BARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



by, nestling in the thickest bed of moss, and 

 sheltered by the stump of an old chestnut, the 

 ever-green and tough-stemmed mountain Polygala 

 chamabuxus was in full flower ; the pairs of leaves 

 closely resemble those of the box-tree, which the 

 varied tints of the petals shade from white to yellow, 

 red or brown ; a honey-scented plant that grows in 

 splendid masses in spring, and very frequently in 

 company with Gentiana verna. A strong spike of 

 Salvia vcrbenaca, larger in all its parts, and far 

 brighter in colour than an English species, was 

 growing out of a wall. It had escaped the heavy 

 snows, and we left the plant in the hope that sunny 

 days might preserve the handsome coloured stem for 

 the last few weeks of the year. In the dry bed of a 

 mountain torrent a tall mullein stood upright, 

 crowded with golden yellow blossom to the very tip. 

 The leaves were smooth, slightly clasping the stem ; 

 each flower had a patch of brown in the centre, 

 while purple hairs covered the stamens'; the species 

 apparently being Verbascum Blattaria ; again we 

 had not the heart to cut it down. On every wall 

 the delicate little creeper, Linaria Cymbalaria, with 

 ivy-shaped leaves and lilac flowers, was out in pro- 

 fusion. 



Two very striking plants next claimed our 

 attention. Helltborus fcetidus, type of the Christmas 

 roses, filled almost every crevice : the dark leaves 

 deeply cut and serrated with the lighter green of the 

 calices, afford a most pleasing variety, especially when 

 the sepals have a tinge of reddish purple. Daphne 

 laureola, the second of these evergreen plants, is 

 also plentifully distributed through the Chillon 

 Woods. The leaves are entire, of a dark, shiny 

 green ; the axillary clusters of greenish flowers were 

 in full bud, but hardly open. A little later, or 

 rather early in the next year, the sweet-scented 

 Mezereon {Daphne Mezereori) will be abundant 

 higher up in these very woods, flowering before the 

 young leaves appear. Trailing in a thicket, though 

 not in the woods, we found a large quantity of the 

 orange scarlet capsules of the Phy salts Alkekengi, or 

 winter cherry. Though not indigenous in England, 

 many will be familiar with the orange calyx, which 

 fades away, leaving a network surrounding the 

 orange fruit, which is extensively used as an article 

 of food in North Italy, at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and other parts of the world. A handsome decora- 

 tion may be made of this plant, which preserves the 

 orange scarlet in a dry state for many weeks after it 

 is gathered. It is a notable fact that, while the fruit 

 of so many genera of this order are deadly poison, 

 the physalis is harmless. Even the fruit of the 

 potatoe is said to be injurious, and the tubers are 

 unwholesome in a raw state. 



By the side of a trickling mountain stream a few 

 solitary flowers of Saponaria officinalis still lingered, 

 though the beauty of the delicate flesh-tinted petals 

 was somewhat lost. Here and there a crimson 



cluster of berries still hung on the boughs of Guelder- 

 rose {Viburnum Opultis), a shrub or tree not to be 

 confused with V. Lantana, the mealy guelder-rose, s< i 

 common to English hedgerows. In rocky rirags, 

 above the slopes of brush-wood, a splendid array of 

 Asphnium fontanum was in full beauty ; it is an 

 evergreen fern, having lacy fronds which would 

 enrich any collection, and is extremely easy to 

 cultivate. It is said to have been exterminated in 

 North. Wales, where it once flourished. We would 

 earnestly beg of botanists, not only in England, but 

 also in Switzerland, to gather plants and ferns only 

 with care and judgment. It is generally so easy 

 both to obtain specimens, and at the same time to 

 leave plenty of a plant, for propagation. Un- 

 fortunately this care is not always exercised, and 

 unscrupulous collectors are doing great harm eacli 

 year in the Alps. So many thousand plants of 

 "edelweiss," for example, have been taken recently 

 for trade purposes, that the Swiss authorities have 

 been compelled to publish notices to tourists and 

 would-be collectors, strongly urging care in the 

 matter of gathering plants. Having been diligent in 

 botanical collecting for over fifteen years we must 

 emphatically repeat an opinion that it is never 

 necessary to exterminate rare plants, even while obtain- 

 ing the desired specimens. Aspleniutn trichomanes 

 and A. viride, we found plentiful in several parts, 

 the former, indeed, everywhere. A. Adianttim-nigrum 

 is more sparingly scattered through these woods ; 

 splendid fronds of Polypodium vulgaris we noted, 

 so large as to make us wonder if it was not a different 

 species of polypody. While naming the winter 

 ferns, we may remark that Polystichum lonchitis, the 

 holly-fern, grows in woods, the opposite side of 

 the lake, and Ceterach officinale covers one wall not 

 two miles away from Montreux. The leaves of 

 Chelidonium ma/us, the greater celandine, were still 

 fresh on many of the stone walls. Out of curiosity 

 we cut through the main 'stem of a strong-looking 

 plant to see if the yellow sap was still flowing ; there 

 was little trace of the ' colouring matter ; the stem 

 appeared dried up and shrinking away. In February 

 the fresh life will well up into leaves and stems ; the 

 mysterious power in nature which causes the renewal 

 of vital energy will once more be in activity, and 

 the suspended process of growth be continued. In a 

 corner of a vineyard at Chillon, several deep crimson 

 flowers of Fitmaria officinalis attracted the eye. On 

 the grassy slopes two pink-blossomed specimens of 

 Erythraa centaureutn remained, all the leaves faded, 

 and, with a few terminal flowers only ; a solitary plant 

 of Solatium nigrum, with a cluster of white flowers, 

 we found on a heap of [loose stones, having several 

 of the rather large black berries on a second stem. 

 Of the numerous fungi we cannot say more now than 

 to note the size and beauty of the scarlet Peziza 

 cochinea, which is plentiful in parts of Chillon woods. 

 It was a strange appearance to be gathering 



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