academy of sc.ence.s.] DESCRIPTION OF ALPINE TYPES. 39 



inflorescence is generally two-flowered, but the basal intcrnode seldom develops to any length, 

 remaining inclosed within the leaf sheath, thus the flowers appear as being "scapose." 



In Gentiana frigida the very short vertical rhizome is completely covered with the withered 

 leaf sheaths, and the root system consists of many fleshy secondary roots of quite a considerable 

 length, the primary root having died off evidently before the flowering state had been reached. 

 There are many leaves forming an open rosette, and the fact that vegetative shoots appear 

 in abundance, together with floral, makes it difficult to ascertain whether the growth of the 

 shoot is monopodial or sympodial. In the subalpine G. barbellata Engelm. the ramification is 

 very distinctly monopodial, and in this species the shoots are not so crowded as in G. frigida. 

 While collecting G. barbellata, I noticed that the flowers exhale a strong odor like vanilla, the 

 only species which, so far as I know, is fragrant. 



In Viola bellidifolia, which is of the caulescent type, the basal internodes of the flowering 

 stem are so short that the plant (pi. 1, fig. 1) might be mistaken for an acaulescent species. 

 However, the basal internodes are present, and they winter over with buds in the leaf axils, 

 which continue the growth of the plant above ground. It is this structure which Hjalmar 

 Nilsson has defined as a "pseudo-rhizome," 3 being the only stem portion that persists. As 

 may be seen from the figure, the primary root persists, but remains rather slender and ramifies 

 but sparingly. Viola bellidifolia belongs to the group of which the ramification of the shoot is 

 sympodial, similar to the European V. canina L. 4 In Sieversia Rossii (pi. 2, fig. 10) there is a 

 deep primary root, and some secondary roots which have developed from the internodes of the 

 short, creeping rhizome. The leaves are quite numerous, long petioled, and with the blade 

 pinnately divided. The species forms dense mats at very high altitudes. In Polemonium 

 viscosum (pi. 3, fig. 25) the slender rhizome is creeping, and capillary secondary roots develop 

 freely from the nodi, whfle the primary root does not persist. Numerous glandular hairy leaves 

 are borne on the apex of the rhizome, and the showy, deep-blue flowers are large in proportion 

 to the size of the shoots. A similar creeping rhizome occurs also in Artemisia scopvlorum 

 (pi. 3, fig. 21), but it is thicker, and the secondary roots are quite strong. In the species of 

 Primula (pi. 3, fig. 24) the subterranean stem is vertical but short, and the primary root is of 

 short duration, becoming replaced by a number of fleshy secondary roots. Synihyris alpina 

 (pi. 5, fig. 36) shows many long-petioled leaves borne upon a short rhizome with strong secondary 

 roots. The long woolly inflorescence is borne upon a long scape. The Alpine species of Senecio 

 (pi. 4, figs. 26-28) have short ascending rhizomes, terminated by a cluster of leaves and a tall 

 inflorescence. S. dimorphophyllus, belongs to a group of which the foliage varies from entire 

 or serrate to pinnatifid in the same species, especially well marked in S. canus Hook., S. aureus 

 L., S. Fendleri Gr., and others. 



A well-developed, horizontally creeping, and wooded rhizome, on the other hand, is present 

 in Saxifraga punctata. This type of growth, with or without a persisting taproot, with or 

 without a distinct rhizome, but with many leaves forming rosettes or cushions, is the one which 

 we most frequently meet with in the Alpine region. Another type is represented by Claytonia 

 and Calandrinia (pi. 1, figs. 8-9). In these the primary root persists for many years as a deep, 

 fleshy, and very thick taproot, and the shoot above ground represents a monopodium, a rosette 

 of many leaves with the inflorescences axillary. Characteristic of both is the seedling, with 

 two cotyledons and the early development of the primary root as a fleshy taproot. We remember 

 that in the tuberous rooted Claytonia Virginica 5 only one of the cotyledons develop, as is the 

 case of several other plants with tuberous roots: Cyclamen, Ficaria, Erigenia, etc. 



As mentioned in the preceding, stolons are seldom developed. They occur, however, in 

 Epilobium Hornemannii, Stellaria umbellata (pi. 1, figs. 5-7), Oxyria, and a few others, where 

 they are subterranean and bear only scalelike leaves. With reference to Stellaria umbellata, * 



' Nilsson, Hj.: Dikotylajordstammar. (Acta Univ. Luudensis. Tom. XIX. Lund, 1SS2-83. P. 18, seq.) 

 'Holm, Theo.: Biological notes on Canadian species of Viola. (Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XVII. Ottawa, 1903. P. 149.) 

 s Holm, Theo.: Claytonia (1. c). 



• Same: Method of hibernation and vegetative reproduction in North American species of Stellaria. (Am. Journ. Sci., Vol. XXV, April, 

 1908, p. 319.) 



