186 RED BARTSIA. 



common species, and has large yellow hand- 

 some flowers, which have the odour of musk. 

 The plant would remind one of the common 

 Yellow Rattle of the meadows, but that the 

 blossoms grow imbedded among the leaves. 



A still rarer species is the Alpine Bartsia 

 {Bartsia aljmia), which is found on some rocky- 

 alpine pastures in Yorkshire, Westmoreland, 

 and other northern counties of England, as well 

 as on Scottish mountains. It flowers in June 

 and July. Like alpine plants in general, its 

 stem is but little raised above the ground, and 

 its flowers large. The low mode of growth, the 

 strong and often crooked or procumbent stem, 

 the crowded appearance of leaves and blossoms, 

 as well as an excessive development of roots, are 

 so characteristic of alpine plants, that a botanist 

 can at a glance distinguish them amid a large 

 collection of diied flowers. 



The flowers of the Alpine Bartsia are of a 

 deep purplish-blue colour, very downy, and the 

 upper leaves are often tinged with purple. 

 Some species of the genus from North America 

 and Siberia are found in gardens, but they are 

 not easy of cultivation. 



