114 CHARACTERISTICS OF ALPINE PLANTS. 
stomata or pores, which are on the under surface of the 
leaves alone, and preventing excessive respiration. 
Another point which has been frequently remarked 
upon is the intense brilliancy of the flowers—a brilliancy 
which is not so apparent in cultivation—and is doubtless the 
product of the pure air and undimmed sunshine the plants 
enjoy in their season. This brilliant colouring has the effect 
of attracting many insects, which, in their search for honey 
and pollen, convey the latter from flower to flower or assist 
in the process of fertilisation in many flowers which are self- 
fertilised. 
Some interesting speculations have been evoked by the 
question as to which colours were most attractive to the 
insects, but I must say that the conclusion that red flowers 
are the most frequented is not borne out by flowers in cul- 
tivation. 
A pronounced characteristic of Alpines is that of pro- 
ducing a dense, tufted habit of growth, with short stems and 
spreading roots. By the former habit the plants are less ex- 
posed to fierce winds and are less liable to exhaustion. The 
roots are of a kind which will enable the plants to draw their 
nourishment from a wide area. Many of them penetrate far 
into gravel and loose soil; while others, with what are known 
as tap roots, push far down into the crevices of the rocks 
and draw their nourishment from sources untouched by 
drought or heat. 
Such are some of the characteristics of these charming 
plants, the products of trial and adversity. When or how 
they were originally produced lies beyond mortal ken. It 
is sufficient, perhaps, for us that they are part of that great 
plan which is ever revealing fresh facts to its study by man- 
kind. In this, as in so many other branches of learning, we 
are like children gathering pebbles by the seashore; but we 
return from our search for knowledge ever more conscious of 
our ignorance and more and more realising how much there 
is to learn in Nature’s works and ways. 
