RETURN TO 
 ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY 
 
 ITHACA, N. Y. 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY UBHAHY 
 
 764 796 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924052764796 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS 
 
 FOR 
 
 ENGLISH GARDENS. 
 
 By W. ROBINSON, F.L.S., 
 
 AUTHOR OF 'THE PARKS, PROMENADES, AND GARDENS OF PARIS.' 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 The right of Translation is reserved. 
 
FEINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, 
 AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction , ix 
 
 Part I. 
 The Culture of Alpine Flowers. 
 
 General considerations ; conditions under which alpine 
 
 plants are found growing in a wild state i 
 
 The rock-garden 7 
 
 Right and wrong arrangement of masses of rockwork con- 
 trasted 8 
 
 Construction of the bolder masses of rockwork, &c 9 
 
 Rockwork in combination with water, cascades, bridges, &c. 20 
 
 Hardy fernery in rock-garden 22 
 
 Rockwork on a small scale on lawns 28 
 
 Rock-garden on margin of shrubbery 31 
 
 Alpine plants on old ruins, and walls. 33 
 
 Alpine succulents 38 
 
 Alpine plants in mixed borders 42 
 
 The wild rpck-garden^ 52 
 
 Rock-garden in wood ■ 53 
 
 Rock-garden on window-sill 54 
 
 Alpine flowers for exhibition 56 
 
 Alpine plants. in pots , 57 
 
 Raising alpine plants from seeds 61 
 
 Hardy aquatic plants .. 67 
 
 What to avoid .. .. .- 72 
 
 A httle tour in the Alps 78-120 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 An enumeration of the choicest alpine plants, 
 alphabetically arranged, comprising descrip- 
 tions, and full directions for the culture of 
 each, the positions best suited for it in gar- 
 DENS, ETC 121-363 
 
