262 THE ALPINE FLORA 



A. narcissiflora (PI. III). This beautiful plant is very 

 distinct from all our other species and approaches to the 

 Himalayan and North- American kinds. The leaves are 

 velvety, cut into long lobes; the flowers in apple-blossom 

 umbels; the seeds smooth, flat and glossy, without plu- 

 mose filaments; June-July, in pastures of the limestone 

 Alps and Jura (i 000-2 5oo m.). 



Belonging to the fibrous-rooted section it is easy to 

 collect and to propagate either by seed or division. 

 It requires a porous, chalky soil, rich in humus and a 

 somewhat shady position, but should be protected against 

 moisture in winter. 



Jl. baldensis. A small plant, with trailing, stoloniferous 

 stem, a slender, downy flowerstalk, bearing deeply incised 

 leaves and a solitary, erect flower of 8-10 divisions, pure 

 white within and soft rose without; the fruit is bearded, 

 forming an ovoidal head. July-August; moist rocky 

 pastures of the Alps ( 1 8oo-25oo m.). This is also fibrous- 

 rooted and succeeds in a well-drained crevice, exposed 

 to the sun, in a mixture of pebbles, leaf mould and peat. 



A. Hcpatica 



"Eng. : Hcpatica; "Fr. : Hepatique or Fille-avant-la-mere; 

 Ger. : Leberblume. 



A small, woodland plant with persistent, thick, coria- 

 ceous, trilobate leaves, reddish on the underside; flowers 

 blue, white or rose, with an involucre sufficiently near to 

 simulate a calyx. Double varieties of each colour. 



Flowers from March to May, according to altitude, 

 and haunts the mountainous parts of all Switzerland, 

 more especially in limestone districts. 



It was introduced into gardens three hundred years ago 

 and has proved one of their most precious ornaments in 

 spring, for it grows excellently under shrubs or in the 



