102 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



Alpine pastures on limestone, 4000-5000 feet ; rare. June, July. 

 Distribution. — South-west Tyrol, Val Vestino. 



Silene alpestris Jacq. 



Root tapering, branched, with woody shoots, tufted. Stems 

 erect or ascending, 6-12 inches high, stiff, glabrous, or with scattered 

 hairs, dichotomously branched above, and viscid at upper part, 

 like the flower-stalks. Leaves lanceolate, acute or obtuse, thick, 

 entire, ciliated near the base, otherwise glabrous, connate ; lower 

 leaves narrowed into a foot-stalk. Flowers in a terminal, loose 

 few-flowered cyme, white or pinkish. Petals 4-5 toothed. Corona 

 acutely toothed. Calyx finely glandular, downy, or rough, erect, 

 not changed when fruit is ripe ; calyx teeth ovate, obtuse. Capsule 

 twice as long as calyx, i-celled, dehiscent, with twice as many teeth 

 as styles. Seeds reniform, compressed, surrounded at edge by a 

 radiate, 4-nerved crest of linear scales. 



Abundant in the calcareous Alps and lower Alps, 3000-6000 feet, 

 often descending into the valleys with debris. May to August. 



Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern Alps (Tyrol to Carinthia). 



Silene Saxifraga L. 



Root tapering, branched, tufted, with woody shoots. Stem 

 prostrate or ascending, swollen at the nodes, 4-6 inches high, grass- 

 green like the leaves, usually simple, finely downy or glabrous above, 

 1-2 flowered, rarely more. Leaves narrowly linear, acute, entire, 

 rough at the edge, sessile, with narrowed cormate bases. Calyx 

 turbinate, lo-nerved, glabrous, erect, pale green or brownish; 

 calyx-teeth ovate or obtuse. Flowers white or pink within, greenish 

 red without; Petals 2-cleft. Corona scale-like. 



Stony places and debris on the calcareous lower Alps ; local. 

 Up to 6600 feet in Valais. 



Distribution. — Carpathians, Switzerland to Carinthia. 

 In cultivation there must be lime in the soil, and it should have 

 plenty of sun. 



Silene quadrifida L. {Heliosperma quadrifidum Reichb.). 



Root with fusiform branches, and tufts of procumbent, slender, 

 brittle stems. Stems 2-6 inches high, viscid above, glabrous, or 

 with a few scattered hairs, dichotomously branched above. Leaves 

 narrowly linear, acute, entire, ciliated at the base, slightly connate, 

 the lowermost gradually narrowed into the leafstalk. Flowers 

 in a terminal, loose, few-flowered cyme, white. Petals 4-toothed. 

 Corona sharply dentate. Calyx glabrous, erect, teeth ovate, 

 obtuse, unchanged when fruit is ripe. Capsule as long as calyx. 

 A very slender little plant, growing in shaded, moist limestone 

 rocks and cliffs in the Alps, from 3500 to 7600 feet. June to August. 



