THE CAMPANULAS, OR BELL-FLOWERS 83 



Saxifrage colony. Their leaves are arranged in the 

 form of rosettes, pressed close to the ground, and it is 

 absolutely essential for the welfare of the plant tliat 

 the leaves should remain fully exposed to the light 

 and air. In this case, however, they are being fast 

 engulfed by the advancing colony of the Saxifrage 

 with its tall growth of flowering shoots, which form a 

 miniatm-e forest. 



The Campanulas, or Bell-flowers. 



The Campanulas, or Bell-flowers (natural order 

 Campanulaceoe), are very much in evidence in the 

 Alps, and add appreciably to the strikingly large 

 number of blue-flowered plants in that region. 



The common British Harebell [Campanula rotundi- 

 folia, Linn.) (Plate XVIL, Fig. 1) merits the dis- 

 tinction of being one of the most abundant of all 

 Alpines in every sort of locality within this zone. 

 In the Davos Valley, for instance, the intense blue 

 of its flowers is noticeable, both in the meadows, 

 on the higher and lower pasturages, and on the 

 margin of the Pine forests ; in fact, almost every- 

 where. 



The specific name rotundi/olia, or round-leaved, is 

 often regarded as a misnomer, for the leaves visible at 

 the time of flowering are all long and narrow. The 

 first-formed leaves of the young seedling, or cotyledons, 

 as the botanist terms them, of which there are two, 

 and a few of the leaves which succeed them are, 

 however, rounded or heart-shaped. The cotyledons 



