140 FLOWER-FIELDS OF ALPINE SWITZERLAND 



Germany its best-known appellation is Herbst- 

 Zeitlose. 



There is an Alpine form of the Meadow Saffron 

 — Colchicum alpinum — and this is to be found 

 upon the fields from an altitude of about 3,000 

 feet to some 4,500 feet, according to M. Henry 

 Correvon, and from about 1,800 feet to some 

 6,000 feet, according to Professor Flahault. Mr. 

 Newell Arber calls it a rare plant " sometimes 

 found in Canton Tessin and the Valais," but my 

 own experience is that it is local rather than 

 rare, and that it is fairly frequent in Canton 

 Valais, especially in non-limestone regions. Its 

 habit is the same as that of autumnale : two to 

 three upright leaves surrounding the fruit in the 

 spring, and the flowers appearing " naked " in 

 autumn upon " dim fields fresh with blooming 

 dew." But the leaves are narrower than those 

 of autumnale^ and the flower is smaller, daintier, 

 more 'petite, with a suspicion of canary-yellow 

 tinting the stem, which, in autumnale, is white 

 or creamy-white. 



I have sometimes noted the two — autumnale 

 and alpinum — hob-nobbing upon the same slope 

 or field. Such fraternity exists, for instance, quite 

 near to the snug little village of Trient, beneath 



