OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY. 27 



We wish to say just a little about the second zone 

 that reminds us of a rock garden. In nooks and on 

 ledges, as well as in the corries, there are plants like 

 the white-flowered Snow Saxifrage (Saxifrage, nivalis), 

 the alpine Forget-me-Not, the Moss Campion, the 

 alpine Flea-Bane (Erigeron alpestris), the Rocky 

 Speedwell (Veronica saxatilis), the tufted Sandwort 

 (Arenaria hirta), and the Dwarf Willow (Salix reticu- 

 lata). 



We have compared the lichens on the summit of the 

 hill to the Tundra of the Far North, and there is a dis- 

 tinct suggestion of the Arctic flora in these " alpines " 

 of a Scottish mountain. Some of them have near rela- 

 tives in Arctic regions, and others show adaptations 

 similar to those which are seen in Arctic plants. It 

 must be remembered that the conditions of life have 

 no little severity in the high levels of some of the 

 greater mountains of Britain. On Midsummer Day 

 we have seen snow still lying in a cup on the Lammer- 

 muirs, which are neither high hills nor very far north 

 (between East Lothian and Berwickshire). Many a 

 year, we believe, the snow of the previous winter has 

 not quite gone from the Cairngorms before that of the 

 next winter begins to fall. 



Most of the alpine flowering plants, like those of 

 Arctic regions, are perennials, lasting on as individuals 

 from year to year. One reason for this is that the 

 growing season is too short to allow of germination, 

 flowering, fruiting, and seed-scattering being com- 

 pleted in one period, as is the case with annuals. 

 A second general feature is that the "alpines" are 

 adapted in one way or another to reducing the loss of 

 water by transpiration. But we shall return to the 



