Somerville Hastings

“ The chief difficulty in growing Alpine plants in our climate is not the cold but the excessive moisture of winter, which tends to rot their roots, and from which they are protected in their native home by their snowy covering. Our object should be to reproduce, as far as possible, in our gardens the conditions under which the plants grow in the high Alps. For the rockery a porous stone will be required, such as limestone or sandstone, and it is essential to select a kind that does not crumble with the frost. ”

“ The leaves, like those of the Edelweiss, are covered with white woolly hairs, and the flower stems are also hairy. The flowers, which are pink or white, are dioicious, that is to say, the same flower does not produce both pollen and seed, and seed-forming and pollen-producing flowers do not occur on the same plant. As the pollen is not carried by the wind from flower to flower, the plant is entirely dependent upon its insect visitors for the fertilisation of its seeds, and without them no seeds will be formed. ”

“ The green leaves of plants are constantly giving out as watery vapour the fluid which has been absorbed by the roots. The decreased atmospheric pressure at high altitudes, the general dryness of the air, and the bright sunlight by day all unite to accelerate this process. During the day the ground is warmed even to a larger extent than the air, and thus the absorption of water by the roots is correspondingly hastened. During the night the intense radiation rapidly cools down the soil on which the plant grows, but the surrounding air is not cooled to anything like the same extent. ”

“ The grey-green leaves are narrow and succulent, and are arranged in whorls of four on the stem. The flowers are furnished with a long spur which contains the honey, [67] and are only visited by bees and humble-bees. The common humble-bee has a long enough tongue to reach to the tip of the spur and is the chief agent in the fertilisation of the plant. The orange-yellow spot at the only opening to the flower is equivalent to a notice “this way to the honey.” Should no insect visit a flower self-fertilisation will nevertheless occur and seeds will be produced all the same. ”

“ The thick evergreen leaves, armed with formidable spines, are paler at the upper part of the stem where they surround the large brown flower-head. Usually but a single flower-head is borne by each plant, but each one produces some hundreds of seeds. Each seed has a feathery wing-like appendage, so that it may be more easily distributed by the wind. The Spiny Fuller’s Thistle is usually some 31⁄2 or 4 feet high, as was the specimen photographed, but in high altitudes the plant is more bushy and stunted. ”

“ When the climate of the intervening districts became once more less severe, the competition with the present lowland flora became so keen that the Alpine-Arctic plants retreated to high altitudes or the far north. It may be that the high mountain regions have formed centres for the evolution of new species, as Mr John Ball believed, but there is but little direct evidence for this view.
Nearly every visitor to Switzerland who regards its rich flora in any way worthy of notice is desirous to obtain some permanent record of the pleasing impressions obtained. ”

“ But it is in connection with their flowers that the wonderful adaptation of Alpine plants to their surroundings is perhaps best seen. The plants of high altitudes generally bear more numerous and more brightly coloured flowers than do their relatives of the plains. The low stature of the plants that bear them gives rise to the impression that the flowers of the Alps are also larger than those of lowland districts, but though undoubtedly more numerous and more crowded together they are of about the same size as those of other nearly related species. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Each plant consists of a small rosette of leaves, a very short stem, and a single bell-shaped flower of deep azure blue. Very often two or three plants are found growing together and a small group such as that photographed is not infrequent. Occasionally also specimens with pale blue, rose red or even white flowers may be seen. When the flower has been fertilised, and while the seeds are maturing, the brightly coloured corolla shrivels up and surrounds the seed vessel, at the same time becoming of a green colour and perhaps taking on a vegetative function. ”

“ They have all bright-coloured flowers, especially adapted for fertilisation by humble-bees. It is only where there are humble-bees to convey the pollen from flower to flower that seeds can mature, so that where these insects do not exist the Aconites cannot spread. The five sepals of the Aconite flowers are coloured for attractive purposes, the highest being especially large and helmet-shaped. Protected by this are the representatives of the petals, so modified and reduced that they no longer have any attractive function, and are only of use to the plant by producing honey. ”

