In Wild Swiss Gardens 



which I found a few more flowers in other parts, 

 the handsome G. asclepiadea was abundant in 

 many places, and at its best ; and, in a wood on 

 the slopes of the Mettenberg, I met with a very 

 beautiful variety, in which all the leaves were in 

 the same plane, with the flowers on one side only 

 of the flower-stem (technically secund}, and of the 

 most delicate pale-blue colour. Close to the upper 

 glacier, between the Wetterhorn and the Metten- 

 berg, I came upon a complete bed of the G. ciliata 

 in full bloom, and I think this almost the most 

 beautiful of the dwarf gentians. Its colour is a 

 deep sapphire, as rich as in G. vernci, but each 

 petal has a fringe of hairs, from which it gets its 

 specific name, and which adds largely to its 

 beauty. There was in many places an abundance 

 of the annual G. Germanica, but its dull colour 

 makes it the least attractive of the gentians. Near 

 the Grindelwald glaciers the ground was in many 

 places quite carpeted with the Dryas odopetala, 

 but the season for flowering had long past ; I 

 saw, however, some in good flower near the lower 

 glacier, and still more almost close to the ice of 

 the Gsalpenthorn glacier, and a good many on the 

 high ground near the little Scheidegg, where I 

 also found a wonderful specimen of " English as 

 she is spoke." On a large official board outside 

 the Scheidegg station was a notice in German 

 and English, the English being : " Here is gratis 

 to see the oldest Miss of the world" i.e. the 

 Jungfrau. 



181 



