69 



The change continually urged me forward, till I found myself among 

 patches of snow. There Dentaria enneaphylla, Aposeris foetida, and 

 Clematis alpina, totally out of flower in the lower woods, still dis- 

 played their blossoms. I also got Rhododendron Chamaecistus, Pyrus 

 Chamaemespilus (in flower), Gentiana pannonica, Carex firma and 

 C. tenuis. Vicia dumetorum was plentiful in the lower woods. I 

 found Laserpitium hirsutum in the meadows ; Heracleum austriacum 

 in the upper woods. 



There is a waterfall of considerable elevation in Hallstadt itself, 

 presenting, in this wet weather, a good stream of water. About two 

 miles up the valley, which opens just above the town, there is one, in 

 every way more important. The first part is nearly perpendicular, 

 for, I should suppose, three hundred feet, and the stream dashes 

 down among broken masses of rock, for perhaps as much more. I 

 gathered in the way Cynanchum laxum of Koch, and Valeriana 

 exaltata, both rather doubtful species. The first I think 1 have met 

 with more than once in France. It differs in having shorter stalks 

 to the individual flowers, and in a disposition in the stem to be spiral, 

 as if climbing at the top. The other has no extended runners to the 

 root, but it must be observed here, as in the Carices, the peculiarity 

 of the roots is not in their nature, but in degree, the side shoots of 

 the roots rising immediately into stem, close to the old one in V. 

 exaltata, while in V. officinalis they are extended first to a considera- 

 ble length underground. In returning, I climbed up a bank com- 

 posed of rubbish, brought down by a little stream from some of the 

 branches of the Dachstein, the highest of the mountains about Hall- 

 stadt, and always retaining great masses of snow. Here, besides 

 many other mountain plants, I found abundance of Cerastium ovatum. 

 In this, as well as in many other Alpine plants found in similar situa- 

 tions, the crown of a fusiform root throws out abundance of equal 

 slender stems, a mode of growth which seems essentially different 

 from that above described as belonging to the Carices, and to Vale- 

 riana exaltata. These stems are covered up by stones and loose 

 earth for a considerable distance, and they seem now and then to 

 produce another root, which, like the original one, throws out a num- 

 ber of threadlike stems. Cyclamen Europaeum is so abundant in all 

 this neighbourhood, that the wood is often quite purple with its 

 blossoms. Helleborus niger also continues very abundant, but, of 

 course, at this season, there were only leaves. 



I left Hallstadt on the 6th of August, hoping for better weather, 

 and more productive mountains, in the neighbourhood of Salzburg, 



