THE MARSH MARIGOLD 205 



The Marsh Marigold. 



True aquatics are almost unknown in Alpine 

 Switzerland. One or two species of Pondweed 

 {Potamogeton, natural order Naiad aceae), occurring in 

 Alpine lakes, are the sole representatives of what in 

 the Lowlands is an important plant association. Nor 

 are marsh plants so numerous as at lower elevations. 

 The British Marsh Marigold {Caltha palustris, Linn., 

 natural order Eanunculacese, the Buttercup family) 

 (Plate XXXIX.) is probably the most abundant 

 representative of this class of plants in the Alpine 

 region. Its flowers are interesting from the fact that, 

 as compared with the Buttercup, its near relative, it 

 has no petals. There are five large, yellow sepals, 

 however, which are brightly coloured, and resemble 

 the petals of a Buttercup rather closely, and also serve 

 as an attractive insect advertisement. They furnish 

 a good illustration of how Nature attains to the same 

 end by a variety of means. 



The Alps are an excellent hunting-ground in 

 which to pursue a study of plants, which are also 

 members of the British flora. Paradoxical as it may 

 seem, our British flora can, in some respects, be better 

 studied in the Alps than at home. Many of our 

 more interesting IJritish plants are rare or of very 

 local occurrence, and unless we happen to be in a 

 certain district at the right time of year, and further, 

 to possess a more or less exact knowledge of the 

 places in which they flourish, our chances of coming 



