THE VALLON DES FLEURS. 169 



the evening not a flower is left, but the road to the 

 town is strewn with the debris of Nature's beautiful 

 handiwork, just as you may see the Promenade at 

 Nice, Cannes, or Mentone, after the vulgar and rowdy 

 " Battle of Flowers." 



Against this wanton destruction the botanist 

 protests in vain. But think you that there is no 

 " Flowers' Revenge "? that Freiligrath's small fairies 

 will not pierce you with their elfin darts ? 



" Wir verbiiihn, doch eh' wir sterben, 

 Madchen, triff dich unsre Eache ! " 



Barlia longibracteata (Aceras, Loroglossum, 

 Fig. 92), the largest and handsomest orchid of this dis- 

 trict if not of the whole Riviera, abounds in the Vallon. 

 On the Italian side of the frontier " it is becoming very 

 rare, as many of the places where it formerly grew 

 have been turned into cultivated terraces." It loves 

 a fresh and shady spot. Called after Barla, who 

 made a special study of the Riviera orchids, and 

 wrote a monograph (" Iconographie ") with beautiful 

 coloured plates. Among the other orchids common 

 in this Valley the white Cephalanthera ensifolia 

 is conspicuous. Wild Tulips would be more plentiful 

 if they did not grow so near the path. 



If you are fond of sweet perfumes, you can fill 

 your pockets with Melissa, a Labiate with the habit 

 of a Lamium. The odour of this plant is like that 

 of the Scented Verbena (Aloysia triphylla). In the 

 Hepatica Valley, just mentioned, the Clematis vitalba 

 (not the Flammula) reaches a development which I 

 have never seen in England. It reminds one of those 

 tropical lianas, rising as it does to the summit of the 

 highest trees, with a stem as thick as the wrist. The 



