i 9 4 WILD FLOWERS OF SCOTLAND 



before; and I seek to keep myself as free as 

 possible from that form of curiosity which dearly 

 loves to snare a secret, and would fain worm out 

 of every pawky gamekeeper what he has to tell or 

 to sell. 



The chief treasure of the place whose where- 

 abouts, in the opinion of some, all the mountains 

 were placed there to hide is the snowy gentian. 

 The man who is able to say " I know " is an object 

 of envy. It is a pale blue annual of some three 

 inches high, which peeps over the ledges over- 

 looking the caen in July and August, and rains 

 down its seed alongside and on the ledges beneath, 

 for next year's bloom. 



It seems to grow only here and on Ben Lawers. 

 One can account for widely-spread alpines that 

 are found in every likely situation, more easily 

 than for those isolated forms, such as this snowy 

 gentian, or the yellow oxytropis, whose whole area 

 may only extend over a few ledges of rock or a few 

 square yards of turf. How was the seed or pea 

 from which they sprang dropped down ? If their 

 tenure is as ancient as it seems to be, then how, in 

 the many ages before botanists existed, did they 

 not manage to spread farther ? 



In contrast with this minute snowy gentian is 



