158 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



LoNiCERA L. Honeysuckle. 

 Lonicera alpigena L. 



An erect shrub, 2-5 feet high. Leaves opposite, stalked, elliptical 

 ovate or lanceolate, acuminate, nearly glabrous, entire ; paler 

 on the under side. Flower-stalk solitary, axillary, glabrous, 2- 

 flowered, usually about an inch long and pendent. Flowers bright 

 red, 2-lipped, saccate above. Ovaries 2, connate nearly to the 

 calyx-limb, finally coalescing into an ovate-orbicular red double 

 berry. 



Calcareous lower Alps, up to 5700 feet. May, June. 



Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura, 

 Cevennes, Corbi^res, Pyrenees. 

 Lonicera ccerulea L. 



A shrub barely a yard high, with oval obtuse leaves very shortly 

 petioled. Flower-stalk much shorter than the yellowish white 

 petals. Berries blue-black, globular. 



Bushy places and damp Alpine pastures up to 6300 feet, especially 

 on limestone. May, June. Once, above Saas Fee in Switzerland, 

 this was growing as high as 8000 feet. 



Distribution. — Central and Northern Europe, Alps and Pyrenees, 

 Caucasus, Siberia, N. America. 



Sambucus L. Elder. 



Trees, shrubs, or tall herbs, with opposite pinnate leaves, and 

 large corymbs or cymes of numerous small, white, or nearly white, 

 flowers. Calyx with a border of 5 small teeth. Corolla rotate, with 

 5 spreading divisions. Stamens 5. Stigmas 3, sessile. Berries 

 small, globular, with 3 stones, each containing one seed. About 

 12 species in temperate and tropical regions of the globe. 

 Sambucus racemosus L. Alpine Elder. (Plate XVIII.) 



Flowers pale greenish yellow, in a dense oval panicle. Fruit 

 scarlet or deep coral red. A small tree, 8-12 feet high. Branches 

 rather soft, with yellowish pith. Leaf-segments elliptic, longly 

 acuminate, with sharp teeth. Stipules small, green, falling. In- 

 florescence erect. Flowers pedicelled. Anthers yellow. A very 

 handsome object when covered with scarlet berries in autumn. 



Mountain woods and shady gorges, to at least 5000 feet ; but 

 commonest in the Beech and Fir zones. April, May. Fruiting 

 from July to September. 



Distribution. — Switzerland (common), Europe, especially Central, 

 Siberia, N. America. 



The Common Elder {Sambucus nigra) and the Dwarf Elder 

 (S. Ebulus) are widely spread in Switzerland. The latter is found 

 in pastures and waste places, and near villages in many Alpine 

 valleys. 



