SWISS WILD FLOWERS WOOD 505 



are at least 2,540 species of wild ferns and flowering plants in 

 Switzerland, and it is not claiming too much for the mountains 

 and valleys of the Forest Cantons to say that they possess about 

 2,000 indigenous species. 



The greatest variety and most brilliant display of these blooms 

 are found from April to November in the Swiss meadows and 

 pastures, a cultivated acre or two wrested here and there from the 

 forest and rocks of a stern and mountainous land. It is when and 

 where the peasant farmer waits for the development of his biennial 

 crops of grass, hay, and other fodder — that is to say, anywhere from 

 the margin of the lake to the pines that grow almost to the line of 

 perpetual snow— that these small but brilliantly green oases of 

 cultivated land are to be searched for wild flowers. A mountain 

 meadow in May is a joy lost to the traveler who sees only the more 

 widely advertised and monumental sights of Switzerland. 



Hoffmann strikes the correct note when he remarks that the serious 

 student of Swiss wild flowers soon realizes that besides the classic 

 Alpenrosen and Edelweiss there are many other species of wild 

 flowers " that find their home only in the Swiss mountains, where 

 their blossoms sometimes stand so close together as practically to 

 form a covering for pastures, meadows, and rocks. Such floral 

 carpets, quite characteristic of the landscape, fascinate by their 

 brilliant coloring even the eyes of those who take but a moderate 

 interest in the more scattered flora of their own native land." (PI. 1.) 



Imagine, then, a relatively small patch of cultivated hillside 1,000 

 to 8,000 feet above sea level on which, throughout most of the spring 

 and summer, grow blooming masses of centaurea (especially G. 

 montana), vetches, rampion {Phyteuma spicatum and P. orhicu- 

 lare, both purple and white), eglantine, gentian (4 varieties), 

 wild geranium (4 varieties near Vitznau), lilies, violas, columbine, 

 saxifrage, blue bells, globe flowers, pinks {Dianthus superhits), cycla- 

 men, eyebright, nettles, fragrant cow-parsley, shasta-like daisies (and 

 their first cousins, the Alpine chrysanthemums), arnica, primroses, 

 monkshood, Alpine meadow rue, speedwell (interspersed Avith many- 

 hued clovers and ornamental grasses), scabiosa, catchfly {Silene 

 in-flata) both mauve and white-flowered forms, Alpine balsam 

 {Er'tnus alpinus), groundsel {Senecio do7'onicuj7i) , soapwort {Sapo- 

 naria ocymoides)^ milkwort {Poly gala alpestris), sainfoin {Onohry- 

 chis Tnontana), cotton grass {EriophoinLm angiostifoUmn), plantains, 

 St. Bernard's lily {Anthericum liliago), blue chicory (rarely the 

 flowers are white), yellow and white ranunculus, mustard, pink 

 bistort, hawkweed, alpenrosen {Rhododendron) , and dozens of other 

 flowering j^lants of which our limited space does not permit even 

 the bare mention. 



