152 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



recording to compensate for the loss : as my botanical 

 brother very justly remarked, the first part of an 

 Alpine ascent, that through the forest, is what may 

 be called the intervening unproductive region. Tha- 

 lidrtim aquilegifoUiin:, Bcllidiastriim Machelii, Viola 

 biflora — why biflora, it is hard to say ; as a rule, the 

 slender stems are mostly single flowered — these with 

 Saxifraga rotmidifolia and cii7icifoUa were plentiful 

 under the wet, shady, rocky banks. A peculiarity by 

 the by, and one by which the plant may be readily 

 recognised, is the rich violet-brown colour of the 

 undersides of the leaf rosettes in 6". cintcifolia, but 

 the rosettes are double in the plant, and this colouring 

 is peculiar to the lower or older one. As the termina- 

 tion of the steep portion of the ascent is neared, the 

 appearance of Akhemilla alpiiia, Adenostyles g/abm, 

 Bartsia alpina, BiscutcUa hcvigata, Dryas octopctala, 

 Astrantia ininor, Keinera saxatilis, Saxifraga stellaris 

 and Aizoo)!, Trolliiis Eiiropcnis, Prinnila viscosa and 

 farinosa. Rhododendrons, &c., indicates an ap- 

 proaching change for the better. The only un- 

 common plants met with was Geranium lividiim or 

 phiziim, of which a patch was found in one place, and 

 Carex JMicheliana — a form oi glaiica. The first really 

 good "find," a single specimen only, was Aqiiilegia 

 alpina, then Carcx temcis, AntJiericur?i liliastrum, a 

 beautiful lily with racemes of large, pure white flowers ; 

 Phyteuma belonicifoUum, spikes handsome, large, dark 

 purple ; Veratriim album, Phleicm Michelii — this is a 

 stouter grass than alpiimm, and grows in wet muddy 

 places, whereas the other affects dry stony pastures ; 

 the glumes, too, are lanceolate, not truncated. Also 

 Veronica Teucriiim, flowers intense blue, v.hich do 

 not fade on drying ; Pcdicularis verticillata, a purple- 

 flowered species, with whorled leaves, and stems 

 furnished with lines of glandular pubescence ; Pingui- 

 acla alpina, Aihamanta cretensis, Gentiaiia bavarica 

 andciliala (latter out of flower), Anemone narcissijlora, 

 and Hedysarum obscuruin. The path for some distance 

 onwards leads along a slope which on the left falls 

 into a deep ravine, with a glorious view of the Blumlis 

 Alp in the vista beyond ; of this nothing was seen, 

 but on emerging upon the open plateau, which has 

 to be traversed for about two leagues in order to reach 

 the descent to Leukerbad, the mist and clouds began 

 to lift and hold out promises, which were not unful- 

 filled, of brighter weather to-morrow. The greater 

 part of this open space as far as the Schwarrenbach 

 inn — half-way — is pasture more or less covered with 

 debris, the remains of avalanches which have fallen 

 from the Rinderhorn in former years ; beyond the 

 inn the path winds entirely among rocks and stones, 

 and by the stony shores of a small lake called the 

 Daubensee, enclosed on all sides by mountains bare 

 of vegetation — a picture of barren desolation ; the 

 highest point of this jilateau, a mile or so from the 

 inn, is 7,500 feet above the level of the sea. A few 

 stunted mountain pines grow near the inn, otherwise 

 there is no vegetation other than the small alpine 



plants of the kind usually seen on calcareous soil at 

 this elevation. The following were gathered : — 



On the Kandersteg side, Crcpis aicrea, Chrysan- 

 the}7mm atraUtm and alpimun, Cerastiiim latifolitim , 

 Erigeron alpimis, Erinus alpinus, Gaya simplex, 

 Gentiana verna and acaulis ; Gnaphaliian dioiaim, 

 Globiilaria cordifolia, Hieraciiim villosum, Helian- 

 themnm wlandieum var. alpestre, Leontodon pyrenai- 

 ciim, Myosotis alpestris, O^ytropis campestris, Potentilla 

 attrea, Plantago alpina and montana, Phaca astraga- 

 lina, Priintila farinacea, Kanuncnlus montanjis, Silene 

 acaulis, Sibbaldia prociimbens, Senecio doroniaim, 

 Salix reliisa and var. scrpyllifolia, a slightly hairy 

 form of arbuscula, my7'siiiites, reticulata, Trifolium 

 alpinum, and Viola calcarata. Nothing calling 

 for remark except that much of the alpine Plantago 

 was the pubescent form with globose heads. 

 Cerastium latifolijim is a plant rarely met with 

 except at a great elevation ; it differs from alpinum 

 chiefly in being furnished with a viscid instead of a 

 simple pubescence, and in having no rosettes of sterile 

 leaves, but the leaves ol alpinuni are quite as broad : 

 of this no specimens were gathered, but an alpine 

 form of arvense was plentiful among the stones. On 

 the Leuk side where the soil is stony, and snow lying 

 unmelted in patches : Attdrosace bryoides and C/iaina:- 

 jasme, Avena distichophylla, Carex nigra and firma, 

 Cherleria sedoides, Draba aizoides, Elyna spicata, Fes- 

 tuca varia, vwlacea, and nigrescens, Hutchinsia alpi}ia, 

 Lloydia serotina. Near the Wildstrubel inn, where 

 there is some pasture : Phleum alpinum, Panu7iculus 

 alpestris, Thlaspi 7'otu7ulifoliu/7i, Solda7iella alpi/ia, 

 Sedum atratum, Saxifraga oppositifolia, t/ioschata, and 

 exarata, Sesleria cicrulea, etc. Time does not permit 

 of search among the debris at the foot of the 

 Wildstrubel glacier, nor of ascending the Schalmette, 

 or Pa/umctilus par7tassif>lius, C/'epis pygmcra, and 

 Kobresia cai'icina might have been added to the list. 

 With regard to Ely/ui spicata, however, the oppor- 

 tunity of examining this plant fresh gathered, and 

 neither too immature nor too far gone, was not missed, 

 and I noted as follows : there is an obtuse mem- 

 branous glume common to a barren and a fertile 

 floret, the latter sessile, and furnished with two small 

 membranous scales, half the length of the achene. 

 Kobresia, which differs in the spike being a compound 

 instead of a simple one, is described as having spike- 

 lets similarly constructed, but with more than two 

 florets in each of them. If there is no other difference, 

 they might be combined and treated as sjDecies of a 

 common genus. However, the stigmas are pubescent 

 in spicata, papillose in caricina. Gremli does not 

 apparently consider Festuca 7iigresce/is (or itigricans, 

 Schl.) as different from violacea, and structurally 

 perhaps there is nothing of greater importance than 

 the shorter awn of the lower glumella in violacea, 

 and the slight difference in their respective ligules, 

 but in habit they are obviously distinct : 7iig)-escens is 

 stouter, varia has a rhizome emitting fascicles of 



