Part 3

The Creeping Gypsophila is a perennial plant with a woody stem, from which branches arise bearing the narrow strap-shaped leaves and pale crowded flowers. It is found in all the limestone regions of the Alps, amongst the rocky boulders beside mountain streams, and in dry torrent beds between 1000 and 7000 feet, and even descends to the plains with certain of the rivers. It is found, for example, near Munich on the banks of the Isar. The plant is also widely distributed in the mountain regions of Central Europe and extends from the Pyrenees to the Carpathians. The flowers, which open in July and August, are white with more or less of a tinge of pink about them, which may be quite marked in certain cases. Together they form what is botanically known as a corymb. The numerous flower stalks branching off from different points of the ascending stem are of such a length that all the flowers are approximately on the same level. In this way they are displayed to the best advantage, so that their insect visitors may find it easy to pass from flower to flower. There are several species of Sandwort and Chickweed to be found in Switzerland that closely resemble the Creeping Gypsophila. Apart from technicalities the chief points to keep in mind in the identification of the plant are the woody creeping stem, the much-branched flower stalks, and the entire absence of hairs.

The Moss Campion or Cushion Pink

(_SILENE ACAULIS_)

Wherever conditions are unfavourable to plant life, not only on high mountains but also in deserts and by the seashore, the plants that manage to survive frequently respond by a process of co-operation and form dense cushion-like masses. In the high Alps many examples of this are seen. The individual plants are closely huddled together in the form of a tuft, not only on account of warmth and natural protection and to prevent their being blown away by rough winds, but also because the cushion acts as a sort of reservoir or sponge and prevents the little plants being dried up by the fierce rays of the sun.

The Moss Campion is a typical “Cushion plant.” It is found abundantly all over the Alps, especially in the limestone regions between 5000 and 10,000 feet or even higher. It grows in open rocky places, often on the bare rock itself, and in the neighbourhood of glaciers, and may be found close up to the snowline. The bright green moss-like cushions formed of the dense clusters of leaves become sprinkled over with pinkish-purple star-like flowers in June, July, and August. Occasionally the flowers are white. The long conical root penetrates far into the soil or into some fissure in the rocks, thus securely anchoring the plant, and divides above into numerous branches, which radiate in all directions and are thickly covered below with brown dead leaves and terminate above in a rosette of bright green linear leaflets. The flowers, which are visited by many kinds of insects, are of three kinds. Rarely we find cushions of flowers containing both stamens and pistil in the same flower, but even here the pistil becomes ready to receive pollen before the stamens open so as to prevent self-fertilisation. Usually, however, the flowers are unisexual and contain stamens or pistil only, and staminate and pistillate flowers are borne on different cushions.

The Moss Campion is widely distributed in the mountain regions of Southern Europe, North America, and the Arctic regions. _Silene exscapa_ closely resembles the above, but is much less common. Its flowers are smaller and less brightly coloured, and the separation between calyx and flower stalk is more gradual and less abrupt than in the Moss Campion. Its seed-vessel or capsule is, moreover, hardly longer than the remains of the calyx which encloses it, whereas the capsule of the Moss Campion projects well beyond the enclosing calyx leaves.

The Wood Geranium

(_GERANIUM SYLVATICUM_)

Seventeen species of Geranium or Crane’s-bill, so named from the shape of the seed, are met with in Switzerland, and several of them are rather difficult to distinguish from one another.

The Wood Geranium is found in England, but is not very common. In Switzerland it is exceedingly abundant on the borders of woods and in rich mountain meadows and pastures between 3000 and 7000 feet. Though a beautiful plant it is by no means welcome to the herdsman, for it is not good for fodder. The finely divided leaves are well seen in the photograph. The purple-blue flowers have more of a tinge of red in them when they first open. The Wood Geranium will be recognised by its erect stem, hairy above, leaves which are arranged opposite to one another, purple-violet flowers with petals that are not notched in the middle, and sepals drawn out to a long point. The Brook Crane’s-bill (_Geranium rivulare_) has white flowers varied with red, and the Meadow Crane’s-bill (_Geranium pratense_) has larger flowers which tend to hang down, and the Blood Geranium (_Geranium sanguinum_) has unbranched flower stalks and notched petals.

