I'arnassus. 
266 SUMMIT OF PARNASSUS. 
CHAP. We have described all the higher region ot" 
VII • • 
. ' . Parnassus as " bleak, and destitute of herbage;" 
but it is necessary to state, that this expression 
must be received with some limitation. A few 
Plants of rare plants may be noticed here and there, even 
to its very peak : and where this is the case, 
those Alpine herbs are often characterized by 
woolly leaves ; as if Nature had provided 
their foliage with an investment suited to the 
rigours of their situation. We found the jilpine 
Daphne, sprouting through the snow and ice, 
quite up to the summit : also a beautiful species 
of Cineraria; and a new species of Cherleria, 
whose short half-shrubby stems, divided out- 
wards into innumerable branchlets, terminated 
in little stars of leaves ; these were so closely 
matted together as to resemble little cushions 
lying upon the ground. We also collected, 
upon this mountain, specimens of a Pine, be- 
longing to the same section of the genus Pin us 
with the Balm of Gilead and Silver Fir ' ; but 
most resembling the latter species ; and differing 
only in having the leaves pointed, without 
any notch at the end, and narrower than we 
have ever seen in that species. We were 
(1) Pinus Balsamea, and Pinus Picea. 
