i6o THE MUSIC OF WILD FLOWERS 



and primroses. The combination of blue and yellow 

 on the soft, green, mossy slope was very attractive. It 

 was curious how in the orchards the scilla loved to 

 bloom under the shelter of the cherry-trees. In many 

 places the ground was blue with them. This partiality 

 they shared in common with the wild crocuses which in 

 tens of thousands dotted the short turf. As the specific 

 name (C. albiflorus, Kit.) indicates, the flowers were 

 mostly white, although in some places blue specimens 

 were almost equally common. The wild crocuses were 

 as plentiful as daisies on an English lawn. 



Even more beautiful than the Scillas and crocuses 

 beneath the orchard trees were the wild Hepaticas in 

 the woods. By the end of February the plant was in 

 blossom in the Gorge du Chauderon, on the wooded 

 slopes above the Castle of Chillon and in some of the 

 copses at the mouth of the Rhone Valley. In our 

 gardens at home it is one of our most familiar spring 

 flowers, but it is difficult to exaggerate its beauty when 

 seen in its native surroundings. I first met with it in 

 a steep wood not far from Chillon, where it was flourish- 

 ing in company with primroses. No other species, 

 except the spurge laurel, was in flower ; the wood was 

 given over to primroses and Hepaticas. A few of the 

 Hepatica flowers were pink, and by much searching a 

 white specimen might be found, but the prevailing 

 colour was an exquisite sky-blue. Never have I seen 

 a lovelier sight in early spring than that steep and 

 rocky wood illuminated with myriads of pale primroses 

 and blue Hepaticas. A few weeks later the Narcissi 

 would be in flower at Les Avants, and later on the full 

 glory of the Alpine flora burst forth in the Swiss valleys 

 and pastures ; but the delicate beauty of the early wild 



