol, Carinthia, and Carniola.
Phyteuma Scheuchzeri All.

Stem simple, i-ij feet high, striated. Leaves crenate, serrate,
the lower ones long-stalked, lanceolate, acuminate, those of the
barren shoots cordate, upper stem-leaves linear. Heads globular,
many-flowered ; outermost bracts linear, usually longer than the
capitulum. Flowers dark blue.

Stony Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, descending to a low eleva-
tion. May to July. 3000-7000 feet.

Distribution. — Eastern and Central Alps, including Southern
Switzerland. Not in France.

Phyteuma betoniccefolium Vill. (Plate IV.) *

Very similar to the last in habit and shape of leaves, but the

1 The pale blue spike figured is probably P. spicatum.

190 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

spikes are at first ovoid and then cylindrical. Stigmas 3. Stamens
glabrous. Stem leafy in lower portion. Flowers dark blue.

Pastures on siliceous soil up to 8000 feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Southern Germany, Southern Austria, Central and
Western Alps ; Pyrenees, Spain.

Phyteuma spicatum L. (Plate IV.)

Stems 1-2 feet high, rather stout, usually glabrous, leafy below.
Root-leaves longly petioled, ovate heart-shaped, crenate-dentate ;
upper leaves narrower, sessile, usually entire. Flowers dirty
greenish white or pale blue, in an ovoid head which lengthens into
a spike 2 inches or more in length.

Woods and meadows, especially in the sub-Alps. June to August.

Distribution. — Central and South-Central Europe, extending
northwards into Britain (Sussex) and Norway.

Phyteuma orbicular e L. Round-headed Rampion. (Plate IV.)

Stem 6-1 8 inches high, erect, often hollow. Lower leaves lanceo-
late, with a truncate or almost cordate base, stalked, crenate-
serrate ; upper stem-leaves narrower, sessile. Involucral bracts
lanceolate, somewhat serrate. Flowers deepest blue, or sometimes
deep blue- violet, in globular heads an inch in diameter. Stigmas 3.
Very variable in size.

Meadows and pastures from the plains to about 8600 feet ; often
very abundant, especially on limestone soil from 4000-5000 feet.
June, July.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, extending to the
chalk downs of Southern England.

Phyteuma Halleri All.

The tallest and stoutest species. Stem 2-3 feet high, thick,
hollow, leafy at the top. Radical leaves with very long petioles,
broadly heart-shaped, and irregularly or coarsely toothed ; upper
leaves sessile. Flowers dark violet, in dense oblong-cylindric heads.
Inferior bracts of involucre leafy, toothed, lanceolate, longer than
the flowers. Stamens woolly, 2 stigmas.

Woods and pastures ; 4300-6500 feet ; local.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Servia, Eastern, Central, and Western
Alps ; Pyrenees, Spain.

CAMPANULA L.

Flowers in panicles, racemes, or spikes, or rarely solitary, and
occasionally in short, leafy heads. Corolla regular, bell-shaped,
broadly tubular or rotate, with 5 broad lanceolate lobes. Anthers
distinct. Stigmas 2, 3, or 5. Capsule crowned by the lobes of the
calyx and dehiscing laterally or at the top. A numerous genus,
widely spread over the globe, chiefly in the northern hemisphere
or in mountain ranges of the hotter regions.

i. TO I-

3. EPIT.np.iUM

PLATE XXI II.
LDIA CALYCULATA. 2. CAMPANULA PKRSICIFOLI A.

T.KISCHKRI. 4. EPILOBIUM ANGUSTI FOLIUM.

s. LUZULA XIVKA.

CAMPANULACE/E 191

Campanula barbata L. (Plate XXIV.)

Root very long and tapering. Stem erect, obtusely angled, rough-
haired like the whole plant. Leaves entire or slightly crenate,
wavy, lowermost linear-lanceolate, narrowed into a foot-stalk ;
upper leaves lanceolate, obtuse, sessile. Flowers shortly stalked,
in a single or compound raceme, usually unilateral, large and hand-
some, bell-shaped, porcelain-blue, occasionally darker or white.
Corolla lobes bearded within and without. Calyx-teeth lanceolate,
acute ; appendages to calyx nearly as long as calyx-tube. Capsule
nodding. Plant 10-18 inches high.

Alpine and sub-alpine meadows and pastures ; 3000-8500 feet ;
widely spread. July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Germany, Norway, Italy.

One of the most beautiful of the common Alpine plants, and it
should be more frequently cultivated in England. It is more easily
grown from seed than by getting the long tap-roots, and the only
precaution to take is that it must not be allowed to damp off in
winter by an excess of moisture.

var. strictopedunculata Thomas.

This is a much-branched variety, with lateral peduncles 15 or
20 cms. long, bearing 2 or 3 flowers on each branch. It is occasionally
seen in the Western Alps, as at Mont Cenis, and in Savoy.

Campanula thyrsoidea L.

Biennial. Root turnip-shaped. Stem erect, 6-12 inches high,
angular, leafy, very hairy like the leaves, viscid below, ending in a
long dense spike of pale yellow, rather small flowers. Stem-leaves
linear-lanceolate, sessile ; root-leaves elongated, wedge-shaped,
and prolonged into a leaf-stalk, finely serrate or entire.

Pastures and steep mountain-sides up to 8000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura.

Campanula spicata L.

A biennial, 2-3 feet high, covered with grey hispid hairs. Stem
erect, thick, leafy. Leaves close together, lanceolate, acute, crenate,
sessile, getting shorter towards the long, spiky inflorescence.
Flowers blue, in a dense, very long spike, erect, rather small for
the plant. Lobes lanceolate. Calyx hispid, with linear lobes, about
one-third length of corolla.

Pastures and hot, stony, bushy places in the Alps and lower Alps.
July, August, up to 6500 feet ; local.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps as far south
as Liguria (e.g. on Monte Toraggio), Sardinia.

192 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Campanula glomerata L.

Stem erect, stout, 1-2 feet high, hairy. Root and lower leaves
stalked ; upper leaves sessile, broadly lanceolate, clasping the
stem by their cordate base, densely hairy. Flowers sessile, in small
clusters in the upper leaves, the top ones forming a dense, leafy
head. Corolla blue. Capsule short and broad. Calyx lobes
linear-lanceolate, acuminate. Very variable.

Pastures and sides of woods from the plains up to 5000 feet.
In England it grows both on dry, limestone hillsides and on damp
alluvial soil, such as on Clifton Ings, near York. June, July.

Distribution. — Continental Europe, Russian Asia excepting the
extreme north. British Isles.

Campanula pusilla Haenke. (Plate XXIV.)

Caespitose, with numerous tufts of leaves and slender flowering
stems. Stems 2-4 inches high, leafy at base, bearing a slender
raceme of 1—5 flowers, but more frequently the flowers are solitary.
Leaves of barren shoots roundish, coarsely serrate, slightly cordate,
much shorter than leaf-stalk, other leaves lanceolate or linear-
lanceolate. Usually glabrous. Corolla pale blue, very rarely white,
campanulate. Calyx-teeth linear, not one-third length of corolla.

Gravelly, moist places and shifting screes and banks of slaty
detritus, especially fond of limestone, up to 9000 feet, but descending
beds of streams to the plains ; very common. June to September.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Erzgebirge, Eastern, Central, and
Western Alps, Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees.

C. pusilla is a very useful plant for the garden, and is grown in
borders or rockeries, or even on old walls. It prefers a light,
porous, and yet finely divided soil.

Campanula rotundifolia L. Harebell.

Radical leaves orbicular or heart-shaped, but they mostly die
away at or before flowering-time ; stem-leaves linear or narrow-
lanceolate, entire. Stems 6-12 or more inches high, slender, often
branched, with a few elegant drooping blue flowers in a loose
panicle, or rarely solitary. Corolla-lobes broad and rather short.
Capsule ovoid or globular, pendulous. Sepals subulate.

Meadows, walls, rocks, and hilly pastures ; common. June,
July. It ascends to well above the sub- Alpine region.

Distribution. — Europe, Russian Asia. From the Mediterranean
to the Arctic Circle. British Isles.

Campanula linifolia Scop, (non Lamk.).

Very similar to the Harebell and differing chiefly in its long,
reflexed calyx-teeth, and the stems are usually i-flowered.

Clefts of rock from 5000 to 6000 feet in Carniola and Carinthia.
June, July.

PLATE XXIV.
CAM PAX TLA ISA R DATA. 2. C. R I IO.M HOI I >A 1.

4/7 NATUK'AI. SIX]

3. C. PUS 1 1. 1, A.

CAMPANULACE.E 193

Campanula Scheuchzeri Vill.

Like a large and robust harebell, whose cordate root-leaves also
die down early. Flowers larger and often a deeper blue, and
usually solitary. Calyx-segments linear-lanceolate or sometimes
subulate, erect or spreading. Very variable in size, pubescence,
shape, and size of flowers. Some specimens found on the Col de
Balme in August, 1911, had flowers ij inches across and almost
saucer-shaped, the corolla-lobes being very broad and shallow.

Alpine pastures and stony, grassy places up to 9300 feet, and not
often seen below about 5500 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Pyrenees, Apennines, Sudetic Mountains, Arctic Russia.

Campanula persicifolia L. (Plate XXIII.)

A glabrous plant 2-3 feet high, with erect, wiry, simple stem,
1-6 flowered. Leaves serrated, upper ones linear ; lower leaves
lanceolate, with long petiole. Flowers blue, rarely white, large,
broadly campanulate. Calyx-lobes lanceolate, half the length of
the corolla. Capsule erect.

Mountain woods and hillside thickets. May to August.

Distribution. — Most of Europe ; Western and Northern Asia.

Though widely spread, this species is not often found in large
numbers.

Campanula pulla L.

Stem erect or ascending, obtusely angled, glabrous or with a
few scattered hairs like the leaves, leafy below, i-flowered. Leaves
crenate ; root-leaves and lower stem-leaves ovate or elliptical,
shortly stalked, longer than the leaf -stalk ; median stem-leaves
narrower, acute, sessile ; uppermost lanceolate, small. Corolla
terminal, bell-shaped, large, dark violet-blue. Calyx-teeth linear,
one-third length of corolla.

Pastures, woods, bushy and stony places in the calcareous Alps ;
4000-6500 feet.

Distribution.— Eastern Alps.

Easily grown in an open, sunny spot, but is apt to die off in
winter.

Campanula excisa Schleicher.

Segments of corolla incised at the base, and separated by a
rounded sinus. Calyx-teeth reflexed. Rootstock slender, rampant ;
stem ascending ; leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, occasionally
toothed or with cilia. Flowers blue, 1-3.

Granitic Alps ; local and rare ; 6500-9000 feet.

Distribution. — Switzerland (S. Tessin and Valais, above the
Valley of Minister, at Berisal, and between Saas and Binn), Aosta
Valley in Piedmont.

194 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Grows rapidly in gritty loam, but hates lime. Sometimes a little
peat will improve the growth.

Campanula bononiensis L.

A tall spiky species with usually simple stem, which is very leafy
and almost tomentose. Leaves green, downy beneath ; lower
leaves shortly petioled, cordate ; upper ones sessile and becoming
narrower and narrower. Flowers small, blue-violet, very shortly
stalked, in clusters at the junction of the bracts and stem and form-
ing a long spike. Sepals linear-lanceolate, spreading. Capsule
pendent.

Mountain woods in the sub- Alps ; very local. June, July. A
frequent plant in the Chestnut zone of the Italian Maritime Alps.

Distribution. — Southern Switzerland ; Western, Central (?), and
Eastern Alps, Caucasus, Siberia.

Campanula rhomboidalis L. (Plate XXIV.)

Stem erect, slender, leafy above, i— ij feet high. Raceme more
or less unilateral, 3-5 flowered. Leaves all sessile, ovate-lanceolate,
dentate, glabrous or slightly hairy. Flowers blue, pendent. Calyx-
teeth linear or subulate, two-thirds length of corolla.

Meadows, borders of woods in the Alps and sub-Alps ; abundant
and often in great masses. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Jura, Pyrenees, Spain.

Campanula rapunculoides L.

Erect stems, 1-3 feet high. Lower leaves heart-shaped, on long
stalks ; upper ones small, ovate-lanceolate. Flowers drooping,
blue, varying in size, single in the axils of the leaves, and forming
long, terminal, simple and more or less unilateral racemes. Cap-
sules nearly globular. Calyx-lobes narrow-lanceolate.

Open woods, borders of roads, etc., from the plains to at least
5000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Most of Europe, except the Mediterranean region,
Caucasus, Asia Minor. British.

Campanula Trachelium L. Nettle-leaved Bell-flower.

Very variable, sometimes approaching smaller specimens of
C. latifolia, and sometimes with the upper flowers clustered to
resemble C. glomerata. Lower leaves broadly heart-shaped, on
long stalks, coarsely toothed ; upper ones small, ovate-lanceolate.
Flowers large, 2 or 3 together in short, leafy racemes, or sometimes
solitary. Calyx-teeth broadly lanceolate, hairy.

Woods, ravines, and roadsides from the plains to the lower Alps.
June to September.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia, and right across Siberia,
N. Africa. But most common in Western Europe. British.

VACCINIACE^E 195

Campanula latifolia L.

The tallest and most handsome species, often in England 3-4 feet
high, usually shorter in Switzerland. The stems are rarely branched,
though leafy. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, narrow at the
base and lower ones stalked, pubescent, coarsely biserrate. Calyx-
teeth lanceolate. Flowers large, blue, deeply cleft into 5 lanceolate,
acute lobes.

Woods, ravines, by streams in the plains and sub-alpine region ;
rare in Switzerland. July, August.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees, Vosges, Jura ; woods of Northern
Europe, Northern and Central Asia to the Arctic regions, but be-
coming a mountain plant in Southern Europe. Occasional in
England and Scotland.

VACCINIACE^:

Calyx 4-5 fid ; teeth often minute. Corolla regular, 4-5 cleft.
Stamens 8— 10 ; anthers opening by terminal pores or slits. Ovary
4-5 celled. Fruit a berry. Seeds albuminous.

Small woody shrubs, often with shiny evergreen leaves.

A small family allied to Ericacea, represented in northern and
temperate regions, and in the mountains of the tropics.

VACCINIUM L.

Small woody shrubs, often with shiny, evergreen leaves. Corolla
regular, campanulate or rotate, 4-5 cleft. Stamens 8-10. Style
filiform. Calyx 4-5 fid. Ovary 4-5 celled. Fruit a berry. Flowers
solitary or in racemes.

A numerous genus in mountain districts and heaths, represented
over the greater part of the globe.

Vaccinium Myrtillus L. Bilberry, Whortleberry.

A small, glabrous shrub, 6— 18 inches high, with many erect or
spreading green branches. Leaves deciduous, ovate, barely an inch
long, finely toothed and very shortly stalked. Flowers globular,
greenish white or pinkish. Berry globular, bluish black, with a
glaucous bloom.

Mountain woods, heaths and stony pastures (avoiding limestone)
up to 9000 feet in the Maritime Alps and perhaps in Switzerland.
May to July. Fruit : August, September.

The fruit is often larger than in England, and in autumn some-
times mountain-sides are ablaze with the autumnal tints of this
plant.

Distribution. — Mountain ranges of Southern Europe. At lower
elevations in Northern and Central Europe and Russian Asia.
British.

196 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Vaccinium uliginosum L. Bog Whortleberry. (Plate XVIII.)

Differs from the last by its entire, obovate, or oblong, thin leaves,
which are glaucous beneath and have a strong network of veins
above ; its rather smaller and more numerous flowers and berries
are not pleasant to the taste.

Bogs, Alpine moors and heaths up to 9300 feet in Switzerland
and the French Alps, not descending so low as the last. May to
June. Fruit : August, September.

Distribution. — Northern and Central Europe, Russian Asia, N.
America. British.

Vaccinium Vitis-idcea L. Cowberry. (Plate XII.)

Stems much branched, procumbent and straggling. Leaves
numerous, evergreen, obovate or oblong, coriaceous, rolled at the
margins, entire or slightly toothed at the apex. Flowers waxy,
flesh-coloured, campanulate, drooping, with spreading lobes, form-
ing dense terminal, drooping racemes. Berries bright scarlet, the
size of peas ; they are eaten by Snow Partridges and other birds.

Mountain woods, turf-moors and Alpine heaths, and rocky
pastures up to 9300 feet in Switzerland. May to July. Fruit :
August, September.

Distribution. — Northern and Central Europe, Russian Asia, and
N. America, becoming a mountain plant in Central Europe. The
plant is often attacked by a fungus called Exobasidium Vaccinii.

Vaccinium Oxycoccus L. Oxycoccus palustris Pers. Cranberry.

A small and very delicate, wiry-stemmed, creeping plant. Leaves
small, evergreen, ovate-lanceolate, with edges rolled back, i-nerved,
very glaucous beneath. Flowers drooping and fugitive, on long,
slender peduncles with a pair of minute bracts below the middle.
Corolla rose, deeply divided into 4 lobes which are quite reflexed,
exposing the 8 stamens. Berries globular, reddish yellow, then
darker. Flowers June, July. Fruit : July to September.

Only in sphagnum bogs, where it is difficult to find, the flowers
being so fugitive. Up to 5600 feet in Switzerland.

Distribution. — Northern Europe, Asia, and America as far as Ice-
land. High mountain ranges of Central Europe, but apparently
not in the French Alps (Coste). British.

ERICACEAE

Herbs or woody shrubs, often evergreen. Flowers regular, cam-
panulate, 4-5 lobed. Calyx 4—5 fid. Stamens 4-10. Ovary 4-5
celled. Style terminal. Fruit a berry or capsule.

A family of over 1000 species, spread over the whole globe, but
particularly on siliceous soil.

ERICACEAE 197

RHODODENDRON L.

Shrubs with alternate and often large leaves. Flowers large,
handsome, and usually red, often irregular. Sepals and corolla-
lobes usually 5. Stamens usually 10.

About 200 species in Europe, Central Asia, Malay, and North
America.

Rhododendron hirsutum L.

An erect, branched shrub. Leaves elliptical, ovate or obovate,
finely crenate, more or less ciliate, otherwise glabrous, evergreen,
shining and bright green above, dotted on under side with scattered,
resinous, at first yellowish, finally rusty brown glands. Flowers in
terminal corymbs, nodding on erect flower-stalks. Corolla funnel-
shaped, a beautiful rose colour, rather paler than in the next,
dotted on the outside with resinous glands like the flower-stalk,
calyx, and ovary.

Rocky places and steep mountain-sides in the limestone Alps
and sub- Alps up to over 7000 feet, and descending occasionally to
the valleys, as, e.g. St. Margrethen in the Rhine Valley, and the
banks of Lago Maggiore. Not found in the Jura. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps.
But only on Mont Chauffe in the French Alps, where it was dis-
covered in 1904. Southern Germany.

Rhododendron ferrugineum L. Alpen-rose. (Plate III.)

A similar-sized shrub. Leaves lanceolate to elliptical, entire, or
sometimes finely crenate, glabrous, dark green and shiny above,
somewhat revolute at the margin, coriaceous, evergreen, covered
on under side when young with densely packed yellowish resinous,
finally coalescent glands, turning rusty brown when older. Flowers
in terminal corymbs, more or less erect on longer flower-stalks
than in the last. Corolla rose-coloured (very rarely white), dotted
on the outside with resinous glands like the glabrous flower-stalk,
calyx and ovary. Leaves of the previous year cinnamon-brown in
colour. Leaves more crowded than in hirsutum.

Similar habitats, but usually, though not always, on primary
rocks. June, July. It ascends to 8800 feet in Valais, and descends
to the plain in Tessin, and is occasionally found as a glacier relic
in turbaries in woods of the Swiss plateau.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Pyrenees, Apennines, Spain, Transylvania.

The white-flowered variety is very rare ; the specimen figured
was found by Mr. Flemwell near the Planet above Argentiere in
Haute-Savoie.

This Rhododendron can be grown in the garden in a mixture of

198 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

sand and peat, from well-established plants, in a sheltered and
somewhat cool position.

Rhododendron Chamcecistus L.

A small, prostrate, under-shrub, not exceeding 6 inches in height,
with ascending branches. Leaves very small, elliptic-lanceolate,
more or less serrate, ciliated, otherwise glabrous, coriaceous, ever-
green, grass-green on both sides, shining, not dotted, cilia often
glandular. Flowers in clusters of 1-3, on long stalks, erect, rotate
or expanding, rose-coloured, very deciduous. Calyx-teeth lanceo-
late, acute, reddish purple. Anthers purple-black.

Abundant, but local, in stony Alpine and sub-Alpine places,
on limestone, but not making such a feature in the landscape of
the Eastern Alps as the other species, the flowers being paler,
and the leaves appearing only after the flowers. May to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps from Tyrol to Carniola,
4000-5000 feet. A partially shaded place suits it best.

To succeed in the sun with it, the plant must be well established
before planting out, or it must be shaded from the sun by artificial
means ; then it will bloom much more freely than in a shady place.

Hard peat and sand should be pressed firmly against the roots,
and it should be top-dressed twice a year with the same compost.
(W. A. Clark.)

ANDROMEDA L.
Andromeda polifolia L. Marsh Andromeda.

A low, branching, wiry shrub 6-12 inches high, glabrous. Leaves
alternate, oblong, lanceolate, evergreen, revolute at the edges,
and very glaucous beneath. Flowers on pedicels, in short terminal
clusters ; corolla pale pink or nearly white, waxy, ovoid and
enclosing the 10 stamens.

Peat bogs of Northern Europe, Asia, and America to the Arctic
regions, and in similar places in the mountains of Central Europe
(Alps, Jura, Pyrenees). Rather rare in Switzerland. British, but
strangely absent from the Scotch Highlands, where so many plants
of similar continental distribution are found. It flowers in May
and June. In 1901 it was found by Mons. Beauverd in the
Tourbie"res des Glieres at 1500 m. in the Alps of Annecy, and
hitherto in only one other French Alpine station.

ARCTOSTAPHYLOS Adanson. Bearberry.

Low, straggling shrubs, with alternate, entire, or toothed leaves,
and rather small flowers, 2 or 3 together in short, terminal racemes.
Ovary with only one ovule in each cell. Fruit a berry. The genus
is represented more fully in America than in Europe or Asia.

Arctostaphylos alpina Spreng.

A small under-shrub, forming great masses or cushions on rocks

ERICACEAE 199

and stones. Leaves often dry, annual, toothed, wedge-shaped or
narrowly obovate, running into the leaf-stalk, ciliate at the base,
otherwise glabrous, reticulately veined. The new leaves are not
developed at time of flowering. Flowers 2-6, arranged in a
raceme at the summit of the branches, small, greenish or reddish
white. Drupe green, then red, and finally blue-black, not ripening
till the second year.

Stony places on the calcareous Alps up to 8500 feet. May, June.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Pyrenees ; high mountains of Europe ; Arctic Europe and
Asia ; Rocky Mountains. British.

Arctostaphylos Uva ursi L. Red Bearberry. (Plate XII.)

A small, much-branched shrub 3-6 feet high. Leaves evergreen,
glossy above, with sunken dots (brown glands) beneath, usually
entire, but rarely, as in the drawing, somewhat toothed, leathery,
net-veined. Flowers white or pale pink, larger than the last, in
compact, drooping, terminal racemes. Berries globular, bright red,
smooth and shining.

Dry, rocky, or heathy places in the plains, sub-Alps, and Alps
up to 8000 feet ; rarely 9000 feet. On heaths in Scotland. April,
May.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, Asia and N. America
to the Arctic Circle.

CALLUNA Salisb.
Calluna vulgaris Hull. Ling, or Heather.

Small, straggling shrubs. Leaves acicular, very small and short.
Flowers pink or rarely white. Stamens with anthers dorsally fixed.
Calyx coloured like the corolla, with 4 small bracts at the base.

Heaths, woods, and mountain-sides up to 8800 feet in Switzer-
land, preferring siliceous rocks. July to October.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe to the Arctic Circle,
Western Asia, Morocco, Azores. N. America. British Isles.

ERICA L. Heath.

About 400 species inhabiting Europe, the Mediterranean region,
and S. Africa, but with only one truly native species in Switzerland,
viz. Erica carnea ; for though E. vagans (the Cornish Heath) grows
in the Canton de Geneve in a wood near Juvigny, and at the foot
of the Voirons above Lake Leman, it is doubtfully indigenous,
though it is native on French territory to the west.

Erica carnea L.

A shrubby, somewhat prostrate plant, with branches 3 inches
to I foot long, erect or ascending, glabrous like the whole plant.
Leaves 4 or more in a whorl, deciduous, acicular. Flowers in

200 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

terminal, spicate, usually unilateral racemes. Petals tubular-
urceolate. Stamens and styles projecting from the corolla. Calyx
and corolla rose-coloured, rarely white, anthers purple-black.

Rocks, margins of woods, and in the woods themselves, up to
8500 feet, often covering large tracts ; local, and almost always on
limestone. April, May.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Central and Southern Europe.

It is interesting to note that, according to Keller and Schinz,
no fewer than 9 of the 13 Swiss plants belonging to Ericaceae have
been seen in that country up to 2400 metres (7870 feet), and 3
reach 3000 m. They do not place Pyrola in this family, as we have
done in accordance with old tradition.

PYROLA L.

Very beautiful white or greenish white flowers, in racemes or
rarely solitary, nodding. Corolla globose or spreading, of 5 free or
slightly connate petals. Sepals 5. Stamens 10. Style prominent.
Ovary 5-celled. Leaves glabrous.

A small genus confined to the northern hemisphere of the Old and
New World. .

Pyrola uniftora L. (Moneses grandiflora Salisb.). (Plate XIII.)

Stem 2-4 inches high, erect, i-flowered, slender, leafless except
at the base, and springing from a single slender root-fibre, which
absorbs water and nutriment from the moss and decaying pine-
needles upon which it grows. Leaves ovate, roundish, suddenly
narrowed into a foot-stalk, finely serrate, usually in loose rosettes.
Corolla shallow, white, nodding. Stigma large, 5-lobed. Anthers
orange.

Margins of moist woods in shady, mossy places, and frequently
growing in a bed of pine-needles ; 1500-5600 feet ; not frequent.

Distribution. — Erzgebirge, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Vosges, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corsica, Arctic Europe and Asia,
North America. British.

Mr. Reginald Farrer aptly points out that this little gem has
" only one feeble, long, white piece of cotton by way of a root,"
but at Lanslebourg he found it growing in slaty silt in a wood, and
producing " normal masses of compact roots exactly like any other
decent plant's."1

Pyrola rotundifolia L.

Stem erect, leafless except at the base, often reddish, with several
red scaly bracts near the summit. Leaves roundish or ovate, entire
or obscurely crenate, dark green, shining, and leathery. Raceme

1 jlmong the Hills (1911), p. 21,

ERICACEAE 201

loose, many-flowered. Calyx and teeth lanceolate, acuminate, with
apex recurved, half as long as the shallow, widely open corolla.
Stamens curved upwards. Style bent downwards, with the apex
ascending, thickened above in a ring, and there as wide as the
stigma, projecting from the corolla. Flowers white. Anthers
and style orange-red.

Shady, Alpine, and sub-alpine woods. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Europe,
Central and Northern Asia, N. America. British.

Pyrola media Swartz.

Differs from the next chiefly in the style, which is considerably
longer, and from the last in never being so curved. The flowers
are variable in size.

Woods and moist, shady places ; not very common. June, July.

Distribution. — Europe, ascending the mountains in the south
and in the Caucasus ; Armenia, Northern Asia, extreme north of
N. America. British.

Pyrola minor L. Common Wintergreen.

Leaves on long stalks as in the 2 last, broadly ovate, rather
thick, entire or slightly crenate. Flowers drooping in a short, loose
raceme. Sepals short and broad, rather triangular. Petals con-
nivant, ovate or orbicular, quite free, closing over the stamens,
often pinkish. Style usually shorter than corolla, nearly straight,
with a broad, 5-lobed, spreading stigma.

Woods and shady places. June, July.

Distribution. — Europe, Northern and Western Asia, and extreme
north of N. America. British.

Pyrola chloraniha Swartz.

Somewhat like P. rotundifolia, but with the long style more
curved and reflexed. Root-leaves orbicular, rounded at the top,
and sometimes almost truncate at the base, though variable,
slightly toothed, longly petioled. Inflorescence loose, 5-7 flowered.
Flowers greenish white. Sepals ovate, acuminate, very short.

Mountain woods up to 6000 feet ; rather rare. June, July.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corsica, Central
and Northern Europe, Asia Minor, N. America.

Pyrola secunda L. (Plate XIII.)

Raceme unilateral. Style long and nearly straight. Leaves ovate,
acute, distinctly toothed and prominently veined. Flowers small,
greenish white. Easily distinguished from all the other species
by the leaves and flowers.

Mountain woods of the sub-alpine region ; common. June, July.

Distribution.- — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Corbieres, Cevennes ; Europe,
Western and Arctic Asia, N, America, British,

202 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

MONOTROPA L.

Erect, succulent herbs of a pale brown or yellowish colour,
leafless except for small scales the colour of the stem. Are like
Broomrape, and parasitical upon the roots of trees. Allied to
Pyrola, but easily distinguished by the want of green leaves.

A very small genus inhabiting woods in Europe, Asia, and
America. Sometimes accorded a family to itself.

Monotropa Hypopitys L. Bird's-nest.

Stem 6-9 inches high, with oblong or ovate scales instead of
leaves. Flowers few, in a short, terminal raceme. Sepals and petals
about the same size, ovate or oblong, glabrous or slightly downy
inside. The whole plant of a pale yellowish brown, turning black
on drying.

Parasitical upon the roots of trees, especially Beech and Birch,
and flowering from June to August. From the plains to 5000 feet.

Distribution. — Europe, except in Arctic regions ; Western and
Northern Asia, N. America. British.

PRIMULACE^E

Leaves undivided except when under water (as in Hottonia).
Calyx usually 5-cleft. Corolla regular, 5-lobed. Stamens inserted
opposite the centre of the corolla lobes. Ovary i-celled. Style
and stigma undivided. Ovules numerous, with a free central
placentation. Fruit and capsule dehiscing by valves or transversely.

A widely - spread family, many inhabiting mountain regions
often at a great elevation. A few appear in the Antarctic regions
and even within the tropics.

AN BROS ACE L.

Small Alpine herbs, often with small rosettes and dense, elongated
tufts of leaves. Flowers white or pink (yellow in A. Vitaliana) in
small umbels, within an involucre of bracts, or solitary in the
axils of the leaves. Corolla-limb rotate, tube long, suddenly
contracted at the mouth, where there are 5 scales.

High mountain plants, chiefly distributed in Central Europe and
Central Asia.

Androsace Chamcejasme Host.

Root tapering, tufted, putting up shoots ending in rosettes.
Scape 2-4 inches high. Leaves oblanceolate or elliptical, villous
at the margin, with long, simple hairs like the rest of the plant.
Flowers in umbels surrounded by an involucre. Involucral bracts
lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, rather shorter than or equalling
the flower-stalks. Corolla white or rose-coloured ; throat yellow.

PRIMULACE^E 203

Alpine pastures and stony places on calcareous and schistose
Alps ; 5000-9000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Erzgebirge, Eastern and Central
Alps. Not in the Western Alps except very rarely in Savoy.
Arctic Russia, Asia, and North America.

Androsace lactea L.

Scape glabrous, 2-4 inches high, springing from a large rosette
of green linear or linear-lanceolate, acute leaves, which are glabrous
and only ciliated towards the apex. Involucral bracts very small,
linear-lanceolate, much shorter than the flower-stalks. Flowers
sometimes solitary, and then without an involucre, white, with a
golden-yellow disc at the throat ; lobes cordate. Flowers usually
3-5 in a loose umbel.

Alpine pastures and stony places on limestone ; 4800-8000 feet.
June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Haut- Jura ; rare in Switzerland, except in the Stockhorn Range
and Alps of Fribourg.

Androsace septentrionalis L.

An annual species resembling the last, but taller and with smaller
flowers in a more numerous-flowered umbel, and oblong-lanceolate,
toothed leaves.

Grassy places and fields in the mountains up to 6500 feet ; local.
June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Northern
Europe, Caucasus, Siberia, North America ; rare in Switzerland,
and only in Orisons and Valais (Saas Thai, etc.).

Androsace lacti flora Pall.

An annual species not found in Switzerland, but in some of the
French Alps in the south. Plant 4-8 inches high, glabrescent.
Leaves in a radical rosette, oblong-lanceolate, slightly toothed.
Central flower-stem erect, the side one spreading, almost glabrous.
Flowers on long, slender pedicles, forming a loose, spreading cluster
or umbel. Corolla white or pink, small, 4-10. Involucral bracts
small, lanceolate- acute. Lobes of calyx triangular, shorter than the
tube.

Woods and pastures in the mountains. April to July.

Distribution. — Departments of Isere, Hautes-Alpes, Basses-Alpes,
Alpes-Mari times, Var, Vaucluse ; Northern Asia.

Androsace maxima L.

Annual or biennial, 2-4 inches high. Leaves large, in a radical
rosette, obovate-wedge-shaped, toothed at the top. Scape low,
rather thick, the central erect, the others spreading. Pedicels

204 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

short, erect. Flowers white or pink, 3-8 in a stiff umbel. In-
volucral bracts obovate. Calyx downy, large, twice as long as the
corolla, increasing after fertilisation ; lobes of calyx ovate-lanceo-
late.

Fields on limestone soil. April, May.

Distribution. — Only in Valais in Switzerland ; Southern and
Central Europe, Western and Northern Asia, N. Africa.

PRIMULA L.

Leaves radical. Flowers solitary or in a terminal umbel, on
leafless, radical peduncles. Calyx tubular or campanulate, with 5
lobes. Corolla a tube, with an expanding 5-lobed limb, each lobe
usually notched. Capsule opening at the top in 5 teeth. Seeds
numerous.

A genus widely spread in Europe and Central and Northern Asia,
containing many Alpine species, one or two of which reappear in
Antarctic America.

Primula farinosa L. (Plate XX.) Bird's-eye Primrose.

Stem 3-9 inches high, erect, leafless, mealy in the upper part
like the flower-stalks and calyx. Leaves radical, obovate-lanceolate,
narrowed into a foot-stalk, dentate or nearly entire, obtuse, gla-
brous on the upper side, white mealy beneath, rolled up when
young. Flowers in a crowded terminal umbel. Involucral bracts
linear-apiculate, serrate at the base. Calyx-teeth oval, acute.
Capsule longer than calyx. Corolla rather small, darker or lighter
pink, very rarely white, with a yellow eye.

Damp, grassy pastures and meadows from the plains to the
Alpine region, up to 8200 feet, often in great abundance on lime-
stone. April to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Erzgebirge, Eastern, Central, and
Western Alps ; Jura, Central Pyrenees, Northern and Central
Europe, Central and Northern Asia. British.

Primula Auricula L.

Leaves all radical, obovate or lanceolate, narrowed towards base,
obtuse, entire, or with a wavy or toothed margin, coriaceous,
glaucous on upper side, downy beneath and on margin with fine
glands, when young more or less mealy and rolled up. Stem erect,
leafless, glabrous, or covered with a white powder or mealy with
fine glands like the flower-stalks and calyx. Flowers in a terminal,
2-8 flowered umbel, stalked, yellow, fragrant, mealy towards the
throat, 8-10 lines in diameter. Involucral bracts oval, obtuse.
Calyx shortly campanulate, with short, oval-obtuse teeth.

Limestone cliffs and perpendicular rocks up to 7000 feet, and on
rocky pastures at lower elevations in the sub-alpine district and
Jura. June, July.

PRIMULACE/E 205

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Black Forest, Servia, Apennines.

Primula marginata Curt.

Stem 2-6 inches high, fleshy, bearing a few-flowered umbel of
rather larger rose-purple flowers. Leaves smooth, thick, oval-
elliptical, narrowed into a foot-stalk, cartilaginous, serrate, the
margin mealy and white. Involucral bracts short and oval or
nearly orbicular. Petals obcordate. Calyx mealy, with rounded
tube and short oval bracts. Capsule sub-globular. A somewhat
variable plant, according to position, etc.

Rocky places (limestone) in the Western Alps of Dauphiny and
Provence, Liguria, and Piedmont ; very local. June, July.

We have seen this species as low as 800 metres, near San Dal-
mazzo di Tenda in the Maritime Alps, and up to 2745 metres, or
9000 feet on Monte Santa Maria in the same district, and at Mont
Cenis at 2590 metres or 8500 feet.

Primula Allionii Lois.

Somewhat like the last in habit, but pubescent, viscous, and
greyish green in colour. Plant about 2 inches high, from a creeping
root. Scape almost wanting or much shorter than the leaves,
bearing a solitary bright rose flower. Leaves oboval, lengthened
into a long foot-stalk, entire or crenate, velvety and very viscous.
Calyx viscous, with oval, obtuse teeth. Corolla-tube twice as long
as calyx. Capsule globular, shorter than calyx.

Rocks in the sub-alpine region of the French and Italian Maritime
Alps. (Endemic.) March to May.

Primula spectabilis Tratt.

Leaves lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, acute, entire, glabrous,
with cartilaginous margin, very shortly ciliated, dotted on the
upper side. Umbels 1-5 flowered. Involucral bracts linear,
equalling the flower-stalks. Calyx tubular-campanulate, shorter
than the corolla-tube.

Stony pastures and limestone rocks descending to the lower Alps.
June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern Alps (Southern Tyrol and Carniola).

Primula tiroliensis Schott.

Leaves on the lower parts of the stem imbricate, ending in a
rosette about three-fourths the height of the stem, ovate ; the upper
ones broader, dentate, covered on both sides with glandular hairs ;
uppermost leaves small, scale-like. Scape 1-2 flowered, very
short. Flower-stalks shorter than the scale-like bracts. Lobes of
corolla bifid. Corolla bright rose-coloured. Leaves thick and
succulent, with thickened cartilaginous teeth at the margin.

Southern Tyrol, on dolomitic limestone ; rare. June.

206 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Primula viscosa Vill. non All. (P. villosa Jacq., P. hirsuta All. non

vat).

A variable^plant, whose nomenclature is rather involved. Stem
2-4 inches high, pubescent-glandular and viscid, like the leaves
and calyx. Leaves roundish obovate, suddenly narrowed into a
broad foot-stalk, crenate, dentate, very viscid. Flowers rose or
rose-purple, fragrant, in umbels of 3-6, rather large, the tube being
twice as long as the calyx. Pedicels longer than the oval in-
volucral bracts. Calyx-teeth ovate, obtuse. Capsule shorter than
calyx.

Shady, granitic rocks, and more rarely on limestone, banks, and
roots of larch trees, etc., and occasionally on stony pastures, 5000-
8500 feet ; common ; descending sometimes to the plains, as, e.g.
at Vernayaz in the Rhone Valley and above Lake Maggiore. May
to July.

