introduction 



f the different forms of vegetation which cover the 

 earth, none is so popular, so much admired and 

 praised as that of our Swiss mountains. The sky of the 

 blue Mediterranean may have stamped that brilliance of 

 aspect upon the flora of those shores -with which we are 

 familiar ; southern Jlfrica may hear her charming heaths, 

 her startling pelargoniums and stately lilies ; Australia may 

 offer the wonders of her treasure house, and the ancient, 

 mysterious Tz,ast boast a wondrous vegetation of unmatched 

 beauty ; the orchids of the tropics may touch the superhuman 

 or divine ; yet there is no region in the whole world which 

 can offer, in so confined an area as our little country, a 

 richer or more charming flora, so manifold and pure in 

 colour and in tone. 



7 have already described for the public this flora in several 

 works, which have been quickly exhausted. JVow 1 venture, 

 in collaboration with a great artist, to display its beauties 

 and its charms. 1 no longer regard it simply from a 

 descriptive or scientific point, but, assuming the artistic 

 nature of this volume, 1 am adopting a less severely botanical 

 plan, and choose rather to deal with my subject more prac- 

 tically, as a branch of horticulture, writing of the acclima- 



