248 SHADE PLANTS OF THE ALPINE FORESTS 



be almost entirely bare of herbaceous undergrowth, 

 the absence of which seems only to intensify the 

 prevailing gloom, through which no direct sunlight 

 ever penetrates. But here and there the trees are more 

 scattered, or some monarch Larch or Spruce has fallen. 

 A fair amount of sunlight reaches such spots on sunny 

 days, and a more vigorous imdergrowth will be 

 observed, though the vegetation is still distinctly 

 sparse. In the less dense portions of the forest, 

 where several trees have fallen, either from natural 

 causes or beneath the axe, the glade will be found 

 thronged with plants all vigorously competing for 

 the available sunlight. 



A flowery glade in a Larch forest presents a 

 pleasing contrast to the condition of aff'airs met with 

 in the denser Spruce woods. However, the under- 

 growth of a typical Swiss forest is never really 

 luxuriant, nor can it compare with the dense vegeta- 

 tion beneath the giants of a tropical forest, where the 

 intensity of the illumination is relatively greater, and 

 the air more highly charged with moisture. 



We will now discuss some characteristic species 

 of the forest shade. 



The Linn^a. 



Probably there is no more dainty or delicate plant 

 to be found in the whole of the Alps than the slender 

 Linnsea of the Pine forests (Plate XLV.). Linncea 

 borealis, Gronov. (natural order Caprifoliacese, the 

 Honeysuckle family), is the name plant of the great 