The Alpine Clover

(_TRIFOLIUM ALPINUM_)

This plant is the most beautiful and most sweetly scented of all the clover tribe. The long conical root stock which penetrates far into the soil terminates above in many radiating branches. On these are borne the long stalked leaves, composed of three narrow leaflets with serrated margins. The flowers, which are larger than those of any other clover, are borne in a group of four to twelve on top of a long flower stalk. They begin to appear early in June and continue coming out till the end of August; they are usually of a delicate pinkish-purple colour, but occasionally a cream or white variety may be found. The Alpine breezes are often filled with their delicate fragrance. When the flower fades the petals are not shed, but remain attached to the seeds and act as wings which aid in their dispersal. Unlike most of our English clovers, which are annuals, the Alpine clover is a perennial and lives for many years, throwing up fresh leaves and branches every spring. The thick solid rootstock of some of these plants must be many years old. This species is very common in the meadows and pastures in the central Alps between 5000 and 8000 feet, where it grows in greatest abundance and especially luxuriantly on primary granitic rock. It is probably a true native of the Alps, but is also found in South Tyrol, the Pyrenees, and the Carpathians.

The Alpine clover will be readily recognised by its few-flowered flower-heads and narrow pointed leaflets arranged in groups of three. The much rarer _Trifolium pallescens_ is perhaps a little like the pale flowered variety, but it has many flowered flower-heads and ovate leaflets.

The Brown Clover

(_TRIFOLIUM BADIUM_)

Unlike the greater number of Alpine plants which persist from year to year the Brown Clover is a biennial, that is to say, its life is limited to two years, and at the end of its second summer the plant dies off. It is found abundantly in the limestone districts of Switzerland between 4000 and 7000 feet, and flowers in July and August. It grows in meadows and pastures, and seems to prefer a moist, open spot, where the competition with other plants will be less severe. Thus it is met with on moraines, on the fresh soil brought down by avalanches and streams, and even on the dirt heaps around Alpine cow houses. The much-branched brownish stem bears the rather long-stalked leaves, composed of three leaflets with serrated margins and blunt points. The flower-heads, made up of numerous florets closely packed together, are at first of a golden yellow colour. As the individual flowers fade—and the lowest fade first—they become brown and scale-like and turn downwards, and the dry brown corolla remaining attached to the seed forms an important aid in its dispersal by the wind. The Brown Clover is widely distributed in the mountain regions of Central Europe. It will be readily recognised by its globular flower-heads of yellow flowers and bright green leaves made up of three leaflets, which are arranged opposite to one another on the upper part of the stem.

_Trifolium spadiceum_ is very like the above, but is not so common. Its flower-heads become more elongated and change to a darker brown tint than those of the plant here photographed as the flowers fade.

The Cold Mountain-Lentil

(_PHACA FRIGIDA_)

The Cold Milk-Vetch or Mountain-lentil—to give a literal translation to its popular Swiss name, for it has no English—is a typical Alpine plant, found in fair abundance between 5000 and 8000 feet, perhaps most frequently in limestone districts. In rocky places or mountain meadows it often grows in profusion, but it seems to avoid the pastures. The stem is usually unbranched, about 6 or 8 inches high, and bears the pale yellow or cream-coloured flowers and the bright green leaves, made up of four or five pairs of leaflets with an odd one at the tip. The leaves are arranged in pairs opposite to one another, and where they join the stem a couple of pale broad wing-like stipules are attached. It is unfortunate that these are not well seen in the photograph, for they are the most characteristic thing about the plant. The Cold Mountain-lentil has an extensive range, being found in mountain districts all over Europe, Northern Asia, North America, and in the Arctic regions. It is thought to have originated in the Steppes of Northern Asia.

_Phaca alpina_ differs from the above in being a somewhat taller plant with branched stem, deeper yellow flowers, leaves made up of nine to eleven pairs of leaflets, and smaller, narrower, stipules.

The Dull-Flowered Sweet Clover or Alpine Sainfoin

(_HEDYSARUM OBSCURUM_)

The Alpine Sainfoin is the only member of the sixteen European species of _Hedysarum_ (Sainfoin) that is found in Switzerland. The plant consists of a thick, dense underground stem which persists from year to year and serves as a storehouse for food. Underground branches extend outward from this in various directions and give rise to ascending shoots bearing leaves and flowers. The short stalked leaves bear eleven to nineteen leaflets which are arranged in pairs; the purple-red flowers occur in clusters. The flowers are visited by bees on account of the honey they contain. By means of a sort of catapult arrangement, which only goes off when the bee settles on the flower, the body of the insect becomes dusted with pollen and as the bee travels from flower to flower pollination is effected. In the Western Alps a variety of this plant with yellowish flowers is occasionally to be found. The seed vessel of the Alpine Sainfoin is very characteristic. It is not unlike an ordinary pea-pod, but is smaller, more flattened, and divided into two or three oval segments by constrictions. The plant is fairly abundant between 5000 and 8000 feet, and flowers in July and August. It is rare in meadows, but is found on the rocky borders of Alpine pastures and on the banks of streams. It is met with in all parts of the Alps, in the mountainous districts of Europe and Asia, and in the Arctic regions, and is thought to have taken origin in the Steppes of Northern Asia. It should be very easily recognised. The drooping habit of the flowers and the constricted seed-pods are most characteristic.

