140 INTERESTING PLANTS OF ALPINE PASTURES 



the lower. In the Black Nigritella, however, the 

 ovary is exceptional in that it is not twisted, so 

 that the labellum is in its proper position above the 

 entrance to the flower. 



y 



THE MEDITERRANEAN HEATH AND THE LING. 



In the woods and thickets, and on moor-like 

 expanses in the Alps, we find little tufts of the 

 Mediterranean Heath or of the Ling growing in much 

 the same situation as with us in Britain. The Ling 

 is our common British (Calluna vulgaris, Salisb., 

 natural order Ericaceae, the Heath family), the flowers 

 of which are interesting because the conspicuous 

 portion is the pink calyx, as long as, or longer than, 

 the corolla, which it almost entirely conceals. On 

 the other hand, only one of our five British heaths 

 is found either in Lowland or Alpine Switzerland. 

 This, the Mediterranean Heath (Erica carnea, Linn.), 

 is, in fact, the only Swiss species of the genus. It 

 does not occur in Great Britain, but only in Ireland. 

 It is really an immigrant from the Mediterranean 

 flora, and as such its presence in Alpine Switzerland 

 can be readily understood. How it got into southern 

 Ireland and yet not into England, is a more puzzling 

 problem. 



In this species the leaves are arranged in whorls 

 of four, and the vase-shaped corolla is bright pink or 

 crimson in colour. In the Alps the flowers are 

 believed to be chiefly fertilised by butterflies, though 

 some observers state that bees perform this office. 