Distribution. — Tyrol, Switzerland and Western Alps as far south
as Provence ; Pyrenees.

Though this plant is generally known as P. viscosa, under
the Vienna Rules of Nomenclature that name should be given to
the next species and this should be called P. hirsuta All.

Primula latifolia Lapeyr. (P. viscosa All. non Vill., P. hirsuta Vill.
non AIL).

A stout plant, 6-8 inches high, on a long, robust, cylindrical root-
stock, covered with the scales of old leaves. Leaves broadly lanceo-
late or oboval, narrowed below into a long stalk, the whole being
4-6 inches long, toothed or crenate, pubescent, viscous. Flowers
a beautiful purple-violet, not red or pink, fragrant, in umbels of
from 3-20, and with unequal pedicels, longer than the involucre,
with oval bracts. Calyx-teeth oval, glandular. Corolla-tube 3
times length of calyx. Capsule longer than the calyx. Somewhat
variable in size and in the shape of the leaves.

Rocks and cliffs in the high mountains and sub-Alps up to
2000 metres ; rather rare. May to July.

Distribution. — In Switzerland only in Grisons (Engadine and near
Poschiavo), Western Alps from Savoy to Provence ; Pyrenees.

Primula clatior Jacq. Oxlip.

Somewhat like the Cowslip, but with primrose or straw-coloured
flowers, more erect than in the Cowslip, and somewhat larger, and
longer leaves, less conspicuously veined and a duller green. Flowers
not scented. Calyx-teeth triangular, acuminate, one -third the
length of the calyx-tube.

Woods and pastures from the plains up to 7000 feet at least ;
common.

It flowers£from March to May in the plains, and continues till
July in the higher mountains.

PRIMULACE^: 207

Distribution. — Europe, especially Western and Central ; Taurus,
Caucasus. In Britain in East Anglia only.

Primula veris Hudson. Cowslip.

Leaves oblong-spa thulate,^ green, to greenish grey beneath.
Flowering-stem erect, simple, 6-10 inches high. Umbel many-
flowered (3-30), yellow, with the throat spotted with orange. Bracts
subulate. Calyx yellowish white, swollen, campanulate, with oval,
sub-obtuse lobes.

Dry meadows and pastures from the plains to the Alps. April to
July, according to situation.

Distribution. — Europe, Caucasus, Altai, Siberia.

CORTUSA L.
Cortusa Matthioh L.

Stem erect, 6-12 inches high, 3-12 flowered, [leafless, densely
villous below like the leaf-stalks, covered in upper part, like the
flower-stalks, with shorter, weaker hairs. Leaves radical, on long
stalks, roundish cordate, n or 12-lobed, glabrous above, hairy
below and on the margin. Lobes obtuse, coarsely toothed. Flowers
in a loose, terminal umbel, nodding on one side. Corolla rose, be-
coming violet, faintly fragrant, with lanceolate, acute lobes. In-
volucral bracts lanceolate, entire or serrate, or deeply toothed at
the apex. Calyx glabrous, small, with 5 lanceolate, acute segments.
The foliage of this plant is very handsome, and altogether it forms
a useful and ornamental subject to plant in loam and leaf -mould
or peat.

Damp, shady woods, moist spots on debris, or in ravines in the
lower Alps up to 6500 feet ; very local. May to July.

Distribution. — Eastern Alps, Switzerland (Grisons), and Western
Alps of Savoy, Hautes-Alpes and Piedmont ; Arctic Russia and
Northern Asia.

SOLDANELLA L.

Small Alpine herbs, appearing on the edge of the snow and some-
times flowering through the snow. Flowers solitary or in few-
flowered umbels on long stalks, mauve or rarely white. Corolla
campanulate, nodding, finely divided into many linear segments.
Capsule 5-valved, each valve with 2 teeth.

Only 4 species, inhabiting Central Europe.

Soldanella «lpin* L. (Plate VI.)

Stems erect, 3-6 inches high, leafless, glabrous or rough, with
sessile glands or pubescent from gland-hairs. Leaves radical, dark
green, shining, dotted on the under side and often tinged with
purple, stalked, roundish cordate or reniform, coriaceous, glabrous,
entire, margin wavy or shallowly crenate. Flowers usually nod-
ding or pendent, in a terminal, 1-4 flowered umbel. Fruiting

208 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

flower-stalk elongated, rigid, erect. Corolla campanulate, funnel-
shaped, divided half-way down, bearing in the throat 5 ovate,
membranous scales between the stamens and at their base. Anthers
about twice as long as the filaments. Style shorter or longer than
the corolla (dimorphic). A variable plant.

Moist Alpine pastures ; 4000-9500 feet ; common, and often in
great quantities, both on limestone and slate. It appears imme-
diately after the melting of the snow on the Alpine pastures. May
to July.

Distribution. — Erzgebirge, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Black Forest, Jura, Auvergne, Pyrenees.

Soldanella pusilla Baumg. rarely if ever descends to the sub- Alps.
S. minima Hoppe. is also a more truly Alpine species, found in the
Eastern Alps of Tyrol, etc., but not in Switzerland or France.

CYCLAMEN L.

Herbaceous plants with tuberous roots. Flowers red, rose, or
white, often scented, nodding at the extremity of naked one-
flowered scapes, which are coiled spirally after flowering. Corolla
with 5 reflexed lobes. Stamens 5. Capsule with 5 reflexed valves.
Leaves all radical, undivided.

About a dozen species inhabiting temperate Europe, Western
Asia, and the Mediterranean district. Much cultivated for their
beauty.

Cyclamen europceum L. (Plate X.)

Tuber roundish, of varying size. Leaves stalked, orbicular-
cordate, sinuate-crenate, coriaceous, often purplish beneath like
the stems. Flower-stalk or scape coiled spirally downwards after
flowering. Flowers purple-red, rarely white, entire at the throat,
fragrant. Corolla-lobes revolute, acute.

Stony and bushy places, preferably limestone, in sub-alpine
districts and the lower hills. August to October.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Moravia,
Jura, Bavaria, Balkan States.

Cyclamen neapolitanum Ten.

Leaves ovate-acuminate, deeply heart-shaped at the base,
angular, sinuate, rolled in when young. Flowers scentless, purple-
red, toothed at the throat, appearing before the leaves, very longly
pedicelled.

Thickets on limestone hills ; local. August to October.

Distribution. — Very rare in Switzerland (Valais) ; Western and
Southern France from the Eastern Pyrenees to Haute- Savoie,
Corsica, Italy. Southern Europe.

PRIMULACE^E 209

TRIENTALIS L.
Trientalis europcea L. Chickweed Wintergreen.

Stem erect, simple, 3-6 inches high, with a whorl of 5 or 6 leaves
at the top, which are obovate or lanceolate, usually pointed, 1-2
inches long, and with 2 or 3 small alternate leaves lower in the stem.
From the centre of the leaves 1-4 slender pedicels arise, each
terminated by a single flower, white or very pale pink with a
yellowish ring. Corolla rotate. Calyx-segments narrow. Stamens
with slender filaments.

Peat bogs and damp woods ; very local. May to July.

Distribution. — -Very rare in Switzerland (Bernina, Poschiavo,
Wildhaus, Zumdorf, etc.), Savoie (Albertville), Ardennes, Corsica,
Southern Tyrol, Carniola, Central and Northern Europe ; especially
common in Norway and the Scotch Highlands ; Northern Asia and
Arctic America. British.

SAMOLUS L.
Samolus Valerandi L. Brookweed.

This plant, which grows almost at sea-level in England, is not
infrequently seen in damp places in the lower Alps and Pyrenees,
but it is rare in Switzerland. Leaves obovate, entire, dark green,
glabrous like the whole plant, usually alternate. Stems 6-12 inches
high. Flowers small, milk-white, in terminal racemes or corymbs.
Stamens 5. Seed-vessels a 5-valved capsule.

Marshes, by ditches, and in the mountains on wet rocks, it
having been observed on damp rocks by the writer in both Alps
and Pyrenees at a considerable elevation. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Vosges, Pyrenees ; most of Europe,
and indeed in most temperate regions of the world. British.

ASCLEPIADACE^

Flowers regular. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla 5-lobed. Stamens
usually 5 united round the stigma into a column. Ovary 2-celled,
the carpels connate above. Seed-vessel of two follicles, with
numerous seeds clothed with silky hairs. Leaves opposite, entire.

A large family, chiefly of tropical and sub- tropical trees and
shrubs with milky juice. There are very few European species.

VINCETOXICUM Moench.

Corolla rotate, 5-lobed, with 5 internal scales. Stigma apiculate.
About 80 species in the tropical or sub-tropical regions of both
Old and New World.

Vincetoxicum officinale Moench. (Cynanchum Vincetoxicum R.Br.).
(Plate X.)

A rather shrubby or straggling plant from I to nearly 3 feet high,

210 . SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

finely pubescent, with creeping rootstock. Leaves opposite, entire,
shortly petioled, the middle ones cordate-ovate, dark green in
colour. Flowers small, dirty white or yellowish in axillary clusters,
petioled. Follicles glabrous, very large (iJ-2 inches), lanceolate-
acuminate, swollen towards the base, and when ripe showing
beautiful silky seeds. Polymorphic.

Stony, thickety places, common in the plains and lower moun-
tains. June to September.

Distribution. — Europe, Caucasus, N. Africa. Widely spread
throughout France and Switzerland.

LENTIBULARIACE.E

Marsh or aquatic plants with radical or floating leaves, or rarely
none, and irregular flowers on leafless radical or terminal peduncles.
Corolla 2-lipped, projecting below into a spur or pouch. Stamens 2.
Ovary and capsule i-celled.

A family of very few genera, dispersed over the greater part of
the globe.

PINGUICULA L. Butterwort.

Small insectivorous plants growing in bogs or on wet rocks, with
radical, entire leaves, purple or yellowish flowers on leafless,
radical peduncles. Corolla spurred, with a broad, open mouth.
Capsule opening in 2 or 4 valves. Dead flies are frequently seen
on the leaves.

Pinguicula alpina L.

Leaves in radical rosettes, lanceolate or obovate, obtuse, entire,
with revolute margins, thick, glabrous, or covered with viscid
•glands. Stem erect, i-flowered. Corolla pendent, creamy white
with yellow spots on the central lobe and apex of the spur, which
is gibbous.

Wet rocks and damp, stony pastures in Alpine and sub-alpine
regions and in Switzerland, descending to turf- moors in the plain.
May to July.

Distribution. — Mountain ranges of Central Europe and Russian
Asia. Arctic Europe and Asia. British.

Pinguicula vulgaris L. Common Butterwort.

Leaves similar to the last, but larger. Spur of corolla subulate,
slender, about half length of corolla. Flowers violet, larger than in
P. alpina.

Wet rocks and damp places, and especially in peaty meadows
from the plains to about 6500 feet. May to July.

Distribution. — Europe and all round the Arctic Circle, Russian
Asia, and North American. British.

GENTIANACE^: 211

Pinguicula grandiflora Lamk.

Resembling the last, but larger in all its parts, with broader
lobes and a longer spur to the corolla, and a more obtuse capsule.
Throat generally white.

Damp meadows and peat bogs in the Alps and sub-Alps. May
to August.

Distribution. — In Switzerland only in some of the Jura frontier
peaks ; Western Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Corbi£res, etc. ; Ireland.

Pinguicula Reuteri Genty.

Probably a sub-species of the last. Upper lobes of calyx broader,
obtuse. Corolla rose or lilac, with more or less violet throat. Spur
very pointed. Transverse section of the capsule elliptic lozenge-
shaped.

Damp sub-alpine meadows and pastures ; rare. June to August.

Distribution. — Southern Jura, Haute- Savoie (Alps of Annecy,
etc.). Maritime Alps.

OLEACE.E

Name taken from Olea the Olive. Flowers regular, generally
small. Calyx with 4-5 divisions or sometimes o. Stamens 2.
Leaves simple or pinnate, always opposite. Fruit a berry or
samara. A family of trees and shrubs inhabiting the temperate
and hot regions of the two worlds ; but comprising no Alpine species.

FRAXINUS L.
Fraxinus excelsior L. Ash.

Flowers dioecious. Fruit a broadly-winged samara. Leaves with
9-15 opposite leaflets, appearing after the flowers.

This well-known tree is frequently seen at about 3000-3800 feet
in Switzerland, but never in large quantities.

Distribution. — Temperate Europe, as far north as Scandinavia,
Western Asia.

GENTIANACE^:

Herbs often bitter, usually glabrous. Leaves opposite and entire
without stipules. Flowers in terminal, dichotomous cymes or
panicles, with a single flower in each fork, or solitary. Calyx 4—8
toothed. Corolla regular, 4-8 lobed. Stamens 4-8 and alter-
nating with the corolla lobes. Capsule opening in 2 valves with
many seeds.

A rather large family, extending nearly all over the world, but
chiefly in temperate or mountain regions.

212 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

SWERTIA L.

Swertia perennis L.

Glabrous. Stem erect, 6-12 inches high, 4-edged, simple below
and bearing an elongated raceme. Leaves crowded at base of stem,
the upper ones opposite, entire, lanceolate, sessile ; lower ones
elliptical, running into the leaf-stalk. Angles of flower-stalk nar-
rowly winged. Calyx-teeth and corolla segments lanceolate,
acuminate. Flowers dark, dingy purple.

Boggy Alpine meadows and peat mosses and other wet places
on Alpine pastures ; 3000-6800 feet ; very local. July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Riesengebirge ; Eastern, Central,
and Western Alps ; Jura, Black Forest ; North German plain,
Erzgebirge, Pyrenees, Central France, Caucasus.

GENTIANA L.

Leaves opposite, entire. Flowers usually blue, but also purple,
mauve, yellow, and nearly white, solitary or in terminal cymes.
Calyx tubular, often angled, with 5 or rarely 4 lobes. Corolla
with a narrow campanulate tube and spreading limb divided into
5 or rarely 4 lobes, and occasionally 5 additional ones in the angles.
Style remaining attached to the capsule after the flower fades.
Stigmas 2. Capsule I -celled and 2-valved.

A large genus, spread over the northern hemisphere, especially
in the mountains, and in the higher ranges of both New and Old
Worlds, penetrating into the tropics.

Gentiana lutea L. Great Yellow Gentian.

Glabrous. Stem erect, stout, 2-4 feet high. Root cylindrical,
thick, ringed. Leaves large, elliptical, strongly 5-nerved, the lower-
most stalked, channelled ; stem-leaves cordate, half -clasping.
Flowers yellow with brown spots, in dense clusters or whorls,
corolla 5-cleft nearly; to the base, the divisions being lanceolate,
acuminate. Calyx sheathing, deeply divided on one side. Root
used as a tonic.

Grassy Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, descending to 800 metres
in the Jura. Often in colonies. July to September.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Alps, Vosges, Jura, Black Forest ;
Central and Southern Europe ; Asia Minor.

Gentiana punctata L.1

Stem about I foot high, erect, robust. Stem-leaves oval or
lanceolate sessile, nerved, the lower ones stalked. Flowers yellowish,
spotted with purple, brown, or grey, sessile in terminal clusters.
Corolla 6-cleft, the lobes a quarter the length of the tube, throat
naked. Calyx campanulate with erect, lanceolate, unequal teeth.

1 In the Linnaean Herbarium (at Burlington House) the specimen of G. punctata
is G. pannonica Freyn, according to Prof. Ascherson.

4/7 NATURAL si/i-:
PLATE XXV.

(JKXTIANA PURPURKA. 2- CJ. PrRPURKA VAR. PLAVIDA.

(',. KOCH I ANA (ISLUK AND \VHITK). 4 CLADOMA SP.

5. (1KNTIANA CAMPKSTRIS (MAUVK AND \VHITK).

GENTIANACE^i 213

Grassy places in the Alps and sub-Alps, especially on siliceous
soil. July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Silesia, Erzgebirge, Bavaria, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria.

Gentiana pannonica Scop.

Stem erect, simple, 1-2 feet high, purple above. Lower leaves
elliptic, petioled, the upper ones lanceolate, acute, sessile, 3-nerved.
Calyx-lobes reflexed, equal. Flowers sessile, usually in clusters in
the axils of the leaves. Corolla dull purple, with pale greenish
yellow base and streaked with reddish brown, campanulate, 5-7
cleft, throat naked. Root very bitter.

Sub-alpine pastures, 4500-6500 feet ; chiefly on limestone.
July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps, Erzgebirge. In
Switzerland only on the northern side of the Curfirsten. Bavaria,
Bohemia, Transylvania.

Gentiana purpurea L. (Plate XXV.)

Stem erect, 1-2 feet high, simple. Leaves oval-lanceolate, the
lower ones petioled, the upper sessile. Calyx-lobes erect, cleft
almost to the base on one side in the form of a spathe. Corolla
campanulate, reddish brown or purple outside, yellowish within,
rarely white or yellow ; divided one-third of its length into oval,
obtuse lobes. Flowers sessile.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures and rough, broken ground
under fir trees. July, August.

Distribution. — Tyrol, Styria, Hungary, Bavaria (rare), Switzer-
land, Western Alps, Southern Norway, Kamtschatka.

On the same plate is also an illustration of the yellow variety
flavida, which grows about le Planet sur Argentiere and occasionally
in Switzerland.

Gentiana cruciata L.

Stem erect or ascending, 6-18 inches high, simple, very leafy.
Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, 3-5 nerved ; stem-leaves sheathing,
decussate ; upper leaves much longer than the flowers. Flowers
blue, rather small for the size of the plant, sessile, campanulate,
4-cleft (the lobes being triangular, acute) in a dense panicle at the
leafy top of the stem. Calyx short, with 3-4 spathulate teeth.

Thickets and grassy, gravelly places on the Alps and sub-Alps,
not often above 5800 feet, and usually on limestone. Frequent in
the plains. June to September.

Distribution. — Central Europe, France, Portugal, N. Spain,
N. Italy, S. Russia, Greece, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Armenia,
Siberia.

2i4 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Gentiana asdepiadea L. Willow Gentian. (Plate XXVI.)

Root very long and tapering, sometimes 2 feet or more in length.
Stem erect, simple, 1-3 feet high, many-flowered, leafy except at
the base. Stem-leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate,
5-nerved, sessile, from a rounded base ; no root-leaves. Flowers
usually in clusters of 2-3 in the axils of the upper leaves, forming a
long terminal leafy, spicate cyme. Corolla campanulate, 5-cleft,
large (iJ-2 inches long), dark azure-blue or ultramarine, variegated
internally with white streaks and dark spots, throat naked. Corolla-
teeth not fringed, lanceolate, acuminate. Calyx tubular, with 5
very short linear teeth. Flowers rarely white. (See plate.)

Bushy sub-alpine regions and stony Alpine pastures up to 6800
feet, especially on limestone ; a very handsome species. July to
September.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Erzgebirge, Eastern, Central, and
Western Alps ; Vosges, Jura, Corsica, Dalmatia, Bithynia, Greece,
Caucasus, Asia Minor.

Gentiana alpina Vill. Prosp., p. 22 (G. acaulis L. part.).

Stem very short. Root-leaves in small rosettes, small, leathery,
i-nerved, a pair of lanceolate stem-leaves often immediately below
the calyx. Calyx-lobes lanceolate, subacute, divided by a usually
sharp sinus. Corolla deep blue with greenish streaks, rarely white
or mauve, i-ij inches long, lobes rather obtuse and short.

Grassy Alpine pastures up to 8500 feet, but not often seen in
the sub-Alps, and much less common than G. excisa.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Spain, N. Italy. In Switzer-
land in the southern ranges only.

On the type specimen of G. acaulis in the Linnaean herbarium
Linnaeus wrote, " Gentiana caule unifloro flore campanulato caulem
longitudine excedente."

Gentiana excisa Presl. in Flora, 1828, p. 268 (G. Kochiana Perr. et

Song.,1 1853). (Plate XXV.)

Larger and taller than the last, with which Linnaeus combined
it and the next to form G. acaulis L. Stem 2-4 inches high, erect,
with a pair of small, lanceolate leaves lower in the stem ; stem
much elongated on maturity. Leaves larger and softer than in
G. alpina, but very variable in shape and size. Calyx-lobes oval-
lanceolate, from a narrow base, contracted, shorter and broader
than in the last and spreading ; sinus between calyx-lobes truncate,
the membrane connecting the divisions of the calyx more developed.
Corolla ij-2j inches long, campanulate, deep blue, spotted or
streaked with green within and often of a duller or purplish blue,
very rarely white or violet. Corolla-lobes large, toothed, and
deflexed.

1 Perrier et Songer, PI. nouv. Savoie (1853), p. 53-

GENTIANACE^E 215

Pastures in the primitive or granitic Alps, less often on limestone.
Often abundant from 3800-8500 feet/ May to August, according to
position.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Jura,
Cevennes, Corbieres, Pyrenees, Central Europe ; Carpathians.

The beautiful and very rare white variety drawn by Mr. Flemwell
was found by him near the Hotel du Planet, above Argentiere.
(Plate XXV.)

Gentiana Clusii Perr. et Song. Ind. PL nouv. rares et crit. Savoie.

Stem short, often almost wanting. Radical leaves coriaceous,
stiff, lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate. Stem-
leaves much smaller, oval-lanceolate, sharply acuminate ; upper-
most stem-leaves rough at the edges. Corolla always peduncled
(peduncles much elongated after maturity), azure-blue, not spotted
or streaked with green. Calyx-lobes always very acute, not con-
tracted at the base, about half length of calyx-tube ; sinus usually
acute.

Alpine pastures on limestone, and limestone rocks from 4000-8500
feet, lower in the Jura, and in Cantons Vaud and Zurich. May to
July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Cevennes, Pyrenees, N. Spain, Central Italy, Dalmatia,
Bosnia, Servia, Montenegro.

Sometimes this species and G. Kochiana seem to mutually exclude
the other in their respective areas.

Gentiana angustifolia Vill. Hist. Dauph., 2, p. 526.

Stem 3-4 inches high, erect. Rosette leaves linear-lanceolate,
narrow, obtuse, or shortly acuminate, 3-5 times as long as broad,
soft and shiny. Calyx-lobes spreading, acute, and contracted at
the base, the sinus between the calyx-lobes being broad. Corolla-
lobes acute. Flowers solitary, very large.

Limestone Alpine pastures ; rare. May to July.

Distribution. — Central and Western Alps ; rare in Switzerland.
Jura, Cevennes, Pyrenees.

Gentiana verna L. Spring Gentian. (Plate XXVI.)

Stem erect, simple, few-leaved, i-flowered, 1-4 inches high.
Leaves ovate, elliptical or lanceolate, acute, the lowest in rosettes,
the upper I or 2 pairs distant. Corolla saucer-shaped, 5-cleft, throat
white. Flowers light or dark azure-blue, varying considerably,
and occasionally mauve or white. In Flemwell's Flower Fields
of Alpine Switzerland (1911) is a beautiful and unique picture
showing all these varieties of colour.1

MeaolQws and pastures from the plains to at least 10,000 feet
1 These colour forms are also shown in Plate XXVI.

2i6 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

in the Alps ; often abundant and in large clusters in the sub-alpine
zone and above. April to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Alps, Erzgebirge, Jura, Black Forest,
Pyrenees, Caucasus, Central and Southern Europe, ' Western and
Northern Asia ; rare in British Isles.

Gentiana bavarica L. Bavarian Gentian.

Stem erect, simple, leafy, 2-5 inches high, i-flowered. Leaves
obovate or nearly spathulate, obtuse, slightly 3-nerved, crowded
except sometimes the uppermost ; imbricate in the young shoots.
Corolla saucer-shaped, 5-cleft, handsome, deep azure-blue, or very
rarely violet.1 Lobes not fringed. Throat naked. Style deeply
5-cleft.

Damp pastures, perferably on the higher calcareous Alps ; local,
but often in great masses ; 5000-8500 feet. June to September.

Distribution. — Bavaria, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Abruzzes.

Gentiana pyrenaica L. Pyrenean Gentian.

Stem ascending from a creeping base, 2-4 inches high, densely
leafy. Leaves small, linear-lanceolate, mucronate, rough at the
edges. Flowers a rich violet, solitary, shortly peduncled. Corolla-
lobes 10, unequal, 5 of which are oval, obtuse, and 5 are smaller
and toothed. Capsule elliptical.

Damp pastures and banks of rivulets in the mountains at about
4000 to 6000 feet, but extending rarely to 9000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern Pyrenees, Central Pyrenees (rare), Spain,
Ariege, Aude ; Carpathians, Armenia, Caucasus. Not known in the
Alps.

Gentiana nivalis L.

Annual. Stem 1-6 inches high, erect, leafy, rather fragile ;
usually cymosely branched and many-flowered, less often simple
and i-flowered. Leaves 3-5 nerved ; root-leaves ovate, in rosettes ;
stem-leaves lanceolate. Calyx cylindrical, with 5 prominent angles
and acute teeth. Corolla rotate, with a cylindrical tube, naked
throat and acuminate, unfringed teeth. Flowers small, blue, or
sometimes mauve, very rarely white, only opening in sunshine.

Alpine meadows and pastures 5000-10,000 feet. June to Sep-
tember.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura,
Pyrenees, Carpathians, Servia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Turkey,
Iceland, Scotland (rare), Central and Arctic Europe (Iceland),
Asia Minor, North America, Greenland.

1 Found by the writer with violet flowers near Bovine (Col de la Forclaz),
June, 1908. This was the first record.

Pl.ATK XXVI.

1. GEXTIAXA ASCLKPIADKA (WITH \VHITK VARIETY).

2. G. VERXA (IX FOUR COLOUR FORMS). 3. G. CILIATA.

4/7 NATURAL SIZE.

GENTIANACE.E 217

Gentiana campestris L. (Plate XXV.)

Annual or biennial. Corolla 4-lobed, lilac, but frequently darker
violet and sometimes white. (Plate XXV.) Calyx-teeth very
unequal, the two outer lobes three times as broad as the inner ones,
the former being ovate-acuminate, and the latter lanceolate.

Rather dry places in the Alps, sub-Alps, and hills. It ascends
to 9300 feet in Switzerland, as, e.g. on the Col de Torrent. May to
August.

Distribution. — Central and Northern (but, excepting Iceland, not
Arctic) Europe, and most of the mountain ranges in the south ;
Spain, Italy. British.

Gentiana baltica. Murbeck.

This little-understood plant is probably a sub-species of the last.
Dr. C. E. Moss tells me he considers the English lowland form of
" G. campestris," which is usually biennial, to be the annual G.
baltica. Stem erect, often branched above, usually still bearing the
cotyledons at time of flowering ; they are broadly lanceolate.
Upper leaves sessile- acute. Calyx-lobes as in campestris. Corolla
4-lobed, violet or white. Capsule sessile, cylindric, finally longer
than the corolla.

In Switzerland it has been recorded from Schafberg and near
Samaden in Grisons and from Villeneuve in Valais. In England
the true plant grows in several places as, e.g. on the Lancashire
sand-hills.
Gentiana Amarella L. (G. axillaris Reichb.).

An erect, much-branched annual, 3-10 inches high ; often purplish
or livid green in colour. Leaves ovate or lanceolate. Flowers
numerous, usually crowded in a leafy panicle, pale purplish blue.
Corolla-lobes 5, ovate or oblong, spreading, with a fringe of hairs
at the mouth of the broad tube. Calyx divided to the middle into
5 narrow lobes.

Dry, hilly pastures ; becoming a sub-alpine plant in Southern
Europe. June to September.

Distribution. — Europe, especially Central and Northern, extending
to the Arctic Circle in both Europe (Iceland) and Asia. Rare in
Switzerland (Lower Engadine), Roumania. British.

Gentiana germanica Willd.

Larger and stouter than G. Amarella, but also frequently purplish
in ct>lour, the stems and leaves being sometimes a distinct reddish
purple. An annual, about 10-18 inches high. Stem-leaves ovate
or ovate-lanceolate. Calyx-lobes unequal, shorter than corolla-
tube, usually glabrous, but sometimes finely ciliate, lanceolate.
Corolla large, 4-lobed, deep lilac or violet, campanulate.

Pastures, open woods, etc., in the plains, hills, and Alpine valleys ;
preferably on limestone, August to October.

218 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Distribution. — Central Europe, extending to Northern France,
Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Southern England. In Switzer-
land in the central plateau and such Alpine localities as Andermatt
and St. Moritz. N. Italy, Servia, Roumania, Russia.

A more Alpine form of G. germanica is called G. rhcetica Kerner.
The corolla-lobes are never spreading, the stems are shorter and
the stem-leaves rather longer. It has been recorded from the
Albula in Eastern Switzerland. It apparently prefers siliceous
soil.

Gentiana ciliata L. Fringed Gentian. (Plate XXVI.)

Biennial or perennial. Stem 3-10 inches high, simple or branched,
leafy to the top. Leaves erect, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate,
acute, i-nerved. Flowers rather pale blue, large and handsome,
solitary or several on a stem. Corolla divided to the middle into
4 spreading lobes, which are toothed and strongly ciliated. Calyx
campanulate, with 4 lanceolate, acuminate segments, much shorter,
than the long tube. The blue may be called electric.

Pastures and sloping banks in the Alps, sub-Alps, and plains,
especially on shale or limestone. August to October. The writer
has found it from 8250 feet on the Aiguille de Goleon in Dauphiny,
and from near Annecy at only 1650 feet. It is distinctly an
autumnal species.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, from Belgium to
Bulgaria ; Spain, Pyrenees, Italy, Alps, S. Russia, Cilicia, Armenia,
Caucasus.

POLEMONIACE.E

POLEMONIUM L.

A small genus of about 10 species, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and
America.

Polemonium caruleum L.

Stem 1-2 feet high, erect, furrowed, hollow, glabrous, like the
leaves, or with a few scattered hairs. Rachis of panicle glandular-
downy. Leaves pinnatifid, segments ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate,
entire, acute or acuminate, often curled, dark green. Flowers in a
terminal panicle, handsome, bluish or white, with orange-yellow
anthers. «

Margins of woods and boggy meadows, and by streams in sub-
alpine districts, especially on turf. May, June.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern and Central Alps, Savoy,
Jura, Pyrenees, Caucasus, Siberia, North America, Central and
Northern Europe. British.

BORAGINACE^E 219

CONVOLVULACE^E

Twining or prostrate herbs, with alternate leaves, or leafless
and parasitical (Cuscuta). Calyx of 4 or 5 sepals often very unequal.
Corolla usually campanulate, with 4 or 5 lobes or nearly entire.
Stamens 4 or 5, attached near the base of the corolla. Partitions
of the capsule very thin.

The family is not represented in Alpine regions properly so-called,
but in the lower mountains of Europe Cuscuta or Dodder is fre-
quently seen.

CUSCUTA L. Dodder.

Cuscuta Epithymum Murray. (Plate X.) Lesser Dodder.

An annual parasitical, leafless plant, with twining, thread-like
reddish stems, which attach themselves to Thyme, Heath, Gorse,
and other shrubby plants by means of minute suckers. The heads
of flowers are small, globular, and compact, the flowers themselves
being very small, white or pale pink, and the calyx still smaller.
Corolla-lobes pointed, spreading, and about as long as the tube.
Capsule globular, with 4 seeds in 2 cells.

Parasitical upon various plants in sunny places in the plains and
Alps to at least 6000 feet. July to October.

Distribution. — In Europe from Denmark southward, N. Africa,
W. Asia. British.

Dodder was observed by the author during the hot summer of
1911 in unusual abundance in the Pennine Alps and upon a variety
of plants, such as Euphorbia Cyparissias, Carduus defloratus, and
Teucrium montanum. He also found it actually parasitical upon
two fronds of Polypodium Robertianum, which is perhaps the first
record of any kind of Cuscuta upon a fern ;x though, according to
Prillieux, Rye-grass has been attacked by C. Epithymum. It is
also occasionally found on Lotus corniculatus, Lavender, and other
Labiates, Hypericum and Achillea millefolium. When Dodder grows
on Clover, or Lucerne, which it often does in the sub-Alps, as in
England, the name C. Trifolii Bab. is given to the variety. It differs
from the type in its shorter distant scales. Several other species of
Cuscuta are occasionally found in the lower mountains of Southern
Europe, but they are difficult to determine, and it is hardly within
the scope of this book to attempt to describe them here.

BORAGINACE.E

Herbs usually rough with coarse hairs. Leaves alternate, simple,
and usually entire. Flowers in i-sided spikes or racemes, rolled
back when young, and usually forked. Calyx of 5 teeth. Corolla
regular, or slightly irregular, monopetalous, with a 5-cleft limb.

1 Journal of Botany t December, 1911.

220 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Stamens 5, inserted on the corolla-tube. Ovary 4-lobed, with a
simple style inserted between the lobes. Fruit of 4 i-seeded nuts,
like seeds, and enclosed within the calyx.

A large family in the northern hemisphere, with a few repre-
sentatives in the tropics and southern hemisphere.

CERINTHE L.

Glabrous and glaucous plants with entire, amplexicaul leaves
with more or less heart-shaped base. Ovary composed of 2 carpels.
Corolla yellowish, throat naked without scales.

Cerinthe glabra Miller (C. alpina Kit.).

A glabrous plant. Stem 12-18 inches high, erect, branched,
leafy to the summit. Leaves ovate-cordate, embracing the stem.
Flowers yellowish or purplish, rather small, pendent, in a|long
panicle, very dense at the top. Sepals lanceolate, obtuse, not
ciliated as in major, nor toothed as in minor. Corolla about one-
third longer than the calyx, with short, triangular, sub-obtuse
teeth. Anthers terminated by a short appendix. Nuts small.

Pastures, stony slopes, and borders of woods in Alpine and sub-
alpine districts up to 6000 feet, especially on limestone. June to
August.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Corsica, Pyrenees, Central Europe.

Cerinthe major L.

About the same height. Stem leafy, erect. Leaves ciliate,
spotted with white tubercles, obtuse. Corolla large, yellow at the
base, violet at the insertion of the stamens, limb red, but some-
times entirely yellow or purple. Anthers as long as the filaments.

Dry hillsides and stony places ; rare. June in Switzerland ;
earlier in the South.

Distribution. — In Switzerland very rare; near Sion. Southern
Europe, Corsica, N. Africa.

Cerinthe minor L.

A smaller plant, with smaller flowers and narrower corolla-lobes
and sepals edged with minute teeth.

Mountain woods and pastures (not in Switzerland). May to

July.

Distribution. — Savoy, Dauphiny, Provence ; W. Central Europe,
W. Asia.

CYNOGLOSSUM L.

Cynoglossum montanum L. Hound's-Tongue.

Leaves green, with scattered hairs, but almost glabrous above,
shining ; lower leaves elliptic or oval-elliptic narrowed into a
petiole ; upper leaves heart-shaped at base, amplexicaul. Flowers
reddish or violet, small in forked cymes. Corolla funnel-shaped.

BORAGINACE^: 221

Calyx 5-partite. Nutlets 4, with a thickened border. Not always
easy to distinguish from the common C. officinale, which grows in
sandy, waste places in Switzerland, as in England.

Mountain woods ; infrequent. May, June.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Vosges, Corbieres, Pyrenees, Cevennes,
Central Europe, Western Asia ; rare in England.

LAPPULA Moench.

Flowers regular, small, blue. Corolla saucer-shaped, closed at
the throat by 5 small scales. Nutlets 4, trigonous, bordered by
several rows of barbed bristles. About 50 species inhabiting
temperate regions of Old and New World.

Lappula echinata Gilib. (Echinospermum Lappula Lehm.).

Stem branched in the upper part, hispid and grey like the whole
plant. Fruit-stalks erect. Flowers in small axillary clusters, sky-
blue. Nutlets finely tubercled outside, the side angles edged with
2 rows of hooked hairs.

Dry, waste places in the plains and sub- Alps. June to August.

Distribution. — Most of Europe, Western and Northern Asia,
Japan, N. Africa.

Lappula deftexa Garcke (Echinospermum deflexum Lehm.).

Fruit - stalks reflexed. Stem branching from the middle or
lower. Leaves lanceolate, the upper ones sessile. Fruit winged
and bordered with only one row of hooked bristles. Flowers
small, blue. Scarcely distinguishable from the last except by the
fruit.

Stony places and shady gorges in the mountains. June to August.
Seen by the author as high as about 6600 feet in Southern Savoy
(above Lanslebourg).

Distribution. — Switzerland, Savoy, Dauphiny, Central and
Northern Europe (Norway), Altai, Siberia.

ASPERUGO L.
Asperugo procumbens L. Madwort (the only species).

A coarse, straggling weed ; annual. Stems branched, hispid
like the leaves, climbing or recumbent, and clinging to objects by
small prickles which are turned downwards. Leaves rough, oblong-
elliptic. Flowers small, i or 2 together in the leaf-axils. Corolla
violet at first, then blue, rarely white. Tube whitish* Throat
furnished with scales. Calyx-lobes 5, large and irregular, enlarged
after flowering and concealing the fruit.

Rubbish-heaps and waste places and fields near dwellings ;
changeable and erratic. June to August.

Distribution. — Europe, including Norway and the Alps, Pyrenees

222 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

and other mountain ranges, but not everywhere in Switzerland ;
Western Asia, N.W. India, N. Africa. A weed of cultivationjin
parts of Britain.

LYCOPSIS L.
Lycopsis arvensis L. Small Bugloss.

A coarse annual covered with small, stiff hairs. Stems branched,
i -I \ feet. Leaves lanceolate, sinuate and often toothed. Flowers in
terminal spikes (usually forked). Corolla pale blue, small, with the
tube curved in the middle. Calyx deeply 5-cleft. Nuts wrinkled
as in Anchusa.

Sandy fields and waste places from the plains to the lower
Swiss Alps (at 5000 feet near Zinal). June to August.

Distribution. — Europe, N. Asia, N. America and other parts
of the world where introduced by cultivation. British.

PULMONARIA L.

Perennial herbs with rather large blue or purple flowers. Calyx
tubular-campanulate, 5-cleft. Corolla with a straight tube, without
scales, and a spreading 5-lobed limb. Nuts smooth.

A very small European genus.

Pulmonaria angustifolia L. (P. azurea Bess.).

Stems 6-12 inches high, erect, leafy. Leaves not spotted. Radi-
cal leaves lanceolate, 8-10 times as broad as long, lengthened into a
broadly- winged leaf-stalk ; stem-leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate,
sessile, the lower ones slightly attenuated at the base, the upper
ones amplexicaul. Leaves and calyx covered with short, spreading
and glandular hairs. Corolla reddish at first, and then a deep
azure-blue, flowers in short racemes. Calyx cylindrical, cleft to the
middle, teeth lanceolate-acute. Calyx pendent after flowering.
A very beautiful plant.

Bushy Alpine places up to 6500 feet ; local.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees,
Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Asia Minor.

