INTRODUCTION vii 



Flora is not limited to Switzerland, a considerable pro- 

 portion of the illustrations are of natives of other alpine 

 regions, especially of the Pyrenees. 



As the traveller with botanical tastes approaches Swit- 

 zerland by any of the ordinary routes through Northern 

 and Eastern France, he notes but little difference in the 

 vegetation from that with which he is familiar in our 

 southern counties. A few strangers soon make their 

 appearance ; the spiny heads of Eryngium canipestre 

 are seen by the road-sides, and the damp meadows are 

 coloured by the yellow thistle {Cirszuin oleraceuni). In 

 the vineyards he would also find some unfamiliar weeds, 

 such as various species of Delphinium. But until he 

 reaches Macon or Pontarlier the general aspects of the 

 vegetation are the same : it is the flora of North- Western 

 Europe. In the mountain woods of the French Jura or 

 of the northern cantons of Switzerland he will come 

 across much more to attract his attention ; such plants 

 as Veronica urticcBfoliay Prenanthes purpureUy and As- 

 trantia mi^ior meet him everywhere ; Prunella grandi- 

 flora is common by the road-sides ; species of Dianthus 

 and Gentiana become gradually more predominant; while 

 among the bushes by the road-sides or in damp meadows 

 he will notice the red-berried elder, Sambucus raceinosa, 

 and the feathery Spircea Aruncus. The sylvan flora of 

 the calcareous Jura chain is especially interesting; here 

 are found in abundance the alpine honeysuckle, Lonicera 

 alpigena, with its twin red berries, the mezereon, the weird 

 herb-Paris, Paris quadrifolia, the pretty little Maianthe- 

 mum bifoliuniy the red-berried crowberry, more than one 

 species of Phyteuma, and many another which the inex- 

 perienced botanist will transfer with delight to his vascu- 



