THE COLDER TEMPEEATE ZONE. 55 



The banks of rivers and brooks are adorned with different 

 kinds of Willow, and the common Alder ; the skirts of the 

 woods are generally bordered by a line of White Birch. 



It would be impossible here to give more than an outline 

 of the varied forms of vegetation which the mountain flora 

 shows through all the different regions, from the meadows 

 at the foot (made verdant often by the streams which wan- 

 der through them) to the last traces of vegetation just 

 below the snow-line. From the meadows we wander up 

 through the thickets of Willow and Alder which cover the 

 rising ground ; with Meadow-sweet (Spiraea Ulmaria), and 

 the Great Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris), and 

 the handsome Purple Loosestrife (LytJirum Salicaria), and 

 the great wild Yalerian (Paleriana offidnalis) growing in- 

 termixed. We have no time to pluck the wild Sage (Salvia 

 verticillata) and Geraniums growing by the pathway which 

 leads up through the sweet-scented, thick-growing Privet 

 (Ligustrum vulgare) to the woody heights covered with Pines 

 (Pinus picea) and Beech-trees (Fagus sylvatica), and bor- 

 dered by thick bushes of the White Rose. 



But, whether we have time or not, we cannot but stop to 

 wonder a little at the groups we meet with hereabouts of 

 colossal Sycamores (Acer Pseudo-platanus) , from whose gi- 