Pulmonaria officinalis L. Lungwort.

Stems 6-18 inches high, with alternate, mostly sessile leaves.
Root-leaves ovate-oblong on long footstalks, coarsely hairy and
often much spotted. Calyx very hairy, much increasing in length
after flowering, the lobes barely reaching the middle. Flowers in a
terminal-forked cyme. Limb of corolla broadly spreading, with
short lobes. Flowers dull rose-coloured, then blue-violet, though
sometimes remaining rose or white.

Hedge-banks and woods in the plains and sub- Alps. April, May.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe to the Caucasus,
extending northward to Scandinavia ; rare in Britain.

BORAGINACE^: 223

Pulmonaria montana Lej. (P. ovalis Bast.).

Plant covered with glandular hairs. Leaves green, not spotted ;
root-leaves broadly elliptical-lanceolate, acute, petiole broadened
at the top ; stem-leaves oblong-linear, the upper ones lanceolate,
clasping the stem. Corolla violet. Anthers deep violet. Inflores-
cence covered with viscid glands.

Woods and cool places in the lower mountains ; local. April,
May.

Distribution. — Southern Switzerland, and occasionally else-
where, Pyrenees and French mountains generally.

MYOSOTIS L. Forget-me-not.

Flowers regular, small, blue, white or pink, in terminal scorpioid
cymes. Corolla saucer-shaped, the throat closed by 5 scales alter-
nating with the stamens. Stamens included in the tube. Calyx-
tube long. Nuts smooth and shining, compressed or triangular.

A rather large genus in Europe and Northern Asia; scarce in
N. America and well represented in Australia.

Myosotis sylvatica Lehm. Wood Forget-me-not.

A branched, hairy plant with stems 6-10 inches high springing
from a tufted stock. Calyx cleft nearly to the base, with narrow
segments, erect when in fruit and covered with spreading hairs.
Corolla large, azure-blue, with spreading limb. Very variable in
size and stature, and in the Alps often almost impossible to dis-
tinguish from the next.

Mountain pastures, woods, and other shady places. April to June.

Distribution. — Northern Europe and Asia, becoming a mountain
plant in the central ranges from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus and
Altai.

Myosotis alpestris Schmidt. (M. pyrenaica Pourret).

A smaller, more tufted plant with shorter and denser inflorescence.
Calyx almost silvery, with spreading hairs, closed after flowering.
Corolla deep azure-blue, sometimes white and rarely pink, scented.
This species, if it be one, passes into M. sylvatica, every intermediate
form being found in the lower Swiss Alps ; but it has stiffer hairs,
shorter cymes, thicker flower-stalks, larger calyx and more com-
pressed habit.

Grassy or stony pastures of the Alps and sub-Alps, extending to
10,000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Vosges, Pyrenees, Corsica, Caucasus,
Scandinavia, Morocco, Siberia, N. America, N. Britain.

224 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

LITHOSPERMUM L. Gromwell.

Corolla regular, funnel£or salver-shaped, throat usually naked,
corolla-limb shortly 5-lobed. Flowers in leafy cymes or one-sided
spikes. Nutlets 4, very hard.

A genus spread over Europe, especially in the Mediterranean
region, and Northern Asia.

Lithospermum purpureo cceruleum L. - Purple Gromwell.

Stems decumbent, leafy, 1-2 feet long or more, with shorter
ascending or nearly erect flowering stems, ending in a^leafy, forked
cyme. Leaves lanceolate, hairy. Flowers nearly sessile, deep blue
and handsome. Calyx-segments narrow. Nuts smooth and shining.
The long, arching, leafy, barren shoots have the property of rooting
at the tips, and thus the plant strides over the ground, not by
creeping roots, as was formerly stated in English manuals.1

Thickets, hedge-banks, and open woods, especially on carbonifer-
ous limestone, from the plains to the hills. May to July.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe from the Atlantic
to the Caucasus ; rare in Britain, and only in Glamorgan, Somerset,
and ajfew other counties.

This|plant is useful for covering up large areas in rock-gardens
where little else will grow, but it must be kept in check.

Lithospermum arvense L.

An erect, generally branched annual about a foot high, and
usually hoary with adpressed hairs. Leaves linear-lanceolate.
Flowers small, white, or rarely blue in the Alps, sessile, in leafy
terminal cymes. Calyx-segments nearly as long as corolla. Nuts
hard, conical, and wrinkled.

Cultivated and waste places from the plains to about 5000 feet
in the Western Alps and Switzerland. May to July.

Distribution. — Europe, except the extreme north, Central Asia,
and introduced as a cornfield weed in many parts of the world.
British.

ECHIUM L.

Coarse, hispid plants with handsome blue or purple flowers.
Corolla with a broad, open mouth to the tube, and 5 erect, equal
lobes. Stamens protruding from the tube, and unequal in length.
Style 2-cleft. Nuts wrinkled. Calyx deeply cut.

About 30 species inhabiting temperate and sub-tropical countries
of the Old World.

Echium vulgare L. Viper's Bugloss.

Stem erect, 1-2 feet high, covered with stiff, spreading hairs

1 J. W. White, "The Life History of Lithospermum purpureo-cxruleum L.,"
reprinted, with additions, from \hz Journal of Botany (1884).

SCROPHULARIACE^: 225

springing from a tubercle. Leaves i-nerved, the root-leaves
stalked and spreading ; the stem-leaves lanceolate, sessile. Flowers
handsome, at first reddish purple, afterwards bright blue, rarely
white. Cymes short, disposed in a long, terminal panicle. It
differs chiefly from E. italicum (the only other species in Switzer-
land) by its simple, and not branched, inflorescence.

Dry meadows and stony places in the plains and Alpine valleys.
June to September. Common, biennial.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia, except the far north;
Algeria. British.

SCROPHULARIACE.E

Corolla monopetalous, usually 2-lipped and irregular, with 4 or 5
lobes. Stamens 4 or rarely 2, inserted on the tube of the corolla.
Ovary 2-celled. Style simple. Ovules numerous. Fruit a many-
seeded capsule.

A large family, widely spread over the globe, though most
abundant in the temperate regions.

VERBASCUM L. Mullein.

Flowers in simple or compound spiked racemes. Corolla nearly
regular, 5-lobed, rotate, yellow, sometimes violet at the throat.
Stamens 5, unequal, with bearded filaments. Leaves usually
woolly.

Over 100 species native in the Old World, many of them hybrid-
ising, which makes their determination rather difficult.

Verbascum nigrum L. Dark Mullein.

Stem 2-3 feet high, lightly clothed with woolly hairs, ending in a
long, usually simple raceme. Leaves crenate, nearly glabrous on
upper side, slightly woolly beneath ; the lower ones cordate-oblong,
on long stalks ; the upper ones nearly sessile, small and pointed.
Flowers numerous, rather small in comparison with some of the
genus, yellow, with bright purple hairs on the filaments and purple
throat.

Banks, roadsides, and hills. July, August.

Distribution. — Europe, except the Mediterranean region and
extreme north ; Caucasus, Western Asia.

Verbascum Thapsus L. Great Mullein.

This well-known Mullein is the largest and commonest species,
though in Switzerland, as elsewhere, it usually occurs singly or in
twos and threes, not in colonies. It is 3 or 4 feet high, and the
leaves are woolly and decurrent. The flowers are in a dense, woolly
terminal-spike often a foot long. Biennial.

Waste places, hills, and roadsides. July, August.

226 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Distribution. — Europe, Caucasus, Altai, Himalaya, and naturalised
in America and Algeria.

Verbascum montanum Schrad.

Closely resembles V. Thapsus, of which it is sometimes con-
sidered a variety, but the flowers are larger, filaments of all the
stamens are woolly, and the leaves not so strongly decurrent.

Hilly woods and waste places, especially in Southern Switzerland.
June to August.

Verbascum Chaixii Vill.

A perennial species, 2-3 feet high, covered with greyish tomentum.
Stems rather slender. Leaves pubescent above, crenate or dentate,
the lower ones oval-oblong, contracted into a petiole or truncate at
the base ; upper leaves almost heart-shaped and sessile. Flowers
rather small, yellow, with violet throat.

Woods, chestnut groves, and hills. July, August.

Distribution. — Tessin in Switzerland, Maritime Alps, Pyrenees,
Cevennes, Central and Southern Europe, Caucasus, Armenia.

LINARIA Hill.

Corolla personate, spurred. Stamens 4. Stigma notched or
2-lobed. Capsule of 2 nearly equal cells, dehiscing by pores.

A numerous genus of mostly annual plants, especially abundant
in South-western Europe.
Linaria alpina Miller. (Plate V.)

Annual or biennial. Root tapering, fibrous, whole plant glabrous
and glaucous. Stem procumbent or ascending at the apex, simple
or branched, weak, glabrous like the leaves. Leaves sessile, linear
or linear-lanceolate, obtuse, glaucous, entire, in whorls of 3 or 4,
or the upper ones alternate. Flowers in short, loose racemes ;
flower-stalk as long as the calyx. Corolla large, violet, with orange
throat. Seeds elliptical, flat, smooth, surrounded by a membranous
rim. Very rarely the flowers are yellow.

Debris and moraines in the calcareous Alps and sub- Alps ;
common, and descending into the valleys in the dry beds of streams.
July to September.

It also mounts to a great height on some of the highest peaks,
and has been gathered at 3800 metres or 12,460 feet on the Grivola.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Jura, Car-
pathians, Transylvania, Balkans, Pyrenees, Spain.

Linaria petrcea Jord. (Plate V.)

May be only a variety of the above, of looser habit, with blue-
violet flowers, usually without any orange, and seeds less broadly
winged.

It grows in similar places, but is far from common, except in the

SCROPHULARIACE^E 227

Jura. It reaches a height of about 6600 feet above Lanslebourg in
Southern Savoy. It is not infrequent above Argentine in Haute-
Savoie, whence came the plant figured, and above Zinal. It is
probably biennial.

Linaria striata DC.

Stem i-ij feet high, glabrous, very leafy. Lower leaves in
whorls of 3-4 ; upper ones single, linear-lanceolate, acute. Flowers
pale lilac or mauve streaked with violet. Palate yellow, in long,
loose, spiked racemes. Spur of corolla straight, obtuse, short.

Waste, stony places and hillsides, up to 4500 feet in Savoy.
June to September.

Distribution. — Southern Switzerland (very rare), France and
Western Europe from the Pyrenees to Germany, Scandinavia and
Dalmatia.

Linaria minor Desf, L. viscida Moench.

This small glandular-pubescent annual species, with minute pale
yellow and mauve flowers, is sometimes seen as a weed between the
metals of railways and other waste places in sub-alpine France and
Switzerland, just as it appears in the plains of those countries and
in England.

SCROPHULARIA L. Figwort.

Rather tall herbs, with flowers in panicled cymes, small, greenish
purple, yellow or violet. Corolla 2-lipped, not spurred. Tube
ventricose. Stamens 4, with a scale representing the 5th. Stigma
notched. Capsule ovoid, acute.

About 120 species inhabiting Europe, temperate Asia, Africa,
and N. America.

Scrophularia canina L.

Plant i-2j feet high, glabrous, nearly simple, with a loose-
branched glandular panicle of small flowers which are reddish brown
mixed with white. Upper lip of corolla one-third as long as the
tube. Leaves pinnatifid.

Stony places, dry beds of mountain torrents, and de*bris, here and
there in Switzerland, commoner in Southern France. July, August.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Corsica, Asia Minor,
N. Africa.

Scrophularia Hoppei Koch.

Closely allied to the last. The upper lip of corolla longer, i.e. more
than half as long as the tube. Flowers reddish brown, with white
margin. Anthers bright orange-coloured. Leaves pinnatifid or
pinnate. Segments inciso-dentate, deeper and broader than in the
last.

228 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Dry, stony places in sub-alpine valleys. June to September.
It ascends to 6600 feet near Lanslebourg in Southern Savoy.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Cevennes, Auvergne ; Central
Europe.

ERINUS L.
Erinus alpinus L.

The only species. A small tufted, creeping plant. Leaves
spathulate, serrate or crenate ; stem-leaves alternate, usually
hairy. Flowers in terminal corymbs, rose-coloured (very variable).
Corolla saucer-shaped, nearly regular, with 5 emarginate lobes and
slender tube.

Rocky Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, dry beds of streams, rocks
and walls, descending to the plains in both Switzerland and Savoy.
May to October.

Distribution. — Central and Western Alps, Jura, Cevennes,
Corbieres, Pyrenees, Spain, Sardinia, Balearic Isles, Algeria.

DIGITALIS L. Foxglove.

Flowers in long terminal racemes, large, purple or yellow, rarely
white. Corolla campanulate or ventricose, with bearded throat.
Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule oval-acuminate, with 2 cells.

About 1 8 species inhabiting Europe, S. Africa, and Central and
Western Asia.

Digitalis grandiflora All. (D. ambigua L.). (Plate XXVII.)
2-3 feet high. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, serrulate, ciliate.

Corolla broadly campanulate, large, glandular - pubescent, dull

yellow or yellow-ochre, with brown veins within. Sepals lanceolate,

acute.

Woods and bushy, rocky places in the Alps and sub-Alps. June

to September. Very common on the limestone about Engelberg.
Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees, Jura, Ardennes, Vosges. Europe

from Belgium and Spain to Russia and West Siberia.

Digitalis lutea L. (Plate XXVII.)

1-3 feet high, usually glabrous. Leaves lanceolate, shining,
glabrous on both sides, finely serrated, the lower ones shortly
petioled ; upper leaves sessile and rounded at the base. Flowers
pale lemon-yellow, neither veined nor spotted, in a long, compact,
tapering, unilateral raceme. Flowers much smaller than the last.
Calyx-lobes linear-lanceolate. Capsule ovoid, conic, glabrescent.

Woods and bushy, stony places in sub-alpine districts ; common.
June to August.

Distribution. — Central Europe, from Belgium and Spain to
Hungary and Galicia ; Morocco.

The Purple Foxglove (D. purpurea L.) does not grow in Switzer-

PLATE XXVII.

i. MULGKDir.M ALIJIXUM. 2. DIGITALIS AMEK1UA.

3. DIGITALIS LUTEA.

47 NATURAL SIZE.

SCROPHULARIACE/E 229

land or in the Jura, though widely spread through France, and it
reappears in Corsica and Sardinia.

TOZZIA L.
Tozzia alpina L.

Rootstock covered with succulent, imbricate scales, with thick
fibres among them, forming an ovoid, compact body. Stem erect or
ascending, succulent, quadrangular, with short hairs on the angles,
with opposite branches from the middle, and a pair of leaves at
the axils of each pair of branches. Leaves ovate, acute or obtuse,
sessile, glabrous, coarsely serrate or entire. Flowers opposite in
the axils of the upper leaves, shortly stalked, forming short, loose,
leafy racemes at the summit of the branches ; flower-stalk downy,
recurved when the fruit is ripe. Corolla yellow, with red spots on
lower lip. Perhaps semi-parasitic.

Moist, stony, shady places in limestone woods and among debris
in the Alps and sub- Alps ; local. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Silesian Mountains ; Eastern, Central,
and Western Alps, Jura, Pyrenees.

BARTSIA L.
Bartsia alpina L. (Plate XXII.)

Rhizome branching, many-stemmed. Stem simple, erect, or
ascending, purplish brown, with glandular hairs, 2-8 inches high,
quadrangular, scaly at the base. Leaves opposite, ovate, some-
'what amplexicaul, bluntly serrate, wrinkled, covered with short
hairs ; upper leaves violet. Flowers solitary in the axils of the
upper leaves, shortly stalked, dark violet-red, covered with glan-
dular hairs. Anthers bearded. Calyx hairy. Becomes black on
drying.

Fresh, grassy places in the Alps and sub-Alps, extending up-
wards to 8800 feet. July, August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Sudetic Mountains, Eastern, Central,
and Western Alps, Jura, Vosges, Black Forest, Pyrenees. All
mountainous Europe, and as far as Arctic Russia and Siberia.
British.

VERONICA L. Speedwell.

Herbs with opposite stem-leaves and small flowers, blue, white,
or pink, in spikes or racemes, or in the axils of alternate floral-
leaves. Calyx 4 or rarely 5-cleft. Corolla with very short tube,
and rotate limb, deeply 4-cleft. Stamens 2. Capsule more or less
flattened laterally, and opening in 2 valves. Seeds few.

A large genus in the northern hemisphere ; a few species ex-
tending into the tropics and southern hemisphere, and others
(mostly shrubs) are peculiar to New Zealand and Australia.

230 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Veronica Beccabunga L. Brooklime.

A stout, glabrous plant with hollow stems, broad, oval, serrate,
shining leaves and small bright blue flowers in axillary panicles.

Ditches, damp mountain-sides, and wet places generally from
the plains to about 5000 feet. May to August.

Distribution. — Europe, Northern and Western Asia, Himalaya,
Japan, N. Africa.

Veronica montana L.

Foliage very similar to that of the Germander Speedwell, but
more glabrous. Stem trailing, rooting at the nodes. Leaves ovate-
cordate, on long stalks. Racemes loose, slender, and with few
flowers, which are pale blue or mauve. Capsule very flat, orbicular,
ciliate.

Moist mountain woods. May to August.

Distribution. — Temperate Europe, Corsica, Algeria. British.

Veronica urticcefolia Jacq. (Plate XVI.)

Stem erect, roundish, 10-16 inches high, hairy like the leaves.
Leaves sessile, ovate, acute, from a cordate base ; upper ones
acuminate, all sharply serrate, entire at the base. Racemes
opposite, loose. Peduncle shorter than the leaf. Pedicels erect,
usually longer than the linear-lanceolate bracts, patent when fruit
is ripe. Flowers pale pink or mauve. Capsule erect, compressed,
nearly globular, slightly emarginate, twice as long as the calyx.

Shady declivities and woods in the Alps and lower mountains.
June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western
Alps ; Pyrenees, Jura ; Central and Southern Europe from Spain
to Turkey.

Veronica officinalis L.

Stems creeping, much-branched, rooting at the nodes, usually
about 6-8 inches high. Leaves obovate or oblong, toothed, and
hairy. Racemes or spikes axillary, hairy. Flowers nearly sessile,
rather small, pale blue or lilac. Capsule obovate or obcordate.

Woods and dry, bushy pastures in the plains and lower mountains.
Sometimes up to 5000-6000 feet in Savoy. June to September.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia, N. America. (British.)

Veronica Teucrium L.

Plant 6-12 inches high, covered with greyish pubescence, and
with an almost woody rootstock. Stems prostrate or ascending.
Leaves sub-sessile, oblong or lanceolate, strongly toothed. Flowers
blue, large, in axillary and opposite spikes, numerous. Calyx hairy,
with 5 very unequal segments. Capsule oboval, hairy, at length
longer than the calyx. Style rather longer than the capsule.

SCROPHULARIACE^: 231

Dry pastures, borders of mountain woods, etc. June, July.
Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia;
very common in Switzerland and France.

Veronica prostrata L.

Allied to V. Teucrium, but smaller, and with narrow-lanceolate
leaves, slightly toothed or entire, and thickly covered with grey
pubescence. Flowers pale blue, rather small, in axillary and
opposite spikes. Calyx glabrous, very unequally divided. Stems
prostrate and then ascending. Rootstock almost woody.

Dry hills and grassy places ; local. May, June.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe. Rather rare in
Switzerland and Jura, and commoner in France.

Veronica spicata L.

Stems ascending and erect, 6-12 inches high, simple. Leaves
oblong or ovate in lower part of stem, downy and finely crenate or
toothed. Flowers bright blue, rarely pink or white, small, in a
dense terminal spike. Lobes of corolla narrower and less spreading
than in many species.

Hilly pastures and dry, grassy places from the plains to the
Alpine region. Seen as high as 8500 feet near Mont Cenis by the
author ; most common in limestone districts. July to September.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, Northern and
Western Asia, but not within the Arctic Circle ; rare in Britain.

Veronica fruticulosa (L.) Wulf.

Stem woody below and procumbent, rooting, annual shoots 6-9
inches high. Leaves opposite, glabrous, fleshy, crowded with weak
hairs on the margin ; upper leaves lanceolate, obtuse, sessile,
entire or crenate ; lower leaves smaller, narrowed into a short
leaf-stalk. Raceme terminal, at length elongated. Flowers pink
or rose, veined with a darker tint. Capsule roundish ovate, com-
pressed, hairy towards apex, as long as the calyx. Style as long as
the capsule. Distinguished from the nearly allied V. saxatilis L.
by the glandular hairs, red flowers, and the longer leaves.

Stony Alpine and sub-alpine places up to 8000 feet ; local. June
to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Southern
Jura, Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada ; rare in Switzerland except on the
Jura (Dole) and about Engelberg, on limestone.

Veronica saxatilis Scop. (V. fruticans Jacq.). (Plate XVI.)

Stem 2-6 inches high, ascending from a woody base. Leaves
oblong-lanceolate or oval, obtuse, entire or slightly crenate, thick,
coriaceous ; lower leaves smaller. Inflorescence covered with very
short, curved glandular hairs. Flowers large, handsome, blue with

232 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

a red ring at the throat. Capsule longer than the calyx, ovoid, and
slightly conical. Style at least as long as the capsule. A very
variable species, according to situation, soil, etc. It possesses a
strong dye, which is such that a dried specimen in the herbarium
frequently makes an exact impression on the sheet of that above it.

Stony places in the Alps and sub-Alps. June to August or
September. Prefers granite.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Sudetic Mountains, Eastern, Central,
and Western Alps; Vosges, Jura, Auvergne, Pyrenees, Corsica;
rare in Scotland ; Scandinavia.

Veronica aphylla L.

Stem naked, 1-2 inches high. Runners creeping, few-leaved,
hairy. Leaves ovate or obovate, crenate-serrate or nearly entire,
obtuse, with very short leaf-stalk, crowded almost into rosettes.
Flowers pale blue or mauve, very fugitive, in a single axillary or
apparently terminal, long-stalked, few-flowered, glandular, corym-
bose raceme, which is elongated when the fruit is ripe. Flower-
stalks erect in fruit, longer than the capsule. Capsule oval or
obovate, emarginate, longer than the 4-cleft calyx.

Rocky, moist places on the high Alps up to 9000 feet, and not
descending to the sub-alpine regions. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Caucasus,
Altai, N. America.

Veronica bellidioides L.

Much like V. alpina, but larger in all its parts, though inter-
mediate forms appear to occur. Stem 4-6 inches high, simple,
ascending, rough-haired like the entire plant, glandular above.
Leaves light green, hairy, obovate-lanceolate, obtuse, entire or
crenate ; the lowermost much larger, narrowed into a leaf-stalk,
and crowded almost into rosettes, persistent ; upper leaves sessile,
distant. Flowers in a roundish, crowded spike, elongated and looser
when in fruit. Flowers dull blue. Capsule oval or ovoid, slightly
emarginate. Seeds flat.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures and stony places. June to
August.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western
Alps ; Pyrenees ; Moravia, Transylvania, N.E. Balkans.

EUPHRASIA L. Eyebright.

Small, erect herbs, partly parasitic on roots. Flowers small, in
dense leafy spikes. Calyx 4-toothed. Corolla tubular, 2-lipped ;
upper lip concave. Stamens 4. Anthers hairy. Capsule oblong.
Leaves opposite, lobed or incised. Many grow in the Alps and
sub- Alps, and only a very brief account of so critical a genus can
be given here.

SCROPHULARIACE^: 233

Euphrasia officinalis L. Common Eyebright. (Plate XXVIII.)
A small, branched annual, varying much in size, shape of leaves,

size and colour of flowers, etc. Leaves small, sessile, opposite, ovate,

deeply toothed. Flowers in loose, terminal, leafy clusters or spikes.

The calyx with 4- pointed teeth. Corolla white or pinkish, streaked

with purple and with a yellow spot in the throat. Capsule oblong.

Sometimes in alpine regions the plants are only i or 2 inches high.
Pastures from the plains to the high Alps. July to October.
Distribution. — Europe, Northern and Central Asia to the Arctic

Circle. British.

Euphrasia salisburgensis Funck. (Plate XXVIII.)

A stiff, erect annual, often simple, though more frequently
branched, with prominent sharp teeth to the glabrous leaves, the
teeth being very large towards the base of the leaf. Flowers small
(6-8 mm.), usually white, with bluish upper lip or entirely blue,
mauve, or violet. Leaves often purplish.

Pastures in the Alps and sub-Alps. July to October.

Distribution. — -Alps, Central and Southern Europe extending to

Scandinavia and Corsica. Ireland. Particulars, with plate and

map, of its distribution in Ireland are given in Mr. Praeger's very

cheap and excellent little book on the Flora of the West of Ireland.1

Euphrasia minima Jacq. (Plate XXVIII.)

A very small annual, yellow-flowered species, simple or branched
below. Leaves always obtuse, the lower ones with only I tooth
each side, the upper with 2-4 teeth. Bracts oval or oval-oblong,
spreading, with 3-4 teeth on each side. Corolla 5-6 mm. long, very
variable in colour and outline ; though usually yellow it is some-
times whitish or mauve or partly yellow and mauve.

Pastures in the Alps and sub- Alps. July to September.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Auvergne, Pyrenees, mountains of
Central Europe and Asia Minor. Two or three years ago a form of
this plant was discovered on Exmoor, new to the British Isles. A
rather unlikely spot for the plant. The Exmoor specimens recently
seen by the author at the British Museum are not very typical of the
Continental plant, though they may be a form of it.

Euphrasia lutea L. (Plate XXIX.)

A very distinct annual species, formerly known as Odontites lutea
Reichb. Stems slender, branched, the branches being opposite and
spreading, finely pubescent. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate,
scabrous, scarcely toothed, the upper ones and bracts entire.
Corolla bright yellow, with ciliated border.

Dry, hot hills in the sub-alpine region. July, August.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Caucasus, Asia
Minor, Syria, Algeria.

1 R. Lloyd Praeger, A Tourist's Flora of the West of Ireland (1909), p. 173.

234 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

MELAMPYRUM L. Cow-wheat.

Annual plants, with opposite leaves and branches, and semi-
parasitical. Floral-leaves often developed into coloured bracts.
Flowers yellow, purple, or variegated ; axillary or in terminal leaf-
spikes. Calyx tubular or campanulate, 4-toothed. Upper lip of
corolla compressed, entire, or with a small lobe on each side ; lower
lip spreading, with 3 short lobes and a projecting palate nearly
closing the mouth of the tube. Capsule ovate, oblique.

A small, distinct genus confined to Europe and N. Asia.

Melampyrum pratense L. (Plate XXVIII.)

Stem erect, 6-12 inches high, with spreading opposite branches,
glabrous. Leaves lanceolate, upper ones usually toothed at the
base. Flowers usually entirely yellow, rarely with whitish tube,
and sometimes partly lilac, in distant axillary pairs. Calyx-teeth
erect, shorter than the tube, but very variable. Annual.

Woods and pastures from the plains to the lower Alps. June,

July.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia. British.

Melampyrum sylvaticum L. (Plate XXVIII.)

Much like certain forms of the last, but usually smaller, with the
floral-leaves entire and much smaller flowers, of a deep yellow.
Calyx-teeth prominent, lanceolate, acute. An annual.

Woods and thickets in the mountains. July.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Vosges, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corbieres,
most of Europe, Caucasus, Altai, Siberia. N. Britain and Ireland.

Melampyrum nemorosum L. (Plate XXVIII.)

Annual, like the rest; easily distinguished by its large violet-
coloured bracts or floral-leaves, yellow flowers, with orange palate
and rusty red tube.

Borders of mountain woods and hills. July.

Distribution. — Local in Switzerland (banks of the Veveyse near
Vevey), Savoy -(south of the Saleve, near Argentiere, etc.), Alps,
Cevennes, Pyrenees. Europe and Western Asia.

RHINANTHUS L. Yellow Rattle.

Annual herbs, parasitic on roots, turning black when dry.
Flowers yellow, in unilateral spikes, with broad bracts. Calyx
ventricose, 4-toothed, enclosing the seed-capsule like a bladder.
Corolla 2-lipped. Stamens 4. Seeds winged. Leaves opposite,
narrow, toothed.

About 20 species, difficult to distinguish, inhabiting the northern
hemisphere. Several are abundant in the lower Alpine meadows
and pastures.

4/7 NATURAL SIZE.

PLATE XXVIII.

KUPHRASIA MI XI. MA. 2. RHIXAXTHUS SUP.ALPIXUS.

KUPHRASIA OFFICIXAI.IS. 4. M EI.AM PYRUM PRATKXSK.

MKLAMPYRUM XKMOROSUM. 6. KUPHRASIA SALISP.URI 1KXSIS.

7. MKLAM PYRUM SYLVA'I ICUM.

SCROPHULARIACE^E 235

Schinz and Keller point out that the genera Melampyrum,
Rhinanthus, Euphrasia, and certain Gentians present a seasonable
differentiation (un dimorphisme saisonnier) : ' Une espece donnee
peut se redoubler par adaptation directe a la station en une race
printaniere ou estivale peu rameuse, fleurissant et fructifiant de
bonne heure et une race automnale tres rameuse, fleurissant et
fructifiant plus tard.' *

For information on these interesting points and for a full de-
scriptive account of the species and sub-species of this difficult
genus found in Switzerland the reader is referred to the Flore de la
Suisse, by Schinz and Vilczek.

Rhinanthus sub-alpinus Schinz and Thellung. (Plate XXVIII.)
Plant 6-12 inches high. Stem streaked with black, almost

glabrous. Leaves broadly lanceolate, crenate-dentate, sub-acute.

Bracts triangular, ending in a short point, the lower teeth being

subulate, aristate. Upper lip of corolla with violet lobes, narrowly

conical, sub-acute, 2 mm. long.
Alpine and sub-alpine meadows in the Alps and Jura, and also in

the plain of Switzerland.

The writer did not see the plant which was drawn and here

figured, and cannot be sure that it belongs to this species.

PEDICULARIS L. Lousewort.

Flowers usually in bracteate spikes or racemes, large and showy,
red or yellow. Calyx tubular or campanulate, often inflated, 2-5
toothed. Corolla 2-lipped, tube often dilated, upper lip entire or
notched, lower lip 3-lobed. Stamens 4. Anthers hairy. Erect
herbs with deeply divided leaves, turning black when dry, parasitic
upon roots.

There are about 150 species inhabiting the mountainous parts
of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. Many are acrid, and
consequently harmful to the pastures. Nearly all are Alpine or
sub-alpine, and the great majority in the Alps grow from about
4500-6000 feet, and having been fully treated in the author's Alpine
Plants of Europe, he does not propose to repeat many of those
descriptions here, but to give a brief summary of them and to add
a few species which grow at lower altitudes. This summary is
based on that of the late A. W. Bennett.2

A. — Flowers yellow. Upper lip of corolla drawn out to a long narrow

beak :

P. elongata Kerner. Stem 6-12 inches, few-leaved, nearly
glabrous. Spike elongated. Calyx-teeth leaf-like, inciso-dentate,
bracts glabrous, pinnatifid. Leaves deeply pinnatifid. Segments
inciso-serrate. South-eastern Tyrol and Venetian Alps ; rare.

1 Flore de la Sutsse (1909). Ed. frangaise par Wilczek et Schinz, p. 519.

2 7^he Flora of the Alps. By A. W. Bennett (1897), vol. ii. p. 89.

236 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

P. tuberosa L. Stem densely woolly, 4-10 inches. Spike short.
Calyx-teeth leaf-like, inciso-dentate. Upper bracts trifid. Leaves
bipinnatifid, with toothed lobes and woolly petiole. Alpine
pastures, Alps, Pyrenees, etc.

P. Barrelieri Reichb. Spike long and lax, less hairy than the
last. Calyx-teeth entire, lanceolate. Western Alps ; rare.

B. — Flowers yellow. Upper lip of corolla not prolonged into a long
beak :

P. Oederi Vahl. Stem scarcely 3 inches, leafy. Corolla bright
yellow, glabrous, and spotted with scarlet or dark purple on the
under side of upper lip. Leaves pinnatifid with blunt segments,
obscurely serrated. Carpathians, Eastern Alps, Piedmont, and
Switzerland.

P.foliosa L. Flowers large-, sulphur-yellow. Plant 1-2 feet high,
leafy, nearly glabrous. Spike leafy. Leaves pinnatifid, with linear-
lanceolate segments irregularly incised. Alps, Jura, Vosges,
Pyrenees, Apennines.

P. comosa L. Flowers large, citron-yellow. Stem 1-2 feet high,
rough with woolly hairs. Spike elongated, dense. Upper bracts
entire, lanceolate. Leaves pectinate-pinnate, with narrow incised
segments. S. Tyrol, Western Alps, Cevennes, Pyrenees, N. Asia.

c. — Flowers red. Corolla beaked. Stem-leaves alternate :

P. incarnata L. Stem erect, 6-18 inches, leafy. Flowers large,
light rose-colour or reddish. Spike long and lax. Calyx-teeth
nearly entire, woolly like the bracts. Leaves pectinate-pinnatifid,
glabrous. Segments inciso-dentate, not encrusted at margin. Alps,
frequent.

P. cenisia Gaudin. Stem nearly leafless ; smaller plant than the
last and always woolly. Spike very short. Calyx-teeth pinnatifid.
Piedmont and Western Alps of France.

P. asplenifolia Floerke. Flowers few, rose-red, large. Calyx-
teeth nearly entire or sometimes crenate, with recurved tip. Stem
1-3 inches. Leaves small, pinnatifid. High Eastern Alps, from
Grisons to Carinthia ; rare.

P. rostrata L. Flowers large, few, bright rose, with long darker
beak. Calyx-teeth crenate, with recurved leaf-like tip. Stem 2-4
inches. Leaves pectinate-pinnate. Highest pastures and granitic
moraines. Carpathians, Alps, Pyrenees.

P. PortenscMagii Sauter. Stem 2-4 inches. Flowers large, pink,
few, with long tube and short beak. Calyx-teeth crenate, with
recurved tip. Leaves pectinate-pinnatifid, with linear-lanceolate
segments. Jura, Tyrol, Carinthia, Carpathians.

P. gyroflexa Gaudin (P. fasciculata Bell.). Stem about 8 inches
high. Flowers rose-coloured, large. Beak of corolla short, lower

OROBANCHACE^E 237

lip very small. Calyx woolly, with leaf-like segments. Leaves
bipinnatifid with inciso-serrate segments. Southern Switzerland,
Tyrol, Western Alps.

D. — Flowers red. Corolla not beaked. Stem-leaves alternate :

P. sylvatica L. Stem nearly simple, leafy, about 6 inches long,
prostrate or spreading. Flowers sessile, dark pink or rarely white,
in short terminal heads. Calyx-lobes unequal, lower ones toothed.
Leaves pinnate, with deeply cut segments. Damp meadows and
pastures in the plains and sub- Alps. Western, Central, and
Northern Europe. British.

P. palustris L. A larger and more-branched, glabrous plant, at
least a foot high. Leaves sometimes opposite, pinnate, with short
ovate, crenate segments. Flowers rather large, purple-red, upper
lip darker. Calyx bifid. Damp meadows and marshes. Northern
and Central Europe to the Arctic regions, Siberia. British.

This does not ascend so high in the Alps as the last.

P. rosea Jacq. Flowers rose-coloured, rather large, upper lip
darker, in a terminal, short, crowded spike. Stem, bracts, and
calyx woolly. Leaves pectinate-pinnate, with linear-incised
segments. Eastern and Western Alps, but not in Switzerland.

P. recutita L. Stem 1-2 feet, leafy. Flowers dull greenish or
rusty red, in a long dense spike. Calyx-teeth lanceolate, entire.
Leaves pectinate-pinnatifid, with broad segments. Alps and
Carpathians.

E. — Flowers deep pink. Stem-leaves in whorls :

P. verticillata L. Stem erect, simple, with a few whorls of 3—5
narrow pinnatifid leaves. Flowers in crowded, terminal, whorled
spikes. Calyx inflated. Corolla not beaked. Alps, Pyrenees,
N. Asia, N. America.

F. — Flowers pink, large. No stem :

P. acaulis Scop. Quite distinct. Flowers pale pink, large, on
short radical stalks. Leaves in a radical whorl. Eastern Alps.

OROBANCHACE.E

Leafless brownish root-parasites. Rootstock often tuberous,
naked or scaly. Stem stout, solitary, scaly, not often branched.
Flowers in more or less dense spikes or racemes. Sepals 4 or 5.
Corolla 2-lipped. Stamens 4. Ovary i-celled. Seeds numerous,
minute. A widely distributed family, chiefly in Southern Europe.

OROBANCHE L. Broom-rape.

Characters of the family. None are truly Alpine, though several,
and particularly 0. epithymum DC. (0. rubra Sm.), are found in the
sub- Alps. That species has been seen by the author as high as 6600

238 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

feet in Savoy and in Switzerland, where it is parasitical upon Thyme,
as in parts of England. The following species of Broom-rape, with
the host-plant upon the roots of which they grow, have been
recorded from Switzerland by A. W. Bennett, Keller and Schinz,
etc. :

0. minor Smith, on various plants, very commonly on Purple Clover.

Style violet.

0. loricata Rchb., on Artemisia campestris. Style yellow.
0. Picridis Schultz, on Picris hieracioides. Plant very pale.
0. Scabioscz Koch., on Scabiosa Columbaria and on spp. of Carduus

and Cirsium. Corolla yellow and violet.
0. epithymum DC. (0. rubra Sm., 0. alba Stephan), on Thyme.
0. Teucrii Holan., on Teucrium and Thymus. Spike short.
0. caryophyllacea Sm., on Galium. Plant yellow, scented.
0. flava Mart. (0. Frolichii Rchb.), on Adenostyles, Petasites offic.

albus and niveus, and Aconitum Lycoctonum.
0. Hederce Duby., on Ivy. Spike elongated.
0. Salvice Schultz, on Salvia glutinosa. Corolla yellow.
0. lucorum A.Br., on Berberis and Rubus ccesius. Corolla brownish

yellow.
0. Laserpitii Sileris Reuter, on Laserpitium Siler. Stem swollen at

base into a large ball. Corolla brownish yellow, streaked with

violet.
0. elatior Sutton (0. major L.), on Centaur ea scabiosa. Plant

yellow. Corolla reddish brown.
0. Cervaria Suard. (0. alsatica Kirchl.), on Peucedanum Cervaria

and Seseli Libanotis. Corolla fawn-coloured, tinted with violet.

Sepals distinct.
0. rubens Wallr. (0. gracilis Sm.), on Lotus, Hippocrepis, Genista,

etc. Corolla reddish brown. Sepals 2-3 cleft.
0. Rapum Genista ThuilL, on Broom and other Leguminosae.

Tall, coarse, with large brown flowers.

