viii.] ALPINE AND ARCTIC PLANTS 77 



which retain the main features of growth, though 

 altering them more or less in adaptation to our 

 English climate. 



I have summed up two chapters in my book 

 on " Alpine and Arctic Plants " as follows : 



" The conclusions arrived at from an investiga- 

 tion into the peculiar characteristics of plants 

 growing in high Alpine and Arctic regions are 

 parallel with those already deduced for sub- 

 tropical deserts, namely, that they are the direct 

 outcome of the action of the climate upon the 

 responsiveness of the plants themselves. First, 

 there are the numerous instances of plants of 

 no affinity whatever, all assuming the same 

 features of " Nanism " or dwarfs. Certain groups 

 of shrubs and trees have leaves more and more 

 arrested as the altitude increases ; conversely, 

 some herbaceous plants have larger and greener 

 foliage than when the same species are growing 

 at lower altitudes and latitudes. There is not 

 infrequently a muscoidal type or a hirsute, 

 villous or tomentose condition ; though many 

 may remain glabrous. 



" Secondly, experimental evidence has shown 

 how many plants of the lowlands can at once 

 acquire one or more of these features when 

 made to grow at high altitudes and latitudes, 

 and vice versa. 



" On the other hand, cultivation on rockeries, 

 etc., prove that the characteristic features of 

 Alpine plants are retained by heredity, allowing 

 for slight and fresh adaptations to new climatal 

 conditions. 



" Hence, as far as the vegetative organs are 

 concerned, we arrive at the conclusion that the 



