76 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



Dry, rocky places in the sub-Alps, very rare. May to July. 



Distribution. Formerly only known to grow in the Valais on the 

 Simplon and near Binn in the Maurienne and possibly in Tyrol ; 

 but Prof. Chodat has recorded it from Susa near Turin and in the 

 Cogne Valley. 1 



LUNARIA L. 



Petals purple or lilac. Fruit very large, flat, oval, or oblong, 

 lengthened into a false pedicel above the real pedicel. Valves with- 

 out nerves. Seeds few. 



Only 2 species inhabiting Europe and Western Asia. 



Lunaria rediviva L. 



Stem about 3 feet high, erect, branched at the top, generally, 

 though not always, glabrous. Leaves petioled ovate-cordate, finely 

 toothed. Flowers violet, veined, sweet-scented. Pods oblong- 

 elliptic, pointed at both ends, drooping finally. 



Mountain woods up to 5000 feet. May to July. 



Distribution. Almost all Europe, from Portugal to Sweden and 

 Russia ; Siberia. Very local in Switzerland as, e.g. in woods near 

 Engelberg and^'on the Saleve near Geneva. 



It might betgrown in shady gardens and at the back of big 

 rockeries under^trees. 



The only other species is the well-known ' Honesty ' L. biennis 

 Moench. It grows in Switzerland about Orsieres and Lugano, etc., 

 but probably as an escape from gardens. Native in S.W. Europe. 



HESPERIS L. 



Erect herbs, more or less hairy, with toothed leaves and hand- 

 some purple flowers. Sepals saccate. Pods long and linear. 

 Stigma oblong, erect, and shortly divided into 2 lobes. 



A small genus confined to Europe and Northern Asia. 



Hesperis matronalis L. Dame's Violet. 



Stems 2-3 feet high, slightly branched. Leaves shortly stalked or 

 tapering at the base, toothed, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 2-3 

 inches long, the upper ones smaller. Flowers large, white or lilac- 

 violet, usually fragrant in the evening. Pods 2-4 inches long, 

 almost cylindrical, but contracted between the seeds. 



Hedges, woods, thickets, and watersides in the plains and lower 

 mountains. May to June. Probably naturalised in Switzerland as 

 in England. 



Distribution. Central and Southern Europe, Northern and 

 Western Asia. Often cultivated in cottage gardens. 



1 Chodat et Pampanini, " Sur la distribution des plants des Alpes Austro- 

 Orientales" in Le Globe (Geneve), 1902, p. 50. 