0. cruenta Bert., on Medicago sativa and Melilotus. Yellow.
0. purpurea Jacq. (0. ccerulea Vill.), on Yarrow. Whole plant

purplish.
0. Icevis L. (0. arenaria Berk.), on Artemisia campestris. Bluish.

Anthers hairy (smooth in purpurea).
0. ramosa L., on hemp and tobacco. Stem branched.

LATHRvEA L.

Lathrcea Squamaria L. Toothwort.

Lathrcea is closely allied to Orobanche, but the calyx has 4 broad,
short teeth. Plant fleshy, yellowish white or pale purple. Raceme

GLOBULARIACE^ 239

unilateral, drooping. Rootstock fleshy, and creeping, covered with
short, thick, fleshy scales. Parasitical upon roots of Hazel, Poplar,
and Alder, and rarely upon Vines and Apple trees.

Distribution. — Europe, Central and Russian Asia except the
extreme N. British.

GLOBULARIACE^E

A small family of about 14 species, inhabiting Europe and the
Mediterranean district.

GLOBULARIA L.

Flowers blue, in globular heads. Cordla tubular. Calyx 4-cleft,
teeth linear. Stamens nearly equal in length. Stigma simple,
capitate.

Globularia cordifolia L.

Root tapering, branched, putting up branching prostrate, rooting
shoots, which ultimately become woody and knotty. Stem her-
baceous, erect or ascending, simple, leafless except for i or 2 scales,
glabrous like the leaves. Flowers blue, in a solitary umbel, flatly
hemispherical. Leaves of the shoots alternate, crowded, stalked,
obovate-lanceolate or spathulate, entire, rounded at the apex,
emarginate or 3-toothed.

Gravelly, stony, and dry Alpine and sub-alpine places, often
covering large tracts. May to July.

It prefers limestone, and is found from the plains up to 8000 feet.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Jura,
Pyrenees, Central and Southern Europe.

Globularia nudicaulis L.

Rootstock with fusiform branches, many-headed, but with no
runners. Stem herbaceous, 3-6 inches high, naked, or with a few
scales, erect, simple, glabrous like the leaves, bearing only a single
hemispherical capitulum of blue flowers. Radical leaves, stalked,
cuneate-oblong, entire, rounded at the apex or shallowly emargi-
nate. Scales of the stem small, lanceolate-membranous, not ciliated.
Leaves coriaceous, dark green.

Pastures and stony places on the calcareous Alps and lower Alps.
June, July. It does not reach quite so high an altitude as the last.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Pyrenees,
Spain, Apennines.

Globularia vulgaris L.

Rootstock almost woody. Scape erect, 4-12 inches high, with
numerous, alternate, small, sessile, lanceolate-acute leaves. Root-
leaves large, - oboval, entire, sometimes trifid at top, gradually
narrowing into a long petiole. Flowers blue in small globular heads.

240 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Variable and represented in Switzerland by the sub-species Will-
kommii Nyman.

Dry hills, especially limestone. May, June.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe. Very widely spread
in France.

LABIATE

Herbs, or rarely shrubs, with square stems and opposite leaves,
often glandular and fragrant. Flowers solitary, or in opposite,
axillary, crowded, stalked, or sessile cymes. Corolla tubular and
2-lipped. Calyx persistent, 5-cleft. Stamens 4, epipetalous, rarely
2. Ovary 4-lobed, with one ovule in each lobe. Stigma 2-fid.
Fruit of four i -seeded nutlets.

A very large family, spread all over the globe, and easily known
from all other Monopetals, except the Borage family, by the 4-
lobed ovary and the 4 small nuts in the base of the calyx. The
family, however, comprises comparatively few Alpine species, and
not one high " Alpine."

MENTHA L. Mint.

Flowers small, in dense axillary cymes or leafy spikes. Corolla-
tube short, limb 4-lobed. Stamens nearly equal ; whole plant
usually strongly scented.

About 30 species inhabiting north temperate regions. They
hybridise very easily, and hence are rather difficult to determine.
The Swiss Mints are practically the same as the English.

Mentha sylvestris L. (M. longifolia Hudson). Horse-mint.

Stems 2-3 feet high, erect, slightly branched, hoary like the whole
plant with close down. Leaves sessile, broadly lanceolate. Flowers
small and numerous, in dense cylindrical spikes, forming oblong-
terminal panicles.

Wet mountain pastures and waste places in the plains, forming
great colonies in some sub-Alpine districts as, e.g. about Argentiere.

Distribution. — Temperate and Southern Europe, Russian and
Central Asia. British.

THYMUS L. Thyme.

Flowers small, in axillary cymes, often unisexual. Calyx 2-lipped.
Corolla obscurely 2-lipped. Stamens 4, very unequal. Leaves small,
entire. Stem procumbent. Most species very fragrant.

Thymus Serpyllum L. Common Thyme.

Stems slender, prostrate, much branched, hard but scarcely
woody at the base, forming low, dense tufts, and often almost
covered with purple flowers. Leaves very small, oblong or ovate,
fringed with a few long hairs at the base. Flowers usually 6 in a
whorl, with no true bracts, in short, terminal, leafy spikes. Calyx

Pl.ATK XXIX.

AJUdA PYRAMIDALIS. 2. EUFHRASIA LUTEA.

4/7 NATURAL SI/K.

:>. SALVIA (1LITTIXOSA.

4. SAI.VIA PRATENSIS.

LABIATE 241

usually hairy, and whole plant often densely covered with short,
hoary hairs. Very polymorphic, and in Switzerland several sub-
species and varieties are known.

Banks, hillsides, and pastures from the plains to 9000 feet.

Distribution. — Europe, Northern and Central Asia. British.

SAL VIA L.

Flowers usually in whorls of 6 or more, forming terminal racemes
or spikes. Calyx 2-lipped, the upper lip entire or with 3 small teeth,
the lower one 2-cleft. Corolla with upper lip erect, concave or
arched, the lower spreading, 3-lobed, the middle lobe often notched.
Stamens really 2, but easily mistaken for 4, on account of the
arrangement of the anthers, which have a long, slender convectivum
having the appearance of a filament.

A large genus widely spread over temperate and warm regions of
the globe, being mountain plants within the tropics.

Salvia pratensis L. Meadow Sage. (Plate XXIX.)

A handsome plant 1-2 feet high with shortly stalked root-leaves,
ovate heart-shaped or oblong, 3 to 5 inches long, coarsely toothed
and much wrinkled ; stem-leaves smaller, mostly sessile. Flowers
in a long, terminal, simple or branched spike, composed of whorls
of large rich blue or deep mauve flowers. Upper lip of calyx slightly
3-toothed.

Dry pastures and mountain-sides, common and often in large
colonies in sub-alpine districts, but being nevertheless one of the
most beautiful of Alpine flowers. June, July, and again sometimes
in autumn.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe to the Caucasus,
and northwards to Sweden, Northern France, and Kent.

Salvia glutinosa L. (Plate XXIX.)

Cymes 2-3 flowered ; flowers dirty yellow, very large, soon fading ;
upper lip of calyx entire. Leaves cordate hastate, pubescent,
longly petioled, large, crenate-dentate. Stems 2-3 feet high, erect,
viscous above. Calyx also covered with viscid, glandular hairs.

Mountain woods and thickets in the sub-alpine region. June to
August.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Cevennes, Eastern Pyrenees, Corsica,
Europe and Asia from Spain to the Himalaya.

Salvia verticillata L. Whorled Salvia.

Flowers small, pale blue or mauve or rarely white, shortly pedi-
celled, in dense whorls forming elongated spikes. Calyx violet,
hairy, upper lobe trifid. Leaves petioled, broadly ovate-cordate,
irregularly crenate-dentate, soft and green. Whole plant usually
hairy and disagreeably scented.

242 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Waste places, dry hills, etc. June to August.

In August, 1911, we observed several large clumps of this plant
on the embankment of the new electric railway just below Argen-
tiere at the unusual height of about 4000 feet above the sea.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe ; Western Asia.

CALAMINTHA L.
Calamintha alpina L. Alpine Calamint. (Plate XXI.)

Stem prostrate or ascending, simple or branched, downy like
the calyx. Leaves ovate or elliptical, acute, slightly serrate, usually
glabrous. Flowers reddish purple in few-flowered axillary cymes.
Calyx open in fruit with spreading teeth, and clearly 2-lipped. Very
rarely the flowers are pink as in the figure, this specimen coming
from near Le Planet, above Argentiere.

Sunny, stony, Alpine and sub-alpine slopes, descending to the
plains of Switzerland. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Carpathians.

Calamintha nepetoides Jord.

Plant about 2 feet high, covered with greyish hairs, and pleasantly
scented. Leaves ovate, serrated, petioled. Flowers pink, rather
small, in very lax panicles or whorls on branched peduncles longer
than the leaves. Calyx long, with almost equal teeth, shortly
ciliate, 2 of the teeth being narrower and rather longer than the
3 others.

Dry, stony places in the lower calcareous mountains. June to
September.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Eastern Pyrenees, Corsica, Southern
Europe, Asia Minor.

HORMINUM L.
Horminum pyrenaicum L.

About 6 or 10 inches high. Root-leaves stalked, ovate-lanceolate,
crenate, wrinkled, glabrous. Flowers violet, usually in false whorls
(axillary cymes) of 6. Calyx 2-lipped, upper lip 3-toothed ; lateral
teeth wedge-shaped. Corolla 2-lipped, upper lip erect, 2-cleft,
tube provided with a ring of hairs. Stamens 4, distant, connivent
towards the apex beneath the upper lip of corolla. Anthers coherent
in pairs ; anther-lobes coalescent at the apex, dehiscing by a
common longitudinal fissure. It is the only species known.

Grassy pastures in the Alps from about 4000-6500 feet ; local,
and absent from many large districts, though abundant in Tyrol.
June to August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, but extremely
rare in the Western Alps, and in Western Switzerland, Pyrenees,

LABIATE 243

DRACOCEPHALUM L.
Dracocephalum Ruyschiana L.

Stem 8-12 inches, erect, branched, nearly glabrous, very leafy.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, entire, shining above, paler beneath and
dotted, margin slightly recurved. Inflorescence spicate. Bracts
broad, ciliate. Flowers violet-blue, handsome.

Pastures and stony places in the Alps ; rare. July, August.

Distribution. — Central and Western Alps ; Central Pyrenees ;
Norway ; parts of Germany ; Asia, Japan.

Dracocephalum austriacum L.

Rather taller. Leaves with 3-7 linear-lobes, those of the upper
leaves narrower, aristate. Flowers large, deep violet, in a short,
terminal spike.

Rocky places ; rare. May to July.

Distribution. — Grisons, Valais, Tyrol, Dauphiny, Pyrenees (?),
Carpathians.

MICROMERIA Bentham.
Micromeria Piperella Benth.

Flowers red-purple. Corolla with long, slender tube, 2-lipped,
lower lip of 3 nearly equal lobes. Stamens 4. Cymes 1-3 flowered,
on short 'stalks, unilateral. Calyx cylindrical, 5-toothed, not 2-
lipped. Leaves small, ovate, sessile, glabrous. Stems wiry, 4-6
inches high.

Rocky places in hot, southern mountains (e.g. about Tenda) ;
very rare. June to August.

Distribution. — French and Italian Maritime Alps ; endemic.

MELITTIS L.
Melittis Melissophyllum L. Balm.

Flowers very large, about ij inch, pink, or white, spotted with
purple, solitary or in pairs in the axils of the leaves. Calyx with
rounded lobes. Leaves ovate-cordate, serrate, hairy.

Mountain woods, hedges, and ravines. May to July.

Distribution. — Switzerland, Dauphiny, Savoy, Pyrenees, Corsica ;
most of France ; CentraFand Southern Europe ; rare in England.

LAMIUM L. Dead Nettle.

Cymes many-flowered, sessile. Upper lip of corolla arched,
lower lip spreading. Stamens 4. Anthers hairy. Flowers purple,
white, or yellow, rather large.

About 40 species in Europe, Asia, and N. Africa, several being
weeds in arable-land.

244 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Lamium maculatum L. Spotted Dead Nettle.

Flowers large, light pink, or purple, rarely white. Leaves often
spotted and blotched with white, petioled ovate-cordate, acuminate,
hairy, unequally toothed. Very variable in size and habit.

Woods and hedge-banks ; common. April to October.

Distribution. — Europe, Caucasus, Asia Minor, Persia.

Lamium longiflorum Ten.

Flowers very large and handsome (25-30 mm.), rose-purple,
rarely white, upper lip bifid. Corolla-tube much dilated at the
throat, at least twice as long as the calyx. Calyx-teeth lanceolate,
acuminate, glabrescent. Leaves all petioled, the upper ones
acuminate, deeply toothed. Stems thick, glabrous, and often plum-
coloured.

Stony places in Alpine valleys ; rare. May to October.

Distribution. — Maritime Alps, Dauphiny, Cevennes, Corsica,
N. Italy, Bosnia, Montenegro, Algeria.

PRUNELLA L. (or BRUNELLA).
Prunella grandiflora L.

Stem erect, green, or reddish. Leaves petioled, oblong-ovate,
obtuse or sub-acute, entire or with very small teeth. Corolla
blue- violet, handsome (20-25 mm.), about twice as large as in the
common Self-Heal. Upper lip of calyx with 3 pronounced triangu-
lar, acute teeth. Flowers in a short terminal head.

Dry, rocky places from the plains to the Alps. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Caucasus, Central and
Southern Europe.

SCUTELLARIA L.

Scutellaria alpina L.

Stem procumbent and ascending, 4-8 inches high, leafy and
branched. Leaves ovate, crenate-serrate ; lower leaves stalked ;
upper leaves sessile, more or less hairy like the flowers and stems.
Flowers in a rather dense terminal spike with membranous, im-
bricate bracts which vary in colour like the flowers (being not
always green). Flowers mauve or bluish purple, with the lower
lip whitish ; sometimes purple, red, or white, and the lower lip
tinted accordingly. Upper lip of corolla trifid ; lower lip un-
divided, large. Calyx very small.

Dry, stony places' in the Alps and lower Alps, chiefly on lime-
stone ; local. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Western Switzerland, Western Alps,
Cevennes, Pyrenees, Siberia. Mont de la Chens in the Var.

The colour of the flowers is extremely variable, and they often
vary even on the same plant,

LABIATE 245

STACHYS L.

Coarse, hairy herbs with flowers often in whorls of about 6,
forming terminal racemes, spikes, or heads. Calyx 5 or lo-ribbed,
with 5 nearly equal pointed teeth. Corolla with upper lip concave,
entire, and lower lip longer, spreading, 3-lobed, Stamens 4, in
pairs under the upper lip. Nuts smooth, rounded at top.

A large genus, spread nearly all over the world, but in tropical
regions only in the mountains.

Stachys Alopecurus Benth. (Betonica Alopecurus L.).

Stem 8-20 inches, erect, simple, few-leaved, rough-haired like
the whole plant. Leaves stalked, ovate or cordate, coarsely
crenate or dentate. Flowers yellowish white, in axillary cymes
forming a dense, false-whorled, capitate spike. Calyx as long as
corolla-tube, with sharp teeth one-third length of the tube.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures. July, August.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians.
Stachys densiftora Benth. (Betonica hirsuta L.).

Stem 6-12 inches, erect, leafy, and hairy like the whole plant.
Leaves cordate, elliptical, coarsely crenate, lower ones stalked ;
upper pair sessile and turned downwards. Flowers purple-rose
in axillary cymes, forming an oval compact spike. Calyx 12-15
mm. long, with lanceolate-acute teeth one-third its length.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures up to 8200 feet ; local. July,
August.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees, Spain.
Stachys alpina L. Alpine Woundwort.

A tall species 2-3 feet high, with erect and often branched stem,
hairy and glandular at the top. Lower leaves broadly oval, obtuse,
cordate at the base, softly downy on both sides, crenate-dentate
and petioled ; upper leaves lanceolate, sub-sessile. Flowers in a
long, irregular spike. Bracts lanceolate, entire, often reddish.
Calyx- teeth lanceolate and ending in a white mucro. Corolla dull
purple. See plate and interesting notes by J. W. White in his
excellent Flora of Bristol (1912).

Mountain woods. July, August.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, except the Mediter-
ranean region ; Caucasus. In England on the Cotswold Hills only.

Stachys recta L.

A much smaller and more fragile plant 1-2 feet high, green, hairy,
and scented, with almost woody stock and many ascending stems.
Leaves hairy and green on both sides, oblong-lanceolate, very
shortly petioled. Flowers pale yellow, in loose whorled spikes.
Calyx-teeth hairy, triangular, half length of the tube.

246 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Waste places and limestone hills, extending to the Alps. June to
September.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor,
Caucasus.

Stachys annua L.

Readily distinguished from the last by its deflexed leaves,
which are oblong-lanceolate and nearly glabrous.

An annual weed in cultivated land, often seen in fields in the
sub-alpine region. June to August.

Distribution. — Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus. British.

GALEOPSIS L.
Galeopsis ladanum L.

Is another annual weed often seen in the lower Alps. Leaves
narrow, on short stalks, downy. Stem square, often much branched.
Leaves narrow, linear-lanceolate, shortly petioled. Flowers purple,
red, or rarely white, large. Calyx greyish, hairy, with long but
unequal teeth. Very polymorphic.

Cultivated and uncultivated ground, walls, etc. ; common.
July to October.

Distribution. — Europe, especially Central and Southern. British.

AJUGA L. Bugle.

Cymes usually many-flowered. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla-tube
usually with a ring of hairs within ; upper lip short, notched ;
lower lip 3-lobed. Stamens 4, exserted. Anthers divergent.

About 30 species inhabiting the Old World and Australia.

Ajuga pyramidalis L. (Plate XXIX.)

Stem 3-12 inches high, densely leafy, erect, simple, woolly.
Leaves decreasing in size upwards, the lowermost very large.
Leaves obovate-lanceolate or oblong, obtuse, slightly serrate, wavy
or entire, more or less pilose like the bracts ; lower leaves narrowed
into a leaf-stalk ; upper leaves sessile, passing into ovate, often
obscurely 3-lobed bracts, even the uppermost bracts twice as long
as the flowers. Bracts often with a violet tinge. Flowers pale
azure-blue, collected into whorls towards the summit of crowded
spikes.

Pastures and Alpine woods up to 7000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Black Forest, Vosges, Pyrenees, Caucasus, Central and Northern
Europe ; Altai. British.

Ajuga genevensis L.

Stem 6-18 inches high, erect, simple, very woolly throughout.
Leaves oblong, woolly on both sides, crenate or dentate ; stem-

LABIATE 247

leaves scarcely smaller than root-leaves. Flowers deep blue,
handsome, rarely pink, in a long, irregular spike. Bracts crenate,
or trind, often bluish. Calyx woolly, with lanceolate teeth, longer
than the tube.

Dry places, especially on limestone hills. May to August.

Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia.

This beautiful plant is much more worth cultivating in gardens
and on rockeries than the last, which figures in most nurserymen's
catalogues. Bentham, in his Handbook of the British Flora, com-
bined the two species under A. genevensis L. and the " Kew
Hand-list" fell into the same error. The two plants are quite dis-
tinct, and pyramidalis cannot be considered even an Alpine variety
of the other.

Ajuga reptans L. Common Bugle.

This well-known and widely spread plant is as frequent in the
lower Swiss mountains as in England. The plant is glabrous.
Leaves ovate or obovate, crenate, wrinkled and shining above.
Flowers blue, or rarely pink or white. Known by its long, leafy
stolons.

Wet meadows and woods. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia ;
Western Asia, Algeria.

TEUCRIUM L. Germander.

Herbs or under-shrubs, varying much in habit. Flowers few in
each whorl. Corolla apparently without an upper lip, the 2 upper
lobes forming 2 small teeth, one on each side of the base of the
lower lip, which has thus 5 lobes. Stamens 4, protruding between
the two upper teeth of the corolla.

A large genus spread all over the globe.

Teucrium montanum L.

Stock woody, sending out many procumbent stems and forming
great mats sometimes a foot across, densely covered with small
leaves and yellowish white flowers, which grow in terminal heads.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, entire, white tomentose beneath ; lower
leaves oblong. All the leaves are green above and slightly rolled
in at the borders.

Rocks and limestone hills ; common, and extending well into the
Alpine zone. July, August.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe ; Asia Minor.
Teucrium pyrenaicum L.

Almost woody at the base, tufted, softly woolly. Stem slender,
procumbent, rooting at the base. Leaves nearly orbicular, deeply
crenate. Flowers large, upper lip purple, lower lip yellow, toothed.

248 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Flowering cymes in dense, terminal heads. Calyx hairy, green, with
lanceolate, acute teeth, rather shorter than the tube.

Rocks and dry hillsides on limestone ; very local. June to
September.

Distribution. — Pyrenees, Landes, Spain, Isere in Dauphiny.

HYSSOPUS L. Hyssop.

Though not the Biblical Hyssop.

Flowers deep blue or violet, handsome, in terminal spikes.
Leaves oblong or linear-lanceolate, entire, smooth, sub-sessile, with
glandular dots, i-nerved. Aromatic plants with woody base,
growing in tufts.

There are 5 or 6 closely allied species native in the Mediterranean
region, Southern Alps, and Western Asia. Often cultivated.

Hyssopus officinalis L. Common Hyssop.

Stems i-i| feet high. Stock woody, with erect branches. Leaves
greyish green, linear-lanceolate, entire, smooth, sessile, with
glandular dots, ciliated. Spikes terminal, unilateral. Calyx with
15 nerves and triangular teeth, acute. Corolla-tube equalling the
calyx. Corolla deep blue, upper lip erect, spreading, emarginate ;
lower lip 3-lobed. Stamens 4. Nutlets trigonous, ovoid.

Stony places and hot rocks in sub-alpine regions ; local. July,
August.

Distribution. — Tessin and Valais, Savoy, Dauphiny, Southern
Europe, Western Asia, Morocco.

Hyssopus montanus Jord.

Flowers smaller, dark blue. Plant entirely glabrous, bright
green. Leaves linear, obtuse.

Dry hills ; rare. August, September.

Distribution. — Hills in Hautes-Alpes, and mountains of Dauphiny,
Southern Russia.

LAVANDULA L. Lavender.

About 20 species inhabiting the Mediterranean region, Western
Asia, and India. Bitter and aromatic herbs, used medicinally, as
stimulants and as a perfume.

Lavandula spica L. (L. vera DC.).

An under-shrub 1-2 feet high, greyish green with tomentum, with
woody stem rising to about a foot above the ground. Branches
simple, naked for 6 or 8 inches to the top, and bearing a terminal
spike of bluish flowers in false- whorls. Leaves linear or linear-
oblong, obtuse, rolled in at the margins. Upper lip of corolla bi-
nd ; lower lip trifid, with oval, obtuse lobes. Stony hillsides and
dry mountains in the south. June to August.

PLANTAGINACE^; 249

Distribution. — Sub-spontaneous at Neuveville and Vully only in
Switzerland. Native in the French Jura, Dauphiny, Savoy,
Provence, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corsica, Sardinia, Spain, Sicily,
Italy, Dalmatia, Algeria.

In abundance near the roadside below Lanslebourg, in the
valley of the Arc, at about 3000 feet ; the road itself is thickly
strewn with cut spikes of Lavender in August, for a lavender-water
factory is there.

Lavandula latifolia Vill. (L. spica L. part).

This is perhaps only a variety with broader leaves, and rather
smaller flowers, which are pale violet.

Dry hills in Dauphiny and elsewhere in Southern France, Spain,
Balearic Isles, Italy, Dalmatia, Algeria, and Tunis.

PLANTAGINACE.E

Flowers small, green, in leafless, crowded spikes. Sepals 4,
persistent. Corolla 4-lobed. Stamens 4, with large exserted
anthers. Ovary free, 2-4 celled. Stigma feathery.

PL ANT AGO L. Plantain.

Leaves all radical, with strong parallel ribs.
Plantago alpina L.

Root long and tapering, woody. Scape 6-9 inches long. Spike
about i inch long. Leaves linear, 3-nerved, turning black when
dry. Corolla-tube hairy.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures up to 9000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Spain, Bavaria.

Plantago montana Lam.

Leaves shorter than in alpina, linear-lanceolate and more spread-
ing, 3-5 nerved, glabrous or slightly hairy. Spike few-flowered.
Corolla-tube glabrous.

Alpine pastures up to 8500 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps and Pyrenees.
Plantago fuscescens Jord.

Scape 8-10 inches high, covered with silky hairs, like the whole
plant. Spike many-flowered, with large oval-orbicular bracts.
Corolla-tube glabrous. Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, with
5-7 nerves, densely covered with silky hairs.

Alpine pastures from about 5600-7300 feet ; very local.

Distribution.- — S. Tyrol (Mte. Baldo) and Western Alps.

Common in some of the Maritime and Ligurian Alps. Doubtfully
recorded from two places in the Valais.

Plantago major and P. media are also common in the lower Alpine
region.

250 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

CHENOPODIACE^E

A large family of inconspicuous greenish herbs, widely distributed
many species are Maritime and none truly Alpine.

CHENOPODIUM L. Goosefoot.

Flowers small, bisexual, without bracts. Stem angular. Seed-
vessel a membranous article, often enclosed in the persistent calyx.
Weeds either glabrous or covered with a mealy dust. Widely
distributed over the globe.

Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus L. Good King Henry.

Stock perennial, with thick, fleshy root like that of a Dock.
Stems about a foot high. Leaves like those of Spinage, broadly tri-
angular, stalked, sinuate or with a few large teeth, thick and dark
green ; upper leaves smaller and nearly sessile. Flowers numerous,
in clustered spikes, forming a terminal panicle, leafy at the base.

Waste ground, near villages and mountain chalets, often at
considerable elevations in the Alps. May to July.

Distribution. — Europe and Russian Asia except the extreme
north. British.

Other species of Chenopodium and also of A triplex are often seen
in cultivated and waste land about Alpine villages.

POLYGONACE.E

Herbs with simple leaves and scarious, sheathing stipules
(ochreae). Flowers usually bisexual. Sepals 3-6, petaloid or green,
often in 2 rows. Stamens 5-8. Ovary usually trigonous. Styles
1-3. Ovule solitary. Fruit hard, indehiscent, enclosed in the
persistent perianth.

A considerable family, dispersed over the whole globe.

RUMEX L. Dock.

Flowers unisexual or bisexual, in racemes or panicled whorls.

Sepals 6, in two rows, the inner ones enlarged in fruit. Stamens 6.

A rather large genus spread over the greater part of the world.

Rumex alpinus L. Monk's Rhubarb.

This is the Dock so often seen in the neighbourhood of herds-
men's huts in Alpine pastures, sometimes up to nearly 8000 feet.
The young stems when stewed afford a not unpleasant dish, re-
sembling Rhubarb. The stems are 1-2 feet high, branched, glabrous
like the whole plant. Leaves undulate, crenate, or entire, the
lower ones cordate-orbicular or cordate-ovate, obtuse ; higher ones
ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, the uppermost lanceolate. Flowers
in pseudo-verticillate, leafless, crowded racemes. The 3 inner valves

POLYGONACE^: 251

of fruiting perianth cordate-ovate, reticulately veined, entire or
serrate ; none of them tubercled. Petioles long, channelled.'

Damp Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, generally near huts. July,
August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Riesengebirge, Eastern, Central, and
Western Alps ; Jura, Vosges, Black Forest, Auvergne, Pyrenees ;
Western Asia. Naturalised in N. Britain.

Rumex scutatus L. (Plate XVI.)

A glaucous species 1-2 feet high, with long rampant rootstock,
and numerous slender flexuous leafy stems. Leaves hastate or
sagittate with large basal lobes, with long petioles longer than the
limb. Flowers bisexual, in few-flowered whorls forming lax spiked
panicles. Seed-vessel membranous, sub-orbicular, entire.

Old walls and stony places in the Alps, sub-Alps, and plains.
May to August.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia,
N. Africa. Naturalised near Edinburgh.

Rumex arifolius All.

Stem 1-3 feet high, leafy. Leaves thin with spreading auricles,
ovate-hastate, entire ; root-leaves short and few ; stem-leaves
larger, embracing the stem. Flowers dioecious, in long panicles.

Alpine meadows, pastures, and open woods. June to September.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Vosges, Pyrenees, Corsica, Central
and Southern Europe, Caucasus, Siberia.

Rumex Acetosella L. Sheep-sorrel.

A slender plant 3-10 inches high, acid and frequently turning red.
Leaves petioled and sagittate, the lobes at the base spreading and
sometimes toothed ; upper leaves generally linear and nearly
sessile. Flowers small, red, dioecious, in slender terminal panicles.
Perianth segments small, orbicular, entire and thin, the inner ones
closing over the nut.

Dry pastures, walls, and waste places, from the plains to the
High Alps ; common. May to September.

Distribution. — Temperate regions of the globe, and penetrating far
into the Arctic regions. British.

POLYGONUM L.

Herbs with alternate leaves and membranous stipules. Flowers
bisexual, in terminal spikes or racemes. Sepals 5, usually petaloid.
Stamens 5-8. Styles 2-3.

About 200 species distributed throughout the globe.

Polygonum viviparum L. (Plate VI.)

Stem 4-8 inches high, erect, simple, glabrous like the whole

252 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

plant. Leaves entire, with recurved margin and crenate from the
thickened transverse veins ; lower leaves elliptical or lanceolate,
contracted into a wingless leaf-stalk ; upper ones lanceolate or
linear-lanceolate, acute, sessile. Flowers in a linear-cylindrical,
crowded, erect spike, the lower part of which is composed of bulbils.
Perianth white or light flesh-coloured.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, descending to the valleys.
June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Carpathians, Jura, Pyrenees, Europe, Asia,
N. America, Arctic regions. British.

Polygonum Bistorta L. Bistort. (Plate VI.)

Stem 1-3 feet high. Leaves lanceolate-ovate with cordate base
and winged leaf-stalk, upper leaves sessile. Flowers in a short
terminal spike, pink.

Damp meadows and pastures in the Alps and plains, frequently
giving a pinkish tinge to the colour of the Alpine meadows before
the grass is cut, as so cleverly shown in some of Mr. Flemwell's
pictures.

Distribution. — Europe, Asia, N. America, and Arctic regions.
British.

Polygonum alpinum All.

Stem 1-2 feet high, branched, leafy. Leaves lanceolate, acute,
narrowed into a short petiole, wavy or toothed. Flowers in a
paniculate raceme, yellowish white or pink ; scaly sheaths (ochreae)
with rough hairs. Fruit shining, trigonous, equalling the perianth.

Damp meadows in the mountains ; local. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees,
Central and Northern Asia.

Polygonum aviculare L. Knotgrass.

A much branched and often prostrate, wiry annual, varying
much in size and habit from an inch high (var. nana Boiss. which
we have seen at 9000 feet) to a foot or two long in arable ground.
Stipules white, scarious, ragged at the edges. Leaves small,
narrow-oblong, but very variable. Flowers small, reddish, shortly
stalked in clusters in the axils of the leaves. Nuts trigonous,
minutely granulated or wrinkled.

Waste places, extending nearly all over the globe from the tropics
to the Arctic regions.

THYMELEACE^

Herbs or shrubs, with white, pink, or green flowers, which are
usually bisexual. Perianth with 4 equal lobes, often petaloid and
fragrant. Ovary usually i-celled. Fruit a drupe or berry.

About 400 species inhabiting temperate and hot regions.

THYMELEACE^E 253

DAPHNE L.

Shrubs with pink, white, or green fragrant flowers, and often
thick evergreen leaves. Perianth tubular, 4-lobed, petaloid.
About 80 species inhabiting Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Daphne alpina L.

A small shrub. Leaves lanceolate or obovate, spathulate,
downy, ultimately glabrous, deciduous. Flowers terminal, crowded,
sessile, woolly, appearing at same time as leaves, fragrant. Perianth
white, segments lanceolate, acuminate, about one-third shorter
than the perianth-tube.

Alpine and sub-alpine rocks, descending to the plains ; local.
May to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Cevennes, Pyrenees ; mountains of the Var.

Daphne Blagayana Freyer.

An evergreen creeping shrub with coriaceous leaves and very
fragrant yellowish white flowers. Stem ascending, usually simple.
Leaves obovate-lanceolate, obtuse, glabrous. Flowers in terminal
clusters. Tube of perianth slightly hairy on the outside, longer
than the oval segments of the perianth-limb.

Bushy places at about 5000 feet ; very rare. April, May.

Distribution. — Carinthia, Styria, and Carniola.

Daphne Cneorum L.

A small under-shrub 6-18 inches high, with spreading reddish
brown branches, downy and very leafy at the top. Leaves glabrous,
leathery, persistent, small, oblong or linear-spathulate, sessile,
i-nerved. Flowers rose-coloured, very scented, sub-sessile, 6-12
inches, terminal heads. Perianth-lobes oval or lanceolate, tube long.
Berry ovoid, yellow-orange.

Dry, stony places from the plains up to 5000 feet. April to
August. The rose-coloured D. striata is more Alpine.

Distribution. — Southern Switzerland (Tessin), S. and S.W. France,
Eastern Alps, Central Europe.

Daphne Mezereum L. Mezereon.

A stiff, glabrous shrub 1-3 feet high with the branches ending
in a tuft of lanceolate leaves about 2^ inches long. The flowers
appear before the leaves, and are light purple and sweet-scented.
Perianth- tube slightly hairy. Berries red, as large as peas.

Mountain woods and stony pastures, sometimes seen at 7000 and
even 8000 feet in the Alps. Flowers in spring.

Distribution, — Nearly all Europe, to the Arctic regions, British,

254 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Daphne Laureola L. Spurge Laurel. %

A glabrous, erect shrub 2-4 feet high, with few branches and
evergreen oblong-lanceolate leaves crowded towards the top.
Flowers rather small, greenish yellow, in clusters in the axils of
the leaves. Berries bluish black.

Bushy places and mountain limestone woods up to 5000 feet ;
local. April, May.

Distribution. — Southern and Western Europe, Corsica, N. Africa.
British.

Shrubs or trees, more or less covered with minute, silvery or brown
scurfy scales. It differs from the Daphne family in having erect
and not pendulous ovules and seeds.

A small family of few genera spread over the northern hemi-
sphere.

Hippophae rhamnoides L. Sea Buckthorn.

The only species. A stiff and spiny willow-like shrub, covered
with scaly scurf, silvery on the under-side of the leaves, thin or none
on the upper, and more rusty on the younger shoots, which often
end in a stout prickle. Leaves alternate, entire, broadly linear.
Male flowers very small and in little clusters like catkins, female
flowers crowded in the axils. Fruit a small yellowish or orange-
brown berry in almost sessile, crowded clusters on the bare, woody
stems.

Sandy and stony places., and beds of rivers and mountain torrents
from the sea-level to 5000 feet in the Alps, as, e.g. on the Col de
Balme (French side). Flowers in spring.

Distribution. — Central, Eastern, and Northern Europe ; Central
and Russian Asia. Local in Britain and often planted to mat the
sand of sand-hills together. This useful property can be seen
naturally in some of the river valleys of Switzerland and in the
north of France, as, e.g. between Calais and Paris.

EMPETRACE.E

The family contains 3 genera and only 4 species.
Empetrum nigrum L. Crowberry.

The only species. This well-known prostrate shrub, with wiry
branches and linear leaves, pale red flowers and black berries, is
locally common in the Alps, and is an example of a plant which,
though usually growing on the hills, is sometimes found at sea-
level in England (as in Dorset), in the Arctic regions, and at over
8000 feet in the Alps of Europe. May to July.

Distribution, — Europe, Asia, North America, Arctic regions.

EUPHORBIACE^: 255

SANTALACE^

THESIUM L. Bastard Toadflax.

Flowers minute, hermaphrodite, solitary and axillary or in cymes.
Calyx 3-5 lobed, persistent. Stamens 3-5, attached to the calyx.
Ovary i-celled. Fruit a i-celled, i-seeded achene. Leaves narrow,
entire, without stipules. Slender herbs parasitic on roots, of which
there are about 100 in the ancient world and in Brazil.

Thesium alpinum L. (Plate VI.)

Stem prostrate, branching on one side only, leafy from the base
upwards. Calyx rolled up at the tip after flowering, as long as or
longer than the fruit. Middle bract much longer than the two
lateral ones.

Dry pastures and stony places in the Alps and sub- Alps up to
7500 feet.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Western
and Northern Asia.

There are 3 or 4 more species of Thesium found in the Alps, in-
cluding the British T. humifusum DC. They are all difficult to
determine, especially without ripe fruit.

EUPHORBIACE.E

One of the largest families, with over 3000 species represented in
nearly every part of the world, except the Arctic regions. But
we are unaware of a single species which is purely Alpine.

EUPHORBIA L. Spurge.

Herbs, in European species, with the inflorescence composed
of many male and one female flower collected into a cluster, sub-
tended by bracts and glands which are often yellow and crescent-
shaped. Ovary 3 -celled, with 3 bifid stigmas. Seed-capsule
3-lobed. Many have a milky juice.

About 650 species in the temperate and hot regions of both
worlds, especially abundant in the Mediterranean district. None
are truly Alpine.

Euphorbia Cyparissias L. (Plate XX.)

Stems 8-12 inches high, erect, reddish at the base, rising from a
stoloniferous root, and with numerous barren and flowering
branches. Leaves linear, setaceous and almost imbricate, glabrous.
Flowers yellow, often turning red in autumn, in a terminal umbel,
with a whorl of linear leaves at its base. Bracts broadly ovate-
triangular. Capsule 3 mm. long, trigonous, glabrous.

Gravelly and stony places from the plains to the Alps, sometimes
seen as high as 9000 feet, and often very abundant in the lower
Alps. May to September,

256 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Distribution. — Almost all Europe. Introduced into Britain.

Sometimes Cuscuta, or Dodder, is parasitical upon, this plant.
In the Zinal valley in the hot summer of 1911 much of it was seen
on this rather unusual " host."

LORANTHACE.E

A family of over 600 species spread over the greater part of
the world, but chiefly in the tropics.

VISCUM L.

About 30 species in the hot and temperate regions of the ancient
world.

Viscum album L. Mistletoe.

This well-known parasitical plant is very common in Switzerland,
growing not only on Apple, Poplar, Oak, etc., but also upon Fir
and other Coniferous trees.

It ascends to at least 4000 feet in some of the pine forests.

Distribution. — Europe, Asia, N. Africa.

CUPULIFER^E

Trees or shrubs with alternate stipulate leaves. Flowers monoe-
cious. Male flowers in drooping catkins, sepals 4 or less, stamens
2-4 ; female flowers 2-3, under each scale of a catkin ; perianth o.
Fruit indehiscent.

A large family chiefly found in the temperate regions.

BETULA L.

Stamens 2 ; scales of female catkin thin, deciduous, trifid.
Betula nana L. Dwarf Birch.

