CHAPTER VII 



THE HIGH ALPINE PLANTS 



We now pass to a discussion of the peculiarities of 

 the highest plant assemblage in the Alps, the species 

 of the High Alpine region. 



It is often thought or assumed that, above a 

 certain height vaguely imagined to be somewhere 

 between 10,000 and 13,000 feet, vegetation, or at any 

 rate Flowering Plants, cannot exist in the Alps. This 

 idea is entirely fallacious. It is true that in the 

 higher mountain regions, vegetation is much more 

 scanty than at elevations of 5,000 or 6,000 feet ; but 

 wherever the physical conditions are in the least degree 

 favourable, there plants will be found, whatever the 

 altitude may be. 



The physical conditions that an Alpine growing 

 at a height above 10,000 feet in the Alps has to combat 

 are no doubt extremely severe. The first necessity for 

 its existence is absence of snow or ice for a sufficiently 

 long period from some sheltered spot. Given a flower- 

 ing season of adequate length, many of the High Alpine 

 species will be able to overcome most of the other 



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