SWISS FLOWERS. 19 



2. Aquilegia. 



(PLATE IL) 



The common Columbine, A. vulgaris, is known to every- 

 one, and, from the resemblance it bears to its more homely 

 neighbour, there is no danger of mistaking A. Alpina 

 (Fig. 2). The peculiarity of its shape, too, at once makes 

 it known. Its five petals, formerly called nectaries, end in 

 a closed tube, bent like a horn, and before the flower 

 expands stand round the stem, making a curious as well as 

 graceful form. The flower expanded, the five sepals, for- 

 merly called petals, spread in every direction, and allow the 

 many stamens to be seen. The colour is a beautiful blue, 

 or a blue shading into purple, and a variety is mentioned 

 which is white in the middle. The leaves are divided into 

 long lobes that approach each other. The plant is about a 

 foot high. It is found only on the high mountains : above 

 St. Moriiz, M. Todi, Gryon sur Bex, Zinal, Simplon, 

 Chamounix, Sils (Engadine). "Do these plants really grow 

 here? " we asked of the waiter, as we saw a beautiful bunch 

 of them on the dining-table at one of the hotels at Zermatt. 

 " Oh yes, in the woods near," was the reply. Searching 

 for them with this rather vague direction, it was not before 

 they were out of blossom that we found they grew near 

 the Findelen glacier. It does not dry well. The common 



2 * 