The flowers of this species have generally more red in them than those of the specimen photographed.

The White Dryas

(_DRYAS OCTOPETALA_)

The White Dryas, or Silver-herb as the Swiss call it, is a characteristic Alpine plant which is found all over Switzerland between 3000 and 8000 feet, and even descends to the plains with some of the rivers. It is common in dry mountain pastures and rocky places, and seems to grow best on limestone soil. Often the bare surfaces of rocks and boulders are thickly covered with its matted growth, which persists from year to year as soil gradually accumulates around it.

The thick dense rootstock gives rise to long trailing branches, which extend in all directions and bear the leaves and flowers. Associated with the root tips is a curious fungus growth, which from its constant presence is thought to be of value to the plant. The tough leathery evergreen leaves have rolled back notched edges. Their upper surfaces are dark green, smooth, and polished, and devoid of the stomata or little pores by which air is absorbed by green plants generally; the lower surfaces are covered by thick white felt-like hairs. The flowers, which appear from May till July, resemble those of the Alpine Anemone, but are smaller. They have usually eight petals, hence the Latin name. Inside the petals are a large number of stamens arranged in the form of a ring, and inside these again a honey secreting gland which surrounds the mass of closely packed carpels in the centre of the flower. The carpels bear long silky styles, which grow out into beautiful feathery appendages as the seeds ripen—another point of resemblance to the Alpine Anemone. The carpels become ready for pollination before the stamens shed their pollen. Then the outermost stamens open, and only after several days have elapsed do the innermost stamens become mature. A little consideration will show how wonderfully this arrangement is adapted to favour the cross-fertilisation of the carpels by pollen brought from another flower by the agency of insect visitors. Should this, for any reason, fail, self-fertilisation will almost certainly be effected by means of the pollen from the innermost stamens. If a large number of plants of the White Dryas be carefully examined some will be found with flowers containing both stamens and carpels, as above described, while others, less numerous, have flowers with stamens only. These will of course produce no seeds. Some plants, again, will be seen to bear both kind of flowers. The White Dryas is found in the mountainous districts of Europe and in the Arctic regions of the new and old worlds. The plant will be readily recognised, for its leaves are quite different from those of an anemone.

The Alpine Rose

(_ROSA ALPINA_)

THE Alpine Rose or Dog-Rose must not be confounded with the Alpenrose. The resemblance is only in the names, for the Alpenrose so much beloved by the Swiss is really a rhododendron and quite a different plant. The Alpine Rose is a shrub sometimes 8 or 10 feet high, and only a single branch is shown in the photograph. It is found on the borders of mountain woods and in bushy places, from the lower slopes up to about 7000 feet, and flowers in May, June, and July. The leaves consist of seven to eleven leaflets, and there are broad stipules at the base of each leaf. The sweet-scented flowers are of a rich rose-red colour. The sepals are exceptionally long and project beyond the petals; this is especially noticeable in the bud. The fruit or hip is flask-shaped and rather narrowed at the base. Thorns are as a rule absent from the flowering branches, but are generally to be found on the lower and younger shoots, which point downwards. Sometimes they are absent altogether. The Alpine Rose is found pretty abundantly in the mountain woods of Southern and Central Europe, but does not extend to the North. Thus it grows in the Pyrenees, Auvergne, the Balkans, and in one part of the Black Forest.

The Dog-Roses are phenomenally difficult to distinguish from one another, and as many as fifty Swiss species are described. The characteristics above mentioned, and especially the high elevation at which it is found, will assist in the recognition of the present species. By the arrangement and character of the leaves and spines and the shape of the fruit, the Alpine Rose itself has been sub-divided into some thirty sub-species.

