CHAPTER IV 



WHERE DO 'ALPINES' BEGIN? 



WHERE should the line for Alpine plants be 

 drawn ? The question is not always an easy one 

 to answer. So much depends upon the nature and 

 situation of the ground, as well as upon the nature 

 and history of the plant of which one may be 

 speaking. In the first instance, a common line of 

 altitude it is impossible to draw across the Alps. 

 In some situations Alpine vegetation will descend 

 much lower than in others. As M. Flahault, the 

 eminent French botanist, says : * Dans une meme 

 chaine, les plantes de la montagne apparaissent a 

 des niveaux tres variables, suivant les versants.' 

 There is a very striking instance of this in the 

 mountains at the entrance to the Rhone Valley. 

 On one hand is Champery, by the side of the Dent 

 du Midi ; on the other is Villars-sur-Ollon, by the 

 side of the Dent de Morcles. Champe'ry is at an 

 altitude of about 3,500 feet, and Villars at about 

 4,250 feet, and yet the vegetation immediately 



37 