A small dwarf shrub. Leaves very shortly stalked, nearly
orbicular, about J inch long, very obtuse, crenate or serrate.
Catkins small and sessile, the males oblong, the females very short,
erect.

Moors and bogs in the Alps and sub-Alps up to 6500 feet. May,
June.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, Northern Asia and
Arctic America. British.

Betula pendula Roth. (B. alba L.). Silver or Common Birch.

A small tree, 40-50 or rarely 70 feet high, with white papery bark
and glabrous ovate-acuminate, doubly serrate leaves. Fruit broadly
winged.

Woods, marshes, and hills, up to the superior limit of the Beech.
April, May. In Scandinavia to the upper limit of Pines,

4/7 NATURAL SIZE

(JKRAXIL'M SYLVATICUM. 2. PARADIS1A 1.1 1,1 A STRUM.

3. ANTHKRICUM LILIAGO.

CUPULIFER^: 257

Distribution. — Europe, temperate and Arctic Asia ; N. America
(a variety).

Betula pubescens Ehrh.

A similar tree with narrower pointed leaves which are pubescent
and finally only downy at the midrib. Fruit broadly winged.

Damp woods, peat-bogs and moors in the plains, sub-Alps and
Alps. April, May.

Distribution. — Switzerland, Jura, Alps, Pyrenees ; Central and
Northern Europe, Caucasus, Northern Asia, Greenland.

ALNUS L. Alder.

Stamens 4. Scales of female catkin persistent, woody.
Alnus viridis DC. Green Alder. (Plate XVIII.)

A shrub sometimes attaining the height of a small tree in the
lower mountains. Leaves stalked, green, ovate-acute, doubly
serrate, glabrous. Flowers in monoecious catkins, male cylindrical,
drooping ; female oval, stalked, 2-5 in erect racemes, not J inch
long, forming a woody cone ripening the second year.

Mountains and clearings in the lower Alps, from 3000 to 6600 feet,
especially abundant on granite and schist.

Distribution. — Central and Eastern Europe, Northern Asia and
America.

Alnus incana Medik.

A shrub or tree with silvery bark and oval-acute leaves doubly
serrate, glabrous above, downy and grey beneath. Fruit not
winged.

Damp woods, borders of streams, etc., up to 5000 feet. March,
April.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura ; Europe, temperate Asia, N. America.
Alnus glutinosa L. Common Alder.

This well-known tree has obtuse, almost orbicular leaves, which
are shortly petioled and sticky at first on the upper side.

Damp woods, by water, etc., up to 4000 feet. February to April.

Distribution. — Europe, temperate Asia, N. Africa. British.

CORYLUS L.

Fruit a woody, i-seeded nut, enclosed in the much enlarged
coriaceous involucre. Species 7.

Corylus Avellana L. Hazel.

A glandular, pubescent shrub, rarely a tree of 30 feet. Leaves
orbicular-cordate, doubly serrate cuspidate. Fruit a woody i-seeded
nut, enclosed in the greatly enlarged coriaceous involucre. Male

258 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

catkins 1-2 inches, several in a raceme ; female heads sessile,
crimson.

Woods, thickets, hedges, etc., from the plains up to about 5000
feet in Switzerland, though the maximum limit varies considerably.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia, N. Africa.

FAGUS L.

Fruit usually in pairs, enclosed in the hardened or coriaceous
involucre. Species 15.

Fagus sylvatica L. Beech.

Tall trees with smooth bark. Leaves oblong-ovate, acuminate,
obscurely toothed, shortly petioled, silky when young. Fruit
usually in pairs, and enclosed in the hardened coriaceous scaly
involucre (beech-mast). Male flowers capitate, pendulous ; female
flowers on shorter peduncles.

Woods, up to 1680 m. in French Switzerland, and 1500 m. in
Tessin, and 1350 m. in N. Switzerland, fide Schinz.

Distribution. — Temperate Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Persia,
Japan.

QUERCUS L. Oak.

Fruit an acorn, seated in a smooth or spiny cup. About 300
species. Distributed throughout the northern hemisphere.
Quercus Cerris L. Turkey Oak.

Scales of cups long, linear-subulate, spreading and twisted.
Leaves sinuate or pinnatifid, oblong.

Mountain woods in Tessin. April.

Distribution. — Southern and Eastern Europe, Western Asia.
Quercus pubescens Willd. Q. lanuginosa Thuill.

A small tree, the leaves petioled, oboval, sinuate or lobed,
pubescent beneath. Twigs pubescent.

Dry hills and woods, extending to about 1450 m. in Switzerland,
fide Schinz (Poschiavo, Jura, Rhone Valley, etc.).

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia.

Quercus Robur L. Common Oak.

Leaves sinuate-lobed, very shortly petioled, glabrous like the
twigs. Acorns on long peduncles.

According to Keller and Schinz, this extends to 1000 metres
in the Oberland of St. Gall., 800 m. in Swiss Jura, and 1250 m. in the
Valais.

Distribution. — Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Morocco.

Quercus sessili flora Salisb.

Leaves with longish petioles, very short peduncles, and acorns
nearly sessile. Leaves pubescent below ; twigs glabrous.

SALICACE^E 259

Dry hills, especially on limestone, but less common in Switzerland
than the last, except in Valais and the Southern Alps, where it
reaches 1600 m. (Keller and Schinz).

Distribution. — Europe, especially Central, Western Asia.

SALICACE^:

Trees or shrubs with alternate, stipulate leaves. Flowers di-
oecious. Perianth o. Male flowers (in catkins) of 2 or more stamens.
Female flowers of a i-celled ovary with 2 styles and many ovules.
The family is not represented in Australia or Malay.

SALIX L. Willow.

Trees or shrubs, with simple, entire, or serrate leaves. Stipules
persistent or deciduous. Stamens 2 or more. Catkins usually erect.
Many species found in damp and cold regions of the globe, with a
great tendency to hybridise.

Salix retusa L.

A small, creeping shrub with ascending branches and 5-9 flowered
terminal catkins. Leaves obovate, running into a short leaf-stalk,
entire or glandular-serrate at the base, obtuse, sometimes emar-
ginate, glabrous, shining above, smooth beneath. Female catkins,
long, few-flowered. Scales as long as the glabrous ovary. Stigmas
2-3 cleft. Lobes filiform.

Wet Alpine pastures and rocks up to 10,000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Pyrenees, Jura, Apennines, Balkans, Altai.

The variety serpyllifolia Scop, has much smaller leaves.

Salix reticulata L.

This small, creeping shrub, with round, entire, net-veined leaves
does not often descend below about 4500 feet in Switzerland, and it
ascends to over 8000 feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Alps, Pyrenees, Arctic Europe,
Asia and America. British. Often found fossilised.

Salix herbacea L.

This very small, creeping shrub, with branches only about 2
inches above the ground, and small, nearly orbicular, crenate-
serrate leaves, does not descend below about 5000 feet in Switzer-
land ; and it ascends to at least 11,000 feet.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Alps, Pyrenees, Arctic Europe, Asia
and America. British.

Salix arbuscula L.

An erect shrub, 2-3 feet high, bushy, with small coriaceous

260 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

leaves, which have 5-8 yellow glandular teeth. Leaves lanceolate-
elliptical or obovate, entire or serrate, glabrous or slightly hairy
when young, dark green and shining above, light green and glaucous
beneath. Catkins at apex of short leafy shoots ; scale of catkins
2-coloured, brown or blackish at apex. Stamens 2. Anthers yellow.
Nectary projecting above the mass of the ovary. Style elongated.
Stigmas divaricate.
Alpine rocks and pastures. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Alps, Pyrenees, Caucasus, Norway,
Siberia, Greenland. British.

Salix Mysinites L.

A low, much-branched shrub, often quite procumbent though
not creeping, and sometimes a foot or more high. Leaves small,
orbicular, ovate or lanceolate, bright green, with prominent veins,
and finely toothed. With long silky hairs when young, afterwards
glabrous. Catkins cylindrical, I inch longer flower, ij-2 inches
when in fruit, on short leafy shoots.

Damp places in the mountains. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Central Pyrenees, Norway, Northern and
Arctic Asia and America. Scotland and Co. Sligo.

Salix phylicifolia L.

A shrub with very variable foliage. Young leaves often downy,
becoming glabrous when old ; leaves ovate-oblong to lanceolate,
1-2 inches long, pointed, with rather prominent veins above, often
toothed,' glaucous or whitish underneath. Catkins slender, the
males nearly sessile with a few broad bracts at the base ; the
females shortly stalked, with more leafy bracts, 1-2 inches long
when in fruit.

Mountain woods, thickets, and near streams. June.

Distribution. — Alps, Central Pyrenees, and other mountains of
Central and Southern Europe. Arctic Europe and Asia, N. Britain.

Salix repens L. Creeping Willow.

A low creeping shrub, the stems rooting at the base and ascend-
ing to a foot or more in height when in rich soil. Leaves more or
less silky white when young, oblong or lanceolate, but very variable,
usually entire, about ij inches long. Catkins cylindrical, about J
inch long, and sessile when in flower, afterwards shortly peduncled
and an inch long.

Moors, heaths, and wet mountain-sides. From sea-level in
England to the sub-alpine region on the Continent. April, May.

Distribution. — Arctic, Northern, and Central Europe, and
occasionally in the mountains of Southern Europe. Russian Asia.

ADDENDA 261

Salix Lapponum L. (? S. helvetica Vill.).

A low-spreading, much-branched shrub, attaining 3-4 feet in rich
valleys. Leaves oblong or lanceolate, pointed, entire, covered on
both sides with a white cottony down, but when old nearly glabrous
above. Catkins nearly sessile, with a few bracts at their base, about
an inch long in flower, with long silky hairs, lengthening to ij or 2
inches when in fruit.

Mountain pastures extending to wet, bushy places. June, July.

Distribution. — Dauphiny, Savoy, Switzerland, N. Italy, Tyrol,
Central Pyrenees, Central, Northern, and Arctic Europe. Scotland.

5. Lapponum grows in the Highlands of Scotland, but perhaps the
plant of Linnaeus is not actually identical with S. helvetica of Villari,
though generally considered so.

Various other species of Willow can be found in the lower
mountains of Switzerland. Want of space prevents further treat-
ment of the genus.

ADDENDA

Sorbus Mougeotii Soyer et Godron (S. scandica Fries.).

The leaves of the plant figured (4) on Plate XVIII resemble
those of this species in being deeply lobed towards the middle;
but the large berries are those of 5. Aria in being sub-globular
rather than oval. The leaves are not so white beneath as in Aria.
Godet says (Flore du' Jura, 1853) this species is much more like
S. hybrida; and remarks that it is commoner on the Jura than
Aria, and reaches the Alpine region.

Distribution. — Mountain woods in the Jura, Savoy, Aosta Valley,
Pyrenees, Vosges, Scandinavia, Arran.

Sorbus Ancuparia L. Mountain Ash.

This well-known tree has pinnate leaves with 6-8 pairs of serrated
leaflets ; dense- flowered compound cymes and small creamy- white
flowers. Berries globose, scarlet with yellow flesh. It reaches
5000 feet in the Alps.

Distribution.— Europe, N. and W. Asia, Japan, N. America.

CLASS II.— MONOCOTYLEDONS

ORCHIDACE.E

Perennial herbs with roots often thickened into tubers, entire
and parallel-nerved leaves and irregular flowers, solitary or in
spikes, racemes, or panicles, each one in the axil of a bract. Peri-
anth superior, irregular, with 6 petal-like segments, the 3 outer
ones nearly alike, the lower of the 3 inner ones (the lip) usually
larger and often spurred. Stamens 1-2. Pollen usually collected
into a pollinium. Ovules minute, very numerous. Fruit a 3-valved
capsule.

A very large family of more than 5000 species, spread all over
the globe. The tropical ones are mostly epiphytes.

ORCHIS L

Root of globose, ovoid, or palmate tubers. Leaves chiefly
radical, sheathing. Flowers in spikes. Sepals and petals ascend-
ing, connivent, or the lateral sepals spreading. Lip spurred.

About 1 20 species, inhabiting Europe, temperate Asia, Africa,
and America.

Orchis globosa L.

Tubers elliptical, undivided. Stem leafy, 8-18 inches high,
slender. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, bright green. Flowers
small, lilac or pink, in a short compact, conical or nearly globular
spike. Lip spotted with purple, 3-cleft, the middle lobe rather
larger, obtuse, truncate, or emarginate. Spur short, barely half-
length of ovary. Bracts as long or longer than the ovary, i-nerved,
the lower ones 3-nerved.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures ; 4000-7800 feet ; local. May to

July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Erzgebirge, Eastern, Central, and
Western Alps ; Black Forest, Vosges, Jura ; Pyrenees, Apennines,
Balkans, Caucasus.

Like many of the European Orchids, it prefers a limestone soil.

Orchis morio L. Green-winged Orchis. (Plate XXXI.)

Tubers globose, entire. Stem erect, 6 or 8 inches high, with a few
narrow lanceolate leaves at the base, and several sheathing scales

262

4/7 NATURAL SIZK.

PLATE XXXI.

i. (1Y.MNADENIA AIJHDA. 2. ORCHIS MORIO (FOUR COLOUR FORMS).
3. HAP.KXARIA VIRIDIS. 4. ( iV.MN ADENI A ODORATISSIMA.

5. LISTERA CORDATA.

ORCHIDACE^E 263

higher up. Flowers in a handsome loose spike (purple, pink, mauve,
or white). Bracts thin, greenish purple, scarcely equalling the
ovary. Sepals purple, arching in the form of a helmet. Lip longer
than the sepals, broadly 3-lobed, purple, paler in the middle and
spotted. Spur obtuse, rather shorter than the ovary.

Meadows and pastures, often in large quantities. May.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, extending north
into the British Isles and Scandinavia and Western and Northern
Asia.

Such a beautiful series of colour-forms of this Orchis is not often
seen, and still less often painted. The author remembers once
coming upon a colony of morio in every shade from white to deep
purple on some Lias cliffs on the Somerset coast, west of the River
Parret. Rich purple is the usual colour.

Orchis ustulata L. Burnt-tip Orchis.

About the same height as the last, but less robust, and noticeable
for its dense spike of small flowers, the colour of the unopened ones
at the top giving it a burnt appearance. Tubers entire. Leaves
few, broadly lanceolate. Spike 2 inches long, with small bracts.
Sepals deep purple, arching over the small narrow petals. Lip white,
with a few purple spots, 4-lobed, i.e. deeply 3-lobed, with 2 lateral
lobes and the middle one divided into 2 spreading, obtuse lobes.
Spur very short.

Pastures of the hills and sub- Alps, extending sometimes higher.
May to July.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe as far east as the
Caucasus and northwards to Scandinavia. England.

Orchis maculata L. Spotted Orchis.

Tubers spreading, rather flat, and divided into 3 finger-like lobes.
Stem about a foot high, or sometimes more. Lower leaves usually
ovate-lanceolate ; upper ones narrow lanceolate, smaller, often with
dark spots. Flowers in a dense oblong spike, 2-3 inches long,
usually pale pink, but varying from white to deep rose or purple.
Lowest bracts generally longer than the ovary. Lip broadly
orbicular, irregularly 3-lobed, sometimes toothed, middle lobe
smaller than the others, the lip spotted with deeper colour. Spur
slender, a little shorter than the ovary. A very variable species.

Meadows, pastures, moors, and open woods from the plains to
the lower Alps ; very common. May to July.

Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia. British.

Orchis latifolia L. Marsh Orchis.

Usually stouter than the last, the stem more hollow, the leaves
larger and often not spotted, the spike longer and more leafy, the
bracts longer, the flowers more deeply coloured and less variegated,

264 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

the lip very obscurely 3-lobed or merely toothed, and the spur
thicker.

Damp meadows, marshes in the plains and sub-Alps. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia. British.

We have found hybrids between this and Gymnadenia conopsea
at Mont Cenis and in the Italian Maritime Alps at about 5000 feet.
They are very rare, and the specimens were determined by Mr.
R. A. Rolfe of Kew as synonymous with Orchi-gymnadenia Lebrunii,
Journ. de Bot. (1892), p. 479. Camus —Gymnadenia comigera Reichb.
fil. Fl. Germ., t. 523, fig. 2.

" The bracts are larger. Spur shorter and stouter than in G.
conopsea." R. A. Rolfe in lit.

Orchis incarnatus L.

Very near 0. latifolia, i-ij feet high. Tubers palmate, with 2-4
spreading lobes. Leaves 5-6, erect, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate,
very rarely spotted ; middle leaves largest. Flowers rose, or flesh-
coloured, rarely white, in a dense spike. Bracts purplish at the
borders, longer than the flowers. Lip almost flat, irregularly
toothed, almost entire, rose, streaked with purple.

Damp meadows and mountain bogs. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, especially Central and Northern, including
Norway and England ; Western Asia.

Orchis sambucina L.

Smelling like Elder. Tubers long and undivided, or shorter and
2-3 lobed. Stem leafy, 4-10 inches high. Leaves not spotted, dark
green, lower ones wedge-shaped, broader towards apex, the next
lanceolate. Spikes long, moderately dense. Flowers pale yellow or
more rarely purple (var. purpurea Koch). Bracts many-nerved,
about as long as the perianth. Perianth-segments rather obtuse,
the two lateral ones spreading, recurved, the 3 upper ones connivent
into a helmet. Labellum shallowly 3-lobed or nearly entire, lateral
lobes rounded, middle lobe smaller, obtuse or emarginate. Spur
cylindrical, directed downwards, as long as or longer than the ovary.
~~High mountain pastures, often in large quantities. May to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Harz Mountains ; most of the mountain ranges of Europe.

Orchis pyramidalis L. (Anacamptis pyramidalis Rich.).

Tubers entire. Stem often more than a foot high. Leaves
lanceolate, rather narrow and pointed. Spike very dense, some-
what obtusely conical, about 2 inches long. Flowers rather small,
rich rose, with very slender spur, longer than the ovary. Sepals
lanceolate, spreading. Lip broad, 3-lobed, the lobes more or less
equal.

ORCHIDACE^: 265

Dry banks and hillsides, preferably limestone. June to August.

Distribution. — Not frequent in Switzerland, more so in France.
Central and Southern Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus
and northward to Denmark and the British Isles.

CCELOGLOSSUM Hartm.

Cceloglossum viride Hartm. (Habenaria viridis R.Br.). Frog Orchis.
(Plate XXXI.)

Tubers more or less lobed. Stem 3-8 inches high, with a few
oval or oblong-lanceolate leaves, and a short spike of yellowish
green flowers (often brownish in the mountains) with very short
spur and long hanging lip, very shortly lobed at the tip. Bracts
usually longer than the ovary.

Pastures and hillsides in the Alps and sub-Alps and Jura.

Distribution. — Europe from Mediterranean to Arctic regions,
Siberia. British.

OPHRYS L.

Sepals and petals spreading, lip usually convex, velvety, not
spurred. Ovary not twisted ; otherwise like Orchis.

Intermediate forms often occur which are difficult to place.

Ophrys apifera Hudson. Bee Orchis.

Sepals usually pink inside. Lip dark purple, convex, and velvety,
like the body of a bumble-bee. Lateral perianth-segments linear,
obtuse. Spike usually 3-6 flowered, very handsome.

Dry, open, grassy places in the hills ; less common in Switzerland
than 0. arachnites, which grows on hot hillsides. May, June.

Distribution. — Most of Europe, especially Central and Southern ;
N. Africa. British.

Ophrys aranifera Hudson. Spider Orchis.

Sepals pink or greenish. Lip usually not lobed, or slightly
incised, broad, convex, without an appendage. Petals oblong,
almost glabrous. Resembling the last in habit.

Sunny hillsides, not frequent in Switzerland. May.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Algeria; rare in
England.

Ophrys muscifera Hudson. Fly Orchis.

Sepals yellowish green. Lip nearly flat, narrow, reddish brown,
with a blue patch. 2 lateral lobes linear, small, middle lobe
deeply bifid. Flowers distant.

Grassy hillsides, especially on limestone, ascending to about
4000 feet in Switzerland, as, e.g. at Engelberg. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, especially Central. British.

266 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

GYMNADENIA R.Br.

Tubers 2 or more lobed. Sepals spreading. Lip long, spurred,
recurved or deflexed. Anther-cells parallel. Pollen-glands remote,
linear.

Gymnadenia albida Rich. (Plate XXXI.)

Tubers deeply divided palmately. Lobes cylindrical or tapering.
Stem leafy, 4-10 inches high. Lower leaves obovate-lanceolate ;
upper leaves lanceolate, often small, sheathing. Spike cylindrical,
dense, slender, and often slightly unilateral. Bracts 3-nerved,
about as long as ovary. Perianth very small, yellowish white,
slightly fragrant. Segments obtuse, all 5 connivent into an ovate
helmet. Lip 3-lobed, lobes tongue-shaped, acute, the middle one
broadest. Spur directed upwards, half or one-third length of ovary.

Meadows, pastures, margins of woods, and among debris in the
Alps and lower Alps from 3000-7000 feet, both on limestone and
slate. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Black Forest, Vosges, Pyrenees, Cevennes ; Central and Northern
Europe, Greenland. British.

Gymnadenia conopsea L.

Tubers palmately divided. Stem leafy, 12-18 inches high.
Leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, upper ones often very small,
sheathing. Spike cylindrical, dense-flowered. Bracts 3-nerved,
about as long as ovary. Lip 3-partite. Lobes nearly alike, obtuse,
or the middle one acute. Spur filiform, bent downwards, ij to
twice the length of ovary. Remaining perianth-segments obtuse,
the 3 upper ones approximate, forming a helmet, the 2 lateral
spreading or reflexed. Very variable both in colour of flowers and
size of the separate parts. Usually rose-coloured, lighter or darker,
or various shades of purple or mauve, rarely white, with slight scent
of vanilla.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, often in great quantities, and
also in the plains. June, July.

Distribution. — Most of Europe ; Western and Northern Asia.
British.

Gymnadenia odoratissima Rich. (Plate XXXI.)

Very similar to certain forms of the last, but the leaves are
narrower, the spike often more slender, the lip narrow, and the spur
straighter and shorter. (The drawing depicts an unusually long-
spurred form.) The flowers are strongly scented of vanilla, and
rather smaller than in conopsea. The two species are often found
together, and occasionally hybridise.

Hills, damp meadows, etc., to the Alpine region. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Alps ; Central and Northern Europe
as far as Sweden.

ORCHIDACE^E 267

NlGRITELLA Rich.

Nigritella angustifolia L. Vanilla Orchid.

Tubers palmately divided. Stem 3-8 inches high, leafy below
and sometimes throughout. Leaves linear, channelled, the lower
ones crowded. Spike conical or ovate, densely flowered. Bracts
as long as or longer than the perianth. Flowers small, like the bracts
dark carmine (N. rubra Richter) or purplerblack (N. nigra Reichb.),
with the odour of vanilla. Lip ovate. Apex acuminate, entire, or
slightly crenate. Spur very short, obovate, much shorter than
ovary ; remaining perianth-segments lanceolate, acuminate.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, often in batches ; 5000-8500
feet. June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Cevennes, Pyrenees, Apennines, Balkans, Scandinavia. Moun-
tainous Europe. The red variety (N. rubra Richter) is found in the
Orisons and in the Maritime Alps.

CYPRIPEDIUM L.
Cypripedium Calceolus L. Lady's Slipper.

Rootstock cylindrical, knotty,, horizontal, tufted, with fleshy
fibres. Stem downy and leafy, 1-2 flowered, about a foot high.
Leaves elliptical, or ovate-lanceolate, strongly nerved, glabrous
above, downy beneath and at margin. Bracts similar to stem-leaves
but smaller. Lip yellow, saccate, large, not spurred ; the other
perianth-segments spreading, ij inch long, purple-brown ; the
upper one broadly lanceolate, acuminate, a similar one (formed of
the 2 lateral segments combined into one) under the lip ; the two
inner lateral ones linear-lanceolate, acute, usually twisted.

Alpine and sub-alpine woods, chiefly on steep," mossy, limestone
slopes under the Pines or near rocks. June.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Pyrenees, Caucasus, Siberia. In Europe almost to the Arctic
Circle. British.

PLATANTHERA Rich.

Root-leaves large, usually 2. Lip entire, ovary twisted, shorter
than the spur. Rostellum short and broad. Flowers whitish,
fragrant, in a lax spike.

Platanthera bifolia Rchb. Lesser Butterfly Orchid.

Tubers entire. Stem 12-18 inches, with 2 large broadly ovate to
oblong leaves at the base. Flowers yellowish or greenish white,
sweet-scented, rather large in a loose spike, 3-5 inches long, and
with lanceolate bracts about length of ovary. Two lateral sepals
spreading. Lip linear, entire, obtuse. Spur slender, filiform, and
curved, twice length of ovary. Anther-cells or pollinia usually
parallel. Also called Hdbenaria bifolia R.Br.

268 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Thickets in the hills, wood clearings, and moist pastures. June.
Distribution. — Europe, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic
Circle, Siberia, Western Asia. British.

Platanthera chlorantha Custer. Butterfly Orchid.

Closely resembling the last, but taller and larger in all its parts.
Stems 2-2| feet high. Anther-cells or pollinia broadly diverging.
Two very large leaves at the base of the stem. Flowers larger,
greenish white, less scented. Lip lanceolate-obtuse, yellowish
green. Spur long. Spike loose, from 4-6 inches long.

Woods, rarer than the last, but widely spread. June.

Distribution. — Europe, Caucasus, Siberia, N. Africa. British.

HERMINIUM R.Br.
Herminium Manor chis R.Br. Musk Orchid.

A small, slender plant, 4-6 inches high, with usually 2 oval-
lanceolate radical leaves. Tubes nearly globular, the new one
being produced at the end of one of the root-fibres proceeding
from the crown. Spike slender, with many small yellowish green
flowers. Sepals erect and narrow. ' Petals ' narrower and rather
longer. Lip scarcely longer, hollowed into a sort of pouch at the
base, but not spurred, with 3 narrow, entire lobes. Plant smelling
of Musk.

Mossy banks, hillsides and mountain pastures up to at least
4000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — Mountains of Southern Europe. Hilly pastures of
Central, Northern, and Arctic Europe, and Russian Asia. England.

GOODYERA R.Br.
Goody era repens R.Br.

Rootstock creeping, with a few thick fibres. Stems 6-10 inches
high, with a few ovate stalked leaves near the base. Spike uni-
lateral, with small greenish white flowers ; the lateral sepals
shorter and more spreading than the upper sepal and petals.

Shady mountain woods ; rather rare. July.

Distribution. — Central, Northern, and Arctic Europe, extending
to the Caucasus and Altai ; Northern Asia and America ; Scotland.

EPIPOGUM S.G. Gmel.
Epipogum aphyllum Swartz.

Rootstock with a number of thick, fleshy branches, like those of
Coralroot. Stem 6 inches high, pale, with a few small sheathing
bracts. Flowers 3 or 4 in a loose raceme, rather large, pale yellow
with purplish markings, pendulous with the lip upwards, it being
large, ovate and somewhat concave.

ORCHIDACE^ 269

On rotten leaves and wood in shady woods, probably parasitic
upon roots of Conifers and Beech trees. Scattered but always rare.
August.

Distribution. — Scattered over Europe and Northern Asia ; Alps,
Jura, Vosges, Central Pyrenees, Caucasus. Very rare in England.

NEOTTIA Adanson.
Neottia Nidus-avis L. Bird's Nest.

Roots tock a dense mass of thick, succulent fibres. Stem
about a foot high, pale brown like the few loose sheathing scales
which take the place of leaves. Spike rather dense, 3 or 4 inches
long, with 2 or 3 distant flowers below it, all pale brown. Sepals
broadly ovate, nearly acute, petals more obtuse, lip twice as long,
deeply forked at tip into 2 oblong, spreading lobes.

In the humus of shady woods up to at least 4500 feet, as above
Engleberg; widely spread. June.

Distribution. — Europe, Caucasus, Western Asia. British.

LIMODORUM Swartz.
Limodorum abortivum Swartz.

The only species. Not strictly sub-alpine, though found in
mountain woods in Switzerland and throughout the Jura. Whole
plant of a violet tinge, 1-2 feet high. Leaves reduced to sheathing
coloured scales. Flowers large, violet. Sepals and petals sub-
campanulate. Lip entire, concave, spurred.

Mountain woods and clearings ; parasitical upon the roots of
trees. Flowering in May on the Mediterranean and in June and
July in the Alps and Jura. Often seen in pine woods above the
Riviera.

Distribution. — Switzerland (Grisons, Tessin, Bern, rare), Jura,
France, Pyrenees, Corsica, Styria, Central and Southern Europe ;
Algeria, Asia Minor.

CORALLORRHIZA ScOpoli.

Corallorrhiza innata R.Br. (C. Neottia Scop.). Coralroot.

Rootstock a mass of short, thick, fleshy, obtuse, and nearly
white fibres. A slender plant 6-8 inches high, pale brown or
yellowish, tinged with green below, with a few short sheathing
scales instead of leaves. Flowers small, -yellowish green, in a short,
rather lax head. Sepals narrow-lanceolate. Lip oblong, white and
hanging, very feebly 3-lobed.

Woods, especially in the mountains, parasitical upon the roots
of Beech, and extending to the sub-alpine zone (e.g. Engleberg).
June, July.

Distribution. — Scattered over Central and Northern Europe,
Russian Asia and N. America. In Europe extending from N. Italy
and the Pyrenees to the Arctic regions ; Scotland.

270 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

MALAXIS Solander.

Flowers small, green or yellowish. Sepals and petals spreading,
the latter very small. Lip minute, concave. Pollen masses 4. Leaves
very few. About 120 species in the temperate and hot regions of
both worlds.

Malaxis paludosa Swartz. Bog Orchis.

This, the smallest European Orchid, with small greenish yellow
flowers, only grows on the sphagnum of peat bogs, and is very
difficult to find. In Switzerland it is very rare and hardly sub-
alpine. Central and Northern Europe. British Isles.

Malaxis monophylla Swartz.

Tubers green, adjacent. Stem with one oval leaf only. Plant
greenish yellow, 5-12 inches high. Flowers minute, greenish. Lip
acuminate, entire, turned upwards, concave at the base. Ovary
club-shaped, slightly stalked.

Damp, shady, grassy meadows and other places in the Alps and
sub- Alps ; rare. July.

Distribution. — Switzerland, Tyrol, Scandinavia, Finnland,
Siberia, N. Am.

LISTERA R.Br.

Leaves 2, opposite. Flowers small, green, in a slender, spiked
raceme. Sepals broader than the petals. Lip long, linear and
2-cleft. Pollen masses 2.

A small European, North Asiatic, and N. American genus.

Lister a ovata R.Br. Tway-blade.

Rootstock with numerous thickish fibres, creeping. Stem 1-2
feet high, with 2 or 3 sheathing scales at the base, and about half-way
up the stem are a pair of broadly ovate green leaves, 3-4 inches
long, strongly veined. Raceme long and slender, in fine specimens
sometimes 6 or 8 inches. Lip twice as long as sepals or petals,
ending in 2 linear lobes.

Moist pastures and woods from the plains to the lower Alps. June,

July.

Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia ; N. America.
British.

Listen cordata R.Br. (Plate XXXI.)

A very much smaller and more delicate plant, 4-6 inches high.
The pair of leaves barely an inch long, broadly ovate and slightly
cordate at the base. Flowers very small, in a short raceme on a
very delicate and often reddish stem. Corolla-lip linear, 2-cleft,
with 2 minute teeth at the base.

Among moss and pine needles in mountain woods extending
to about 5000 feet ; very local. May to July. •

ORCHIDACE^: 271

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Vosges, Auvergne, Caucasus,
Central and Northern Europe, Siberia, N. America ; British Isles.

CEPHALANTHERA Rich.

Handsome plants with the habit and foliage of Epipactis, but
the flowers are almost sessile, erect, usually larger and more beautiful,
white or red ; the lip has no protuberances at the base of the upper
portion ; the column is longer and the anther shortly stalked.

A small European and North Asiatic genus.

Cephalanthera rubra Rich. Red Helleborine.

Stems flexuose, 10-20 inches high. Leaves oval to lanceolate,
acute. Spike loose, with glandular axis. Flowers bright pink,
handsome, with rather narrow white lip. Ovary pubescent. Bracts
longer than the ovary.

Woods and thickets, chiefly on limestone ; rather scarce, extend-
ing to 4500 feet at least. June, July.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia. Very rare in England.

Cephalanthera longifolia Fritsch. (C. rusifolia Rich.).

Resembling the last in habit and size, but the flowers are pure
white, more distant than in the next species, and the sepals narrower
and more pointed. The leaves are longer, narrower, and stiffer
than in either species, being almost linear-lanceolate.

Wooded hillsides up to 4500 feet in Switzerland. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia, N. Africa. Scarce in
Britain.

Cephalanthera latifolia Janchen (C. pallens Rich., C. grandiflora
Bab.).

Stem 1-2 feet high. Leaves prominently veined ; the lower
ones broadly ovate, the upper broadly lanceolate. Flowers cream-
coloured, in a loose leafy spike, all the bracts being longer than the
ovary, and the lower ones quite leaf-like and considerably longer
than the flowers. Sepals oblong and usually obtuse. Lip small,
in two distinct parts.

Woods and thickets, scattered, extending to the sub-alpine
zone. June.

Distribution. — Europe, extending eastwards to the Caucasus
and Asia Minor, and northward to Denmark and the British
Isles ; Algeria.

All three kinds of Cephalanthera and many other interesting
orchids grow in the woods or pastures about Engelberg in central
Switzerland, on the mountain limestone at a height of about
4000 feet. A lady staying there in June, 1909, found about 26
different Orchids in that charming locality.

272 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

EPIPACTIS Adanson.

Rather tall plants with leafy stems and purple, brown/or greenish
white flowers sometimes tinged with red, in a loose raceme.
Perianth spreading ; ' sepals ' and ' petals ' almost equal in size ;
the lip thick and concave at the base, the terminal portion broad,
with 2 protuberances at its base.

About 10 species only, native in Europe, temperate Asia, N.
Africa, and N. America.

Epipactis latifolia Swartz. Broad-leaved Epipactis.

Rootstock shortly creeping, with thickish fibres. Stem 2 to 3
feet high, leafy. Leaves strongly ribbed ; lower ones ovate,
clasping the stem ; upper ones lanceolate and pointed, passing
into linear bracts, of which the lower are often longer than the
flowers. Flowers pendulous in a long unilateral raceme, greenish
purple in England, but usually yellowish green in Switzerland.
Sepals ovate-lanceolate. Lip small, the lower portion quite short.

Shady woods and mountain thickets up to 5000 feet. June to
August.

Distribution. — Europe, temperate Asia, Siberia, Himalaya,
Algeria ; British Isles.

Epipactis violacea Durand.1

Closely resembles the last and differing chiefly in the whole
plant being of a purplish green colour, and the inflorescence denser,
the flowers being partly greenish yellow and partly purple. It is
rarely seen in the Swiss forests in autumn.

Distribution. — Germany, Switzerland, France.
Epipactis atropurpurea Rafin.

Plant 1-2 feet high, slender, pubescent, more or less purplish in
colour. Leaves oval or oboval, somewhat clasping. Spike lax,
unilateral. Flowers rather small, dark purple-red, but somewhat
variable, especially in the Maritime Alps, where we have seen
specimens with pale purple flowers. Bracts shorter than the flowers,
or the lowest equalling them.

Wooded hills in sunny places, and especially on limestone.
June, July.

Distribution. — Europe, especially Central and Southern ; Cau-
casus, Persia.

Epipactis microphylla Swartz. Small-leaved Epipactis.

A smaller and more slender plant with very small lanceolate
leaves. Whole plant often purplish like the last. Flowers reddish
green, fragrant. Lip glabrous at the base. Mature ovary pubescent.

1 E. violacea Boreau of S.E. England is quite a distinct thing. J. W. White in
Flora of Bristol (1912), p. 568.

273

Dry, stony hills and mountain thickets ; rare, and especially rare
in Switzerland. Widely spread in France. June.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Corsica, Caucasus,
Asia Minor.

Epipactis palustris Crantz. Marsh Epipactis.

Plant glabrous, about 8-12 inches high. Leaves narrow-lanceo-
late. Bracts shorter than the flowers. Racemes very loose, few-
flowered and not unilateral. Flowers large and very beautiful,
white variegated with green, orange, and purple. Terminal lobe
of lip blunt and rounded.

Marshes and moist meadows, reaching at least 4000 feet in the
Alps ; sometimes in large quantities. June, July.

Distribution. — Europe, especially Central ; Western and Northern
Asia. British.

Orchids are generally considered difficult to cultivate, and many
have a reputation for not flowering when transplanted. But
if they are never moved when in flower or making growth, but in
the early autumn, they are much more likely to succeed. A moist
loam and peat suits most, but others require lime mixed with the
loam instead of peat. All require a deep soil. It is much to be
hoped, however, that collectors will leave alone not only many
of the British species, but all the rarer ones which grow in the Alps.
Those which are parasitic are particularly difficult to cultivate,
and are best avoided.

IRIDACE.E

Perennial herbs, with bulbous, tuberous, or shortly creeping
rootstock, frequently ensiform leaves and regular flowers with
2 bracts. Perianth 6-lobed. Stamens 3. Style simple. Stigmas
often dilated. Fruit a 3-celled capsule.

About 100 species. Europe, temperate Asia, Africa, and America.

CROCUS L.
Crocus albiflorus Kit.

This includes C. vernus All., which some botanists have con-
sidered a separate species.

Corm covered with dry membranous scales, scape enveloped
in a sheath. Leaves grass-like, recurved at margin. Stigmas
orange, shorter than the perianth segments. Perianth 6-lobed.
Flowers opening before or with the leaves, immediately the snow
begins to disappear, white or violet, the white form having a
yellowish tube. »

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures up to 7600 feet, often in^ great
profusion. April to June, according to situation,

274 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Distribution. Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura,
Cevennes, Pyrenees, Carpathians, Balkans ; often naturalised
in the plains and in England.

IRIS L.

Seven species of Iris (virescens, germanica, sambucina, squalens,
graminea, Pseudacorus, and sibirica) may be found either native or
sub-spontaneous in Switzerland, but none of them reach the sub-
alpine region.

AMARYLLIDACE^:

Root bulbous (in all European genera). Leaves radical. - Perianth
petal-like, with 6 segments. Stamens 6, the anthers turned inwards.
Ovary 3-celled, inferior or adherent to the perianth-tube. Fruit a
capsule with several seeds, and 3-valved.

A large family, widely distributed over the globe, but chiefly in
dry, sunny countries.

NARCISSUS L.

Flowers solitary, or several together, terminal. Perianth with a
distinct tube above the ovary, and 6 usually spreading segments,
with a cup-shaped or tubular white or coloured crown at their base,
round the orifice of the tube.