Fleischer’s Willow-Herb

(_EPILOBIUM FLEISCHERI_)

This plant is fairly common in the Alps and grows in dry stony places, especially amongst the boulders of dried-up torrent beds and beside some of the streams; with some of these it descends towards the plains. Like not a few of the less common Alpine plants, where it is found at all, it is usually met with in great abundance. The flowers which open out in July are of great beauty, and their arrangements to prevent self-pollination are of considerable interest. The stamens first ripen, and while these are held erect the stigma is bent downward and the four segments into which it is divided above are closely pressed together. (Most of the flowers are in this stage in the photograph.) When the pollen is shed the stamens bend downward, and not till then does the stigma rise in the centre of the flower and its four lips become separated from one another.

The flowers of Fleischer’s Willow-herb closely resemble those of the Rose-bay (_Epilobium angustifolium_), common in bushy places all over England, Switzerland, and Central Europe. But the Rose-bay is a bigger plant with tall, usually unbranched stem and much larger leaves, which are veined underneath. As will be seen by the photograph, the leaves of Fleischer’s Willow-herb are narrow and lance-shaped, and the few veins that can be made out are all parallel to one another. Closely resembling the plant here photographed is the Rosemary-leaved Willow-herb (_Epilobium rosmarinifolium_). Its leaves are usually more numerous, narrower, and more strap-shaped, and its stem is taller and, as a rule, more branched. But the most constant difference between the two plants is to be found in the length of the stalk which bears the stigma (style). This is as long as the stamens in _Epilobium rosmarinifolium_, but only half this length in _Epilobium Fleischeri_.

The Mountain House-Leek

(_SEMPERVIVUM MONTANUM_)

Several varieties of House-leek are found in Switzerland. They grow in dry, rocky places, where moisture is scarce and where they are exposed to the fierce heat of the sun. Their succulent leaves, covered by a thick, almost leathery, cuticle, are arranged in rosettes, and serve as storehouses for water. The plants grow slowly and in clusters, and when each one has accumulated sufficient strength it throws up a long central stalk bearing star-like flowers, and dies as the seeds mature. The house-leeks are reproduced not only by means of seeds, but also by runners, which extend outward and bear a small rosette of leaves at their extremities. Some of these can be made out in the photograph. Some of the Saxifrages closely resemble the house-leeks in habit of growth, but are less succulent.

The Mountain House-leek is common all over the Alps between 4000 and 8000 feet, or even higher in certain parts. It seems to grow best on primary granitic rock. The wedge-shaped rosette leaves are covered with short glandular hairs. The rosettes are unfortunately not well seen in the photograph, the leaves that can be made out being mainly those of a species of Primula. From the centre of the rosette the flower stalk arises. It is some 3 to 6 inches long and is covered with succulent leaves with reddish tips. Above it divides into branches which bear the beautiful star-like flowers. The flowers, which appear in July and August, are usually of a pale red colour with a darker central stripe to each petal. A variety with cream-coloured petals is very occasionally found.

The Cobweb House-leek (_Sempervivum arachnoideum_) is not unlike the plant here photographed, but will be readily distinguished from it by the long white hairs borne at the tips of the rosette leaves, which become interwoven with those of adjoining leaves to form a spider’s-web-like structure. Its flowers are a brighter crimson than those of the Mountain House-leek.

Sempervivum Funckii

Not unlike the Mountain House-leek photographed on the previous page is _Sempervivum Funckii_. It is not a common plant, being only found in Eastern Switzerland, the Tyrol, the Carpathians, and a few other mountainous districts, and does not seem to have acquired any local name. Compared with the Mountain House-leek the rosettes of leaves are a little smaller. They are covered with much longer hairs, which are not, however, twisted together into a spider’s web like those of the Cobweb House-leek. As will be seen the flowers are of a beautiful pale pink colour, and each petal has a stripe of a darker tint running down its centre. The plant grows in rocky places.

The Common House-leek (_Sempervivum tectorum_), which is often seen in England growing on old walls and on cottage roofs, where it is supposed to protect from lightning, is also found in Switzerland. It is fairly common in dry, rocky places, and ascends from the plains to 7000 feet. Its purple flowers are not unlike those of _Sempervivum Funckii_, but its wedge-shaped rosette leaves are only provided with hairs along their margins, and are armed with sharp spines at their extremities. It is, moreover, a much larger plant. The rosette leaves of _Sempervivum Wulfeni_, another Alpine species, are very like those of the Common House-leek, but the plant is readily distinguished by its yellow or greenish-yellow flowers. It grows on primary rock between 6000 and 8000 feet, and is rather uncommon.

The Evergreen Saxifrage

(_SAXIFRAGA AIZOIDES_)

THE Saxifrages have been extraordinarily successful in the Alps. Some thirty different species, some of them exceedingly common, are met with in Switzerland.