Alpine and Arctic Floras 



the conditions are very often quite different from the 

 rarefied air and intense cold of the Himalayas, or from 

 the dreary tundra solitudes of the frozen north. 



One finds little ravines full of moisture and rock 

 ledges kept continually fresh by the water which trickles 

 over them. The plants which grow there have a month 

 or two at least of brilliant sunshine, and are always 

 refreshed by dew at night even in the driest weather. 



Such saxifrages, sedums, gentians, campanulas, and 

 the like are the favourite " alpines " of the gardener, 

 and they exercise a strange domination over those who 

 have once taken any interest in them. They are usually 

 small, neat, and compact, but are remarkable especially 

 for their rich deep colours and relatively very large 

 flowers. 



But in an alpine garden and carefully looked after 

 these mountaineers are neither so gorgeous nor so rich 

 as they are on their native rocks and ledges. 



There one finds the deep blue of the gentians, as well 

 as crimson, rich reds, purple, gold-yellow, and pure 

 white scattered over the short close vegetation in lavish 

 profusion. 



The experiment of transplanting numbers of these 

 alpines has often been carried out, and it is always 

 found that the colours fade and are by no means so 

 gorgeous in the lowlands. This may be because they 

 miss the sunshine of their mountain homes, or because 

 life is too easy for them in a richly cultivated soil and 

 equable climate. But the colour of flowers is a question 

 in itself (see p. in). 



There are many interesting questions connected with 

 the origin of the alpine flora. 



It is only of recent years that botanists have dared to 

 explain the distribution of species by assuming the 

 formation of new species in special places. 



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