64 TYPICAL FLOWERS OF ALPINE PASTURES 



structure is formed above the plant, to whatever 

 cause we may attribute its origin, the flower-stalk 

 grows rapidly and pierces it before the sun has melted 

 it away from above. The flower-stalks have thus, 

 under certain conditions at any rate, the power of 

 piercing the snow. It will be observed that the stalk 

 of the individual flower is arched, and that the bell- 

 shaped corolla droops from it. In the passage 

 upwards to the light, the bell is thus saved from 

 injury, for it is the arched flower-stalk which actually 

 bores through the snow. 



We have here a good example of a common 

 feature among Alpine plants — the tendency to flower 

 at the earliest possible moment in the spring. The 

 summer season is very brief, and the period before 

 the plant is again buried in the snow all too short 

 for the work which lies in front of it. 



The leaves, in which, as we have seen, are stored 

 the reserves for spring growth, are exhausted and 

 perish after the plant has reached the light. New 

 leaves are formed later in the season, and in them are 

 laid by the fresh reserves for the following winter. 



The flowers of the Alpine Soldanella are worth 

 examining closely (Text-fig. IV.). The five stamens 

 spring from the corolla, as in all members of the 

 Primrose family, and when mature are firmly pressed 

 against the style or upper portion of the pistil. The 

 pollen, even when mature, is thus closely held between 

 the inner surface of the anthers and the style. When, 

 however, an insect, visiting a flower in search of the 



