Trees of Switzerland. 233 



The design No. 10. is comprised in a quarter of an acre of 

 ground. ^^Jig- 22., the path e, from the road to the house, is 

 supposed to be a covered way. The stable is on the right, with 

 a way to it from the main road. The cuUnary department (/) is 

 thrown partly round the flower-garden {g)i and there is supposed 

 to be a wall on the north side, at h, for a few fruit trees. The 

 two small ovals on the south of the house, opposite i i, are in- 

 tended for flower-baskets, if appi'oved of. 



Forilcmd Place, 1835. 



Art. IV. Notice of the Indigenous and Exotic Trees of Switzerland. 

 By M. Alphonse De Candolle. 



Switzerland is a country naturally favourable for the produc- 

 tion of ligneous plants. It contains the highest mountains in 

 Europe ; and, from the rain which they attract, and the snow 

 which is continually melting from their peaks, the whole atmo- 

 sphere acquires a degree of humidity that is particularly favour- 

 able for the growth of trees. At the same time, there are exposed 

 places of the most varied description, which, combining with the 

 different degrees of elevation above the level of the sea, at which 

 they are found, produce a singular diversity of climate. 



If we enquire into the primitive state of this country, there 

 seems little reason to doubt that a great part of the soil was once 

 covered with an immense forest, uniting on the north-east with 

 the celebrated Black Forest, so often spoken of by the Latin writers. 

 By degrees the plains and the bottoms of the valleys were culti- 

 vated ; but there still remains a considerable portion of the land 

 (perhaps a fifth, or even a fourth, of the whole) covered with 

 trees of different kinds. On the sides of the mountains, trees 

 are found as high as 5000 ft. above the level of the sea ; above 

 Avhich is found only a slender pasturage, crowned by eternal 

 snows, which rise to the height of 8200 ft. 



According to the most copious and complete Flora of Swit- 

 zerland which has been published (Gaudin's Flora Helvetica, 

 7 vols.), combined with M. Seuter's Catalogue des Plantes des 

 Environs de Ge?ieve, the total number of ligneous species in 

 Switzerland amounts to 218, of which 55 rarely exceed the 

 height of 2 ft. ; 101 are shrubs, varying from 2 ft. to 10 ft.; 24< 

 are shrubs and low trees, not exceeding 25ft. in height; and 

 38 are trees which surpass 25 ft. These calculations must not 

 be considered as exact, on account of the great difference pro- 

 duced in different kinds of trees from the soil in which they 

 grow : for example, the Cytisus alpinus has been found, in 

 some soils, to exceed the height of 35 ft., though, generally speak- 

 ing, it seldom attains a greater height than 18 ft. or 20 ft. 



