AUTUMN IN THE ALPS 107 



lare). And the same late and hasty effort may be 

 seen among the flowers in the hay-fields. Recover- 

 ing from the effects of the scythe, such summer 

 things as the Alpine Knapweed {Centaur eauniflor a), 

 with its cobwebby-looking buds and briUiant 

 masfenta - red blooms, the Wood Crane's - bill 

 {Geranium sylvaticum), and Campanula rliomhokl- 

 alis, making a brave show amongst the profusion 

 of Autumn Crocus {Colchicum autumnale). This 

 lovely magenta-pink Crocus, although so common 

 in the Alps, is not, strictly speaking, an Alpine. 

 It has, however, its Alpine form in Colchicum 

 alpinum, a smaller, daintier flower with a pale 

 yellow stem — the stem of autumnale being white. 

 Both of these bulbous plants (of which white forms 

 may occasionally be found) are violently poisonous, 

 and are injurious to the cattle. One hears them 

 sometimes called by the name of Saffron ; but 

 the Saffron Crocus is C. sativus, cultivated in 

 some parts of France, and probably of Oriental 

 origin. Frequently in the Spring of the year people 

 will ask the name of the lily-like plant with the 

 large green ' bud ' set deep among the leaves, and I 

 have known some who have transplanted it to their 

 gardens, and watched eagerly for the 'bud' to 

 expand. They were, of course, doomed to dis- 