 Selections of alpine plants for various pur- 
 poses .. .. 364-373 
 
 Index .. 375 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 FIG. PAGE 
 
 1. Ravine in rock-garden . . . . a 
 
 2. Saxifraga longifolia 4 
 
 3. Alpine plants on vertical rock . . 6 
 
 4. Rock partially exposed . . . . 7 
 5 and 6. Right and wrong arrange- 
 ment of masses S 
 
 7. Horfzontal fissures, plants in . . 9 
 
 8. Horizontal fissure, plan of . . .. 10 
 
 9. Oblique fissures, plans of . . . . 10 
 
 10. Right and wrong forms of steep 
 
 rockwork 11 
 
 1 1 . Right and wrong forms of interior 
 
 of vertical fissures 12 
 
 12. Properly formed large fissure . . 13 
 
 13. Section of rockwork 13 
 
 14. Ditto z4 
 
 15. Ditto 14 
 
 16. Ditto ,. 15 
 
 17. Alpines on steps in rock-garden 16 
 
 18. Little valley in rock-garden . . 17 
 
 19. Select portion of rock-garden .. 19 
 
 20. Waterfallfringed with Yuccas, &c. 20 
 
 21. Stepping-stone bridge 21 
 
 22. Stepping-stone bridge, plan of . . 21 
 
 23. View on Lake Maggiore . . . . 22 
 
 24. Entrance to hardy fernery.. .. 23 
 
 25. Entrance to cave for Killarney 
 
 fern 25 
 
 26. Rockwork of bricks and cement 27 
 
 27. Rocky bed of alpines 29 
 
 28. Rock-garden on margin of shrub- 
 
 bery 31 
 
 29. Ruined castle 33 
 
 30. Ruins and bridge 34 
 
 31. Alpine plants on old wall . . . . 35 
 
 32. Wall constructed for alpines . . 37 
 
 33. Raised bed with alpine succulents 38 
 
 34. Ditto ditto 39 
 
 35. Ditto ditto 41 
 
 36. Snow imitated on small hills ■ . . 42 
 
 37. Alpine plant on border . . . . 47 
 
 38. Site for natural rock-garden .. 51 
 
 FIG. I'AGE 
 
 39. Site for rock-garden in wood . . 53 
 
 40. .The window rock-garden . . . . 55 
 41 and 42. Alpines in pots 59 
 
 43. Bed of alpines plunged in sand. . 60 
 
 44. Bed with constant supply of 
 
 water 61 
 
 45. Frontispiece of book on alpines 73 
 
 46. Arch (after Loudon) 74 
 
 47. All the Alps seen from the hall- 
 
 door (after Macintosh) . . . . 74 
 
 48. Fountain and rockwork (after 
 
 Loudon) 75 
 
 49. "Infaudi scopuli" (after ) 75 
 
 50. Rockwork (after Mrs. Loudon) . . 76 
 
 51. Ground plan of rockworks in a 
 
 London park 76 
 
 52. An alpine scene 77 
 
 53. "Excelsior" 78 
 
 54. An alpine scene 79 
 
 55. In the woody region 80 
 
 56. View of a distant range . . . . 84 
 
 57. Castle of Chillon 85 
 
 58. Alpine valley and river-bed . . 88 
 
 59. The Cobweb Houseleek . . . . 89 
 
 60. Tourist and guide 90 
 
 61. An alpine village 92 
 
 62. An alpine waterfall 93 
 
 63. A disputed passage 94 
 
 64. In the hotel 96 
 
 65. " The glassy ocean of the moun- 
 
 tain ice" 99 
 
 66. The limit of life 102 
 
 67. Cascade in a high wood . . . . 104 
 
 68. The same lower down 105 
 
 69. Road through cliff 106 
 
 70. Island in Lake Maggiore . . . . 107 
 
 71. An alpine mail-road 115 
 
 72. The limit of the Pines 116 
 
 73. A glacier 117 
 
 74. A glimpse at the home of the two- 
 
 flowered Saxifrage 118 
 
 75. In the lowlands again 120 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 THE PAEKS, PROMENADES, AND GARDENS OF PARIS. 
 
 With 430 Illustrations. 
 
 ' The Times,' Oct. 21. — " For a long time we have not read a more 
 ihteresting and instructive book than this" 
 
 MUSHROOM CULTURE; 
 
 Its Extension and Improvement. With Illustrations and Figures of the 
 Commonest Edible Kinds as well as the Cultivated One. 
 
 MRS. LOUDON'S AMATEUR GARDENER'S CALENDAR. 
 Revised by Wm. Robinson, F.L.S. 
 
 In preparation, 
 
 THE GARDEN CYOLOP.ffiDIA. 
 
 This will be the most comprehensive and practical work ever 
 attempted on the subject. It will be on a new plan as regards general 
 arrangement and details, and will contain thousands of illustrations, 
 showing every practical point as well as the highest result of each 
 branch of the art. — W. R. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This book is written to dispel a very general error, that 
 the exquisite flowers of alpine countries cannot be grown in 
 gardens, and as one of a series of manuals having for their 
 object the improvement of our out-door gardening — which, 
 it appears to me, is of infinitely greater importance than 
 anything that can ever be accomplished . in enclosed struc- 
 tures, even if glass sheds or glass palaces were within the 
 reach of all. There are few who have not heard of the 
 beauty and vividness of colour of alpine flowers ; but such 
 knowledge is usually accompanied by the notion that these 
 can only be seen upon the high Alps, and that it is impos- 
 sible to cultivate them in lowland regions. This erroneous 
 idea is not confined to the general public, it has been pro- 
 pagated by our most famous botanists and horticulturists 
 past and present, whenever they have had to figure or 
 allude to an alpine flower j while almost every alpine 
 traveller, botanical or otherwise, has lugubriously regretted 
 that we could not enjoy in our gardens these the most 
 charming of all flowers. 
 
