168 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



growth, while the areas containing Hmestone are well watered 

 and rich in vegetation. 



Our excursions through this region covered a period of five days, 

 and under the guidance of our leader, Professor J. B. Farmer, 

 an Alpine climber of note, the plant collecting, interspersed with 

 mountain climbing, proved a most delightful combination. 



Fig. I. Some of the party in front of the inn, ready for a day's work; Professor J. 

 B. Farmer at the center of the group. 



Certainly the region is not one which an inexperienced botanist 

 would pick out for collecting. As the eye traverses the mountain 

 slopes, from their green valleys to their bleak, bare summits, 

 the utter lack of a tree flora lends a peculiarly barren aspect to the 

 vegetation (figs. 2 and 3). A closer inspection, however, gained 

 during our ascent of these very slopes, reveals the fact that this ap- 

 parent sterility does not extend to herbaceous plants. Especially is 

 this true if one happens to follow a lead in which a fair proportion of 

 limestone is mingled. Here one may come upon a bright pink 

 carpet of Silene acaidis L. the moss campion, or the crimson 

 Saxifraga oppositijolia L. ; or the polygonaccous Oxyria digyna 

 (L.) Hill, the mountain sorrel, and the yellow-llowered Sedum 



