CHAPTER XII 



THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, AFFINITIES, AND 

 ORIGIN OF THE SWISS ALPINE FLORA 



In this, the concluding chapter, we will briefly review 

 some points of interest in regard to the geographical 

 distribution of Swiss Alpines, and the theories 

 advanced to account for the origin of the Alpine flora 

 of Europe, 



Inequalities of Distribution. 



It has been already pointed out that some districts 

 of Alpine Switzerland are much richer in species, and 

 especially in the rarer plants, than others. Also the 

 converse — that certain Swiss Alpines are confined to 

 particular districts. It was stated nearly forty years 

 ago, by a great authority, that whereas the Bernese 

 Oberland only offers a single species not found 

 elsewhere in Switzerland, the chain of Alps of the 

 Valais, lying to the south of the Rhone valley, contains 

 sixty-three species peculiar to it. Whether these 

 figures would be accepted as accurate or not to-day is 

 really immaterial to the argument. The Alps of the 