A well-defined genus of few real species, chiefly South European
or Caucasian.

Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus L. Daffodil.

Bulb rather large. Leaves usually 2 or 3, about a foot long
when fully grown and J inch wide, bluish green. Stem rather
taller with a single, large, yellow flower. Perianth- tube about an
inch long, wider at the top, the segments ovate or oblong, paler
yellow. Crown slightly 6-lobed or wavy at the margin.

Meadows, orchards, and pastures, especially in the mountains
and sub-Alps, and extending to 6000 feet, as at Saas Fee. March to
June, according to situation.

Distribution. — Most of temperate and Southern Europe.
British.

Narcissus poeticus L. Poet's Narcissus.

Flowers large, usually solitary, white, with yellow crown and
red crenulated border, very fragrant.

Meadows and orchards, often abundant though local, and occa-
sionally, as at Mt. Cenis and Saas Fee, reaching 6000 feet. It
usually flowers in April and May, but later in the higher altitudes.

According to Keller and Schinz, it is only sub-spontaneous in
Switzerland ! In the Eastern Pyrenees it reaches 5000 feet.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe.

A beautiful reproduction of a photograph showing how this
Narcissus grows in fields at Chateau d'Oex appears in the Journ. of the

AMARYLLIDACE^E 275

Royal Hort. Soc. (1911), Part i, illustrating a paper by Monsieur
Correvon on Alpine Gardens.

Narcissus angustifolius Curtis.

This is perhaps only an Alpine variety of the last, with narrower
leaves, and rather smaller flowers with narrower divisions.

It is found in meadows of the Swiss Alps, sub- Alps, and Jura,
and descends to the plain.

Narcissus biflorus Curtis.

Flowers usually in pairs, cream-coloured, sweet-scented. Perianth-
tube slender, about an inch long, segments rather shorter, oval ;
crown very short, concave or broadly cup-shaped, slightly crenate,
yellow.

Meadows in Southern and Western Europe, Italy, Tyrol. April,
May.

Introduced into England. In Switzerland it is probably native
about Bex, Locarno, Bellinzona, and several places in Valais.

Narcissus incomparabilis Miller.

Leaves almost flat. Perianth segments pale yellow, twice as
long as the lobed corona.

In Switzerland found only near Lugano and at one or two places
in Valais. It is native in Provence, Italy, and Spain.

GALANTHUS L.
Galanthus nivalis L. Snowdrop.

The snowdrop is found occasionally in Swiss meadows, orchards,
and thickets, and flowers in February and March ; but it barely
reaches the sub-alpine regions.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, extending eastward
to the Caucasus and northward to Central Germany. In Britain
probably not indigenous.

LEUCOJUM L.

Like Galanthus, but scape 1-6 flowered. Petals larger. Leaves
more numerous and broader.

Leucojum vernum L. Spring Snowflake.

Stem 8-18 inches high, springing from a rather large bulb and
bearing a handsome, white, usually solitary blossom, drooping and
scented. Style broadly club-shaped. The ' petals ' usually have a
greenish yellow spot at the top, as do those of the Summer Snow-
flake. Corolla campanulate, with free divisions.

Damp meadows and woods in the mountains and lower Alps.
Widely spread in Switzerland, flowering in February and March,
and sold in the market at Geneva, etc.

Distribution, — Central Europe.

276 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

LILIACEyE

Perennial herbs with creeping, bulbous or clustered rootstock,
and either radical leaves and peduncles, or annual or biennial, leafy
flowering-stems. Flowers usually hermaphrodite. Perianth usually
6-lobed. Stamens 6, hypogynous, or attached to the perianth-
lobes. Styles i or 3, rarely o. Fruit usually a 3-celled capsule or
berry.

A large family of nearly 2000 species, widely spread over many
regions of the globe.

STREPTOPUS Rich.
Streptopm amplexifolius DC.

Rootstock oblique, knotted with abundant fibres. Stem erect,
simple or branched, zigzag, glabrous like the whole plant. Leaves
cordate-lanceolate, entire, acuminate, amplexicaul, sea-green on
under side. Flower-stalks usually solitary, i-flowered, bent down-
wards nearly at a right angle. Flowers whitish. Berries globular
or ellipsoidal, watery, scarlet.

Alpine and sub-alpine woods up to 6500 feet ; local. June, July.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Jura, Vosges, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corsica ; Central Europe, Asia,
North America.

CONVALLARIA L.

Convallaria majalis L. Lily of the valley.

Stem leafless except for a pair of large, elliptical, radical leaves.
Flowers white, nearly orbicular, in a unilateral raceme, sweet-
scented. Fruit a red berry.

Woods, sometimes in quantities, ascending occasionally to Alpine
thickets at over 5000 feet. May, June.

Distribution, — Europe, except Mediterranean, Western and
Northern Asia. British.

POLYGONATUM Toum. Solomon's Seal.

Flowers axillary and solitary or in racemes, pendulous, usually
greenish white. Sepals and petals united below. Stem leafy,
springing from a thick rhizome. Leaves broad (except in one or
two species), usually alternate. Fruit a berry.

Polygonatum multiftorum All.

Stem 2-3 feet high. Peduncles axillary, bearing 2-5 greenish
white and rather small flowers. Filaments of the stamens hairy.
Leaves oval or oblong. Berry blue-black.

Woods ; frequent. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, except Mediterranean, Western and
Northern Asia, Canada, British.

LILIACE^E 277

Polygonatum officinale All.

Stem 8-1 8 inches high, angular, peduncles usually bearing 1-2
flowers, which are larger than the last and scented. Leaves oval or
elliptic. Filaments glabrous. Berry blue-black.

Woods and shady, rocky places, especially on limestone ; com-
mon. April to June.

Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia, Japan.
England.

Polygonatum verticillatum All.

Rootstock creeping, knotted, horizontal. Stem angular, 1-3 feet
high, bearing whorls of 3-7 leaves, which are lanceolate or linear-
lanceolate, acuminate, entire, sessile, glabrous. Flowers axillary,
pendent, in whorls of about 6, 1-3 on each flower-stalk, greenish
white, tubular. Berries globular, violet, blue-black later.

Margins of woods, clearings, and shady, rocky places in the Alps
and sub- Alps up to 6500 feet. May, June.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ;
Vosges, Jura, Ardennes, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Central and Northern
Europe, Central and Western Asia. Rare in Britain.

MAIANTHEMUM Weber.
Maianthemum bifolium DC. (Plate XVII.) May Lily.

Rootstock creeping, slender. Stems 6-8 inches high, naked
but for 2 alternate, stalked, ovate, and deeply cordate, glabrous
leaves. Flowers small, white, in a terminal, short raceme. Perianth
of 4 divisions. Stamens 4. Ovary 2-celled. Berries small, red.

Mountain woods, often abundant in the lower Alps and in the
plains. May, June.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe ; Russian Asia,
N. America. Very rare in England (Yorkshire).

PARIS L.
Paris quadrifolia L. Herb-Paris.

Stem 9-12 inches or more high, with a whorl of 4 (rarely 5)
broadly ovate, shortly-acuminate, sessile leaves. Peduncle rising
about an inch above the leaves. Perianth yellowish green ; the
4 outer segments lanceolate, the 4 inner ones linear and rather
yellower ; all spreading to form a star-shaped flower. Anthers
linear, erect. Berry bluish black, as large as a pea.

Woods and shady thickets. Widely spread. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, to the Arctic Circle. Western Asia.
British.

278 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Ruscus L.

„ ^The only European monocotyledonous plants which are shrub-
like and almost woody. A small European and North African genus
known by its stiff, shrub-like habit and almost prickly leaves.

Ruscus aculeatus L. Butcher's Broom.

A stiff, dark green, much-bracted shrub 2-4 feet high. Leaves
very numerous, ovate, ending in a prickly point. Flowers small,
greenish white, apparently sessile in the middle of the ' leaves ' or
cladodes, which are really leaf-like branches. Actually the flowers
are borne on pedicels from the axil of the leaf and closely adnate
to the surface with a minute scaly bract under the flowers. Berry
red, large.

Woods, hedges, and rocky thickets. March to May.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Western and
Northern Asia, N. Africa. Introduced into Britain.

ERYTHRONIUM L.
Erythronium Dens-canis L. Dog-tooth Violet.

Flowers solitary on a leafless scape, large, pink spotted with white
and yellow, the 6 acute perianth-segments recurved abruptly, the
3 exterior ones furnished at the base with a little tooth on each
side. Leaves 2, opposite, radical, oblong, or elliptic, spotted with
red. Seed-vessel a 3-celled capsule.

Thickets and wooded hills in the south. March, April. In
Switzerland only native in Tessin, though naturalised near Geneva,
etc.

Distribution.- — Apennines, Southern Alps, Cevennes and Central
plateau of France, Corbieres, Pyrenees ; Central and Southern
Europe ; Caucasus, Siberia, Japan.

LILIUM L.

Bulbs scaly. Stem leafy. Flowers large. Stamens hypogynous
or attached to the base of the perianth-lobes. Anthers versatile.
Fruit a 3-celled capsule.

About 50 species inhabiting temperate regions of the northern
hemisphere, and particularly Japan.

Lilium Martagon L. Turk's-cap Lily. (Plate XXXII.)

2-3 feet high. Leaves in whorls of 6 or 8. Flowers dull pink or

lilac, spotted with dark purple, pendent, with recurved segments.
Alpine meadows and pastures and bushy places up to 7300 feet,

especially on limestone ; local, but sometimes quite numerous.

June to August.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Caucasus, Siberia,

Japan.

4/7 NATURAL SIZE.

PLATE XXXII.
i. LILIUM MARTAGON. 2. LIUUM CROCEUM. ». LUZULA PILOSA.

LILIACE^E 279

Lilium Pomponium L.

This brilliant red, handsome Lily, with leaiy stem and narrow
linear leaves, is 'found in stony places in the Ligurian Alps as high
as 6000 feet, but is never abundant. May to July.

Distribution. — Var, Basses-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Piedmont.

Lilium croceum Chaix. Tiger-Lily. (Plate XXXII.)

This well-known deep orange Lily is chiefly a native of the
warmer sub-alpine districts in the south, but in Switzerland it
sometimes reaches 5300 feet. It is the variety of L. bulbiferum L.
without bulbils. Both occur in Switzerland. June, July.

Distribution. — Jura, Switzerland, Western Alps, Corsica, Eastern
France.

ANTHERICUM L.

Flowers white, in a lax terminal raceme, on a leafless scape,
springing from a tuberous rootstock. Sepals and petals distinct,
spreading. Leaves narrow.

Anthericum ramosum L.

Stem 1-2 feet high, ending in a branched panicle. Peduncles
pointed very near the base. Flowers distant, pure white, star-
shaped. Leaves linear, channelled, shorter than the stem. Fruit
globular, 3-celled.

Sunny hills and sul^-alpine slopes. May, June.

Distribution. — Central Europe ; Taurus and Caucasus.

Anthericum Liliago L. (Plate XXX.)

Stem unusually shorter, not branched. Flowers larger (i inch
across). Raceme simple. Peduncles jointed below the middle.
Dry hills, mountains and sub- Alps ; local. May, June.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor.

In Switzerland it often grows with Paradisia, but the latter is a
more Alpine plant.

PARADISIA Mazzuc.
Paradisia Liliastrum Bertol. St. Bruno's Lily. (Plate XXX.)

Stem 1-2 feet high, leafless, simple, 3-5 flowered. Leaves
linear, radical, slightly furrowed. Flowers shortly stalked in a loose
raceme, very large (2 inches), pure white, and like those of a Lily,
but more delicate. Perianth 6-lobed, funnel-shaped.

Pastures of the Alps and sub- Alps ; scarce. June, July.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Spain and Portugal, Italy.

280 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

APHYLLANTHES L.

The only species is :
Aphyllanthes monspeliensis L.

A remarkable plant, 6-10 inches high, tufted and with hard root-
stock and fibrous roots. Stem naked, slender, rush-like. Leaves
reduced to scaly sheaths at the base of the stem. Flowers blue,
rarely white, star-shaped, with 6 spreading segments united at the
base into a tube. Stamens unequal, inserted near the base of the
petals, with glabrous filiform filaments. Stigma trifid. Capsules
within a scaly involucre, trigonous, acuminate.

Dry, hilly places in the South, especially on limestone. April to
June.

i Distribution.— Southern France, Pyrenees, Spain and Portugal,
N. Italy ; N. Africa.

Not strictly sub-alpine, this pretty little plant ascends to about
2000 feet on the Col di Tenda and on limestone hills in the south
of France. See note by the author in Gard. Chron., March i6th, 1912.

ALLIUM L. Onion.

Flowers in rounded umbels, surrounded by a membranous
spathe. Perianth-segments distinct. Foetid herbs with radical
leaves and a usually naked scape.

Allium Victorialis L.

Rootstock as thick as the finger, sheathed, 2-3 inches long. Stem
I -I J feet high, leafy nearly to the middle, naked and angular above.
Leaves elliptical or lanceolate, narrowed into a short leaf -stalk,
with a long sheath, persistent. Leaves 3-8 inches long, 1-3 inches
broad, grass-green. Perianth whitish green, funnel-shaped.
Stamens longer than perianth. Umbel globular, fertile, large.

Pastures and rocky, bushy places in the calcareous Alps ; local.
June to August.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Riesengebirge ; Eastern, Central,
and Western Alps ; Jura, Vosges, Black Forest, Cevennes, Pyrenees,
Caucasus, Northern Asia, N. America.

Allium Schcenoprasum L. Chives. (Plate XV.)

About a foot high. Umbel contracted into a dense globular head
of rather large purple-pink flowers. Perianth-segments very
pointed. Stamens longer than the perianth. Spatha of 2 or rarely
3 coloured bracts, shorter than the flowers. Leaves very narrow,
hollow.

Rocky and damp pastures, etc., in the sub- Alps and hills. June
to August.

Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia, N. America.
British.

LILIACEyE 281

An Alpine form of this is known as A. roseum Krock.=^4.
sibiricum L. It grows in Alpine pastures up to 8000 feet.

Allium angulosum L.

Stem 1-2 feet high, angular towards the top. Leaves linear,
strongly channelled. Spatha of 2-3 ovate-acute bracts. Umbel
rather flat. Flowers rose, rarely white. Stamens nearly as long as
the petals. Rootstock horizontal, with several oblong bulbs.

Damp meadows in the plains and lower mountains. June to
September.

Distribution. — Switzerland, France, Central and Northern Europe,
Caucasus, Siberia.

Allium fallax Roem. et Schultes.

A very similar plant with horizontal stock emitting oblong bulbs.
Leaves linear, convex, and obscurely nerved, without being keeled,
shorter than the stem.

Rocks in the mountains. June to September.

Distribution. — Jura, Alps, Cevennes, Corbieres, Pyrenees, Central
Europe, Armenia.

GAGEA Salisbury.

Flowers yellow or greenish, in umbels or corymbs, with leafy
bracts on a leafless scape springing from the bulb. Stamens
attached to the base of the perianth-segments.

Gagea lutea Ker-Gawler.

Bulbs small. Leaves I or very rarely 2, broadly linear, pointed.
Stem slender about 6 inches high. Flowers 3 or 4 in a loose, flat,
umbel-like raceme, with leaf-like bracts as long or longer than the
pedicels. Perianth-segments oblong and spreading, yellow, green
underneath.

Meadows, hedges, and orchards. May, June.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Vosges, Ardennes, Cevennes, Pyrenees,
Corsica, Europe, especially Central, Caucasus, Siberia. British.

Gagea fistulosa Ker-Gawler (G. Liottardi Schult.).

Bulbs i or 2 in each sheath. Leaves 1-3, usually 2, the one from
the larger bulb stouter, glabrous, trigonous, slightly furrowed,
tubular towards the apex. Bracts 2, large, opposite, bulging in the
middle, and 2 or 3 linear bracts in the branches of the umbel.
Flower-stalks woolly. Flowers variable ; the first have often only
4 perianth-segments and stamens, the latter ones only 5 segments,
yellow within and at the margin, green without.

Rich soil in high Alpine pastures (often near chalets) up to 7500
feet ; local. June, July.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps.

282 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Gagea minima Ker-Gawler.

The smallest species. A single linear root-leaf. Perianth-
segments lanceolate-acuminate, with point curved outwards.
Flowers 2-5 on glabrous pedicels. Bract solitary. Bulbs 2.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures ; rare. June.

Distribution. — Switzerland.

Gagea pratensis Dumort. (G. stenopetala Reich.).

Bulbs 2-4, without a common sheath. Plant downy, with
glabrous pedicels. Stems 3-8 inches high. One solitary root-leaf,
linear, narrower at each end. Stem-leaves 2, close to the umbel of
2-5 large flowers.

Fields and pastures. April, May.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, including Switzer-
land.

SCILLA L.

Bulbous plants with radical leaves. Flowers blue, mauve, or
rarely pink, in a terminal raceme. Stamens inserted on the
perianth, below the centre of the segments. Capsule globular or
trigonous, membranous.

Scilla bifolia L.

Plant 6-10 inches high, with 2 linear-lanceolate, spreading leaves.
Stem hollow. Inflorescence short, lax, few-flowered. Pedicels
erect, the lower ones several times as long as the azure-blue flowers.

Hedges, orchards, and thickets. April.

Distribution. — Switzerland, France (except west and extreme
south), S. Central Europe, extending to the Caucasus and Asia
Minor.

In Switzerland this takes the place of our Bluebell (Endymion
nutans), which is entirely absent from that country, though it
appears in the lower Pyrenees.

TULIPA L. Tulip.

Flowers large, solitary, on a leafy scape. Sepals and petals
distinct. Stamens hypogynous. Stigma sessile, with spreading
lobes. Leaves broad.

Tulipa sylvestris L.

Stem about a foot high, with usually 3 linear-lanceolate-acuminate
leaves and a single terminal yellow flower, drooping in the bud,
nearly erect when fully out. Perianth-segments acuminate.

Fields, meadows, vineyards, etc., in colonies. May, June.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, doubtfully native
in Switzerland and still more so in England.

LILIACE^ 283

Tulipa australis Link.

Stem about 9 inches high, with 2 narrow-lanceolate, acute leaves.
' Petals ' shining on upper surface, lanceolate, acuminate, yellow,
the outer ones reddish at the top.

Sub-alpine pastures ; local. April, May. In Southern France,
Italy, Spain, and Portugal it grows in the ordinary pastures.

Distribution. — Switzerland (rare), Central and Southern Europe,
from Portugal to Tyrol.

The variety alpestris (Jordan) grows at a height of 6000-7000 feet
in Dauphiny and the Maritime Alps.

FRITILLARIA L.

Bulbous herbs, with a more or less leafy stem, and one or more
rather large drooping flowers in a terminal raceme. Perianth bell-
shaped, with distinct segments as in Tulip, but the 3 inner segments
have a nectariferous cavity at their base. Stamens inserted at the
base of the perianth ; the anthers being attached a little above
their base. Capsule 3-celled, with several rather flat horizontal
seeds in each cell, as in Tulip.

About 50 species inhabit the temperate regions of the northern
hemisphere, being found in Europe, Asia, and North America.
They might be more cultivated, for many are both handsome and
early flowering.

Fritillaria delphinensis Gren.

Stem 8-12 inches high, leafy above, naked below. Leaves 4-8,
broadly lanceolate, flat, erect, alternate. Flower large, purple,
obscurely spotted, ij inch long. Perianth-segments connivant,
concave, the interior segments being oval-elliptic and rounded.
Capsule obovate.

High pastures in the Alps ; local. May to July.

Distribution. — Savoy, Dauphiny, Provence, Corsica, Northern
Italy, Tyrol.

Fritillaria Meleagris L. Common Fritillary.

Stem about a foot high, with 3 or 4 linear, thick, channelled
leaves, and a single terminal drooping flower (rarely two), dull red,
spotted with purple and yellowish white, or rarely white with
greenish spots.

Damp meadows, but scarcely attaining the sub-alpine region of
Switzerland or France. April.

Distribution. — Most of Europe, from France to the Caucasus and
northwards to England and Scandinavia.

284 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

VERATRUM L.

Rootstock creeping. Stems tall, robust, leafy. Leaves oval,
with very strong nerves. Flowers in branched panicles. Capsule
of 3 carpels united, many-seeded. Acrid and poisonous herbs.

Veratrum album L.

Stem simple, 2-3 feet high, erect, robust, leafy, covered below
with pubescent leaf-sheaths, thickened to a bulb at the base, scaly
or somewhat floccose like the flower-stalks, with large sessile leaves
regularly creased at the base, and bearing a paniculate inflorescence.
Leaves entire, creased, veined, sealed on long sheaths, glabrous
above, downy beneath, the lower ones oval, obtuse, the upper-
most lanceolate, acute. Flowers numerous, greenish white, in large
panicles. Perianth-segments longer than the flower-stalks.

Abundant in grassy Alpine and sub-alpine pastures. July to
September ; up to 8200 feet.

Distribution. — Carpathians, Riesengebirge ; Eastern, Central,
and Western Alps ; Jura, Vosges, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Caucasus,
Siberia, Japan.

The leaves resemble those of Gentiana lutea, and both plants are
avoided by the cattle and the mowers.

Veratrum nigrum L.

Flowers very dark red or purplish, smaller than the last. Perianth-
segments as long as the pedicels.

Alpine and sub-alpine meadows and pastures ; rare. July,
August.

Distribution. — Tessin (Monte Generoso), Eastern Alps, Maritime
Alps, Eastern Europe, Western and Northern Asia.

COLCHICUM L.

Flowers usually solitary, springing from a fleshy corm. Leaves
radical, appearing after the flowers. Flowers with long tube like
those of Crocus. Stamens 6. Ovary underground, but within the
lengthened tube of the perianth. Styles 3, very long and thread-
like. Capsule 3-valved.

Colchicum autumnale L. Autumn Crocus.

No leaves at time of flowering, but appearing later. Corm ending
in a sheath of brown scales enclosing the base of the flowers, whose
tube rises 3-5 inches above the ground, with 6 oblong segments,
pinkish lilac in colour, rarely white. In spring the leaves attain
a length of 8 or 10 inches, by an inch or more in breadth. The large
capsule is then raised above the ground by the lengthening of the
peduncle, and the leaves wither away.

Moist meadows and pastures in hilly districts. August, September.

285

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, rare in the north,
but abundant locally in England and Ireland.

Colchicum alpinum Lam. et DC.

Resembling the last, but smaller, and the sepals are narrower.
The leaves are also narrower and only 2 in number instead of 3 or 4.

Alpine meadows at about 5000-6000 feet, much less common
than the last, but sometimes growing with it. July, August.

Distribution. — Valais, Tessin, Western Alps, Sicily.

In Alpine Plants of Europe it was incorrectly stated to grow in
the Department of the Var and in Corsica. In Corsica it appears
as a still smaller variety called C. parvulum Ten.

BULBOCODIUM L.
Bulbocodium vernum L.

Flowers rose-lilac, the colour of Colchicum, or rarely white,
appearing with the lanceolate-concave root-leaves. Perianth-
segments spreading, united at the throat by small scales. Stamens
6. i style trifid at the top. Bulb ovoid, in a brown tunic. Capsule
oval, acute.

Alpine and sub-alpine pastures ; rare. April to June.

Distribution. — Western Alps, Pyrenees, Caucasus. Very local
in Switzerland (Valais, Mont Vuache, etc.).

TOFIELDIA Hudson.

Small plants with creeping rootstocks. Leaves grass-like,
chiefly radical, flattened vertically, and sheathing like the leaves
of an Iris. Flowers small, yellow, in terminal spikes. Perianth of 6
segments, persistent round the capsule, which is small and 3-lobed.
Stamens attached to the perianth-segments.

This small genus is chiefly North American.

Tofieldia palustris Huds.

Leaves radical, linear, sword-shaped and stiff, 3-nerved ; leaf-
stalk without bracts at the base. Flowers small, yellowish, in a
spike or raceme at the end of the scape.

Moist Alpine meadows and pastures ; 5000-9000 feet.

Distribution. — Eastern and Central Alps, and rarely in the
Western Alps (Mont Cenis and Monte Viso), Northern Europe,
Arctic regions. British.

Tofieldia calyculata L. (Plate XXIII.)

Leaves longer, many-nerved. Leaf -stalk hidden by bracts at
the base. Stems simple, sometimes a foot high, with a spike of
yellowish flowers. Commoner than the last, but not attaining so
great an elevation. June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Pyrenees, Central Europe.

286 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

JUNCACE.E

Usually stiff herbs with narrow, grass-like leaves and small
herbaceous or dry flowers in terminal clusters. Perianth regular,
dry and calyx-like, of 6 segments. Stamens 6, or rarely 3. Styles
single, with 3 stigmas. Capsule I or 3-celled, opening in 3 valves.
Seed small. A family spread over the whole of the globe.

JUNCUS L. Rush.

Leaves stiff and glabrous, usually cylindrical, at least at the
tips, or grooved. Flowers usually in irregular panicles, unequally
branched, with a dry, sheathing bract under each branch, cluster,
or flower. Capsule 3-celled. Seeds numerous.

Nearly 200 species, dispersed over the greater part of the globe.

Juncus filiformis L.

Rhizome creeping, throwing up many tufts. Stems 6-18 inches
long, wiry, filiform, pale green, faintly striate. Cyme few-flowered,
crowded, pale, small, halfway up the stem. Perianth-segments
lanceolate, exceeding the turbinate, obtuse, mucronate capsule.
Stamens 6.

Wet, stony places, margins of lakes, etc., in the Alps and sub- Alps.
June to August.

Distribution. — Alps, Vosges, Cevennes, Pyrenees, most of
Europe ; Northern Asia, N. America. Rare in Britain.

Juncus bufonius L. Toad-rush.

A very variable and often quite small annual Rush, pale-coloured,
with many stems, often in dense tufts from i-io inches high,
branching and flowering almost from the base. Leaves chiefly
radical, slender, and rather short. Flowers solitary or 2 or 3 together
with short leaf-like bracts. Perianth-segments narrow and pointed,
pale green, with scarious edges, the 3 outer ones longer than the
others. Capsule oblong, shorter than the perianth.

Wet places, spread widely over most of the globe from sea-level
to the sub-alpine zone, and flowering all the summer. Abundant
in Britain.

Juncus compressus Jacq.

Stems 6-18 inches high, erect, slightly compressed at the base,
with few leaves near the base, and shorter than the stem, and i or
2 leaves higher up, all very narrow and grooved. Flowers singly or
in small clusters in a rather loose terminal panicle, shining brown in
colour. Perianth-segments obtuse, short. Capsule obtuse, ovoid,
with a very short style.

Wet, marshy places, roadsides, etc., up to 6000 feet. June to
August.

Distribution, — Europe and Northern Asia. British.

JUNCACEjE 287

Juncus squarrosus L. Heath Rush.

Stem rigid, 8-12 inches high, with a terminal compound panicle.
Flowers usually quite distinct. Perianth-segments rather broad,
shining brown, with broad scarious borders. Capsule trigonous,
barely longer than the perianth. Leaves nearly all radical, numer-
ous, usually not half the length of the stem, very narrow, stiff, but
spreading.

Moors and damp heaths from sea-level in England to the Alpine
region of Switzerland, often in great colonies. July, August.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, and Northern Asia.
Also as a mountain plant in Southern Europe. British.

Juncus alpinus Vill.

Stems i-ij feet, slender, erect, leafy, jointed, usually cylindrical
like the leaves. Leaf-sheaths sharply keeled. Cyme with erect
branches. Perianth-segments all about the same length, blunt,
outer ones mucronate, purplish brown. Capsule glossy black,
obtuse, but mucronate, rather longer than the perianth.

Moist meadows and marshy Alps and sub- Alps ; 4000-6500 feet ;
and rarely descending to the Swiss plains. July to September.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Vosges, Cevennes, Corbieres, Pyrenees,
Central Europe, Western Asia, N. America, N. Britain.

Juncus articulatus L., /. lamprocarpus Ehrh. Jointed Rush.

Extremely variable in size and habit. Stems 4-18 inches high.
Rhizome short. Leaves sheathing the stem below, hollow and
cylindrical upwards, divided inside by cross partitions of pith which
give a jointed appearance. Flowers in small clusters of 3-10
arranged in compound, terminal panicles. Outer bracts usually
end in a short, fine leaf. Perianth-segments either all pointed or
the inner ones obtuse. Capsule rather pointed, either shorter or
more usually longer than the perianth.

Wet, and especially wet stony places ; abundant. June to
September.

Distribution. — Europe, Asia, Africa, N. America. British.

Juncus triglumis L.

A small species 3-6 inches high. Leaves radical, short, and grass-
like, sheathing the base of the stem. Flowers brown, in a single
terminal cluster of 2 or 3 and rarely 5. Perianth-segments obtuse,
scarious at the edges. Capsule obtuse, longer than the perianth.

Mountain bogs and wet Alpine pastures, from 5000-8000 feet.

Distribution. — -Alps, Pyrenees, Central and Northern Europe ;
Northern Asia and America. Rare in Britain.

288 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

LUZULA DC. Wood-rush.

Perennial herbs, differing from Juncus in their softer, flatter,
grass-like leaves, often fringed with silky hairs, and in their capsules
not divided into cells, and with not more than 3 erect and much
larger seeds. They mostly grow in drier places than Rushes.

Luzula lutea DC. Yellow Wood-rush. (Plate XXI.)

Plant 2-10 inches high. Leaves short, yellowish green, glabrous,
linear-lanceolate, shortly acuminate, broad for their length. Cyme
of dense clusters, spreading. Flowers pale yellow, sessile. Perianth-
divisions equal, shortly mucronate. Capsule oval, acute, shorter
than the perianth.

Common in damp pastures and on slopes of debris ; 5000-9000
feet. July, August. Prefers siliceous soil.

Distribution. — Tyrol, Switzerland, Western Alps as far south as
Provence, Italy, Spain, Pyrenees.

Luzula flavescens Gaud. (L. Luzulina Dalla Torre).

Rootstoek stoloniferous. Leaves with silky hairs. Flowers
yellowish, in ones or twos, at the end of spreading branches, forming
a loose terminal cyme.

Shady fir woods on limestone ; 2500-6000 feet. June, July.

Distribution. — -Alps, Pyrenees, Corsica.
Luzula Forsteri DC.

Rootstoek tufted. Stems 9-18 inches high. Leaves broadly
linear, silky. Outer perianth-segments acute ; inner ones obtuse,
mucronate. Capsule broadly ovate-conical, about the length of the
perianth.

Woods, from the plains to the lower mountains. May, June.

Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia, N.
Africa. British.

Luzula pilosa Willd. (Plate XXXII.)

Stem slender, rather shorter. Leaves broadly linear ; stem-
leaves shorter and narrower. Pedicels reflexed after flowering.
Perianth-segments lanceolate, acute, shorter than the obtuse,
conical, and shortly mucronate capsule.

Woods ; very common. April to June.

Distribution. — Europe, temperate Asia, and N. America.
Luzula sylvatica Gaudin.

The largest species 1-3 feet high, with strong, thick stems and
broadly linear leaves ( J inch or more broad) a foot or more long and
very hairy at the borders. Flowers in small clusters of 2 or 3,
in a large loose compound panicle. Capsule about the length of the
perianth.

NAIADACE^E 289

Mountain woods, especially on limestone, up to 5000 feet.
May, June.

The writer recently observed stunted specimens of this plant on
the extreme summit of Carrantual, the highest mountain in
Ireland.

Distribution. — Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus. British Isles.
Luzula nivea DC. (Plate XXIII.)

Stems i £-3 feet high, bearing a beautiful silvery white panicle
of flowers ; many flowers in a cluster. Capsule trigonous, globular,
shorter than the perianth.

Mountain woods, clearings, and sub-alpine slopes ; common.
June, July.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Cevennes, Central France, Corbieres,
Pyrenees.

This plant is well worth cultivating in gardens, for it is quite
handsome. The seed is easily collected in August.

Luzula campestris DC. and its var. multi-flora, L. nemorosa E.
Meyer, and L. spadicea DC. are also often seen in the lower Alpine
region of Switzerland.

NAIADACE^E

Plants usually growing in water. Leaves sheathing at the base,
often floating on water. Flowers green, bisexual or unisexual.
Perianths 3-4 lobed or o. Stamens hypogynous. Ovary of 1-4
carpels. Style I. One seed in each carpel.

POTAMOGETON L. Pond-weed.

Leaves floating and opaque or submerged and translucent,
stipulate or not. Perianth-segments 4, small, green. Stamens 4.

A rather large genus spread almost all over the globe ; but with
only one or two representatives in the high Alps.

Potamogeton filiformis Persoon.

Stem^branching from the base. Leaves linear-filiform, i-nerved.
Spikes on long stalks. Fruit globular, with very short beak.

Alpine lakes, and rarely lower. It is abundant at the shallower
end of the Lake of Mont Cenis (6300 feet) and in several Alpine
lakes in Switzerland. It flowers in July ; rare.

Distribution. — S. Tyrol, Switzerland, Western Alps, Central and
Northern Europe. British.

Potamogeton alpinus Balbis (P. rufescens Schrad.).

Stem simple, cylindrical ; submerged leaves narrow-lanceolate,
sub-obtuse, translucent ; floating-leaves, when they exist, coria-
ceous, oblong-spathulate, reddish. Stipules large. Fruiting-spike

290 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

2-4 cm. long, cylindrical, compact, on longish peduncles. Carpel
compressed, keeled at the back, with distinct beak.

Stagnant or slowly running water, especially in the mountains.

Distribution. — Europe, N. and N.W. Asia, N. America. British.

Many of the British species of Potamogeton are found in Switzer-
land, but chiefly in the plains.

JUNCAGINACE^E

A small family of about 12 species, inhabiting temperate and
cold regions of the Old and New Worlds. The characters resemble
those of Naiadaceae, but the leaves are erect and rush-like.

TRIGLOCHIN L.

Tufted herbs, with linear, fleshy, more or less cylindrical, radical
leaves, and leafless flower-stems, bearing a slender raceme or spike
of small green flowers without. bracts. Perianth of 6 nearly equal
segments. Fruit of 3 or 6 i -seeded carpels, each bearing a feathery
stigma. About 10 species, chiefly maritime, inhabiting temperate
regions.

Triglochin palustre L.

Leaves semi-cylindric, channelled, succulent, varying from 3-8
inches long, sheathing at the base. Flower-stems 6-12 inches high,
bearing a terminal slender spike of small greenish yellow flowers,
which are at first sessile, but very shortly pedicelled when mature.
Carpels 3, united, but separating on maturity. Fruit linear-fusiform.

Marshes and damp meadows in the plains and mountains. May
to September. It extends upwards to at least 8000 feet in Dauphiny
and Savoy ; though in England it often grows in swamps at sea-
level with T. maritimum.

Distribution. — Europe, Central and Northern Asia, N. America.

SCHEUCHZERIA L.

Dedicated to Scheuchzer, a Swiss botanist of the eighteenth
century. The genus comprises one species only. It differs chiefly
from the last genus in the stem being leafy. Flowers in racemes,
small, green, bracteate, on leafy scapes. Leaves slender. Fruit
composed of 3 inflated carpels.

Scheuchzeria palustris L.

A rush-like plant, 8-12 inches high. Leaves few, linear, sheathing
at the base, then narrowed and almost cylindrical ; the upper ones
passing into short, sheathing floral-bracts. Flowers few, rather
small, shortly pedicelled, yellowish green, forming a short loose,
terminal raceme on a curved scape. Perianth of 6 reflexed segments.

CYPERACE/E 291

Stamens 6. Carpels 3 (rarely 4, 5, or 6), divergent, ovate, apiculate,
2-seeded.

Peat-bogs and marshes, especially in the mountain and sub-alpine
region ; local. May to July.

Distribution. — Switzerland (rare), France, Jura, Alps, Central
Pyrenees ; Central and Northern Europe ; Russian Asia, N.
America. Very rare in Britain.

CYPERACE^)

Herbs, often resembling Grasses, but usually stiffer, with solid
stems and the sheaths of the leaves closed all round. Flowers in
little green or brown spikelets, which are either solitary and terminal
or several in a compound cluster, spike, or panicle. Each spikelet
is in the axil of a scale-like outer bract, and consists of several scale-
like glumes, each containing one sessile flower. Perianth composed
of bristles or small scales or none. Stamens usually 3 or sometimes
2. Ovary i-celled, the style being divided into 2 or 3 linear stigmas.
Fruit a small, seed-like nut, flattened when the style is 2-cleft,
trigonous when it is 3-cleft.

A large family of at least 2500 species, distributed all over the
globe, and especially in moist places and near water. Chiefly
represented in the Alps by numerous species of Car ex (Sedge).

SCIRPUS L.

Rootstock creeping. Spikelets solitary and terminal or in
irregular panicles, heads, or clusters. Glumes imbricate. Perianth-
bristles 1-6 or o, shorter than the glume. Stamens 3. Fruit a
compressed or trigonous nut.

A large genus, widely spread over the globe, many species grow-
ing in or near water. Very few attain any height in the mountains.

Scirpus alpinus Schleich.

Rootstock creeping and stoloniferous. Stem 5-12 inches high,
glabrous like the whole plant, very slender, simple, stiff, rough to
the touch, trigonous, furnished with several sheaths at the base.
Spikelets small, 5-6 mm. long, with 8-12 flowers. Bracts obtuse,
yellowish brown, with a central green nerve. Perianth-bristles
white. Fruit compressed, trigonous, I mm. long.

Marshes and borders of mountain lakes, from the plains up to at
least 8100 feet, as, e.g. by Lac Savine at Mont Cenis. July, August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees,
Northern and Western Asia ; N. America.

Scirpus cczspitosus L.

Stem 6-12 inches high, round, stiff, densely tufted, and covered
at the base with several imbricated sheaths, the outer ones brown,

292 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS'

the inner ones green, with narrow leafy tips. Spikelet about the
size^of that in the last species, with 6-8 flowers. Outer bracts obtuse,
green, as long as the spikelet. Perianth-bristles 4-6, longer than the
fruit, which is brown, slightly trigonous, I mm. long, mucronate.

Turf bogs and marshes in the plains and mountains up to at least
8100 feet, as by Lac Savine. Often in large quantity. May to
August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Europe,
except the Mediterranean Coast ; Corsica, Algeria, India, N.
America, Arctic Europe, Asia, and America. British.

Scirpus compressus Pers. (Blysmus compressus Panzer).

Rootstock creeping, stoloniferous. Stems 6-8 inches high,
glabrous, round below, trigonous above, leafy. Leaves grass-like,
slightly channelled. Spike terminal, brown, about an inch long,
consisting of about 10 oblong spikelets, sessile on opposite sides of
the axis. Outer bract broad, brown, glume-like, shorter than
mature spikelet. Glumes usually 8, imbricated round the spikelet.
Stamens 3. Stigmas 2. Bristles 3-6, twice as long as the ovoid,
tapering, or mucronate nut.

