CHAPTER V 



INTERESTING PLANTS OF THE ALPINE PASTURES 



In Chapters II. and III. we have reviewed some of 

 the more characteristic plants of the Alpine pastures. 

 There remain others, which, unlike those considered 

 in the last chapter, are rare in dry rocky habitats, but 

 inhabit the typical, grassy alpen or pastures. We 

 will consider some of the more interesting of these 

 in the present chapter. 



The distribution of Alpine species in the Swiss 

 Alps is very uneven. Some districts are rich in 

 species more or less confined to them, so far as 

 Switzerland itself is concerned. For instance, the 

 valleys of Canton Valais, especially the Zermatt and 

 Visp Thalen, or the high Alpine valleys of the Upper 

 Engadine and Davos, with their tributaries, are remark- 

 able in this respect, and form the finest collecting 

 grounds for Alpine plants in Switzerland. Other 

 districts, such as the Bernese Oberland, are relatively 

 poor. In a later chapter we will discuss the theories 

 put forward to account for this inequahty of distribu- 

 tion. For the present, we will simply bear in mind 

 that it exists. 



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