430 BOTANIZING ON THE COL DE LAUTARET. 



lass. On the right were the vast precipices crowned by the Glacier 



de la Grave, whose masses of ice and snow shone with dazzling 



lustre in the early morning sun. On the left lay the grand and 



sterile range that separated us from Piedmont, while between 



the two, and constituting a wide undulating valley, which although 



Col de Lau- treeless was beautifully verdant, was the Col de Lautaret, the 



taret. grand botanical locality we were ambitious to explore. 



Eager for plants my attention was soon attracted by the bright 

 yellow flowers of a crucifer which proved to be Sisymbrium 

 Austriacum. 



A little further on, growing in a lovely little hollow was a 

 perfect nest of treasures, Anemone narcissiflora, A. alpina, 

 Trollius Europceus, CaltJia palustris, Narcissus poeticus and 

 Pcdicularis incarnata being among the more interesting, besides 

 which I must mention as conspicuous for its fine yellow flowers 

 and deep green leaves, Orobus luteus, a plant which it had not 

 been my good fortune to meet with before. 



But it is needful to describe a little the nature of the ground 

 which was producing so many good plants, for out of Dauphiny 

 I may say 1 think I never met with a similar locality. 



The Col de Lautaret is, as I have said, a wide valley, but it 

 is far from being a dead level ; on the contrary, upon leaving 

 Villar d'Arene, the road (which is a good one) constantly ascends, 

 until it reaches its culminating point in the summit of the Col, 

 an elevation of 6,869 feet above the sea-level, or more than twice 

 the height of our own Ben Lomond. The surface of the valley 

 is mostly made up of pasture, which differs in a most interesting 

 manner in the nature of its vegetation. Here, in a comparatively 

 sheltered spot of a few acres, one has to walk knee-deep through 

 Narcissus poeticus, Paradisia Liliastrum, Trollius Europceus, 

 Aspliodtlus allies. 



A little further on, where the scanty soil barely conceals the 

 naked rock, occur Anthyllis vulneraria, Oxytropis montana, 0. 

 campestris, the beautiful yellow-flowered Gregoria mtaliana, 

 Astragalus aristatus, the fine Trifolium alpinum, with great 

 pink flowers so unlike any ordinary clover as at first sight to 

 lead one quite off the scent in conjecturing its name. 