Marshes and wet, grassy places from the plains up to at least
8250 feet, as on the Aiguille du Goleon in Dauphiny. June to
August.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Caucasus,
Europe, Western and Russian Asia, Himalaya.

ERIOPHORUM L.

Characters and habit of Scirpus, except that the bristles finally
protrude far beyond the glumes, forming white, silky or cottony
tufts, and hence the English name of Cotton-grass. The style is
usually 3-cleft.

Only about a dozen species are known, restricted to the temperate
and cold regions of the northern hemisphere. Several are frequent
at considerable elevations in the Alps and other mountains.

Eriophorum alpinum L. Alpine Cotton-grass.

Rootstock creeping, branched, putting up solitary culms, but no
tufts of leaves. Stems tufted, 6-10 inches high, with imbricate
sheaths at the base ; the inner ones with short leafy tips. Spikelets
small, brown, and terminal. Glumes obtuse. After flowering the
bristles form a white, silky tuft, nearly an inch in length. With the
exception of these silky hairs the plant closely resembles Scirpus
ccespitosus, the Tufted Scirpus.

Turfy Alpine, sub-alpine, and Arctic bogs, descending to the
plain ; local. May to July.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Sudetic Mountains ; Central and
Western Alps ; Black Forest ; Jura ; Russian Asia, Arctic Europe,

CYPERACE^E 293

Asia, and America. Extinct in Britain(P), it having formerly been
found near Forfar.

Eriophorum vaginatum L. (Plate V.)

Like E. Scheuchzeri, but taller and with more numerous leaves
which are rough at the edges, while those of that species are soft
and smooth. The root is not stoloniferous, and the stems are in
compact tufts and furnished with broad sheaths at the base, with
only a very short blade. Leaves linear, almost subulate, shorter
than the stem. Spikelet solitary, terminal, ovoid, of a deep olive-
green. Silky bristles very numerous, at length forming white,
cottony tufts about an inch in diameter. These tufts are nearly
globular as in the last species.

Turfy bogs and wet places from the plains up to the high moun-
tains. May to July.

Distribution. — Northern and Central Europe ; Caucasus ;
Siberia, North America. Common in the British Isles.

Eriophorum angustifolium Roth. (E. polystachyon L. part.).

Stem 1-2 feet high. Root creeping, stoloniferous. Leaves few,
shorter than the stem, channelled, and more or less triangular.
Flowers in a terminal umbel of several spikelets, some almost sessile,
others stalked and drooping. Outer bracts rather leafy. Silky
bristles very numerous, forming oval, cottony tufts, i-i| inch in
length.

Bogs and wet places, from the plains up to the lower mountains.
May to July.

Distribution. — The commonest species in Europe, Northern Asia,
and North America. British.

SCHCENUS L.

Stiff and rush-like herbs. Glumes in 2 opposite rows. Spikelets
in compressed terminal bracteate heads. Flowers few, bisexual.
Bristles 1-6. Stamens 3.

Schcenus nigricans L.

Tufted with stiff, rush -like stems, 12-18 inches high. Leaves
short, stiff, almost radical, with dark, glossy brown sheaths.
Spikelets dark shining brown or almost black, sessile, in compact,
terminal heads, with 2 or 3 broad, brown bracts, one of which has a
stiff, erect needle nearly an inch long. Glumes pointed, keeled, and
rough at the border.

Marshes, in a variety of situations, and mountain bogs. May,
June.

Distribution. — Europe, Caucasus, Western Asia, N. Africa.
British.

294 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Schcenus ferrugineus L.

A smaller plant, 6-12 inches high, with fewer and smaller spike-
lets of a rusty brown colour, whose bracts are shorter and barely the
length of the whole spike. Leaves much shorter than the stem,
very fine and pointed.

Marshes and mountain bogs, usually in colonies. May, June.

Distribution. — Switzerland, France, Central and Northern Europe.

RHYNCHOSPORA Vahl.

Several spikelets in one or more clusters, forming axillary or
terminal heads. Spikelets oblong, pointed. Glumes imbricated
round the axis, the lower and shorter ones without any flower.
Stamens 3 or rarely 2. Bristles 6 or more, shorter than the glumes.
Nut globular or flattened, tapering into a bifid style.

A large genus spread over most of the globe, but with few
European species.

Rhynchospora alba Vahl.

Stems 6-12 inches high, slender, in tufts. Leaves chiefly radical,
.short, and subulate. Bracts barely longer than the flowers. Spike-
lets nearly white, in a small terminal cluster, often with I or 2
smaller clusters on fine peduncles in the axils of the stem-leaves.
Spikelets with I or 2 flowers and several empty glumes below.
Bristles about 12.

In colonies in bogs in the plains and mountains. July, August.

Distribution. — Europe, except Mediterranean, Western Asia,
N. America. British.

Rhynchospora fusca Aiton.

Rootstock elongate. Spikelets dark brown. Bristles 5 or 6,
barbed upwards, twice as long as the obovoid fruit. Very like the
last species except in colour.

Bogs and marshes ; rare. May to October.

Distribution. — Switzerland, France, England, Ireland ; Western,
Central, and Northern Europe. N.E. America.

CAREX L.

Monoecious, rarely dicecious herbs, with Grass-like leaves, chiefly
radical or on the lower part of the stem ; mostly perennial. Spike-
lets solitary or several in a terminal spike, or the lower ones distant,
or sometimes forming a short compound spike or panicle. Glumes
imbricate. Male flowers with 3 or rarely 2 stamens, but without
perianth-bristles. Female flowers enclosed in an inflated sack or
utricle, contracted at the top, from which projects a style with
either 2 or 3 stigmas. Fruit a compressed or trigonous nut enclosed
in the perigynium.

CYPERACE^i 295

A very large genus of about 800 species, spread widely over
Europe, Northern Asia, and North America, extending into the
mountain ranges of the tropics, and reappearing in the temperate
regions of the southern hemisphere. Many species, and most of the
large ones, grow in wet places.

In order to correctly determine many kinds, it is necessary to
have specimens with more or less ripe fruit.

In the European Alps about 20 species reach the upper limit of
Alpine pastures, or about 8000 feet ; and at least another score are
found between 5000 and 7000 feet. At Mont Cenis alone the author
collected 33 species of Carex from above 6000 feet in July and
August, 1907. l It is probable that in the whole of Switzerland so
large a number could not be found at that height ; though Switzer-
land yields about 88 species and sub-species, or a few more than are
found in the British Isles.

In the present work it is only possible to give brief descriptions of
some of the most characteristic species commonly found in sub-
alpine regions.

Carex pulicaris L. Flea Sedge.

A small tufted species, 4-8 inches high, with narrow leaves shorter
than the stem. Spikelet terminal and solitary, male in the upper
half, the lower flowers being female. Stigmas 2. Fruit ovate,
sessile and erect when young, becoming oblong and pointed and
horizontal or reflected when ripe and resembling fleas.

Marshes and wet meadows in the plains and sub- Alps. May,
June.

Distribution. — Most of Europe from Scandinavia to the Caucasus.
British.

Carex microglochin Wahl.

A somewhat similar species in habit and size. Spikelet 10-12
flowered. Fruit with a long, green bristle at the base, ovate-
lanceolate, 5 mm. long, dark brown. Leaves setaceous, channelled.

Alpine and sub-alpine marshes and bogs ; rare. June.

Distribution. — Switzerland (Orisons, Valais, etc.), Mt. Cenis,
Savoy, Central and Northern Europe and Asia ; Greenland.

Carex pauciflora Lightfoot.

A small slender species, with long creeping runners and slightly
branched stem, decumbent at the base, occasionally tufted. Leaves
narrow, the upper ones sheathing the stem to the middle. Spikelet
solitary, pale brown, with a few flowers, the male being uppermost.
Stigmas 3. Fruit narrow and pointed, spreading or reflexed when
ripe, nearly as long as the spikelet.

1 H. S. Thompson, Liste des Phantrogames et Crypt, vase, rtcueillis au-dessus de
2440 metres dans les districts du Mont-Cenis, de la Savoie, du Dauphinl et des Alpes-
Marit. In Bulletin d'Acad. de Geograph. Bot. (1908).

296 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Swamps and peat bogs from the plains to the Alps. May.
Rare in Switzerland and common in the Jura.
Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, Northern and
Arctic Asia and America. British.

Carex dioica L.

A slender dioecious species, 6 or 8 inches high, with creeping root-
stock. Leaves very narrow, setaceous, tufted and shorter than the
stem. Spikelets brown, solitary, the male spikelets being linear
and the female shorter and ovoid. Fruits ovoid, with long mucro.
Stigma 2. Glumes oval, margined.

Peat bogs and marshes up to about 5500 feet. May, June.

Distribution. — Alps, Pyrenees, Jura, etc., Central and Northern
and Arctic Europe ; Northern and Arctic Asia and America.
British.

Car ex disticha Hudson (C. intermedia Good.).

Stems 1-3 feet, leafy, trigonous. Rootstock creeping. Leaves
broad, flat. Spikelets in an elongated head, sub-distichous, 1-2
inches long, pale brown, sometimes compound at the base, the
upper and lower spikelets usually wholly male. Stigmas 2 ; bracts
small, never leafy. Nut ovoid, ferruginous.

Wet meadows, marshes, and river-sides in the plains and sub-
Alps. May.

Distribution. — Europe, Northern Asia, N. America. British.

Car ex leporina L. (C. ovalis L.). (Plate XXII.)

Rootstock short, horizontal. Stems attaining a foot in height.
Leaves much shorter, about 3 mm. broad. Spikelets 4-6, sessile,
distinct, but very close together, ovoid, brownish green and glossy,
consisting chiefly of female flowers with a few males at the base
of each spikelet. Outer bracts like the glumes. Stigmas 2. Fruits
flat, winged.

Damp meadows, pastures, and waste places from the plains to the
Alps. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe and Northern Asia. British.

The figure gives a young, immature state of the plant.

Car ex stellulata Good. (C. echinata Murray).

A small, tufted species 6-9 inches high, with leaves rather
shorter than the stem. Spikelets 3 or 4, the 2 uppermost closer
than the rest, oval-oblong at first, but on maturity the long-beaked
fruits spread and give an almost star-shaped form to the spikelet.
The male flowers occupy the lower half of the top spikelet and part
of the base of the others. Stigmas 2. Fruit oblong, tapering
into a long beak, not winged.

Marshes and peat bogs from the plains to the Alps. May, June.

297

Distribution. — Europe from Italy and Spain to the Arctic regions,
Northern Asia, North America. British.

Carex canescens L.

Stems tufted, at least a foot high, with long, narrow leaves.
Spikelets 4-6, slightly distant, of a pale green. Male flowers
usually very few, at the base of most of the spikelets. Stigmas 2.
Fruits not longer than the glumes, rounded at the top, with a small
point, but not tapering into a beak like the last.

Bogs and marshy meadows ; less frequent in the Alps than in
the plains. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe from the Arctic regions to the Caucasus ;
N. America. British.

Carex remota L.

A slender, leafy, green sedge with stems a foot or more high
and very long, narrow leaves. Easily known by its small, pale
green spikelets at considerable distances from each other, and the
outer bracts of 3 or 4 lowest spikelets being very long and leaf-like.
The spikelets are mixed, male at the base, but the lowest is almost
entirely female. Fruits tapering to a point.

Woods, hedges, and shady places ; common. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, Central and Northern Asia. British.

Carex Goodenowii Gay.

<\. very variable species. Stems 6-18 inches high, rigid, rough
above. Leaves very narrow. Spikelets 3-5, sub-sessile, erect,
close or rather distant. Inflorescence composed of chiefly female
spikelets below, and a more slender male spikelet above. Glumes
imbricate, dark, obtuse, with green midrib. Beak very short.
Terete, smooth. Stigmas 2. Fruit orbicular, rarely triquetrous.

Damp places and marshes ; common up to the Alps. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia. British.
Carex flacca Schreber (C. glauca Scop.).

A very glaucous plant with creeping rootstock. Stems round,
9-18 inches high, varying like the leaves, according to the habitat.
Leaves variable in length but always glaucous, often as long as the
stems. Male spikelets usually 2 or 3 at the top, stalked ; female
spikelets 2 or 3, more compact, broader, on longer stalks and more
or less drooping when mature, and the sheaths of the leafy bracts
are very short. Glumes dark brown. Stigmas 3. Fruits ovoid,
with 3 obtuse angles, not beaked.

Pastures (both wet and dry) and waste places ; very common
and extending to the lower Alps. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus
and northward to the Arctic regions ; N. America. British.

298 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Carex claviformis Hoppe.

Considered by some a sub-species of C. ftacca. It is usually
greener, larger, and more robust, with thick, knotted stolons.
Female spikelets loose near the base, denser and rounder at the
apex, which makes them almost club-shaped. Fruit often reddish.

Damp Alpine and sub-alpine pastures and marshes, rather rare
except in Switzerland. May to July.

Distribution. — Switzerland, Savoy, Mt. Cenis, and elsewhere in
the Italian Alps, Tyrol, Carinthia, Carniola.

Carex pallescens L. Pale Sedge.

Stems tufted, slender, leafy at the base, about a foot high.
Leaves narrow and pointed. Terminal spikelet male ; female
spikelets 2 or rarely 3, shortly stalked, usually slightly drooping,
oblong, shorter than the male one and all at short distances below it.
Bracts leafy, with a short sheathing base. Stigmas 3. Fruits
obtuse, glabrous.

Damp mountain pastures and woods ; widely spread. May, June.

Distribution. — Europe, Northern and Arctic Asia, N. America.
British.

Carex sylvatica L. Wood Sedge.

Stem 1-2 feet high, slender, tufted at the base. Leaves and
leaf-bracts flaccid, the latter with long sheaths. The leaves are
broader than in any of the previous species. Terminal spikelet
male, about an inch long, lower spikelets 2-4, usually all female,
slightly longer, loose-flowered on slender stalks and at length
more or less drooping. Glumes very pointed. Stigmas 3. Fruit
glabrous, with a long beak.

Woods and shady ravines, widely spread.

Distribution. — Europe and Russian Asia, except extreme North.
British.

Carex strigosa Hudson.

Closely resembling C. sylvatica, but the female spikelets are
longer (at least 2 inches long) and more slender, and the peduncles
are much shorter and almost hidden in the long sheaths of the
bracts. Glumes lanceolate, green. Fruits tapering to a point,
but not in a long beak as in the last species. Stigmas 3.

Mountain woods ; scarce but widely spread ; rare in Switzerland.
May, June.

Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe from France,
Denmark and the British Isles to the Caucasus.

Carex capillaris L.

A small, slender plant 3-6 inches high, with extremely slender,
rounded stems scarcely longer than the leaves. Terminal spikelet

299

male, small. Female spikelets 2 or 3, lower down, on long capillary
peduncles, so that they are nodding, distant, and lax. Female
spikelet of 5-10 flowers, but the spikelet is very small and short.
Bracts shortly leafy, the lower bract having a long sheath. Glumes
scarious at the margins. Stigmas 3. Fruit trigonous, not nerved,
tapering into a short beak. M

Damp and sandy Alpine pastures, borders of springs and wet
rocks in the Alps and sub-Alps, up to 8200 feet at least. July.
Often growing with other Carices.

Distribution. — Alps ; Pyrenees, Caucasus, Arctic Europe and
Asia ; North America ; North Britain.

Carex alba Scop.

A slender species 6-12 inches high, with narrow linear leaves
with yellow-brown sheaths. Stem erect, rough at the edge, bearing
1-3 female, long-stalked spikelets, the upper one usually extending
above the white, male spikelet. Stem-leaves are usually no more
than long sheaths surrounding the base of the flower-stalks. Bracts
oval, acuminate, whitish, as long as the trigonous, greenish fruit,
which is finely nerved and beaked.

Mountain woods, especially in limestone districts, as, e.g. near
Engelberg. May, June.

Distribution. — Alps, Eastern and Southern France, Cevennes,
Corbieres ; Central Europe, N. America.

Carex ferruginea Scop. (Plate X.)

Rootstock creeping, stoloniferous. Stems slender, about a foot
high, sometimes more. Spikelets dark brown. Lowermost spikelets
usually pendent on longish, delicate stalks. Glumes rusty brown.
Fruit elliptical, flat in the anterior part, glabrous, with a short
bifid beak.

Shady places in the Alps from about 4000 to 7000 feet. June.

Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Eastern Pyrenees, mountains of
Central Europe.

Carex flava L. Yellow Sedge. (Plate XXII.)

Densely tufted and leafy, from 4-12 inches high, and often
yellowish in colour, especially the fruiting spikelets. Leaves flat.
Terminal spikelet male. Female spikelets 1-3 sessile or shortly
stalked and near the male, and often there is one female spikelet
much lower down on a longer stalk. Bracts leaf-like and sheathing
at the base. Stigmas 3. Fruits ovoid, distinctly nerved, with a
prominent beak.

Damp meadows, peat bogs, etc., in the plains and lower moun-
tains. May to July.

Distribution. — Europe from the Mediterranean to the Arctic
regions, Russian Asia, N. America. British.

300 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

There are 2 sub-species found in Switzerland :

Car ex aderi Retz., with shorter stems and smaller fruits with
short beak ; and C. lepidocarpa Tausch., with longer inflorescence,
male spikelet with long stem, female spikelets distant and fruits
with longer beak.

GRAMINE.E. (The Grass family.)

Herbs, with usually hollow stems, except at the nodes, and
narrow, parallel- veined, entire, alternate leaves, sheathing at the
base ; but the sheaths usually split open on the side opposite the
blade, and end in a small appendage called a ligule. Flowers in
spikelets, arranged in spikes, racemes, or panicles. Each spikelet
generally consists of 3 or more chaff-like scales or bracts called
glumes, arranged alternately, with their concave face towards the
axis. The 2 lowest glumes are usually empty, but the flowering
glumes enclose a smaller scale called a palea, which usually has 2
longitudinal veins or ribs. The flower is within, the palea or between
it and the flowering glume. The true flower usually consists of
2 almost microscopical scales called lodicules and of 3 stamens
(rarely 6) and of an ovary with one cell and one ovule, crowned
by two more or less feathery styles. However, the flower is generally
considered to include the flowering glume and the palea. The fruit
is a i-seeded grain, consisting of the real seed and pericarp ; and
is either free or enclosed. The embryo or germ is small, at the
base of a mass of mealy albumen.

Several other points will arise in any extended and exact study
of this large and somewhat difficult family — the Grasses are dis-
tinctly more difficult than the Sedges, and they require careful
dissection — but the outline indicated above is sufficient for the
purpose of the average botanical student.

GraminecB is one of the largest families, its representatives being
spread throughout the globe. At least 4000 species are known to
Science. Grasses are found from the burning plains of the Equator
towards the North and South Pole as far as any Flowering plants
have been seen, and from the coast (several actually growing in
and matting together the sands of the sea-shore) to the snow-capped
summits of some of the highest mountains. In temperate regions
they form the chief green carpeting of the soil, while in tropical
climates some species of Bamboo attain the height of tall trees.
Lastly, but of most importance, in every country inhabited by
man grasses are cultivated as cereals for food. Switzerland in
bygone ages knew something of the value of these cereals, for
several varieties of Barley were found in Swiss lake dwellings in
deposits of the Stone Period.

About 70 species of true Grasses are found in the High Alps of
Central Europe, of which number many extend above 8000 feet.

GRAMINE^ 301

More than 100 others grow in the lower mountains and adjacent
plains, but it is almost impossible to say what proportion of the
whole are to be found in the sub- Alps, and the number of grasses
which are purely sub-alpine is extremely small.

The following genera comprise most of the high Alpine species
and some of the sub-alpine, viz. Phleum, Agrostis, Deschampsia,
Stipa, Trisetum, Avena, Sesleria, Poa, and Festuca.

In addition there are many sub-alpine grasses which belong
to the following genera, viz. Alopecurus, Air a, Anthoxanthum,
Milium, Sieglingia (Triodia), Koeleria, Melica, Cynosurus, Nardus.

In the whole of Switzerland there are, on the authority of Schinz
and Keller, 169 species of Grammes in addition to a few sub-species.1
In the British Isles there are not more than about 135 species,
excluding all varieties, notwithstanding the very long coast-
line and great variety of geological formation.

We regret that from want of space it is impossible to give de-
scriptions of the grasses, for any adequate account of so numerous
a family would make the volume too large.

1 Flore de la Sut'sse, by Schinz and Keller. Ed. fran9aise par Wilczek et
Schinz (1909).

CLASS III. GYMNOSPERM^E

CONIFERS

Trees or shrubs with resinous juice, and usually rigid, subulate
leaves, often in fascicles and entire in the European genera. Flowers
monoecious or dioecious. Male flowers in catkins, of i or more
anthers, female flowers solitary or in cones of I or more, sessile,
naked, ovules, placed on a bract or open carpellary leaf. Fruit a
cone or berry.

An extensive family spread over the whole globe.

PlNUS L.

Trees with linear or subulate, fascicled leaves. Male catkins
in spikes of many 2-celled anthers. Cone ripening the second year.
Ovules 2, inverted and adnate to the carpellary leaf.

Pinus montana Miller.

Leaves narrowly linear, flat or channelled on the upper side,
convex below, mucronate, scarcely acicular, in pairs within a sheath,
persistent. Male catkins long, congregated in whorled spikes at
the base of this year's shoots. Female catkins oval or longer,
solitary, or 2-6 together, in the first year at the apex of this year's
shoot, in the second year lateral from the growth of a new shoot,
erect during and after flowering, spreading obliquely or horizontally
when ripe, sessile. Scales nearly as long as the carpellary leaves
at the time of flowering, and more or less concealing them. Cones
ovate or ovate-conical before opening. Scales of cone variously
spathulate, compressed, 3-sided ; shield within an irregularly
4-cornered or nearly 3-cornered beak.

A tree, with shorter trunk and prostrate or ascending branches
in the form known as P. Mughus, often covering large tracts in
rocky Alpine slopes ; 4400-7500 feet. May, June.

The short form is more especially found on limestone ; the
taller tree grows in the Alps and sub- Alps, and in Swiss peat-mosses
descends to 2000 feet above sea-level.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western
Alps ; Jura, Vosges, Pyrenees, Caucasus ; Central and Eastern
Europe.

Pinus uncinata Ramd. is a variety of the above with the bosses

302

CONIFERS 303

of the scales on the lower side of the cone larger than those which
are turned towards the trunk, recurved in the form of a hook. It
becomes a tall tree in the Valais and in Vaud, but is little more
than a shrub in the Jura.

Pinus sylvestris L. Scots Pine.

Cones very shortly stalked, recurved when young, symmetrical,
conical. Scales rhomboid, with flat boss and a transverse keel and
deciduous point. Leaves in pairs, stiffly subulate, about 2 inches
long, glaucous inside. The heart-wood is reddish. Seeds winged,
small.

This well-known Pine reaches about 7300 feet in the Swiss
(Valais) Alps, where it is rare, and possibly rather higher in some
of the Western Alps of France and Italy. May.

Distribution. — Alps, Vosges, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corbieres,
Norway, Northern and Central Europe, mountains of Southern
Europe, Caucasus, Russian Asia,1 Scotch Highlands. Usually
planted elsewhere.

Pinus Cembra L. Arolla or Siberian Stone Pine.

Stem erect. Leaves in bundles of 5, stiff, trigonous, about
2 1 inches long. Cones of this year erect, in groups of 3 or 4 at
end of branches, stalked ; when ripe, large, sessile, ovate, obtuse.
Scales flat, erect, downy, rather spreading at the apex. Shield
very small, almost obsolete. Seed not winged, edible. A tree of
moderate size. Leaves bluish green when young. Cones solitary
or in twos or threes, attaining the size of the fist, dark violet-brown.
The seeds are eaten in the Eastern Alps under the name of ' Zirbel-
nuss.'

Alps from 4400-8000 feet (extreme limits). May, June. Local.

Distribution. — Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western Alps,
Central and Northern Europe, Siberia. In Switzerland in the
Pennine Chain from the Dranse to the Simplon, the Bernese Ober-
land, and Engadine. It is often associated with the Larch. There
are proofs of more elevated ancient limits in many localities.

A beautiful photograph of " A typical Alp or mountain pasture,
with the Stone Pine in the foreground (6300 feet) " appears in
Dr. Arber's Plant Life in Alpine Switzerland, p. 24.

Pinus Strobus L. Weymouth Pine.

A tree attaining 80 feet in height. Leaves in bundles of 5, 2-4
inches long, slender, trigonous, green and glossy on one side,
glaucous on the 2 other sides. Cone shortly peduncled, up to 6
inches long, cylindrical and tapering, pendent, chocolate-brown in
colour. Scales rather thin, smooth, striated.

1 In Siberia the Scots Pine reaches lat. 62^° (Seebohm), and in Norway it reaches
the North Cape, 300 miles within the Arctic Circle.

304 SUB- ALPINE PLANTS

Completely naturalised and often cultivated in Switzerland and
France, both in masses and singly in the forests. May. Originally
from N. America.

Pinus Laricio L.

This southern species is cultivated in plantations, and solitary
specimens are occasionally seen in forests, but it is not supposed to
be native in Switzerland. The leaves are long and glaucous, the
cones ovoid-conical, sub-sessile, the boss of the scales pale yellow.
Heart-wood blackish grey.

ABIES Miller. Fir.

Characters the same as those of Pinus, but the leaves are solitary
and evergreen.

Abies alba Miller (A. pectinata DC.). Silver Fir.

Leaves pectinate, 2-5 cms. long, with 2 white lines beneath,
disposed all round the fruiting twigs at the top. Cone-cylindrical,
reddish violet first, then green, erect, shorter than in A. excelsa
(8-10 cms.), with prominent bracts. Scales dentate, shortly
petioled, and falling with the seeds. Heart-wood light grey.

According to Schinz and Wilczek it reaches a height of 1800
metres in Switzerland, and forms great belts of forest from about
1000-1600 metres, and to 1300 metres in the Jura. According to
my own observation in the Eastern Pyrenees this tree forms (with
P. austriaca and P, picea) the chief forests, and in certain districts
the forest-belt lies between about 5500 and 6700 feet. May.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Vosges, Jura,
Pyrenees, Corsica ; Central and Southern Europe, Caucasus, Asia
Minor.

PICEA Dietrich.

Leaves (or needles) compressed, 4-angled. Cone pendent,
falling in one piece (in A bies the scales only fall) , the scales persistent
on the rachis.

Picea excelsa Link (Abies excelsa Poir.). Spruce Fir.

Leaves mucronate, somewhat 4-edged, green, disposed equally
all round the twigs. Cone cylindrical (10-15 cms.), pendulous,
without bracts. Scales dentate, sessile, and persistent. Heart-
wood brown.

In Switzerland it reaches from the plains to the upper limit of
trees (1650-1980 metres), except in Tessin, the Grisons and the
Valais, where the Larch and the Arolla Pine (P. Cembra) are the
highest trees (Schinz).

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Jura,
Vosges, Central and Northern Europe, Siberia. Very often planted.

CONIFERS 305

LARIX Miller. Larch.

Leaves fascicled, deciduous. Seeds winged.
Larix euvopcea DC. (L. decidua Miller).

A tree sometimes attaining a height of 160 feet. Leaves, or
needles, in fascicles of 20-30, slightly channelled, deciduous,
bright green, turning yellow-ochre in autumn. Cone ovoid, erect,
reddish purple when young, grey-brown when mature, 3-4 cm. long,
with persistent scales.

This most useful timber tree reaches 2400 m. (7870 feet) in
Switzerland and the Western Alps — the extreme limit of trees,
and is almost totally absent from the Jura and sub- Alps. Very
fine specimens can be seen just above Saas Fee in Switzerland.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps. Central
Europe, Siberia. Elsewhere planted.

On the Yen-e-say River Henry Seebohm tells us the Larch and
Birch extend further than any other trees, viz. to lat. 69!°, and
the Spruce comes next.1

In 1910 a book on Tree Limits in the Eastern Alps was published
by Dr. Richard Marek2 in which a table was given which shows
some of Kerner's results compared with Marek's, which were
largely based on already published maps and literature. The
table is as follows :

yy f • . Upper limit of trees, Limit of forest, Difference

Kerner (metres). Marek (metres). (metres).

Central Alps (Ortler). 2307 . . 2192 . . 115

(Oetzthal). 2212 . . 2087 . . 125

„ Eastern Tyrol, Salzburg 1991 . . 1910 . . 81

Northern Tyrolese Limestone Alps 1904 . . 1897 . . 7

South Tyrolese Alps 2086 . . 1936 ... 150

North-Eastern Limestone Alps 1674 . . 1622 . . 52

South-Eastern ,, ,, 1833 . . 1793 . . 40

Average difference 82 metres.

TAXUS L. Yew.

Trees or shrubs with short, linear, evergreen leaves. Flowers
mostly dioecious. Catkin very small, with imbricated scales at the
base ; the males ending in a cluster of stamens ; the females con-
sisting in a single erect ovule with a small cup-shaped disk round its
base. Fruit a hard seed, partly embedded in a pulpy, berry-like
cup.

A small genus, extending round the northern hemisphere.

Taxus baccata L. Common Yew.

A dark, evergreen, much-branched tree, with thick trunk and
hard wood, attaining a great age. Leaves not an inch long, inserted

1 Henry Seebohm, Siberia in Asia.

2 Marek, Waldgrenzstudien in den Oesterreichischen Alpen,

306 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

all round the branches, but spreading in one plane in two opposite
rows, convex and shining on the upper side. Catkins very small,
in the axils of the leaves. Fruits small, but conspicuous by their
bright, pinkish red, juicy cups.

Rocks and limestone cliffs and thickets in the plains and moun-
tain region. April, May.

Fruit in August and September. In Switzerland spread over all
the geological subsoils in coniferous and ordinary forests ; in the
hills and sub-Alps up to 1400 m. (Schinz) in the Jura and valley
of the Rhone and in Tessin.

Distribution. — Central Europe, mountains of Southern Europe,
extending northward to Scandinavia and eastward to the Caucasus
and mountains of Central and Northern Asia ; Algeria.

Probably native in England on chalk and limestone. In Kingley
Vale, near Chichester, there is perhaps one of the finest examples
in Europe of a nearly pure Yew- wood.1

JUNIPERUS L. Juniper.

Shrubs with glaucous, subulate, stiff and pointed or scale-like
leaves. Cone berry-like, small, composed of fleshy scales, blue
when ripe (in the second year). Ovules i or 2 under each scale,
erect.

About 30 species spread over the northern hemisphere.

Juniperus communis L.

A much-branched, evergreen shrub, often procumbent, but
usually ascending, 2-4 feet high. Leaves in whorls of 3, linear,
acicular, 10-15 mm. long, ending in a prickly point, green above,
glaucous beneath. Catkins very minute. Berries globular, purplish
blue, as large as Bilberries when ripe (the second year).

Dry hillsides and mountain slopes up to the Alpine region.
April, May.

Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia, N. Africa
and N. America. British.

It passes insensibly into the variety montana Aiton (/. nana
Willd.), which is always procumbent, with shorter imbricate leaves
(4-8 mm.) and larger berries.

The variety is widely spread in the Alps from 5500-8200 feet,
and very occasionally as high as 11,500 feet in Switzerland, which
gives it the distinction of being the highest woody plant in Europe.
Vaccari2 actually records it from 3500 m. (11,700 feet) on Monte
Rosa. It flowers in June and July.

Distribution. — Alps, Carpathians, Jura, Auvergne, Pyrenees,

1 A. G. Tansley in The New Phytologist, vol. x (1911), p. 288.

2 Prof. Lino Vaccari, La Flora Nivale del Monte Rosa (1911), p. 27.

CONIFERS 307

Corsica, Cevennes ; Arctic Europe and Asia, Himalaya, N. America,
Algeria, rare in England. In Siberia the Juniper reaches lat. 69°
(Henry Seebohm).

Juniperus Sabina L.

Leaves like small rhomboid imbricated scales in 4 rows, or
acicular, broadly subulate and spreading. Cone or ' berry ' on a
short recurved stalk, not so dark in colour as the other. Bark
of the branches reddish brown.

Dry, stony places up to 8200 feet. Flowers in April and May.

It is a characteristic shrub of some of the hot Alpine valleys
and Pine forests in the south of Switzerland.

Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Jura,
Pyrenees, Caucasus, Siberia, N. America.

EPHEDRACE^: or GNETACE^)

Leaves opposite, very small. Flowers unisexual, male flowers
with a tubular membranous perianth, otherwise resembling Conifers.
A very small family of chiefly tropical and Mediterranean pfflts.

Ephedra helvetica C. A. Meyer.

A small dioecious shrub, with opposite branches and no leaves.
Stem 1-2 feet high. Female catkins when ripe appearing like red
berries, peduncled ; male catkins sessile. The plant resembles
certain species of Equisetum in outward appearance.

Rocky hillsides ; local. In Switzerland only in Valais (Sion,
Sierre, Fully, etc.). April, May.

Distribution. — Valais, Dauphiny, Central Europe.

NOTE.— Conifers possess a power of resistance to extreme cold
unsurpassed by any form of vegetation except perhaps the micro-
scopic plants which live in the oceans of Arctic regions. The
Siberian settlement of Werchsjanst, in about 68° N. lat., is perhaps
the coldest inhabited place in the world. The maximum winter
temperature is never less than 76 degrees of frost, and occasionally
there are 100 degrees of frost. Yet this settlement is surrounded
by coniferous trees.

Dr. Borthwith x recently alluded to Kienitz's investigations into
the shapes and types of Scots Pine, of which there are two distinct
types. The typical Scotch form is a strong-branched, strong-
crowned tree. The other is slender and pyramidal, and occurs
generally in the Baltic provinces.

1 In Address to Bot. Soc. of Edinburgh ^ November, 1911.

CLASS IV.— VASCULAR CRYPTOGAMS

IN Switzerland alone there are about 45 true ferns (excluding
Botrychium, Ophioglossum, etc.), or just about the number to be
found in the British Isles.

LIST OF THE FERNS AND FERN ALLIES OF SWITZERLAND,
based on the arrangement of Schinz and Keller :

POLYPODIACE.E

Athyrium Filix foemina Roth. (Woods from the plain to
the Alpine region.)

• alpestre Rylands. (Alps, sub- Alps, and Jura.)

Cysiopteris fragilis Bernhardi. (Alps and sub-Alps.)

Sub-sp. regia Bernoulli. (Alps and sub- Alps.)

montana Desv. (Limestone Alps, sub- Alps, and Jura.)

Dryopteris Phegopteris C. Christ ensen. (Woods, etc.)

Linnaana C. Christen. (Woods, etc.)

Robertiana C. Christen. (Limestone rocks, etc.)

montana O. Kuntze. (Woods and pastures.)

Thelypteris A. Gray. (Peat bogs.)

Filix Mas Schott. (Woods.)

rigida Underwood. (Limestone screes.)

cristata A. Gray. (Peat bogs ; rare.)

spinulosa O. Kuntze. (Woods and bogs.)

Sub-sp. dilatata C. Christen. (Woods and bogs.)

Lonchitis O. Kuntze. (Rocky slopes in Alps and

sub- Alps.)
aculeata O. Kuntze. (Mountain woods.)

Sub-sp. lobatUM Schinz et Thellung. (Mountain woods.)

Sub-sp. angulare Schinz et Thellung. (Chestnut region.)

Braunii Underwood. (Very local.)

Onoclea Struthiopteris Hoffm. (Rare ; Tessin, etc.)
Woodsia ilvensis Bab. (Rocks in Alps and sub- Alps.)

Sub-sp. rufidula Aschers. (Grisons, Tessin.)

Sub-sp. alpina Gray. (Very local.)

Blechnum Spicant With. (Pine forests and pastures.)
Phyllitis ScolopendriuM Newman. (Shady places.)
Asplenium Ceterach L. (Rocks, walls, etc.)

JontanuM Bernh. (Sub-alpine rocks ; local.)

308

EQUISETACE^E 309

Asplenium Trichomanes L. (Shady rocks and walls.)

viride Hudson. (Shady rocks and walls in Alps and

sub- Alps.)

septentrionale Hoffm. (Siliceous rocks.)

• Adiantum nigrum L. }

Sub-sp. nigrum Heufler V Sub- Alps and lower mountains.

Sub-sp. Onopteris Heufler J

germanicum Weis. (Rare.)

— Ruta-muraria L. (Rocks, walls, etc.)

Pteridium aquilinum Kulm. (Woods, hedges, moors, etc.)
Pteris cretica L. (In Tessin, near Locarno.)
Allosorus crispus Bernh. (Granite Alps.)
Adiantum Capillus Veneris L. (Damp rocks ; rare.)
Nothol&na Marantcz R.Br. (Walls near Locarno in Tessin.)
Gymnogramme leptophylla Desv. (In Tessin ; rare.)
Polypodium vulgare L. (Rocks, walls, on trees, etc.)
Sub-sp. serratum (Willd. (Tessin and the Rhone Valley.)

OSMUNDACE.E

Osmunda regalis L. (Marshes in trans-alpine Switzerland.)

OPHIOGLOSSACE^:

Ophioglossum vulgatum L. (Damp meadows ; rare.)
Botrychium simplex Hitchcock. (Engelberg, Chamonix.)

— Lunaria L. (Alpine and sub-alpine pastures.)

— ramosum Aschers. (Near Altorf, etc. ; rare.)

— lanceolatum Augstrom. (In Grisons.)

— virginianum Sw. (In Grisons.)

- Matricaria Spr. (Val Onsernone ; Chamonix.)

MARSILIACE.E

Marsilia quadrifolia L. (Bonfol, Villeneuve.)
Pilularia globulifera L. (Very rare.)

EQUISETACE^

Equisetum sylvaticum L. (Woods in sub-Alps and Jura.)
pratense L. (Woods and pastures.)

- maximum Lam. (Damp, shady places.)

— arvense L. (Fields, roadsides, etc. ; common.)

— palustre L. (Marshes and wet places.)

— limosum L. (Lakes, marshes, etc.)
hiemale L. (Damp woods and marshes.)

• ramosissimum Desf . (Sandy and stony places.)

• variegatum Schleicher. (Sandy places.)

3io SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

LYCOPODIACE^

Lycopodium Selago L. (Alps, sub-Alps, Jura.)

clavatum L. (Mountain and sub-alpine woods.)

annotinum L. (Mountain forests.)

inundatum L. (Peat bogs.)

complanatum L. (Forests, heaths, etc.)

Sub-sp. anceps Aschers. (N.E. Switzerland.)

Sub-sp. — — chamcecyparissm Doll. (Tessin, Orisons.)
alpinum L. (Alps and sub-Alps.)

SELAGINELLACE^:

Selaginella selaginoides Link. (Alps and sub-Alps.)

helvetica Link. (Alps, sub- Alps, and rarely in the

plains.)

