part of the Vosges consists of a pink sandstone that weathers to an 

 attractive " old rose " coloured soil, so that the Plain of Alsace bears a 

 close resemblance to the Herefordshire countryside and the Welsh 

 Marches. 



The mountains here are thickly covered with conifers, including 

 Scotch pines Pinus sylvestris L. and acid conditions underneath the trees 

 restrict vegetation mainly to Mosses, with Ling Calluna vulgaris L. 

 and a dense undergrowth of dwarf shrubs. Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus 

 L., Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi L., and Cowberry or Red Whortle- 

 berry Vaccinium vitis — idaea L., this last with shining box-like leaves 

 and attractive terminal clusters of pinkish white flowers followed by 

 bright red berries. Masses of wild raspberries grow in the open spaces. 

 Sphagnum spp. were abundant in the pine forests, not only in boggy 

 patches where the trees thinned out, but in damp spots under the trees 

 and especially along the sides of every small rill and trickle of water. 

 In the Black Forest we saw large cushions of a deep crimson Sphagnum, 

 possibly S. ruhellium Wils., but this only occured sparsely in the Vosges. 

 Under more neutral conditions, the vegetation is correspondingly 

 varied, and in places there are large patches of Liliy-of-the-valley. 

 In one spof, immediately around the hospice of Mont Ste. Odile, I 

 saw many plants of May Lily Maianthemum bifolium L. which were 

 no longer in flower, as it was August. Near the lake at Gerardmer, 

 which is very like Windemere but smaller, fields of wild daffodils can 

 be seen in spring. In damp places the large flowered yellow Balsam 

 Impatiens noli-tangere L. grew profusely. 



A large part of the Vosges, however, is limestone (similar to that in 

 the Cotswolds) and a great variety of plants grow here, some of out- 

 standing beauty and interest. 



From Strasbourg we made several trips into the mountains where 

 I found some enchanting wild flowers. Among the loveliest were two 

 blue flowered lettuces, about 4 ft. tall, one Mulgedium (Cicerbita) plumeri 

 L. with loose clusters of powder blue flowers almost as large as those 

 of Chicory, the other Cicerbita alpina L. had bold spikes of rich violet 

 blue and dark leaves. Both grew by the roadsides at the edges of decid- 

 uous woods. Another spectacular compositae was Adenostyles albifrons 

 Reichb. allied to Eupatorium, a tall stout plant with huge coltsfoot-like 

 leaves and big fluflpy heads of tiny red-purple flowers. The handsome 

 Senecio sarracenius with broad leaves and sprays of clear yellow flowers 

 was common throughout the district ; unlike many members of this 

 genus, which can be coarse or weedy, this was a plant of distinction 

 and refinement. A very extraordinary Composite was Prenanthes 

 purpurea. The plant bears a superficial resemblance to the Wall Lettuce 

 Mycelis muralis R. to which it is allied, but the purple flowers, each with 

 five reflexed ray florets and the stamens united into a prominent yellow 

 beak, looked more like those of a Solanum. 



