About the 23rd to the 29th June the first flower appears, then follows strong, active growth in uninterrupted sunshine during July and August. The flowers are brilliant in colour and richly produced. The tiny dwarf Arctic plants are covered all over with blue or golden yellow or white blossoms. All is in full activity and luxuriance. Then suddenly, in a night, the icy grasp of winter falls upon them. Hard-frozen flowers, buds, and ripening fruits remain chilled and incapable of life from the 30th August until the end of May. Of course, under such conditions, these hardy and vigorous little plants cannot become trees or shrubs. To show the effect of the climate upon them, a few British plants which are also Arctic may be compared. In In the Great Britain. Arctic Regions. Matweed (_Matricaria inodora_) 6 in. to 1 ft. high 2 in. Goldenrod (_Solidago virgaurea_) 1-2 ft. 3-4 in. Red Rattle (_Pedicularis palustris_) 6 in. to 1 ft. 2-3 in. Mugwort (_Artemisia vulgaris_) 2 to 4 ft. 4-5 in. Willow-herb (_Epilobium palustris_) 1 to 2 ft. 2 in. Grass of Parnassus (_Parnassia palustris_) 6 in. to 1 ft. 1 in. These wretched little dwarfs seem, however, to have pretty long lives, and, as we have said, deck themselves in the most gaudy colours every summer. In the Alps of Switzerland and other temperate countries, the flowering season is also a very short one and soon over. It is often not more than six weeks, yet in that short time the rich blue of the Gentian, the Alpine Roses, Soldanellas, Campanulas, and many others make some of these grass slopes high up in the mountains a perfect garden of loveliness. Sometimes in passing over the snowfields of Switzerland just before spring, one notices the pretty violet flowers of the Soldanella swaying to and fro in the wind above the unmelted snow. One does occasionally see in this country the Snowdrop in the midst of snow, but then it has fallen after the Snowdrop had blossomed. The Alpine Soldanella flowers whilst the earth is still covered. It begins as soon as the ground below the snow is thawed. Each little developing flower-stalk melts out a grotto in the snow above itself, and so bores, thawing its way up into the air above. It has already been mentioned that, inside a flower, the temperature is often higher than the surrounding air. It is this higher temperature of the flower which thaws a little dome or grotto in the snow above the head of the flower.[44] When a flock of sheep are covered by a snowdrift, a similar hollow is formed above them by their breath and the high temperature of their bodies: they often seem indeed to be little or none the worse for being buried. The Soldanella melts its way in just the same manner.