Notes of a Tour in Switzerland. 5227 



All tourists in Switzerland, whether botanists'or not, are apt to be 

 taken (as well they may) with the beauty of the gentians, the blossoms 

 of which are, in many instances, so splendid and conspicuous. Some 

 half-score species or thereabouts fell under my observation ; among 

 the more interesting were Gentiana bavarica (as already stated), G. 

 asclepiadea, G. lutea, G. Pneumonanthe, and G. ciliata, the latter 

 adorning with its large light blue flowers the road-side through the 

 pass near Moutier, along with very large specimens of G. amarella, 

 the latter in great profusion. Most of the species were in full per- 

 fection ; but, unfortunately, the queen of the gentians (G. acaulis) 

 was passed and gone to seed. It would have gratified me much to 

 have seen this old garden acquaintance in its glory on its native 

 mountains. A blossom so large in proportion to the plant that bears 

 it might seem almost preposterous ; but He who formed it knew how 

 to make it at once graceful and magnificent. 



The genus Saxifraga may be regarded as especially alpine. I met 

 with about sixteen or more species (or varieties), being somewhere 

 about half the number enumerated as natives of Switzerland. What 

 I considered as one of the greatest prizes among them was S. mutata, 

 a rare species apparently, but growing not sparingly in a picturesque 

 little gorge about a mile from Thun. I saw it nowhere else. Here 

 it was in full flower on the 13th of September. I gathered a good 

 store of specimens, taking care, however, to leave plenty for the next 

 comer, and, as I trust, for generations to come. That selfish greedi- 

 ness, too common, I fear, in the present day, which would prompt a 

 botanist to exterminate a rare plant from its native locality is much 

 to be reprobated. Let him by all means leave enough to propagate 

 the species, though he himself may never have the chance to visit the 

 spot again. The root of S. mutata, unlike that of the allied species, 

 is only biennial, in which respect it stands unique, and affords, I be- 

 lieve, the one solitary instance of the kind throughout the extensive 

 genus to which the plant belongs. Of our British species S. autum- 

 nalis was the most abundant, occurring profusely and in great vigour 

 in almost every situation suitable to its growth ; and near many of the 

 glaciers (as at Grindelwald, e. g., and Rosenlaui) grew the beautiful 

 variety crocea, with its rich deep-coloured blossoms. S. stellaris 1 

 observed in many places, but by no means in such abundance as I 

 have often seen it nearer home. What most surprised me was the non- 

 appearance of S. Hypnoides, which so copiously adorns our English, 

 Welch and Scotch mountains. The species, 1 perceive, does find a 