 The Duke of Argyll, in presiding at the last dinner of the 
 Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution, told the assemblage 
 an anecdote about Her Majesty's interest in some alpine 
 flowers picked up in a highland excursion in which he had 
 accompanied her, and he improved the occasion to eloquently 
 tell the crowd of assembled horticulturists that, though they 
 could do and had done almost everything in the way of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 culture, they were conquered by one difficulty — that of grow- 
 itig alpine plants. Any reader of this book can prove for 
 himself that these ideas are as unfounded as they are 
 general, and that intelligent cultivation will prove as success- 
 ful with the plants of the coldest and most elevated regions 
 as it has already proved with the choicest plants of steaming 
 tropical forests. So far from its being true that they cannot 
 be cultivated, I have no ■hesitation in saying that there is 
 no alpine flower that ever cheered the traveller's eye with 
 its brilliancy that cannot be successfully grown in these 
 islands. 
 
 What are alpine plants ? The word alpine is here "used 
 in an arbitrary sense to define the vegetation that grows 
 naturally on the most elevated regions of the earth — on all 
 very high mountain-chains, whether they spring from hot 
 tropical plains or green northern pastures. Above the cul- 
 tivated land these flowers begin to occur on the fringes of 
 the stately woods ; they are seen in multitudes in the vast 
 and delightful, pastures with which many great mountain- 
 chains are robed, enamelling their soft verdure with innu- 
 merable dyes ; and where neither grass nor loose herbage 
 can exist — where feeble world-heat and world-force are 
 quenched and discomfited on their own ground by mightier 
 powers ; where mountains are crumbled into ghastly slopes 
 of shattered rock by contending throbbings of heat and cold, 
 and where the very water becomes hard and relentless as 
 stone, yet bears and moves thousands of tons of rock as 
 easily as the Gulf Stream carries a seed — even there thev 
 modestly, but brilliantly and bravely, spring from Nature's 
 ruined battle-ground, as if the mother of earth-life had sent 
 up her sweetest and loveliest children to plead with the fell 
 Spirits of destruction. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Alpine plants fringe the vast fields of snow and ice of the 
 high hills, and at great elevations have often scarcely time 
 to flower and ripen a few seeds before they are again im- 
 bedded ; while sometimes, if the previous year's snow has 
 been very heavy, and the present year's sun is weak, nunibers 
 of them may remain beneath the surface for more than a 
 year. Enormous areas of ground, inhabited by alpine plants, 
 are every year covered by a deep -bed of snow. Where the 
 tall tree or shrub cannot exist from the intense cold, a deep 
 soft mass of downy snow settles upon these minute plants, 
 like a great cloud-borne quilt, under which 'they rest un- 
 tortured by the alternation of frost and biting wind with 
 moist, balmy, and spring-like days. 
 
 But let it not for a moment be supposed that these 
 conditions are indispensable for their growth I The reason 
 that they predominate in these very elevated regions is 
 that no taller vegetation can exist there. Were these 
 places inhabited by trees and shrubs, we should yet find 
 alpine plants among them, but much fewer than in the 
 rocky fields where they reign supreme. Thus many plants 
 found on the high Alps, and popularly considered to grow 
 only within sight of or among fields of snow, are met 
 with in open rocky or bare places at much lower eleva- 
 tions. Gentiana verna, for example, is one of the loveliest 
 gems in the Flora of the Alps, often flowering late in the 
 summer when the snow thaws on a high mountain ; yet it 
 is also found on comparatively low hills, and occurs in 
 .Ireland and England. Numbers of other subjects could 
 be mentioned of which the same is true. In the fierce 
 struggle for existence upon the plains and low tree-clad 
 hills, the more minute species are often overrun by trees, 
 trailers, bushes, and vigorous herbs, but where in northern 
 
xu INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and elevated regions these fail "from the earth, we get the 
 choice jewellery of vegetable-life known as alpine plants. 
 
