and the Pyrenees , in 1825. 135 



late work, he has given no specific character to J. montaiia, 

 thereby seeming to declare that there is but one species of the 

 genus. 



We obtained shelter during the night in the hermitage. 

 As the morning was very foggy, and the rain continued to fall 

 in torrents, we did not dare to attempt the passage of the Cani- 

 gou, but contented ourselves with gathering what we could in 

 our vicinity ; and there were, indeed, some species that were 

 prized very much. Convallaria verticillata, Orchis ustulata, 

 Urtica hispida, Asphodelus albus, and Lilium pyrenaicum^ were 

 all of them desirable. Scrophularia Scopolii and Quercus mi- 

 crocarpa ? Lap. also occurred *, and likewise Apargia hispida. 

 About mid-day, the mist cleared away, and the weather be^ 

 gan to improve, so that we now resolved to cross the Canigou. 

 On our ascent, we found a great many alpine plants : Gentiana 

 acanlis vcrna. Primula integrifolia, Aretia carnea, and Ranun-. 

 cuius pyrencEus^ covered all the wet banks, and Trifolium aU 

 pestre all the dry. The plants we observed to extend to the 

 greatest elevation, were Aretia carnea and Sempervivum monta- 

 num^ not yet in flower ; the leaves of the latter were covered 

 with Uredo sempervivi. 



• I may mention, thai, we also observed here, as well as on our ascent to 

 the Treizabents, Veronica fnitimlosa^ var. Linn, and Sm. (a variety of V. scura- 

 Hits, Lap. DC. Fl. Fr., and Hook. Fl. Scot., but not so according to Smith, 

 nor, apparently, Brown). This, which appears to be the plant found on Ben 

 Lawers in Scotland, and which, alone, of the allied species, we found (and that 

 not merely in different places on the Canigou, but also in the Vallee d'Eynes, 

 and on the ascent to the Port Negre in the Vallee d'Andorre,) in the Pyre- 

 nees, is nearly intermediate between the true V. saxatilis and the cultivated 

 V.frniiculosa, which last, alone, is that of De CandoUe, and agrees with Haller, 

 Helv. t. 15. The only character, however, that I can see between V.fnUicu- 

 losa andsaxatilis, is, that in the former the leaves are always somewhat lanceo- 

 late (though often at the same time obtuse and entire), and in the latter they 

 are nearly round or ovate. In V. fruticulosa, the peduncles are scarcely so 

 long as the bracteas, while in the other, they are usually much longer, which 

 gives the spike, or rather raceme, a lax appearance. I have only to add, that 

 the cultivation of V. scuvatilis of Scotland for three or four years in my own 

 garden at Arlary, has so much approached it to the Pyrenean plant, that, had 

 I not, I think with considerable accuracy, ascertained on the subject the opi- 

 nion of Sir J. E. Smith, I should have preferred uniting the latter to V. saxa- 

 Hlis, if, indeed, V. saxatilis and frut'mdosa be really distinct si^ecies. From 



V. saxatilis, the V. nummularia^ Gouan ( V. irreffulans, Lap.), differs, by its 



narrow petals. 