“ A bright conspicuous plant is the Arnica, with its yellow star-like flower-heads. It grows in meadows, pastures, and on sunny moors, and is widely distributed in the Alps, from the lower mountain regions up to 8000 feet. It is much less common in limestone than in other districts. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In England we have only two kinds of Rampion and both are rare, but in Switzerland there are no less than ten different species, with blue and white flowers, and some of them are extremely abundant. One of the commonest of the blue-flowered varieties is here photographed. It grows in mountain pastures and poor meadows between 3000 and 8000 feet, and is found not only in the Alps but all over Central Europe, though absent in the North. It flowers in July, and the size of the plant undergoes considerable variation according to the altitude at which it grows. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Plants that grow in the clefts of rocks should be planted in a sloping position, as water is then less liable to collect in the rosettes of leaves. Those that grow in cool, moist, spongy soil are best planted in a mixture of peat moss and earth. It is also important to notice whether the plant which is being cultivated was previously growing on limestone or granitic soil, for it is easy to add a little chalk to the earth if this is required. ”

“ Some three to five pendent flowers are borne by each flower-stalk, all turned in the same direction. Occasionally a single flowered variety is met with, usually at a high altitude. The ordinary pale blue colour of the flower may disappear entirely, and specimens with pure white blossoms are not infrequent. The plant is found abundantly all over the Alps and Sub-Alps, in meadows and pastures, and to a less extent in open woods, from 3000 feet almost to the snowline (7000 to 9000 feet) . It is usually less abundant on limestone than on other rocks. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Just over two thousand different species of flowering plants are to be found in Switzerland, and a little over half of these are exclusively Alpine. In contrasting the flowers of the Alps with those of our own country, it may be first of all well to consider what we have that Switzerland has not. ”

“ A large number of Orchids are to be found in the Alps. They form a well-defined group of plants which are particularly interesting in view of complicated devices which they have adopted to ensure the fertilisation of their seeds by the agency of insect visitors. Nearly all the English species are found in Switzerland, and most of them are met with in much greater abundance there. ”

“ During at least half of the year owing to the white coverlet of snow, all activity in the Alpine plant world ceases so that the production of flowers and seeds, indeed all the vital processes of the plants must be crowded into the few months when the ground is clear. ”

“ Many of the more frequented tourist routes have become almost bare of any but the commonest flowers. One has only to ascend to some peak or glacier by two paths, one that is well-trodden, and a second but little used, to see how complete this destruction of wild flowers has been.
Excellent little presses for preserving plants and flowers can be bought in Switzerland. They take up no more room in one’s bag than a Baedeker or Bradshaw’s Guide, and do the work much more efficiently. ”

“ There seems no reason also why a few of the more common or abundant plants should not be dug up with their roots, carefully packed, and taken home, although the Swiss authorities do not permit even this, but it is disgraceful that large nosegays of choice flowers should be gathered for the mere pleasure of watching them wither in the hand, and then thrown away. The Swiss natives, unhappily, set us a very bad example in this respect; but it is fortunate that the Edelweiss and Alpenrose are the only flowers that they at all extensively attack. ”

“ Where the plants were able to grow at all they became, in most cases, stunted and dwarfed. The Jerusalem Artichoke, for example, which forms a tall leafy stem like a sunflower in the plains, became a short stumpy plant with leaves arranged in a rosette at its base. Generally speaking, the plants developed a better marked underground stem, and thicker, darker green leaves than the same species grown under more ordinary conditions.
One of the principal characteristics of Alpine plants is the extensive development of the rootstock and underground stem. ”

“ Annuals persist through the winter season, only in the form of seed, so that a single wet summer such as the last (1909) , by interfering with the ripening of the seeds, might threaten with extinction an entire species. Annuals have but little food stored up for a sudden outburst of activity on the approach of spring, nor can the tiny root of a budding seedling obtain from the soil all that is necessary for the rapid production of flowers and seeds. ”

“ It is generally believed that the total number of insect visitors in the Alps is less than in the plains, and therefore the competition for their services being more severe, greater attractions in the form of brighter coloured flowers and more abundant honey have to be provided for them. ”

“ The knitting needles can be pushed into the ground, and the plant surrounded on three sides or completely by such a screen, and thus very largely shaded from the wind. With a little care the screen does not appear in the photograph, and it is easily rolled up and carried from place to place. For near objects the intensity of light in the Alps is only slightly greater than that in England at the same time of day, but it is always wiser to make use of an exposure meter if the best results are desired. ”

“ 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. ”