CHAPTER II. 



Some Characteristics of Alpines. 



Having in the previous chapter seen Alpine Plants 

 amidst their natural surroundings, it may be of interest 

 to take a few of the flowers we have gathered, and look 

 at some of their characteristics. At the outset the 

 question arises, how are we to determine out of the 

 large number we have seen between leaving Evolena 

 and reaching the snow line on the Pic d' Arzinol, which 

 are true Alpines, and which are not. A similar question 

 is often asked ; and it must be confessed that it does 

 not allow of a simple answer. That veteran investigator 

 of the British Flora, Mr. Hewitt Cotterell Watson, 

 seeking for some line of division in the plants of these 

 islands, draws one between what he termed the Flora 

 of the Agrarian Region, and of the Arctic Region. 

 Pointing out that it is impossible to find any hard and 

 fast hne, he says that approximately a line of division 

 may be made according to the presence or absence of 

 the common Brake. " This fern,'' he remarks, " is 

 abundantly distributed through the lower region, and 

 from one extremity of our islands to the other ; its 

 upper limit usually running almost uniform with the 

 climatic limit of corn cultivation ; so that the two 

 characters in connection afford a satisfactory test of 

 the region.'' 



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