4 SWISS FLOWERS. 



teristic of the country, or most commonly seen, a great 

 many of which will certainly be new to such as make a first 

 visit to the Alps. To any who are in this happy position, 

 and who ask where the treasures are to be found, the diffi- 

 culty is rather to say where they are not than where they 

 are. A walk over any of even the most frequented and 

 most accessible heights will show them what they never saw 

 before, that is if it is made in the right season. The reign 

 of the plants is as short as it is glorious. Speaking gene- 

 rally, July is the month for them, or July and the first 

 week in August, especially for those on the higher ground. 

 Much that is lovely may be found on the Jura a fortnight 

 or even a month earlier. It is true, some plants show 

 themselves sooner, and many linger on later, or appear still 

 on the heights when they have passed from the lower 

 grounds ; but, for ensuring abundance and variety, no 

 time is like that above mentioned. Later on, the grass 

 is mown on the Alpine slopes, or the cattle are sent to 

 feed there ; or the sun itself which called forth the beauty 

 withers the flower, " and the grace of the fashion of it 

 perisheth.'^ 



The blossom of the fruit-trees and the bulbous plants 

 which abound in the neighbourhood of the lakes and on the 

 lower grounds is earlier, and is said to be of rare beauty by 

 those who have seen it. Fields of Crocuses, Narcissuses, 

 Cory dales, &c., abound. Usually, however, it is later in 



