ALPINE PLANTS IN THEIR NATIVE HAUNTS. 



65 



ALPINE PLANTS IN THEIK NATIVE HAUNTS. 



By E. Eeginald 0. Nevill, B.A., LL.B., F.E.H.S. 



[Read March 28, 1911.] 



NuMEEOUs botanists have attempted to sub-divide alpine vegetation 

 into zones of altitude. This division has not been attended by very 

 useful or satisfactory results, neither have the various authorities been 

 able to agree as to a classification at all approaching universal applica- 

 tion. The celebrated Swiss botanist Dr. Cheist has, however, adopted 

 a threefold division of alpine and sub -alpine vegetation which is useful 

 mainly because it makes no attempt at being exclusive. The lower zone 

 he terms the zone of deciduous forests, the middle that of coniferous 

 forests, and the upper the alpine zone.^ It is as a rule possible 

 when travelling through the Alps to say at any given moment in which 

 of these three zones one may happen to be. I do not mean to suggest 

 that the zones pass from one to the other by sudden transitions, but 

 that the predominance of the deciduous or coniferous trees is readily 

 recognized, and that in each case this predominance is indicative of a 

 corresponding change in other forms of vegetation. The altitude at 

 which one zone ends and another commences varies with local condi- 

 tions of climate and aspect, but it can be roughly stated that in the Alps 

 the lowest limit of the alpine zone lies somewhere between 5000 and 

 7000 feet above sea level. A few isolated specimens and groups of 

 Arolla pines and larches may be found above this altitude, but the woods 

 and forests of considerable dimensions cease when this point is reached. 

 In the same way, with the transition from the lower to the middle zone 

 some deciduous trees still appear as stunted and dwarfed specimens 

 when the dominion of the conifer is all but universal. It is, then, to the 

 .vegetation which flourishes in the region above the limits of the pine 

 and larch forests — the alpine or glacial region — I wish to direct atten- 

 tion. 



Were it possible, it would be exceedingly helpful to horticulturists 

 if a general statement could be made concerning the conditions of 

 the soil or substratum upon which plants thrive in this region. Un- 

 fortunately this is, from the nature of the case, quite out of the ques- 

 tion. The very irregularity of the earth's surface in alpine regions is 

 in itself sufficient to account for constantly recurring variations in the 

 physical conditions of the soil. The rock face, the grassy plateau, the 

 moraine, the scree slope and the marshy hollow may all occur within a 

 comparatively small area, and the conditions of the supply of moisture 

 may be subject to equally great variations. The only method, there- 

 fore, of dealing with the problem of the soil or substratum in alpine 

 regions is to proceed in an absolutely empirical manner, and to give 



* Dr. Christ, Pflanzenhben der Schweiz, p. 10. 

 VOL. XXXVII. F 



