ROSACEyC 3l5 



large flowers of white, faintly tinged with a shade of 

 yellow, to which succeed small, brown fruits, passing to 

 violet-black; this is the 7J. pimpinel It folia. It does excel- 

 lently in gardens. 7J. pomifera is a strong, tufted shrub 

 with short, straight branches, large, oblong leaves, very 

 fragrant flowers of beautiful rose, fleshy, ovoid, rounded 

 fruits covered with resinous, pine-scented hairs 1 . 



Alchcmilla 



Eng. : Lady's Mantle or Lady's Smock ; "Fr. : Alchcmille ; 

 Ger. : Frauenmantel. 



Flowers minute, composed of a calyx alone, without 

 petals; stamens 1-4. 



The genus is not a showy one, though the appearance 

 of the foliage, often silvered below, is charming. Deli- 

 cious indeed in the serene grandeur of the alpine world 

 is the effect of the big dew-drop nestling in the silken 

 folds of a leaf of Alchemilla and sparkling against the 

 morning sun. Each is a jewel in the alpine coronal, 

 whose gleaming diamonds are linked one with another 

 in willing service to the enrichment of the glorious 

 picture and add their part to the charm of the fair 

 harmony. 



Alchemillas also play an important part in mountain 

 economy, for they furnish the most valuable constituent 

 in alpine fodder. Lord Avebury, in his delightful work 

 on the " Beauties of Nature", mentions a fact, to which 

 1 called his attention in 1 898, that the quality of Gruyere 

 cheese in mainly owing to the abundance of these plants. 



1 E. Rambcrt remarks that the Rose des Alpes is an Eglantine and 

 in no way related to the Rhododendron, which has most improperly been 

 called "The Alpine Rose". A few such confusions are on the way to 

 make language an everlasting enigma. "Les Jllpes Suisses, Vol. 1., p. 106. 



