Los Angeles herald., 1907-11-24

stony Alps and where apparently it can get
no nourishment 1t flowers in July and Au-
gust.
The common birds food trefoil is q, remark ~
able-looking plant which creeps along One
ground, the stems bearing single primrose
colored blossom. 1t grows on damp or ciayey
banks in sunny situations The blossoms re
semble pod
! The polygonum, or snakeweed, is very
snowy plant, growing about eighteen lnches
high, and bears a spike of small PINK now
ers at the top of the stem. Many mgh. pas
lures are pink with it.
| 1t has very strong astringent properties.
and contains both gallic acid and tannin' II
| is said that the tannin is twice as strong as
that of the oak bark used in leather. When
the tannin has been exhausted starch re-
mains, which can be used for food, and in Rus
sia is made into bread. 1t was formerly priz-
ed as an antidote to poison, and was used as
medicine in the time of the plague.
The mountain everlasting is an herb with
down leaves; it grows abundantly in mountain
turf.
The perforated st. Johnswort flowers in
July in thickets and hedges; the blossom,
flower cup and leaves are often tipped with
minute black dots; the leaves are especially
remarkable for being copiously sprinkled with
small penucld dots, which are most evident
This plant was formerly worn to preserve
the wearer against witches and enchantments;
and IN several continental countries the super
stition fingers yet that it is charm against
thunder and lightning and the Vaccinations
Of evil spirits.
In parts of France and Germany the peas
antry still gather its golden bloom with much
ceremony on st. Johns Day, and hang it up
In windows and doorways to avert evil.
The little blossoms of the common eye
bright are sprinlled over the sides of chalky
Cliffs or studded over the short grass of noun
taIns or open plains, or hidden among the
taller heritage of the pasture land.
The plant is often only an inch in height
and bears but q single flower; but in situa-
ticns where it thriyes well it becomes branch
ed and taller, and many blossoms are scattered
among its leaves; The foliage is bright green
and deeply notched and the blossoms either
white or pale lilac, streaked with purple.
And then, leaving the lower Alps and as
cending higher ever higher, till the white snow
| dazzles the eye as it wraps the majestic noun
talns with the pure mantle of eternal white
ness, the edeweiss, the most precious of all
the flowers of Switzerland because most diff
! ficult to lind, pushes it's white and wooly head
through the snow, and seems to rejoice in the
stiffness and beauty of the surrounding scenery.
| Tins plant seems to lose half its beauty
when uprooted from its native soil and trans
planted to foreign lands but in spite of this
! It It has been deemed necessary by the Swiss
Government to place a notice ND forbidding
any one to uproot the edelweiss, which bids
far to become extinct if no restraining hand
is laid on the ruthless tourists.
lnere are many, many other flowers to be
found In Switzerland but let us leave them
Tow TOW as we have assembled to the snowy
heights to gather the flower SO dear to all
SWISS hearts, the sight of which must ever
recall the snowy regions where it grows.
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