280 ADAPTATIONS AMONG ALPINE PLANTS 



morning may show a bright sun, shining in a 

 cloudless sky : yet before the afternoon, everything 

 is changed. The peaks are wrapped in clouds, 

 mists fill the valleys, and rain descends in torrents, 

 or snow may take its place. The traveller caught 

 afield under such changed conditions compared 

 with those under which he set forth, seeks some 

 form of protection from the weather. But how 

 do the flowers meet this difficulty? Here is a 

 meadow, or there an Alp in full bloom. That is 

 to say, the stamens of the flowers are shedding the 

 precious pollen dust, on which so much depends. The 

 pollen, in nearly every case, is ruined at once if 

 thoroughly soaked. It is drowned, as it were, and all 

 the labour of the plant and flower will, in that case, 

 be in vain. This is a possibiHty against which an 

 Alpine plant has to be specially on its guard. 



The contrivances to be found among Alpine 

 flowers are as varied as they are interesting. In 

 many cases the permanent drooping position of the 

 flower at the end of a bent stalk meets the case 

 admirably. We have already discussed examples of 

 pendulous flowers, as, for example, the Alpine Bell- 

 flowers, the Soldanellas, and the Water Avens. In 

 other plants the flower is so placed that the tube of 

 the corolla is held horizontally parallel to the soil, 

 and thus the petals shield the stamens. This method 

 of protection is especially eff'ective when the throat 

 or entrance to the corolla tube is contracted or closed 

 in some way. Examples of such plants are to be 



