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HA ED WICKE' S SCIENCE- G OSSIF. 



Schwarzseeberg, the mountain which forms the base 

 of the Matterhorn towards the village, and that which 

 is usually traversed en route by the adventurous spirits 

 who make the ascent of that famous peak ; and the 

 other to the Riffelberg. The following is a fairly 

 complete list of the plants collected on these occasions 

 — ascents, as usual, zigzag, up steep mule-paths, 

 through forest of red pine, fir, and larch, with an 

 undergrowth of green alder and rhododendron : en 

 route, near the village and lower part of the ascent : — 

 Cotoneaster vulgaris. Campanula spicata, Eriophoi-on 

 alpimun (marshy meadow) ; Laserpitium Jiirsiitictn 

 (rocky places) ; Phaca alpina, Rosa pyrenaica, Rumex 

 alpimis, Salix nigricans; Viola biflora. Saxifrages, &c., 

 as usual. Among the rhododendrons it was impossible 

 not to note the singular abundance of Geranium 

 sylvaticum, and a hawkweed not unlike vulgatum, but 

 differing from it in the stems being monophyllous'; 

 the radical leaves are strongly inciso-dentate at their 

 bases, and inflorescence a closely-set corymbose panicle 

 with diverging pedicels ; capitula about seven or 

 eight, sometimes in starved specimens two or one 

 only, — PL 7iemorense} On rocks high up, and in 

 adjoining pastures : Aster alpinus, Androsace septen- 

 trionalis, Botrychium lunai'ia, Carcx Davalliana, 

 frigida, aten'ima, nitida, ericetorum ; Cenfaurea 

 nervosa, flower heads large, single, involucral appen- 

 -dages curious, brown, pinnate or plumose, and re- 

 curved : Geum montanum, Gentiana campestris, slender 

 form ; Nigritella angustifolia , Phaca astragalina, Pri- 

 . inula viscosa, Potciitilla grandijlora, a trifoliolate 

 species ; Pedicularis comosa, flowers a dull yellow, 

 adsccndens ; Rumex scttfctus, Senecio Doronicum, &c. 

 Above the pines the ascent continues up the bare 

 mountain sidetoan open, undulating, somewhat moory 

 slope beyond, extending with intervening ridges to a 

 craggy prominence called the Hornli ; behind this 

 the Matterhorn. 



The following plants were collected on the slope and 

 about the ridges : — Aspleimim septentrionale. Anemone 

 ^aldensis, sulfurea, — the latter a stouter plant than 

 ■the tyi^ical alpina, with a much denser pubescence on 

 4he stems and petioles ; the former might easily be 

 passed over for a ranunculus from the involucral leaves 

 being situated so low down the stems as to be hidden 

 among the radical ones; — Azalcaprocutnbens; Androsace 

 chamcEJasme, carnea (also on the Riffel) — leaves 

 linear, rigid, pointed, ciliated, rosulate ; corolla pink 

 with a yellow throat; — Carex nigra, ctirvnla — leaves 

 incurved and rush-like, as in incufva (the synonym 

 juncifolia of the latter species may, with equal 

 propriety, be applied to the former. As it is, the 

 terms curvula and incurva are apt to cause confusion 

 of ideas with regard to the plants : the one has three 

 stigmas and is of crespitose habit ; the other two only 

 and stoloniferous. In both the glumes are mem- 

 braneous, though but partially so in cui~vula) ; hispidula, 

 among the rocks high up, a coarse-looking species, 

 unattractive though rare ; — Cherleria sedoides; C/iamce- 



orchis alpina ; Chrysanthemum alpi?ium ; Cardamine 

 resedifolia — may be known at sight, by its slightly 

 rose-coloured sepals ; Draba aizoides ; Johajinis (form 

 gcnuina, furnished with a bifid or trifid pubescence : 

 stems sometimes leafless, but usually with one or two 

 leaflets more or less well developed on it) ; — Elyma 

 spicata, Erigeron unijiorus, Gaya simplex, Gnapha- 

 liiim carpathicum, Hieracitim glanduliferum , y uncus 

 jfac(juinii, Lloydia serotiiia ; Luzula lutea, spadicea ; 

 Meum mutellina. Primula viscosa, Pedicularis 

 rostrata (corolla bright rose casque with a long 

 beak ; characteristic, the root furnished with thick 

 fibres swollen in their centres) ; Oxytropis lapponica ; 

 Ranunculus rutcefolius, recognised at once by the 

 orange spot at the base of the white petals ; pyrenaica, 

 leaves lanceolate ; — Saxifraga androsacea, exarata, 

 muscoides (form of moschata, having a glandular 

 pubescence) ; a A^zxi Senecio not in flower, apparently 

 incanus ; Scirpus alpinus, a small plant two inches 

 high with sheathing stems, sheaths with a short 

 limb, rare ; Silene acaiiUs, Thlaspi alpinum, Viola 

 calcarata, Gentiana brachyphylla. 



Higher up towards the Hornli, my companion 

 obtained Ranunculus glacialis, Potentilla frigida, 

 and starved specimens of Thlaspi rotundifolium, 

 an inch or so high, reporting the stony ground in 

 that direction unproductive of anything else. In 

 addition to many of the plants above mentioned, we 

 obtained from the grassy slopes of the Riffel leading 

 to the Corner QiX2X,Saussurea alpina. Lychnis alpina, 

 Oxyria digyna, Arabis ccerulea, Aretia vitalliana, 

 Androsace glacialis, and Carex fcetida, possibly micro- 

 sty la : the fact is, the specimens gathered are too im- 

 mature for certainty ; some of the spikes were so ultra- 

 cordate as to impart a bilobate character to them — if 

 that is the signification of the synonym A'(!'a/'a, Kth., 

 and by which it may be better known. The sterile 

 florets of its androgynous spikes were in some specimens 

 at the summits ; in some they are fairly mixed with 

 the fertile ones, while in others they were all apparently 

 sterile or all fertile ; the glumes of a yellowish-brown 

 colour, as long as the compressed utricles ; the two 

 lowermost glumes much larger than the others, with 

 broad scarious margins and nerve running out into a 

 long mucro ; stolons very short. Possibly by some 

 botanists the two species, very near each other, may 

 have been confounded ; iox fcetida is named lobata by 

 Villars. 



Time did not unfortunately admit of a search among 

 the moraines and rocks adjoining the Findlen and 

 other glaciers — the home of most of the alpine rarities 

 for which the Valais canton is justly celebrated. A 

 notice, however, in the salon of the Grand Hotel, begs 

 tourists to be considerate when collecting, as the plants 

 were becoming scarce in the neighbourhood : possibly, 

 therefore, the " hunting grounds " are no longer at 

 present the "happy" ones they were in the times 

 when the locality was less frequented than it is 

 nowadays. 



