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general character. These plants were rather a class to themselves, 

 and distinguished by several well-marked features — dwarf growth, 

 small leaves, large and brilliant flowers, an elaborate root system. 

 The leaves were peculiar also in being very frequently fleshy, or 

 covered with felt or close hairs, or a waxy or limy deposit. These 

 characters were the result of exposure to wind and drought, and 

 of the short season during which their cycle of growth and of 

 seed-production had to be carried on. Most Alpine plants grow 

 in places from which the rain drains quickly away, and provision 

 must be made for enduring the blazing sunlight of the heights ; 

 hence the exceptionally long roots and the various devices found 

 in the leaves, keeping up the supply of water in the plant. A 

 great mountain range like the Alps displays a series of floras as 

 one ascends. The pine woods which succeed the tilled lands of 

 the valleys are full of interesting species. Higher up Alpine 

 pasture stretches upward towards the snow-line, filled with 

 characteristic and beautiful plants — gentians, primulas, androsaces, 

 crowfoots, and many more ; while the rocks and screes and 

 moraines are gay with saxifrages of many kinds, sempervivums, 

 and innumerable other plants. The Arctic flora differs from the 

 Alpine flora both in its constitution and in the conditions under 

 which it lives. The long and intensely cold Arctic winter is 

 succeeded by a very short summer, during which the temperature 

 never rises much above freezing point. The transition from 

 winter to summer and from summer to winter is exceedingly 

 abrupt. Arctic plants do not suffer from drought in the ordinary 

 sense, yet the coldness of the soil renders the absorption of water 

 diff cult, as a result of which we find devices for preventing loss of 

 water among Arctic plants, just as we do among plants which grow 

 on hot rocks. One of the most curious and interesting rock 

 gardens to be found in the British Islands is spread over the 

 northern portion of the county of Clare, in the west of Ireland. 

 Here a great stretch of limestone hills extends, quite devoid of 

 any covering of drift. This has been clothed with a flora of 



