Summer Flowers of the High Alps — A Closer Reading

SUMMER FLOWERS OF THE HIGH ALPS

SUMMER FLOWERS OF THE HIGH ALPS

BY SOMERVILLE HASTINGS M.S. AUTHOR OF “ALPINE PLANTS AT HOME,” SERIES I. AND II.

ILLUSTRATED BY REPRODUCTIONS FROM DIRECT COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR

LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.

The coloured plates of Alpine plants, which are the special feature of this book, are all reproduced from colour photographs taken directly from nature. The plants were all photographed exactly as they were found, with two exceptions, in the immediate neighbourhood of Rosenlaui in the Bernese Oberland during the month of July 1909; so that the pictures are true portraits of the flowers “at home.”

The Lumière process of colour photography which was used, depends on the action of light on a photographic plate after its passage through various coloured starch grains. The process is entirely beyond the control of the operator, and the exact colours are automatically reproduced. These photographs have in turn been carefully reproduced for this work by the three colour process.

The flowers here photographed were selected as good examples of common and typical species; and, of course, they represent but a very small portion of the rich flora of Switzerland. The present volume is intended as a short introduction to the subject, for the fuller study of which the following works are recommended:—

A. Gremli, “The Flora of Switzerland.” Translated by Paitson.

A. W. Bennett, “The Flora of the Alps.”

G. Hoffmann, “Alpine Flora.” Translated by E. S. Barton.

L. and C. Schröter, “Coloured Vade-mecum to the Alpine Flora.”

C. Schröter, “Das Pflanzenleben der Alpen.”

F. E. Hulme, “Familiar Swiss Flowers.”

“Hints and Notes for Travellers in the Alps,” being the General Introduction to Ball’s Alpine Guide.

They have all been freely referred to in the preparation of the accompanying notes.

Wherever possible the common name of each plant in English, French, and German has been given on the corresponding plate. It is hoped that this may be of use to the reader.

In conclusion I would like to thank the publishers for the great trouble they have taken in the preparation of the plates, and Mr Howard Farmer, of the Polytechnic School of Photography, for much valuable advice.

NEW CAVENDISH STREET, W. _April 1910._

THE SPINY FULLER’S THISTLE _Frontispiece_

THE NARCISSUS-FLOWERED ANEMONE 2

THE COMMON MONK’S-HOOD 6

THE YELLOW WOLF’S-BANE 8

THE TWO-FLOWERED VIOLET 10

THE LONG-SPURRED PANSY 12

THE BOX-LEAVED MILKWORT 14

THE CREEPING GYPSOPHILA 16

THE MOSS CAMPION OR CUSHION PINK 18

THE COLD MOUNTAIN-LENTIL 26

THE DULL-FLOWERED SWEET CLOVER OR ALPINE SAINFOIN 28

FLEISCHER’S WILLOW-HERB 34

THE MOUNTAIN HOUSE-LEEK 36

SEMPERVIVUM FUNCKII 38

THE EVERGREEN SAXIFRAGE 40

THE LARGE ASTRANTIA 42

THE ALPINE STARWORT OR ALPINE ASTER 44

THE CAT’S-FOOT, MOUNTAIN EVERLASTING OR MOUNTAIN CUDWEED 46

THE ROUND-HEADED RAMPION 52

THE BEARDED BELL-FLOWER OR CAMPANULA 54

THE DWARF HAIR-BELL OR BELL-FLOWER 56

THE HAIRY-LEAVED ALPENROSE 58

THE LESSER WINTER-GREEN 60

THE STEMLESS GENTIAN 62

THE SHORT-LEAVED GENTIAN 64

THE ALPINE TOAD-FLAX 66

THE LEAFY LOUSEWORT 70

THE YELLOW AURICULA 72

THE LADY’S SLIPPER 76

THE WHITE VERATRUM 78

No one can visit Switzerland for the first time without being struck with the singular beauty of its wild flowers. In the early summer the whole country from the lowland meadows right up to the snowline is ablaze with beauty. Probably in no other part of the world are the forms of the flowers more pleasing and their colours more brilliant. Hence it is that almost everyone who visits the Alps, however little interest he may take in the wild flowers of his own home, desires to know something of the wonderful new forms that everywhere meet his gaze. Here the charm of novelty also comes in, for at least half the flowers met with in the Alps are absent from the plains, and many of the species that occur in both situations have, as we shall see later, acquired such different characters at high altitudes as to be with difficulty at first sight recognised. Those who would see Switzerland in all its beauty, and as far as its floral treasures are concerned, at its best, must visit it in early June before the hay is cut. Otherwise they will miss the glory of the unmown meadows, and although many of the spring flowers, like the Crocuses and Primulas (Plate 35), may still be found in small quantities at high altitudes even in July, the striking effect of the large masses of these flowers will be entirely wanting.