ALPINE PLANTS. 73 
Many Alpine plants, cradled in perpetual snows, 
and exposed during a great part of the year to the 
driving of the wintry blasts, which are so common 
in Switzerland, Lapland, and other cold regions, are 
so tenacious of their accustomed haunts and habits, 
that 
‘¢The raging tempest and the mountain’s roar, 
But bind them to their native hills the more; 
and any attempt to grow them in a milder climate is 
generally attended with failure. These plants are 
mostly quite diminutive, although they sometimes 
produce flowers of considerable size and beauty. 
The most common color among plants which in- 
habit very cold countries is white, or a light shade 
of pink or yellow. Thus, the snow-drop, the lily of 
the valley, the white-flowered wood-sorrel, are all 
productions of high northern latitudes; while in 
warmer regions, the flowers are robed in stronger 
hues. 
It is observed that mountainous places are generally 
much more productive than the valleys; but there is 
scarcely any situation, however unfavorably located, 
where plants and flowers are not occasionally met 
with. They are found 
‘Springing in valleys green and low, 
And on the mountains high; 
And in the silent wilderness, 
Where no one passes by.” 
On one of the highest points in Europe, at the 
elevation of eight thousand feet above the level of 
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