SWISS WILD FLOWERS — WOOD 511 



tinct species) closely resembles the foregoing. Another Swiss spe- 

 cies of this genus is the charming G. latifolia, 12 to 20 inches high, 

 whose flow^ers are cream colored and are found in June on sub-Alpine 

 wooded hills. 



Finally, to mention another orchid genus represented in North 

 America, is Epipactis. The 10 Swiss species are rather tall plants 

 with leafy stems bearing brown, purple, or greenish-white flowers, 

 occasionally tinged with red, in a loose raceme. In E. pahcstris the 

 white, green, orange, and purple flowers are large and very beautiful. 

 The smooth stem is about a foot high, and the plant prefers marshes 

 and watered meadows reaching 4,000 feet above the sea. 



The crocus — that harbinger of spring — is represented in Swiss up- 

 land pastures and snow fields (to 7,000 feet) by the very pretty C. 

 vernus. The white or violet flowers open before or with the coming 

 of the grasslike leaves, and sometimes appear (April to June, accord- 

 ing to elevation and situation) surrounded by the, as yet, unmelted 

 snow. 



Seven other wild species of the iris family are known in Switzer- 

 land, all capable of domestication in gardens and at low levels. 



Primula elatior, the oxlip, resembles P. veris, the familiar cowslip, 

 only it is more erect than the latter, has larger and longer leaves, and 

 its many-flowered umbel is straw-colored and larger than the cow- 

 slip bloom. It is not scented. This early plant is common from 

 April to July in meadows, woods, and pastures up to 7,000 feet 

 (pi. 2, fig. 2). 



Anemone sulphurea, with a stem 6 to 18 inches high, bearing a 

 large, solitary yellow-white flower (pi. 4), is by some regarded 

 as a variety of A. alpina^ which it closely resembles, although the 

 latter has a white flower tinged with blue below. Both have ternate, 

 bipinnatifid root-leaves with deeply cut segments. These species 

 affect pastures and rough ground on Alpine slopes, and bloom from 

 May to July. 



Monkshood {Aconitum napeUus) : There are several Swiss aco- 

 nites, but this species is the commonest about the Vierwaldstiittersee. 



It has a striking resemblance to the delphiniums of our gardens 

 and is equally capable of cultivation and improvement in color and 

 size. Perhaps its violent poisonous qualities act somewhat as a 

 deterrent in that direction. In our own American gardens it ap- 

 pears as a beautiful plant with dark violet (occasionally purple, light 

 blue, or white) flowers borne in a simple, cylindrical raceme. The 

 plant loves upland woods, damp meadows, the margins of a small 

 stream, or the vicinity of a herdsman's hut, in return for whose shade 

 it provides the decoration of its charming flowers. It blooms from 

 June to August between 3,000 and 8,000 feet above sea level (pi. 5). 



