124 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



local; at a distance it is often difficult to distinguish its 

 white stems from those of the aspen {Fopuhis trenuild). The 

 woolly-twigged birch {B. pubescens) and intermediate forms also 

 doubtless occur, though I did not see them. 



Of the smaller trees the following are universal — hawthorn, 

 hazel, "Scotch" laburnum (Z. alpimmi), Prutius Mahaleb, 

 blackthorn (^P. spinosa), the wayfaring tree ( Viburnum lantana), 

 Guelder rose ( V. opulus). The commonest shrubs are dogwood 

 {Corfius sanguined), privet {Ligustrum vulgare), common elder 

 {Sambucus nigra), and scarlet-berried elder {S. racemosa), a shrub 

 which has become our worst forest weed in Tweeddale, though 

 it is not a native of Great Britain. On the hillsides below the 

 denser woodlands juniper and box mix with the scrub oak and, 

 like it, were often dead or moribund this summer. 



In the higher valleys of the Isere and Doron, which take 

 their rise in the Alpine range of the Vanoise, larch woods cling 

 to the rocks at timber-level of 6000-7500 feet. Scots pine is 

 usually at a somewhat lower altitude, and, though Pitius Cembra 

 occurs, I saw none but scattered trees. Much of the larch 

 appeared to be of great age, though I saw no really large trees. 

 From many of the mountains of Savoy Pinus monta?ia appears 

 to be absent; further south, in Dauphiny, I believe the erect 

 form {P. tincinatd) is found. In the higher country the 

 Alpine alder {A. viridis) flourishes as a bush on the margins 

 of the woods, often mingled with the two Alpine rhododendrons 

 {Rh. hirsutum and Rh. ferrugineum). Several shrubs, seldom 

 seen in British gardens, abound in the sub-alpine regions ; 

 two shrubby honeysuckles {Lonicera coerulea and Z. alpigera), 

 the former with purple fruit and the latter with its scarlet 

 cherry-like fruits are common ; neither has flowers of much 

 merit. Cononeasier vulgaris, whose native habitat in Great 

 Britain is confined to the Great Orme's Head, its near relative 

 Cotoneaster tome?ttosa, Rosa alpina, R. rubrifoiia, Rhamnus aipina, 

 and, at about 5000 feet, Rubus saxatilis which bears its scarlet 

 fruit in great profusion and replaces the raspberry {R. idaeus), 

 common at lower altitudes ; these are perhaps the shrubs best 

 worth mentioning, though I know my list is incomplete. In the 

 valleys among river boulders the common barberry {Berberis 

 vulgaris) and sea buckthorn {Hippohae rhamnoides) are laden 

 in August with their berries, and "Old Man's Beard" {Clematis 

 vitalba) festoons the underwood. 



