386 Anniversary . A ddress. 



be insignificant, objects, recall many a tale of adventure, and 

 are associated with the delightful recollections of many a 

 friend. It is not a matter of surprise that those who have 

 been associated in a Natural History ramble, who have met 

 in sunshine and in tempest, who have climbed together the 

 mountain summits, or wandered through the shady glens, 

 should have such scenes indelibly impressed on their memory. 

 In a Botanical point of view, I have often felt that there 

 is something peculiarly attractive in the collection of Alpine 

 plants. The following are some remarks which I have already 

 recorded on this subject. The comparative rarity of these 

 plants, the localities in which they grow, and frequently their 

 beautiful hues, conspire in shedding around them a halo of 

 interest far exceeding that connected with lowland produc- 

 tions. The Alpine Veronica ( V. alpina) displaying its lovely 

 blue corolla on the verge of dissolving snows ; the Forget- 

 me-not of the mountain summit (Myosotis alpestris), whose 

 tints far excel those of its namesake of the lowland brooks ; 

 the Woodsia (W. hyperborea) with its tufted fronds adorn- 

 ing the clefts of the rocks ; the Alpine Gentian (Oentiana 

 nivalis) concealing its eye of deepest blue in the ledges of 

 the steep crags ; the Alpine Astragalus (A. alpinus) en- 

 livening the turf with its purple clusters ; the Lychnis 

 (L. alpina) choosing the stony and dry heath for the 

 evolution of its rosy petals ; the Alpine Sowthistle 

 (Mulgedium alpinum) raising its hundred stately stalks 

 and azure heads of flowers' in spots which try the en- 

 thusiasm of the adventurous collector; the pale yellow 

 flowered Oxytropis (0. campestris), confining itself to a 

 single British cliff in Clova; the Azalea (A. procum- 

 bens) forming a carpet of the richest crimson ; the Saxi- 

 frages (Saxifraga hypnoides, S. aizoides, and 8. oppositi- 

 folia), with their white, yellow, and pink blossoms, clothing 

 the sides of the streams ; the Saussurea (S. alpina), and 

 Erigeron (E. alpinum) crowning the rocks with their 

 purple and white capitula ; the pendant Cinquefoil (Poten- 

 tilla alpestris), blending its yellow flowers with the white 



