2 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



low hills in the north and west. The flora is very similar to that of 

 temperate Northern and Western Europe, including most of France, 

 Germany, Belgium, and the British Isles. But in addition one 

 finds in the Swiss plains and warm valleys a distinct admixture of 

 Southern plants of Mediterranean source. Among them may be 

 mentioned Astragalus Onobrychis, A. monspessulanus, Trigonella 

 monspeliaca, and Ceniaurea crupina. In the Rhone Valley about 

 Sion, there is a remarkable mixture of Southern plants, such as 

 Buffonia macrosperma, Iris virescens, Tulipa australis, and Ephedra 

 helvetica, which have ascended the great river basin from the 

 Mediterranccin, together with sub-alpines which have descended 

 the mountain-sides. 



It is remarkable how few species are purely sub-alpine, in that 

 they do not grow in the lowlands or in the Alpine region. Tlie 

 following might perhaps be chosen as typical sub-alpines, character- 

 istic of that actual zone. Actcea spicata, Deniaria dtgitata, Lunaria 

 rediviva, Cytisus alpinus, Ononis rotundifolia, Saxifraga cuneifoUa, 

 Sambucus racemosa, Prenanthes purpurea, Centaurea moniana, 

 Veronica uriicaifolia, Listera cordata, Sirepiopus amplexif alius, and 

 Lilium Martagon. 



Among the 850 species described in this volume there are very 

 few, if any, which do not grow in what is commonly understood 

 as the sub-alpine region in Central Europe, if not in Switzerland. 

 But there is so much overlapping that a very large number of these 

 are also found in the Alpine zone, and a considerable number descend 

 to the lowlands. A fair proportion of the Swiss sub-alpines are 

 British plants. If these Alpine and lowland plants were omitted 

 from a book descriptive of what may be called, with approximate 

 accuracy, the more beautiful and interesting flowers of the Swiss 

 woods and meadows, it would be altogether unrepresentative and 

 misleading. 



Many Alpine plants have a very great vertical range of altitude ; 

 just as others may be confined to quite a narrow zone. Among 

 those species which the writer has noticed growing in the Alps 

 through the greatest vertical range — a range of at least 7000 feet 

 in some cases — are the following : Arabis alpina, Draba aizoides, 

 CerasHum arvense, Lotus corniculatus (up to 9000 feet several times), 

 Dryas octopetala, Poteniilla Tormentilla (this ubiquitous plant 

 reaches 8200 feet on the Col du Gabbier), Saxifraga stellaris, 

 S. aizoides, S. Aizoon, Sempervivum arachnoideum, Antennaria 

 dioica, Leucanthemum vulgar e. Campanula pusilla, Primula farinosa, 

 P. viscosa VilL, Gentiana verna, G. ciliata, Calamintha alpina, 

 Linaria alpina, Thymus Serpyllum (up to 9000 feet). Daphne 

 Mezereum, Plantago alpina. Polygonum viviparum, P. aviculare, 

 Euphorbia Cyparissias, Triglochin palustre (found at sea -level 

 in England, in the plains of Switzerland, and up to 8250 feet 

 in Dauphiny), Juncus bufonius, Scirpus compressus, S. ccespitosus, 



