MORE OF THE SMALLER BOG-PLANTS 2S7 



CHAPTER XII 



a^ore of t^t »imaUer Bo5=plant0 



In this long interval, while we have been pursuing our 

 stream without comment, we have mounted past the 

 limits of the grass, over a final tract of Rammcultcs 

 pyrenaeus, and are wandering amid the soaking shingle, 

 where the river is born, and lies hidden at his source like 

 lamos, in beds of blossom. And this is Ranunculus 

 glaclalis, whose snowy, great cups glitter everywhere 

 above the wet and glistening stones. Beyond there is 

 nothing more, except, perhaps, one golden flare, amid the 

 greyness, of Geum reptans. All around are Androsace 

 glacialis. Campanula cenisia, Viola cenisia, Gentiana 

 brachyphyUa, Chysa/nihemuvi alpinum, Myosotis rupkola, 

 Papaver alpinum, Iheridella, Ranunculus alpestris, the 

 ugly little forms of Saxifraga varians, Saxifraga Andro- 

 sacea, and Saxifraga biflora. But of these only the 

 Saxifraga varieties, the Androsace, the Ranunculus and 

 the Chrysanthemum, inhabit the wettest places; and in 

 cultivation wet is fatal for both the Androsace and the 

 Saxifrage. Chrysanthemum alpinum is a pretty little 

 creature, though, and very fairly easy to establish in the 

 shingle of the bog or the moraine - garden. It has 

 camomilish leaves, quite bright and glossy green, with 

 impressive snow-white flowers, golden-eyed, and exactly 

 like those of its big cousin, Chysanthemum leu^anthemum, 

 of every English hayfield, though a little smaller than the 



