But it is in connection with their flowers that the 

 wonderful adaptation of Alpine plants to their surroundings 

 is perhaps best seen. The plants of high altitudes generally 

 bear more numerous and more brightly coloured flowers than 

 do their relatives of the plains. The low stature of the 

 plants that bear them gives rise to the impression that the 

 flowers of the Alps are also larger than those of lowland 

 districts, but though undoubtedly more numerous and more 

 crowded together they are of about the same size as those 

 of other nearly related species. The colours of the flowers 

 are, however, undoubtedly deeper and more intense. If we 

 examine specimens of the same kind of flower, for instance 

 the Forget-me-not or Eyebright, that have been found grow- 

 ing at different altitudes, we shall be struck with the deeper 

 tints of the flowers from the higher regions. That this 

 character has something to do with the conditions of life in 

 Alpine districts is shown by the disappointment that we 

 sometimes feel at the diminished brilliancy of the flowers of 

 Alpine plants when grown in our gardens at home. The 

 flowers of the Alps are also, as a rule, of a more highly 

 organised type than those of the plains, and corresponding 

 with this increase in complexity is a relative increase in the 

 number of pink and blue flowers, and a diminution in that 

 of the yellow and white. Alpine plants, too, seem to produce 

 more honey than do the corresponding plants in the plains ; 

 at any rate, the yield of honey from bee-hives is greater, 

 and Bonnier has shown that the secretion of honey by 



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