THE WATER AVENS 157 



any seed owing to the flowers of the spike having 

 missed fertilisation, the perpetuity of the plant is at 

 any rate secured by means of these asexually 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 

 bulbils was misunderstood. The bulbils are in no 

 way connected with any sexual organs, though in 

 position they replace them. They are purely vegeta- 

 tive, and the term viviparous should be confined to 

 certain animals, where it has a definite meaning and 

 significance. 



Several other Alpine plants, such as the Grass, 

 Poa alpina, Linn., and a Saxifrage, Saxifraga cernua, 

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

 duction is sometimes met with in Lowland plants, 

 though not so frequently as in Alpine and Arctic 

 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 Britain. 



THE WATER AVENS. 



The frequent occurrence of the Water Avens 

 (Geum rivale, Linn., natural order Rosaceae, the Rose 

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

 valleys, affords a sure indication of the dampness of 

 the soil of the typical Alpine meadow. With us in 