ISOETACE^:

Isoetes echinosporum Durien. (Near Locarno, etc.)

INDEX

(Including all Synonyms mentioned in the book.)

Abies, 304
alba, 304

— excelsa, 8, 304

pectinata, 8, 304

Achillea, 170

Clavenae, 170

macrophylla, 171, PL vi

Millefolium, 170

Ptarmica, 170

stricta, 171

tanacetifolia, 171

Aconitum, 63

Anthora, 63

Lycoctonum, 63

Napellus, 64

paniculatum, 64

Actasa, 65

spicata, 65

Adenostyles, 165

albifrons, 165, PI. xvii

alpina, 165

— glabra, 165

Adiantum Capillus Veneris, 309
Adonis, 53

aestivalis, 54

autumnalis, 54

— pyrenaica, 54

— vernalis, 54
^Ethionema, 86

saxatile, 86

Agrostis, 301
Air a, 301
Ajuga, 246

— genevensis, 246

pyramidalis, 246, PI. xxix

reptans, 247

Alchemilla, 131

alpestris, 132

alpina, 131

flabellata, 132

glaberrima, 132

Hoppeana, 132

hybrida, 132

pubescens, 132

vulgaris, 132

Alder, 257

Allium, 280

0 angulosum, 281

fallax, 281

roseum, 281

Schoenoprasum, 280, PI. xv

sibiricum, 281

Victorialis, 280

Allosorus crispus, 309
Alnus, 257

glutinosa, 257

incana, 257

viridis, 257, PI. xviii

Alopecurus, 301
Alpen-rose, 197
Alpine conditions, 5, 6

gardens, 23

meadows, 6

plant characteristics, 5

Alsine, 105

fasciculata, 105

laricifolia, 105

liniflora, 106

mucronata, 105

rostrata, 105

stricta, 1 06

uliginosa, 107

verna, 106

Villarsii, 106

Altitudinal limits, 2, 3, 8, 295, 305
Alyssum, 77

alpestre, 77

— halimifolium, 78

incanum, 78

montanum, 77

saxatile, 78

serpyllifolium, 78

Amaryllidaceae, 274
Amelanchier vulgaris, 139, PI. xviii
Anacamptis pyramidalis, 264
Andromeda polifolia, 198
Androsace, 202

Chamaejasme, 202

lactea, 203

lactiflora, 203

maxima, 203

septentrionalis, 203

312

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Anemone, 49

alpina, 51

apennina, 50

Halleri, 53

Hepatica, 49, PI. iv

montana, 53

narcissiflora, 49

nemorosa, 50, 51

Pulsatilla, 53, PI. v

ranunculoides, 50

sulphurea, 52, PI. v

sylvestris, 51

trifolia, 51

vernalis, 52

Annuals, paucity of, 5
Antennaria carpatica, 169

dioica, 169, PI. xiii

Anthericum Liliago, 279, PI. xxx

ramosum, 279

Anthoxanthum, 301
Anthyllis, 121

alpestris, 121, PI. xvii

Dilenii, 121

montana, 121

rubriflora, 121

Vulneraria, 121, PI. xvii

Aphyllanthes monspeliensis, 280
Aposeris foetida, 180
Aquilegia, 60

alpina, 60

atrata, 62

Einseleana, 61

pyrenaica DC., 61

pyrenaica Koch, 61

Reuteri, 61

vulgaris, 61

Arabis, 70

alpina, 70

arcuata, 72

arenosa, 71

auriculata, 72

bellidifolia, 50

hirsuta, 72

muralis, 72

perfoliata, 72

pumila, 72

saxatilis, 73

scabra, 72

serpyllifolia, 72

stricta, 71

Turrita, 72

Arctic Plants, 4, 5, 307
Arctostaphylos, 198

alpina, 198

Uva-ursi, 199, PI. xii

Arenaria, 107

ciliata, 107

• gothica, 1 08

Arenaria grandiflora, 108

Huteri, 1 08

montana, 108

purpurascens, 108

Armeria alpina, 3

maritima, 3

Arnica montana, 173, PI. xx
Arolla Pine, 303
Aronia rotundifolia, 139, PI. xviii
Aronicum Doronicum, 173
Artemisia, 169

Absinthium, 169

campestris, 169

incanescens, 170

vulgaris, 169

Asclepiadaceae, 209
Ash, 211

Asperugo procumbens, 221
Asperula, 161

cynanchica, 161

glauca, 162

hexaphylla, 162

Jordani, 162

odorata, 161

taurina, 161

Asplenium Adiantum nigrum, 309

Ceterach, 308

fontanum, 308

germanicum, 309

nigrum, 309

Onopteris, 309

Ruta-muraria, 309

septentrionale, 309

Trichomanes, 309

viride, 309

Aster alpinus, 166
Astragalus, 122

alpinus, 122

aristatus, 124

Cicer, 122

glycyphyllus, 122

hypoglottis, 123

monspessulanus, 123

Onobrychis, 123

purpureus, 123

Astrantia, 154

major, 154, PI. xv

minor, 154, PI. xv

Athamanta cretensis, 156
Athyrium alpestre, 308

Filix-fcemina, 308

Atragene alpina, 46
Atriplex, 250
Autumn Crocus, 284

berries and fruits, 1 1

Avena, 301

Bamboo, 300

INDEX

313

Baneberry, 65

Barberry, 66, 15

Barley, 300

Bartsia alpina, 229, PI. xxii

Bastard Toadflax, 255

Bearberry, 12, 198

Bedstraw, 159

Beech, i, 8, 258

Bellidiastrum Michelii, 166, PI. xxi

Berberidacese, 66

Berberis, 66

aetnensis, 67

vulgaris, 66, 15

Berteroa incana, 78
Betonica Alopecurus, 245

hirsuta, 245

Betula, 256

alba, 256

nana, 256

pendula, 256

pubescens, 257

Bilberry, n, 195
Birch, 8, 256
Bird's-foot Trefoil, 121
Bird's-nest, 202, 269
Biscutella, 86

cichoriifolia, 87

Isevigata, 86

Bistort, 6, 252

Blechnum Spicant, 308

Bluebell, 282

Blysmus compressus, 292

Boraginaceae, 219

Botrychium lanceolatum, 309

— — Lunaria, 309

Matricariae, 309

ramosum, 309

simplex, 309

virginianum, 309

Bristol Rock-cress, 71

British flora compared, 3, 4, 6

British plants not found in Switzer-
land, 3

Brooklime, 230

Brookweed, 209

Broom-rape, 237

Brunella, 244

Buffonia macrosperma, 2

Bugle, 246

Bulbocodum vernum, 285

Buphthalmum salicifolium, i6g

Bupleurum, 155

longifolium, 155

ranunculoides, 155

stellatum, 155

Butcher's Broom, 278

Butterwort, 210

Calamintha alpina, 242, PI. xxi
nepetoides, 242

Calluna vulgaris, 199
Caltha, 57

palustris, 57

Camelina, 81

Alyssum, 81

microcarpa, 81

sativa, 81

xxiii

Campanula, 190

- barbata, 191, PI. xxiv

- bononiensis, 194

- excisa, 193

- glomerata, 192

- latifolia, 195

- linifolia, 192

- persicifolia, 193

- pulla, 193

- pusilla, 192, PI. xxiv

- rapunculoides, 194

- rhomboidalis, 194. pl

- rotundifolia, 192

- Scheuchzeri, 193

- spicata, 191

- strictopedunculata, 191

- thyrsoidea, 191

- Trachelium, 194
Campanulaceae, 188
Candytuft, 84
Caprifoliaceae, 157
Cardamine, 73

- amara, 75

- asarifolia, 73

- bulbifera, 74

- flexuosa, 74

- impatiens, 74

- latifolia, 74

- pentaphylla, 74.

- pinnata, 75

- polyphylla, 75

- pratensis, 74

- trifolia, 73
Carduus, 178

- defloratus, 179

- personatus, 178
Carex, 294

- alba, 299

- canescens, 297

- capillaris, 298

- claviformis, 298

- dioica, 296

- disticha, 296

- echinata, 296

- f erruginea, 299, PI. x

- flacca, 297

- flava, 299, PI. xxii

- glauca, 297

— — Goodenowii, 297

xxiv

314

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Carex intermedia, 296

lepidocarpa, 300

leporina, 296, PI. xxii

microglochin, 295

cederi, 300

ovalis, 296, PI. xxii

pauciflora, ,295

pulicaris, 295

rem'ota, 297

stellulata, 296

strigosa, 298

sylvatica, 298

Carlina, 179

acaulis, 1 79

vulgaris, 179

Caryophyllaceae, 94
Castalia alba, 67
Centaurea, 180

axillaris, 180

montana, 180, PI. xxii

nervosa, 180

Rhaponticum, 181

Scabiosa, 181

uniflora, 180, PI. xxii

Cephalanthera, 271

grandiflora, 271

latifolia, 271

longifolia, 271

pallens, 271

rubra, 271

ensifolia, 271

Cephalaria alpina, 164
Cerastium, 104

-alpicolum, 104

alpinum, 105

arvense, 104

grandiflorum, 104

pumilum, 105

semidecandrum, 105

trigynum, 105

Cerinthe, 220

alpina, 220

glabra, 220

major, 220

minor, 220

Characteristics of Alpines, 5, 6
Cheddar Pink, 97
Chelidonium majus, 68
Chenopodiaceas, 250
Chenopodium, 250

Bonus Henricus, 250

Chestnut (Spanish), 194
Chives, 280
Chrysanthemum, 171

• alpinum, 172, PI. xxi

— • — Leucanthemum, 171, PI. xxi
Christmas Rose, 58
Chrysosplenium, 152

Chrysosplenium alternifolium, 152

oppositifolium, 152

Cineraria alpestris, 176

campestris, 176

integrifolius, 176

spathulifolia, 176

Circaea alpina, 140
Cirsium, 177

acaule, 177

caulescens, 177

eriophorum, 177

heterophyllum, 178

oleraceum, 178

spinosissimum, 178

Cistaceae, 87

Chickweed Wintergreen, 209

Clematis, 46

alpina, 46

— Vitalba, 47
Cloudberry, 12
Clover, 119
Clypeola Gaudini, 78
Cochlearia saxatilis, 80
Coeloglossum viride, 265, PI. xxxi
Colour of flowers, 5, 7
Colchicum, 284

alpinum, 285

autumnale, 284

Colutea arborescens, 125
Comparison with British flora, 3, 6
Compositae, 164
Comarum palustre, 135
Coniferae, 302
Coniferous trees, 8, 302-7
Convallaria majalis, 276
Convolvulaceae, 219
Corallorrhiza innata, 269
Coronilla, 126

Emerus, 126

minima, 126

vaginalis, 126

Varia, 126

Cortusa Matthioli, 207
Corydalis, 69

bulbosa, 69

Cava, 69

claviculata, 69

f abacea, 69

intermedia, 69

solida, 69

Corylus Avellana, 257
Cotton-grass, 292
Cowberry, n, 196
Cowslip, 207
Cow- wheat, 234
Cranberry, 196
Crassulaceae, 140
Crepis, 184

INDEX

315

Crepis aurea, 184, PI. xix

incarnata, 184

paludosa, 185

Crocus albiflorus, 273

venus, 273

Crowberry, 12, 254
Cuckoo-flower, 74
Culture of Alpines, 16—22
Cruciferae, 70
Cupuliferse, 256
Currant, 152
Cuscuta, 219, 256

Epithymum, 219, PI. x

Trifolii, 219

Cyclamen, 208

europseum, 208, PI. x.

neopolitanum, 208

Cynanchum Vincetoxicum, 209
Cynoglossum montanum, 220
Cyperaceae, 291
Cypripedium Calceolus, 267
Cystopteris alpina=regia, 308

fragilis, 308

montana, 308

regia, 308

Cytisus, 118

alpinus, 118

elongatus, 119

hirsutus, 118

— Laburnum, 118

— nigricans, 119
— -radiatus, 118

— -sagittalis, 117, PI. xv

sessilifolius, 119

supinus, 119

Daffodil, 274
Daphne, 253

alpina, 253

Blagayana, 253

Cneorum, 253

Laureola, 254

Mezereum, 253

striata, 253

Dead Nettle, 243
Delphinium, 62

Consolida, 63

elatum, 62

fissum, 62

Dentaria, 74, 75

alternifolia, 75

bulbifera, 74

cuneaphylla, 75

digitata, 74

intermedia, 75

polyphylla, 75

Deschampsia, 301

Dianthus, 95

alpestris, 96 .

alpicola, 96

atrorubens, 96

— • caesius, 97

— • Carthusianorum, 96, PI. viii

— Caryophyllus, 97
— - furcatus, 97

— glaucus, 97

— - monspessulanus, 96
— - prolif er, 95
saxifragus, 95

— Seguiri, 96
— -subacaulis, 98

superbus, 96, PI. v

sylvestris, 97, PI. viii

Dicotyledons, 46
Digitalis, 228

ambigua, 228, PI. xxvii

graridiflora, 228

lutea, 228, PI. xxvii

purpurea, 228

Dipsaceae, 163
Dock, 250
Dodder, 219
Dog-tooth Violet, 278
Doronicum, 172

Clusii, 173

cordatum, 172

cordifolium, 172

Pardalianches, 172

Draba, 79

aizoides, 79

Hoppeana, 79

incana, 80

montana, 79

muralis, 80

nemorosa, 99
verna, 80
Zahlbruckneri, 79

Dracocephalum austriacum, 243
Ruyschiana, 243

Dry as octopetala, 137
Dryopteris, 308
Dusky Geranium, 116
Dwarf Birch, 256

Echinospermum deflexum, 221

Lappula, 221

Echium, 224

italicum, 225

vulgare, 225

Edelweiss, 5
Elder, 14, 158
Elaeagnaceae, 254
Empetraceae, 254
Empetrum nigrum, 12, 254

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Endemic plants, 4
Ephedraceae, 307
Ephedra helvetica, 307
Epilobium, 139

alpinum, 139

alsinefolium, 139

angustifolium, 140, PL xxiii

-Dodonsei, 140

Fleischeri, 140, PI. xxiii

Epimedium alpinum, 66
Epipactis, 272

atropurpurea, 272

latifolia, 272

microphylla, 272

palustris, 273

violacea, 272

Epipogum aphyllum, 268
Equisitacese, 309
Equisetum, 309
Eranthis, 60

hiemalis, 60

Erica, 199

Carnea, 3, 199

ciliaris, 3

cinerea, 3

vagans, 3, 199

Ericaceae, 196
Erigeron, 167

acris, 167

alpinus, 168

atticus, 167

canadensis, 167

Villarsii, 167

Erinus alpinus, 228
Eriophorum, 292

alpinum, 292

angustifolium, 293

polystachyon, 293

Scheuchzeri, 293

vaginatum, 293, PI. v

Erophila vulgaris, 80
Eryngium alpinum, 155
Erysimum, 82

australe, 82

dubium, 83

helveticum, 82

hieracifolium, 83

longifolium, 82

pumilum, 83

virgatum, 83

Erythronium Dens-canis, 278
Euhieracium, 186
Euphorbia, 255

Cyparissias, 255, PI. xx

Euphorbiaceae, 255
Euphrasia, 232

lutea, 233, PI. xxix

— — minima, 233, PI. xxviii

Euphrasia ofncinalis, 233, PI. xxviii

salisburgensis, 233, PI. xxviii

Eyebright, 232

Fagus sylvatica, 258

Ferns, 308

Festuca, 301

Fig wort, 227

Fir, 304

Flax, 113

Foetid Hellebore, 59

Forget-me-not, 223

Foxglove, 228

Fragaria, 135

collina, 135

elatior, 136

indica, 135

moschata, 136

vesca, 135

viridis, 135

Fraxinus excelsior, 211
Fritillaria, 283

delphinensis, 283

Meleagris, 283

Fritillary, 283
Fumana, 89

procumbens, 89

Fumariacese, 69

Gagea, 281

fistulosa, 281

Liottardi, 281

lutea, 281

minima, 282

pratensis, 282

stenopetala, 282

Galanthus nivalis, 275
Galeopsis Ladanum, 246
Galium, 159

boreale, 160

purpureum, 161

rotundifolium, 160

rubrum, 160

vernum, 159

verum, 160

Genista, 117

sagittalis, 117, PI. xv

Gentiana, 212

acaulis, 214

alpina, 214

Amarella, 217

— angustifolia, 215
— asclepiadea, 214, PI. xxvi

axillaris, 217

baltica, 217

bavarica, 216

• - campestris, 217, PL xxv

— — ciliata, 218, PL xxvi

INDEX

317

Gentiana, Clusii, 215

cruciata, 213

excisa, 214, PI. xxv

flavida, 213 ,P1. xxv

germanica, 217

Kochiana, 214, PI. xxv

lutea, 212

nivalis, 216

pannonica, 213

Pneumonanthe, 10

punctata, 212

purpurea, 213, PI. xxv

pyrenaica, 216

verna, 215, PI. xxvi

Gentianaceae, 211
Gentians, culture of, 18
Geraniaceae, 114
Geranium, 114

macrorrhizum, 115

nodosum, 116

phceum, 116

pratense, 116

striatum, 116

sylvaticum, 115, PI. xxx

Germander, 247
Geum, 136

montanum, 136, PI. xvi

rivale, 136

Glaucium flavum, 3
Globe-flower, 59
Globularia, 239

cordifolia, 239

nudicaulis, 239

vulgaris, 239

Globulariaceae, 239
Gnaphalium, 168

dioicum, 169

norvegicum, 169

sylvaticum, 169, PI. iv

Goafs-beard, 182
Golden-rod, 168
Goodyera repens, 268
Good King Henry, 250
Gooseberry, 152
Gramineae, 300

Grass of Parnassus, 151, PI. vi
Grasses, 300
Greater Celandine, 68
Green Alder, 257
Green Hellebore, 59
Gromwell, 224
Gymnadenia, 266

albida, 266, PI. xxxi

comigera, 264

coronopus, 266

odoratissima, 266, PI. xxxi

Gymnogramme leptophylla, 309
Gymnospermae, 302

Gypsophila, 98

— repens, 98, PI. xv

Habenaria viridis, 265, PI. xxxi
Hacquetia Epipactis, 154
Harebell, 192
Hawkweed, 185
Hazel, 257
Heaths, 3, 199
Hedysarum obscurum, 125
Helianthemum, 87

alpestre, 87

apenninum, 88

barbatum, 89

canum, 88

Chamaecistus, 88

grandiflorum, 88

Jacquini, 89

nummularium, 89

polifolium, 88

roseum, 89

semiglabrum, 89

vulgare, 88, PI. xi

— virescens, 88
Heliospermum quadrifidum, 102
Helleborus, 58

corsicus, 59

fcetidus, 59

lividus, 59

niger, 58

Herb Paris, 277
Herminium Monorchis, 268
Hesperis, 76

matronalis, 76

Hieracium, 185

albidum, 188, PI. xix

aurantiacum, 185, PI. xix

glaucum, 1 86

intybaceum, 188, PI. xix

lanatum, 187

pilosella, 186

porrifolium, 186

prenanthoides, 187

staticifolium, 186, PI. xv

• villosum, 187

Hippocrepis comosa, 126
Hippophae Rhamnoides, 14, 114, 254
Homogyne, 166

alpina, 166

sylvestris, 166

Honeysuckle, 13, 158
Horminum pyrenaicum, 242
Hound's Tongue, 220
House-leek, 142
Hugueninia tanacetifolia, 81
Hutchinsia, 87

alpina, 87

Hypericaceae, in

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Hypericum, in

Coris, in

maculatum, 112, PI. xiii

nummularium, 112

quadrangulum, 112, PI. xiii

Richeri, 112, PI. xiii

Hypochaeris, 182

maculata, 182

uniflora, 182

Hyssopus, 248

montanus, 248

officinalis, 248

Iberis, 84

Candolleana, 85

saxatilis, 85

sempervirens, 85

Inula, 177

montana, 177

Iridaceae, 273
Iris, 274
Irish plants, 3
Isoetaceae, 310
Isoetes, 310

asione montana, 189, PI. x

uncaceae, 286

uncaginaceae, 290

uncus, 286

alpinus, 287

articulatus, 287

bufonius, 286

compressus, 286

filiformis, 286

lamprocarpus, 287

squarrosus, 287

triglumis, 287

Juniper, 306
Juniperus, 306

communis, 306

montana, 306

nana, 306

Sabina, 307

Kernera, 76

saxatilis, 76

Knautia longifolia, 164

sylvatica, 164

Knotfoot, 14, 276
Koeleria, 301

Labiatae, 240
Laburnum, 118
Lactuca, 183

muralis, 183

• perennis, 183

-7 — saligna, 183

Lactuca Scariola, 183

virosa, 183

Lady's mantle, 131
Lady's slipper, 267
Lamium, 243

longiflorum, 244

maculatum, 244

Lappula, 221

deflexa, 221

echinata, 221

Larch, 305
Larix, 305

decidua (europaea), 305

Larkspur, 62
Laserpitium, 157

— Panax, 157

— Siler, 157
Lathraea Squamaria, 238
Lathyrus, 129

angustifolia, 130

heterophyllus, 130

luteus, 129, PI. ix

montanus, 130

niger, 129

vernus, 130

Lavandula, 248

latifolia, 249

spica, 248

Vera, 248

Leguminosae, 117
Lentibulariaceae, 210
Leopard's-bane, 172
Lettuce, 183
Leucanthemum alpinum, 171

vulgare, 171

Leucojum, 275

vernum, 275

Liguliflorae, 181
Ligusticum Mutellina, 156
Liliaceae, 276
Lilium, 278

bulbiferum, 279

croceum, 279, PI. xxxii

Martagon, 278, PI. xxxii

Pomponium, 279

Lily of the valley, 276
Lime-loving plants, 20
Limodorum abortivum, 269
Linaceae, 113
Linaria, 226

alpina, 226, PI. v

minor, 227

petraea, 226, PI. v

striata, 227

viscida, 227

Linnaea borealis, 114
Linum, 113
alpinum, 113

INDEX

319

Linum catharticum, 114

salsoloides, 113

tenuifolium, 113, PL iii

Listera, 270

cordata, 270, PI. xxxi

ovata, 270

Lithospermum, 224

arvense, 224

purpureo cceruleum, 224

Liverwort, 18
Lonicera, 13, 158

alpigena, 158

coerulea, 13, 158

— nigra, 14
Loranthaceae, 256
Lotus, 121

— alpinus, 122

corniculatus, 121

Louse wort, 235
Lunaria, 76

biennis, 76

rediviva, 76

Luzula, 288

campestris, 289

flavescens, 288

Forsteri, 288

lutea, 288, PI. xxi

multiflora, 289

nemorosa, 289

nivea, 289, PI. xxiii

pilosa, 288, PI. xxxii

sylvatica, 288

Lychnis, 99

alpina, 99

Coronaria, 100

Flos-Jovis, 100

viscaria, 99

Lycopodiaceae, 310
Lycopodium, 310
Lycopsis arvensis, 222

Madwort, 221

Maianthemum bifolium, 277,

xvii

Maize, 300
Malaxis, 270

monophylla, 270

paludosa, 270

Marsh Marigold, 57

Orchis, 253

Violet, 92

Marsilia, 309
Marsiliaceae, 309
Matthiola vallesiaca, 75
May Lily, 277, PI. xvii
Meadow plants, 6

PI.

Meconopsis, 68

cambrica, 68

Melampyrum, 234

nemorosum, 234, PI. xxviii

pra tense, 234, PI. xxviii

sylvaticum, 234, PI. xxviii

Melittis Melissophyllum, 243
Mentha, 240

— longifolia, 240

— sylvestris, 240
Meurn, 156

athamanticum, 156

Mutellina, 156

Mezereon, 253
Micromeria Piperella, 243
Milkwort, 93
Mint, 240
Minuartia, 105
Mistletoe, 256
Mcehringia, 109

ciliata, 109

muscosa, 109

polygonoides, 109

— Ponae, 109

Mo'neses grandiflora, 200, PI. xiii
Monkshood, 64
Monk's Rhubarb, 250
Monocotyledons, 262
Monotropa Hypopitys, 202
Mountain Ash, 261
Mulgedium, 183

— alpinum, 183, PI. xxvii

— Plumieri, 183
Mullein, 227
Myosotis, 223

alpestris, 223

pyrenaica, 223

— sylvatica, 223

Myricaria germanica, 114, PI. xiii

Naiadaceae, 288
Narcissus, 274

angustifolius, 275

biflorus, 275

— incomparabilis, 275

— poeticus, 274

Pseudo-narcissus, 274

Nardus, 301
Nasturtium, 73

pyrenaicum, 73

Neottia Nidus avis, 269
Nigritella, angustifolia, 267
nigra, 267

— rubra, 267
Nocccea alpina, 87
Notholaena Marantae, 309

320

Nottingham Catchfly, 103
Nymphaea pumila, 67

lutea, 67

Nymphaeaceee, 67

Oak, 258
Oats, 301
Oleaceae, 21
Olive trees, 21
Onagraceae, 139
Onobrychis, 127

arenaria, 127

Gaudiniana, 127

montana, 127

sativa, 127

Onoclea, 308
Ononis, 119

Natrix, 119, PI. xvi

rotundifolia, 119

Ophioglossum vulgatum, 309
Ophrys, 265

apifera, 265

arachnites, 265

aranifera, 265

muscifera, 265

Orchidaceae, 262
Orchis, 262

globosa, 262

incarnata, 264

latifolia, 263

maculata, 263

morio, 263, PI. xxxi

purpurea, 264

pyramidalis, 264

sambucina, 264

Orobus luteus, 129, PI. ix
Orobanchaceae, 237
Orobanche, 238
Osmunda regalis, 309
Oxlip, 206

Oxycoccus palustris,ig6
Oxytropis, 124

campestris, 124

ccerulea, 125

pilosa, 125

Paeonia, 65

officinalis, 65

peregrina, 65

Papaveraceae, 67
Papaver alpinum, 67

aurantiacum, 68

Burseri, 67

nudicaulis, 67

pyrenaicum, 68

rhceticum, 68

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Papaver Sendtneri, 67
Paradisia Liliastrum, 279, PI. xxx
Parasitic plants, 219, 232, 234
Parnassia palustris, 151, PI. vi
Paris quadrifolia, 277
Paronychia capitata, no
— polygonifolia, no
- serpyllifolia, no

Pedicularis, 235
acaulis,

GbWCbl*U0j -**3/

asplenifolia, 236

Barrelieri, 236 ,

cenisia, 236

comosa, 236

elongata, 235

fasciculata, 236

foliosa, 236

gyroflexa, 236

incarnata, 236

Oederi, 236

palustris, 237

Portenschlagii, 236

recutita, 237

rosea, 237

rostrata, 236

sylvatica, 237

tuberosa, 236

— verticillata, 237
Perennials predominate, 5
Phaca, 124

alpina, 124

astragalina, 122

Pheasant's Eye, 53
Phleum, 301

Phyllitis Scolopendrium, 308
Phyteuma, 189

betonicsefolium, 189, PI. iv

comosum, 189

Halleri, 190

orbiculare, 190, PI. iv

Scheuchzeri, 189

spicatum, 190, PI. iv

Picea, 304

excelsa, 304

Pilosella, 185
Pilularia globulifera, 309
Pines, 302
Pinguicula, 210

alpina, 210

grandiflora, 211

lusitanica, 3

Reuteri, 211

vulgaris, 210

Pinus, 302

Cembra, 303

Laricio, 304

montana, 302

Mughus, 302

INDEX

321

Pinus Strobus, 303

sylvestris, 303

Plantaginaceae, 249
Plantago, 249

alpina, 249

fuscescens, 249

major, 249

media, 249

montana, 249

Plantain, 249
Platanthera bifolia, 267

chlorantha, 268

Poa, 301

Polemoniaceae, 218
Polemonium coeruleum, 218
Polygala, 93

alpestris, 94

alpinum, 94

amara, 94

amarella, 94

Chamaebuxus, 93, PI. v

nicaeensis, 94

vulgaris, 94

Polygalaceae, 93
Polygonaceae, 250
Polygonatum, 276

multiflorum, 276

officinale, 277

verticillatum, 277

Polygonum, 251

alpinum, 252

aviculare, 252

Bistorta, 252, PI. vi

viviparum, 251, PI. vi

Polypodiaceae, 308
Polypodium serratum, 309

— vulgare, 309
Pond-weed, 289
Potamogeton, 289

alpinus, 289

filiformis, 289

rufescens, 289

Potentilla, 132

— argentea, 134, PI. xi

— aurea, 134, PI. xi
caulescens, 152

— clusiana, 133
fruticosa, 132

grandiflora, 134, PI. xvi

multifida, 133

rupestris, 133

Tormentilla, 133

— valderia, 133

verna, 134

Prenanthes purpurea, 183, PI. xix
Primula, 204

Allioni, 205

Auricula, 204

Primula elatior, 205

farinosa, 204, PI. xx

hirsuta All., 206

hirsuta Vill., 206

latifolia, 206

marginata, 205

spectabilis, 205

tiroliensis, 205

veris, 207

viscosa All., 206

viscosa Vill., 206

Primulaceae, 202
Primulas, cultivation of, 21
Prunella grandiflora, 244
Pteridium aquilinum, 309
Pteris cretica, 309
Pulmonaria, 222

angustifolia, 222

azurea, 222

montana, 223

ofncinalis, 222

ovalis, 223

Pyrola, 200

chlorantha, 201

media, 202

minor, 202

rotundiflora, 201

secunda, 202, PI. xiii

uniflora, 200, PI. xiii

Quercus, 258

Cerris, 258

lanuginosa, 258

pubescens, 258

Robur, 258

sessiliflora, 258

Rampion, 189
Ranunculaceae, 46
Ranunculus, 54

aconitifolius, 54, PI. vi

acris, 57

alpestris, 55

auricomus, 57

bulbosus, 57

crenatus, 55

lanuginosus, 55

montanus, 56

platanifolius, 55

repens, 57

scutatus, 57

Thora, 57

Traunfellneri, 56

ViUarsii, 56

Raspberry, n, 137
Rest-harrow, 119
Rhamnaceae, 116

322

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Rhamnus, 116

alpina, 117

pumila, 116

Rhaponticum scariosum, 181
Rhinanthus, 234

sub-alpinus, 235, "PI. xxviii

Rhodiola rosea, 142
Rhododendron, 197

Chamaecistus, 198

ferrugineum, 197, PI. iii

hirsutum, 197

Rhynchospora, 294

alba, 294

fusca, 294

Ribes, 152

alpinum, 153

Grossularia, 152

nigrum, 153

petraeum, 153

rubrum, 153

Rock-roses, 88, 89
Rosa alpina, 138, PI. xii

pendulina, 138

pomifera, 138, PI. xii

spinosissima, 137

tomentosa, 137

Rosaceae, 130
Rose-bay, 140, PI. xxiii
Rose-root, 142
Rubiaceae, 159
Rubus, 137

Chamaemorus, 12

idaeus, 137

— saxatilis, 12, 137

Rumex, 250

Acetosella, 251

alpinus, 258

arifolius, 251

scutatus, 251, PI. xvi

Ruscus aculeatus, 278
Rush, 286

Saint John's Wort, 1 1 1
Salicaceae, 259
Salix, 259
Salix arbuscula, 259

herbacea, 259

helvetica, 261

Lapponum, 261

Mysinites, 260

phylicifolia, 260

repens, 260

reticulata, 259

retusa, 259

serpyllifolia, 259

Salvia, 241

glutinosa, 241, PI. xxix

Salvia pratensis, 241, PI. xxix

verticillata, 241

Sambucus, 158

Ebulus, 158

racemosus, 158, PI. xviii

Samolus Valerandi, 209
Santalaceae, 255
Saponaria, 98

ocymoides, 99, PI. xx

officinalis, 99

Saxifraga, 143

— aizoi'des, 148, PI. xiv

— Aizoon, 146, PI. xiv

— aspera, 145

— atrorubens, 149
autumnalis, 148

— caesia, 148
caespitosa, 151

— cochlearis, 147
Cotyledon, 146

cuneifolia, 145, PI. xiv

exarata, 149

geranioides, 150

Hirculus, 144

hypnoides, 150

lantoscana, 147

lingulata, 147

moschata, 149

musco'ides, 149

mutata, 146

paradoxa, 144

pedemontana, 150

petraea, 144

robusta, 145

— rotundifolia, 144, PI. xiv

— sponhemica, 151

— stellaris, 145, PI. xiv
tridactylites, 144

Saxifragaceae, 143
Saxifrage, 143-9
Scabiosa, 163

lucida, 163

Schcenus, 293

ferrugineus, 293

nigricans, 293

Scheuchzeria, 291

palustris, 291

Scilla bifolia, 282
Scirpus, 291

alpinus, 291

caespitosus, 291

compressus, 292

Scleranthus annuus, no

perennis, no

uncinatus, no

Scrophularia, 227

canina, 227

Hoppei, 227

INDEX

323

Scrophulariaceae, 225

Scutellaria alpina, 244

Sea Buckthorn, 14, 254

Seasonable differentiation in plants,

235
Sedum, 141

album, 141, PI. xvi

annuum, 142

atratum, 141

roseum, 142

rubens, 141

villosum, 142

Selaginella helvetica, 310

selaginoides, 310

Selaginellaceae, 310
Sempervivum, 142

arachnoideum, 142

montamim, 143

tectorum, 142

Senecio, 173

abrotanifolius, 174

alpestris, 176

alpinus, 175

aurantiacus, 175

campestris, 176

cordatus, 175

cordifolius, 175

Doronicum, 174, PI. xx

Fuchsii, 175, PI. xix

Jacquinianus, 175

nemorensis, 175

spathulifolius, 176

sylvaticus, 174, PI. xi

viscosus, 174

Sesleria, 301
Sheep-sorrel, 251
Siegllngia, 301
Silene, 100

acaulis, 100

alpestris, 102

alpina, 101

cordifolia, 103

Cucubalus, 101, PI. viii

Elizabethae, 101

— elongata, 101
— exscapa, 101

inflata, 101, PL viii

nutans, 103

quadrifida, 102

rupestris, 103, PL xv

Saxifraga, 102

vallesia, 103

Silver Fir, 304
Sisymbrium, 81

strictissimum, 81

tanacetifolium, 81

Sneezewort, 170
Snowdrop, 275

Snowflake, 275
Soldanella, 207

alpina, 207, PL vi

minima, 208

pusilla, 208

Solidago, 1 68

Virga-aurea, 168, PL xi

Solomon's Seal, 277

Sonchus alpinus, 183

Sorbus Aria, 138, 261, PL xviii

aucuparia, 261

Mougeotii, 261

scandica, 261

Southern plants in Switzerland, 2
Speedwell, 229
Spotted Cat's-ear, 182
Spiraea, 131

Aruncus, 131

Ulmaria, 131

Spruce Fir, 304
Spurge, 254
Squinancy-wort, 161
Stachys, 245

Alopecurus, 245

alpina, 245

annua, 246

densiflora, 245

recta, 245

St. Bruno's Lily, 279

Stenotheca, 186

Stipa, 301

St. John's Wort, 1 1 1

Stone Bramble, 12, 137

Stonecrop, 141

Strawberry, 135

Streptopus amplexifolius, 276

Sub-alpine region denned, i, 2

plants not numerous, 2

Swertia perennis, 212

Tamaricaceas, 114
Tamarix germanica, 114, PL xiii
Taxus baccata, 305
Teucrium, 247

montanum, 247

pyrenaicum, 247

Thalictrum, 47

alpinum, 48

aquilegifolium, 47, Pl.'iii

f cetidum, 48

minus, 48

tuberosum, 48

Thesium, 255

alpinum, 255, PL vi

humifusum, 255

Thlaspi, 83
alpestre, 84

324

SUB-ALPINE PLANTS

Thlaspi alpinum, 83

brachypetalum, 84

montanum, 84

perfoliatum, 84

rotundifolium, 84

sylvestre, 84

virens, 84

Thrift, 3
Thyme, 240
Thymelaceae, 252
Thymus, 240

Serpyllum, 240

Tofieldia, 285

calyculata, 285, PI. xxiii

palustris, 285

Toothwort, 238
Tormentil, 133
Tower Cress, 72
Tozzia alpina, 229
Tragopogon pratensis, 182
Trien tails europaea, 209
Trifolium, 119

alpestre, 120

alpinum, 120, PI. ix

badium, 120, PI. ix

montanum, 120

Triglochin, 290

palustre, 290

Trisetum, 301
Triticum, 300
Trollius, 58

europaeus, 58, PL x

Tubuliflorae, 165
Tulipa, 282

alpestris, 283

australis, 283

sylvestris, 282

Tunica Saxifraga, 95

prolifer, 95

Turk's-cap Lily, 278
Turritis glabra, 72
Tway-blade, 270

Umbelliferae, 153

Vacciniaceae, 195
Vaccinium, 195

Myrtillus, 195

Oxycoccus, 196

uliginosum, 196, PL xviii

Vitis-idaea, 196, PL xii

Valeriana, 162

montana, 163

tripteris, 162, PL xvii

Valerianaceae, 162
Vanilla Orchid, 267
Vascular Cryptogams, 308

Veratrum, 284

album, 284

nigrum, 284

Verbascum, 225

Chaixii, 226

montanum, 226

nigrum, 225

Thapsus, 225

Veronica, 229

aphylla, 232

Beccabunga, 230

belli dioides, 232

fruticans, 231

fruticulosa, 231

montana, 230

officinalis, 230

prostrata, 231

saxatilis, 231, PL xvi

spicata, 231

Teucrium, 230

urticsefolia, 230, PL xvi

Vesicaria utriculata, 77

Vicia, 127

dumetorum, 128

onobrychioides, 129, PL ix

pisiformis, 128

pyrenaica, 128

sepium, 128

sylvatica, 129

Vincetoxicum officinale, 209, PL x
Vine, i
Viola, 90

alpestris, 92, PL vii

biflora, 90, PL vii

calcarata, 91, PL vii

cornuta, 91

— lutea, 91

mirabilis, 92

montana, 92, PL vii

palustris, 92

pinnata, 90

sylvatica, 93, PL vii

tricolor, 92

valderia, 91

Violaceae, 90
Viper's Bugloss, 224
Viscaria alpina, 99
Viscum album, 256

Water Avens, 136
Welsh Poppy, 68
Western European plants, 3
Wheat, 300
Whorled Sal via, 241
Whortleberry, n, 195
Willow, 259
Willow-herb, 139

INDEX

325

Winter Aconite, 60
Wood Anemone, 50
Woodruff, 161
Wood-rush, 288
Wood Sedge, 298
Wood Violet, 93
Woodsia alpina, 308
ilvensis, 308

Woodsia rufidula, 308
Wormwood, 169

Yellow Rattle, 234
Yew, 305

Zahlbrucknera paradoxa, 144

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