In Wild Swiss Gardens 



When the large leaves, carrying with them the 

 triangular fruit, appear in the spring, this relation- 

 ship is more apparent ; in the autumn the pretty 

 flowers look innocent enough, and are a great 

 ornament in the pastures. There is a little ex- 

 ternal interest attaching to the Colchicum, for its 

 selection by Paley in his Natural Theology as a 

 striking instance of design. I have not the book 

 at hand to refer to, and it is of little consequence, 

 as 1 am sure there is not a plant that grows from 

 which the same lesson could not be taught. One 

 other plant of the pastures must be mentioned, 

 though it was almost out of flower, a stately 

 yellow thistle {C. spinosissimus), standing about a 

 yard high, which seemed succulent and not out of 

 place in the pastures. 



If September is a little too late for an abundance 

 of the wild flowers of Switzerland, we can at least 

 find the flowers turned to fruit, and in many cases 

 the fruits are very beautiful. I found wild straw- 

 berries, raspberries, and wortleberries, but not in 

 abundance ; the bright red berries of the bearberry 

 were everywhere, but I have seen bushes better 

 covered in Scotland ; the red-fruited elder does not 

 seem to be as abundant in the Oberland as in other 

 parts, and I only found one grand bush in fruit 

 near Murren ; but its place was well supplied by 

 the scarlet fruits of the barberry, which were in 

 great beauty ; but the bushes seemed to be much 

 smaller than our English bushes. But there were 

 two plants in seed which were the admiration of 

 183 



