Somerville Hastings.

New Cavendish Street, W.
April 1910.

Illustrations

The Spiny Fuller’s Thistle[Frontispiece]
FACING
PAGE
The Narcissus-Flowered Anemone[2]
The Globe Flower[4]
The Common Monk’s-Hood[6]
The Yellow Wolf’s-Bane[8]
The Two-Flowered Violet[10]
The Long-Spurred Pansy[12]
The Box-Leaved Milkwort[14]
The Creeping Gypsophila[16]
The Moss Campion or Cushion Pink[18]
The Wood Geranium[20]
The Alpine Clover[22]
The Brown Clover[24]
The Cold Mountain-Lentil[26]
The Dull-Flowered Sweet Clover or Alpine Sainfoin[28]
The White Dryas[30]
The Alpine Rose[32]
Fleischer’s Willow-Herb[34]
The Mountain House-Leek[36]
Sempervivum Funckii[38]
The Evergreen Saxifrage[40]
The Large Astrantia[42]
The Alpine Starwort or Alpine Aster[44]
The Cat’s-Foot, Mountain Everlasting or Mountain Cudweed[46]
The Arnica[48]
The Round-Headed Rampion[52]
The Bearded Bell-Flower or Campanula[54]
The Dwarf Hair-Bell or Bell-Flower[56]
The Hairy-Leaved Alpenrose[58]
The Lesser Winter-Green[60]
The Stemless Gentian[62]
The Short-Leaved Gentian[64]
The Alpine Toad-Flax[66]
The Alpine Balsam[68]
The Leafy Lousewort[70]
The Yellow Auricula[72]
The Marsh Orchis[74]
The Lady’s Slipper[76]
The White Veratrum[78]

Introduction

No one can visit Switzerland for the first time without being struck with the singular beauty of its wild flowers. In the early summer the whole country from the lowland meadows right up to the snowline is ablaze with beauty. Probably in no other part of the world are the forms of the flowers more pleasing and their colours more brilliant. Hence it is that almost everyone who visits the Alps, however little interest he may take in the wild flowers of his own home, desires to know something of the wonderful new forms that everywhere meet his gaze. Here the charm of novelty also comes in, for at least half the flowers met with in the Alps are absent from the plains, and many of the species that occur in both situations have, as we shall see later, acquired such different characters at high altitudes as to be with difficulty at first sight recognised. Those who would see Switzerland in all its beauty, and as far as its floral treasures are concerned, at its best, must visit it in early June before the hay is cut. Otherwise they will miss the glory of the unmown meadows, and although many of the spring flowers, like the Crocuses and Primulas ([Plate 35]), may still be found in small quantities at high altitudes even in July, the striking effect of the large masses of these flowers will be entirely wanting.

If we travel to Switzerland by the ordinary tourist route, across Germany or France, and then ascend the mountain peaks, we shall, in the first part of our journey, notice but few differences in the vegetation from that to which we are accustomed. The wild flowers of France and Germany are very like those of the South of England and, except that perhaps the yellow Fuller’s Thistle (Circium oloraceum) may be seen in damp places near the railway, very little of botanical interest will be observed until the customs are passed and Switzerland itself is reached. Even here the traveller may be for a time a little disappointed. The first unfamiliar plant to be noticed will very likely be the Red-berried Elder (Sambucus racemosa). A little later, in some shady wood, the tall feathery Spiræa (Spiræa Aruncus), or the beautiful little May-Lily (Maianthemum bifolium), may be seen. Or a glimpse of the white-flowered Rampion (Phyteuma spicatum) or the Alpine Honeysuckle (Lonicera alpigena), with its twin red berries, may be had in passing. But not until the mountains themselves are reached will the tourist discover that he has entered into an entirely new plant world.

The main factor which determines the character of the flora of any given region in the Alps is its altitude. But we must not forget that there are other things to be considered beside the absolute height above the sea level, and the local conditions of exposure to the sun and protection from the cold winds are quite important factors. Generally speaking, it may be said that the climate is a good deal milder on the southern slopes of the Alps than in the north. Olives can be grown in some of the lower mountain regions of the south, and with them are found many of the plants of Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region which are never seen in places of the same altitude on the northern slopes. It is exceedingly probable that most of the lower parts of the Alps were originally covered to a large extent by forest trees. The oak, ash, and beech still flourish in many parts, although much of the original forest has been removed long ago, and used for building purposes or as fuel, and large areas have been thus cleared for meadow and pasture land. In many districts the spruce and the pine appear to be usurping the place of the other forest trees mainly because the young plants are less eagerly devoured by browsing animals, especially the goats. Below 4000 feet on the northern slopes and 5000 feet or a little over on the south side of the Alps may be described as the region of forest trees, and above this level the ordinary deciduous trees become dwarfed and scarce. That this altitude corresponds fairly well with a transition to a colder climate is seen by the change in the character of the herbaceous plants also. For the next 2000 feet we have the subalpine region covered mainly by Coniferous trees. Here are vast forests, particularly of Spruce (Picea excelsa) and Silver Fir (Abies pectinata). The former is the familiar “Christmas tree,” which grows to a great height on the mountain sides, its lower branches festooned with grey lichens. Besides these trees the Larch (Larix Europæa) on primary rock, and the Scotch Fir (Pinus sylvestris) and the Arolla (Pinus Cembra) are also to be seen.