308 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL mSTORT SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



makes a very satisfactory second indeed, especially in the eyes 

 of the stranger, to whom most of tliese plants have hitherto been 

 known only by name. The valley, as I have already said, 

 occupies a central position in the great mountainous tract known 

 as the Dovrefjeld; it is furthermore extremely favourably 

 situated for all forms of arctic and alpine vegetation, as it lies 

 about 3,600 feet above sea level, and is protected, especially on 

 its western or seaward side, by high, and in many cases glacier- 

 clad mountains, the highest in the immediate vicinity being 

 Snaehattan, 7,400 feet above sea level. On its eastern side it 

 is also flanked by great mountains, the mighty three^ridged 

 barrier of Knudsho, on the slopes of which the Kongsvold stands, 

 rising to a height of 5,540 feet. This mountain, with its bare 

 rocky summits, its long grassy slopes, its patches of perpetual 

 snow, steep fosses or waterfalls, and deeply sunk rocky de- 

 clivities, may be said to represent all the chief botanical 

 features of the district. 



On the slopes of this mountain, and on the Vaarstein or 

 Spring Path, which, indeed, may be considered a continuation of 

 it, we found, with the exception of one or two forms of 

 apparently local occurrence, everything of floral interest which 

 the district boasted and the season of our visit permitted. Even 

 in this latter respect we were unusually fortunate, for, on 

 account of the early melting of the snows, many of the later 

 flowering plants were already blooming in as luxuriant pro- 

 fusion as those we had a right to expect. 



Pulsatilla vernalis, Mill., is one of the plants which occur in 

 the Alps, but at a much higher elevation, naturally, than in 

 boreal regions. This plant we found first at Krokhaugan, about 

 thirty miles further south, in the Foldalen district. It was just 

 over there, and we were afraid we should not find it again in 

 flower. However, we were fortunate enough to discover an 

 entire hill face covered with it at the Kongsvold, on the western 

 side of the Driva, about ten minutes' walk from the hotel. The 

 plants were in every condition from bud to ripe fruit, and the 

 flowers most delicately tinted, the outer sepals being variously 

 pale pink or veined with violet or reddish-purple stripes. The 

 whole plant is covered with gleaming yellowish-brown hairs of 

 silky texture. This is one of the plants which develops true 



