80 ALPINE FLOWERS AND GARDENS 



which we ascended. There is much the same flora 

 on these slopes as on the last steep slopes before we 

 reached the Col, except that here, on this stony- 

 shelf over which we are passing, is a quantity of the 

 always fascinating little trailing Alpine, Linaria 

 alpi?ia, or Alpine Toad-Flax, with its charming 

 mauve and orange blossoms and cool, grey-green 

 foliage. There exists a variety which has no orange 

 lips, but it is very much more local, and is not 

 growing here ; nor is its extremely uncommon 

 pink form, reported as having been recently found 

 in the neighbourhood of Bourg St. Pierre. This 

 Toad- Flax is obviously a member of the family 

 of Snapdragon, and its blossom bears a strong 

 likeness to the Mother-of-Thousands or Wandering 

 Sailor {Linaria cymbalaria) of our English walls. 

 The popular family name of Toad- Flax is said to 

 be derived from the common yellow Snapdragon 

 of the plains, whose appearance, before flowering, 

 resembles a many-leaved plant of Flax, and the 

 mouth of whose yellow blossom is supposed to 

 resemble that of a Toad. 



Having reached the shoulder at which we were 

 aiming, we shall now have to turn straight down 

 its northern side — down into this amphitheatre of 

 rugged cliffs. And here the nature of the ground 



