THE WATER A YENS 157 



any seed owing to the flowers of the spike having 

 missed fertilisation, tlie perpetuity of the plant is at 

 any rate secured ])y means of these asexuallv produced 

 "bulbils." 



The ancient term *' viviparous," sometimes still 

 applied to this means of propagation, and still sur- 

 viving in the specific name, is extremely misleading. 

 When it was first used, the whole nature of these 

 ])ulbils was misunderstood. The bulbils are in no 

 way connected with any sexual organs, though in 

 position they replace them. They are j)urely vegeta- 

 tive, and the term viviparous should be confined to 

 ceitain animals, where it has a definite meaning and 

 significance. 



Several other Alpine plants, such as the Grass, 

 Poa alpina, Linn., and a Saxifrage, Saa^ifraga ccrnua, 

 Linn., also produce bulbils. This means of repro- 

 duction is sometimes met with in Lowland j)lants, 

 though not so frequently as in Alpine and .Vrctic 

 species, which is probably due to the fact that it 

 is a saving of time for a plant to reproduce itself by 

 bulbils rather than by seeds. The Viviparous Poly- 

 gonum is itself an Alpine plant in P>ritain. 



The Water Avens. 



Tlie frequent occurrence of the Water Avens 

 (Geum ricale, Linn., natural order Rosacea', the l\oso 

 family), in the meadows of the Davos and other Alpine 

 valleys, affords a sure indiciition of the damjmess of 

 the soil of the typical Aljune meadow. With us in 



