the familiar Edelweiss may, in some cases, develop smooth 

 green leaves almost as hairless as those of an ordinary plant. 

 Conversely, we have the observations of Professor Bonnier, 

 who cultivated the plants of the lowlands at high altitudes 

 in the Alps and Pyrenees. Where the plants were able 

 to grow at all they became, in most cases, stunted and 

 dwarfed. The Jerusalem Artichoke, for example, which 

 forms a tall leafy stem like a sunflower in the plains, became 

 a short stumpy plant with leaves arranged in a rosette at its 

 base. Generally speaking, the plants developed a better 

 marked underground stem, and thicker, darker green leaves 

 than the same species grown under more ordinary 

 conditions. 



One of the principal characteristics of Alpine plants is 

 the extensive development of the rootstock and underground 

 stem. This is required to protect them against the strong 

 winds, and to extract as large a supply of water and 

 nourishment as possible from the frequently scanty soil. 

 But there is another consideration of at any rate equal 

 importance. During at least half of the year owing to the 

 white coverlet of snow, all activity in the Alpine plant 

 world ceases so that the production of flowers and seeds, 

 indeed all the vital processes of the plants must be crowded 

 into the few months when the ground is clear. Crocuses 

 and Snowbells and other plants are found blooming at the 

 very edge of the snow, therefore everything must be 

 ready for immediate flower production directly the snow 



xv 



