4 INTRODUCTORY 



The Lowland zone includes the plains and the 

 small hills in the north and west of Switzerland. 

 Its flora is identical, for the most part, with that 

 of temperate Northern and Western Europe, includ- 

 ing Britain and much of France and Germany. In 

 some places, however, there is also a very distinct 

 intermixture of southern plants, derived from the 

 subtropical Mediterranean flora lying to the south 

 of the great mountain chain of Central Europe, of 

 which the Swiss Alps form only one link. Such an 

 intermixture even exists in Britain, for a few plants, 

 especially certain Heaths, also belong to the 

 Mediterranean flora, and there has been much 

 speculation as to how they managed to reach Britain. 



In Switzerland, the Lowland zone is essentially 

 the zone of the Vine, and it extends upwards to an 

 altitude of 3,000 to 3,500 feet, above which grapes will 

 not, as a rule, ripen. 



The next zone, the Subalpine, reaches to about 

 5,000 feet, the exact height varying locally according 

 to the physical conditions, such as exposure, situation, 

 etc. Beech forests are the great natural feature of 

 this zone. Many Lowland plants can still flourish 

 at this altitude, and members of the Alpine flora 

 creep downwards, so that the vegetation of the 

 Subalpine zone is largely a mixture of species found 

 also in the zone above, and in that below. In no 

 case is there any sudden change in the flora as we pass 

 from one zone to another — merely a gradual transi- 

 tion. A large number of Lowland plants become less 



