THE AUTUMN CROCUS 141 



the Col de la Forclaz and the Col de Balme, 

 and again on a rich grassy slope by the lake 

 of Champex ; and where this occurs the difference 

 between the two flowers is manifest. Colchicum 

 nlpinujii may be only the Alpine form of 

 autumnale, but if it is, it is, I believe, a fixed 

 form — a form which, unhke some Alpine forms 

 of lowland flowers (such as, for example, An- 

 thyUis vulncraria), steadfastly maintains its high- 

 land character when transported to the gardens 

 of the plain. For if instability exists, why should 

 we find upon the fields where both do congregate, 

 no intermediate forms marking the passage of 

 autumnale to alpinum and vice versa ? I believe 

 it to be as constant as is Gentiana bj^achyphylla, 

 although this is said to be but a high Alpine 

 form of G. verna. I believe it to be as " con- 

 stant as the northern star." 



In a poem to " Noon," Michael Field sings : 



"... Sharply on my mind 

 Presses the sorrow ; fern and flower are blind " ; 



and this is no uncommon thought, no uncommon 

 " sorrow " for others than poets to have. Pity 

 for the dear, blind flowers ; pity, therefore, for 



