I 9 8 THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



a brilliant patch of colour. The Alpine Lady's Mantle, is also 

 interesting. It differs from the Common Lady's Mantle found 

 in pastures and meadows, by having hairy leaves which are very 

 much cut up. The hairs are long and silky, and give the plant 

 a silvery appearance. The flowers are small, and differ from 

 most rosaceous flowers in having no corolla and a four-divisioned 

 calyx. Some rare Saxifrages grow in the Highlands. The 

 species most familiar to many people is the Meadow Saxifrage, 

 which is not an Alpine plant. The usual mountain species re- 

 semble it in having white flowers, but very much smaller ones ; 

 the only one with purple flowers is S. oppositifolia, a tiny creeping 

 plant with leaves in four dense rows. It is to be found on damp 

 rocks in mountainous districts. 



The little Snow Gentian also occurs on Ben Lawers. This is 

 a very minute plant, easily passed over on account of its small 

 size. It has dark blue flowers, as most of the Gentians have. 

 The Field Gentian and the Autumn Gentian are very common, 

 and found on hills of about 1000 feet high, even in the south 

 of England. It is interesting to notice that the Scurvy Grass 

 (Cochlearia officinalis) is a characteristic plant of mountains, for 

 it is found also on cliffs, very abundantly off the Cornish coast. 

 It has the small white flowers of the crucifer type, and fleshy 

 leaves. Many plants which belong to hills or mountains also 

 occur on the seashore, for these two situations resemble each other 

 in their want of a regular supply of moisture. 



Alpine plants are often very successfully cultivated on rockeries 

 in gardens. The one essential is that the rockery should be well 

 drained and the plants sheltered from wet by putting bits of 

 glass over the very woolly ones. In their natural habitat Alpine 

 plants are protected during the severe weather by the snow which 

 covers them, and the air is dry, not moist, as in this climate. There 

 should be plenty of stones on the rockery. On them many of the 

 Alpine Saxifrages grow very well, and with the first bright spring 

 weather put forth a wealth of blossom, which would hardly be 

 expected from such small plants. Sometimes, instead of a 

 rockery, Alpine plants are kept in a greenhouse during the winter, 

 in order to protect them from damp, and are planted out when 

 the winter rains are over; but there is no reason why they 



