THE ALPINE BUGLE 131 



A. tycoctonum is less powerful than that from A. 

 napellus. 



THE ALPINE BUGLE. 



The Alpine Bugle (Ajuga pyramidalis, Linn., 

 natural order Labiatese, the Mint family), is a strik- 

 ing plant, on account of its pagoda-like habit. It is 

 often to be found growing in the shade of rocks. 

 The build of this species is wonderfully regular and 

 symmetrical, almost formal. Like all Labiates, the 

 stem is square and the leaves are placed in opposite 

 pairs. The pairs of leaves alternate very regularly, 

 so that there are four longitudinal rows of leaves 

 in all, one on each side of the square stem. 



In the Alpine Bugle the leaves are larger and 

 longer than in our British species, and decrease in size 

 much more gradually toward the top of the plant, 

 thus constructing the characteristic pagoda-like habit. 

 They are often tinged with a bright-red colour. 



The flowers are borne in complicated and com- 

 pressed inflorescences in the axils of the leaves. They 

 occur in abundance from the base of the plant to 

 the very apex. Unlike the Swiss Lowland species 

 and some of the British Bugles, the Alpine plant 

 does not form runners. This fact is the more curious, 

 for runners are characteristic of many Alpine plants 

 such as the House-leeks, the Creeping Avens, and 

 others. 



