MOUNTAIN FLOWERS 275 



alpine meadow litel-ally covered with these frail feathery tufts, 

 rising up on their long, slender, woody stems several inches 

 above the prostrate foliage, half of which is curled over to 

 show its silvery lining ; for all the leaves of Drummond's 

 Dryas are green and shining on the top and white and silky 

 underneath. The flower consists of numerous small yellow 

 petals enclosed in a short, hairy, green calyx ; but as soon as 

 these die and fall off, the stalk elongates and the seed-head 

 quickly develops. This plant will grow in the poorest soil, 

 and is most frequently found on arid gravel beds and in the 

 gravelly battures of the alpine streams. 



YELLOW AVENS 



Geiun strictum. Rose Family 



Stems: ascending, pubescent, branched above. Leaves: basal ones 

 lyrate-pinnate ; leaflets five to seven, obovate, cuneate, dentate, with a 

 few smaller ones interspersed, the terminal one largest ; stem-leaves ses- 

 sile, with three to five ovate acute segments. Flowers: several, terminal, 

 of five petals. 



This is a common plant, with bright yellow five-petalled 

 flowers and large foliage. Each leaf is pinnately divided and 

 has one big terminal segment and from four to six smaller 

 leaflets, interspersed with some very tiny ones. The most 

 noticeable feature is the fruit, which consists of a ball of 

 seeds, each one terminating in an elongated barbed style. 



G. macrophyllum, or Large-leaved Avens, is very like the 

 preceding species, but it has much larger, coarser foliage. It 

 also has bright yellow flowers and a bur-like head of seeds, 

 each one of which terminates in the same slender, jointed, 

 hooked style which is a distinguishing characteristic of this 

 genus of plants. 



Both the Yellow Avens and the Large-leaved Avens have 

 lobed and toothed leaves and small clove-scented flowers. 

 They are rough hairy plants and resemble weeds. 