 ^pine plants have one great charm — that of endless 
 variety. They include subjects from many widely^ separate 
 divisions of the vegetable kingdom, and endless diversities 
 of form and colour. Among them are little orchids, as 
 interesting as their tropical brethren, though so much 
 smaller ; Lilliputian trees, and even a tree-like moss {Lyco- 
 podium dendroideum), that branches and grows mto an 
 erect little pjrramid, as if in imitation of the mountain- 
 loving Pines,' which, in their massy strength, are often 
 tortured into quaintness by storms, but rarely submit to 
 become miniatures of what they are in lower regioiis ; ferns 
 that peep from narrowest crevices of high rocky places, 
 often so small and minute that they seem to cling to the 
 rocks for shelter, not throwing forth their forms with airy 
 grace as they do in more favourable scenes ; numerous 
 bulbous flowers, from Lilies to Bluebells, which appear to 
 have been refined in Nature's laboratory, all coarseness and 
 ruggedness eliminated, all preciousness and beauty retained ; 
 evergreen shrubs, perfect in leaf and blossom and fruit as 
 any that grow in our shrubberies, yet so small that an 
 inverted finger-glass would make a roomy conservatory for 
 them ; creeping plants, like their mountain-brethren, rarely 
 venturing above mother earth, yet trailing and spreading 
 freely along it, and, when they crawl over the brows of rocks 
 or stones, draping them with curtains of colour as lovely as 
 any afforded by the most vigorous climbers of tropical 
 forests ; " foliage plants," small, it is true, yet far more 
 interesting than the huger ones which we grow under this 
 name ; numberless minute plants that scarcely exceed the 
 mosses in size, and quite surpass them in the way in which 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 they mantle the earth with fresh green carpets in the midst 
 of winter ; and " succulent " plants in endless variety, 
 which yield not in beauty to those of America or the Cape, 
 though frequently smaller than the very mosses of our bogs, 
 and which, in losing the stature of their lowland brethren, 
 ■ have replaced their horrid spines with silvery spottings and 
 lacings : in a word, they embrace nearly every type of the 
 plant-life of northern and temperate climes, chastened in 
 tone and diminished in size, and infinitely more attractive to 
 the human eye than any other known—" a veil of strange 
 intermediate being ; which breathes, but has no voice ; moves, 
 but cannot leave its appointed place ; passes through life with- 
 out consciousness, to • death without bitterness ; wears the 
 beauty of youth without its passion; and decUnes to the 
 weakness of age without its regret." 
 
 With reference to the merits of this and allied types of 
 gardening as compared with those commonly in vogue, 
 there can be little doubt in the minds of all who give the 
 subject any thought. On the one hand, we have sweetest 
 communion with nature ; on the other, the process which is 
 conunonly called " bedding out " presents to us simply the 
 best possible appliance for stealing from nature every grace 
 of form, beauty of colour, and vital interest. The genius of 
 cretinism itself could hardly delight in anything more taste- 
 less or ignoble than the absurd daubs of colour that every 
 summer flare in the neighbourhood of nearly every country- 
 house in Western Europe. Enter the garden of a rich 
 amateur, who spends a small fortune on his flowers, say in 
 the neighbourhood of Liverpool or Lyons. You find orchids 
 from Mexico and the Eastern Archipelago; the beauties 
 of the Flora of New Holland as healthy as ever they were 
 in their native homes; tropical fruits perfect in flavour 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and size, ferns gathered from every dime, and exotics from 
 all parts of the world ; but mention the name of some long- 
 discovered native of North Europe or Siberia, hardy as Ivy 
 and beautiful as numbers of highly popular exotics, and in 
 all but extremely rare cases the owner will never even have 
 heard of it ! Visit any of our large country gardens, and pro- 
 bably the first thing that will be triumphantly told you is the 
 number of scores of thousands of plants "bedded out" every 
 year, though no system ever devised has had a more miserable 
 effect on our gardens. Even our great botanic gardens, 
 which ought beyond all others to show us the capabilities of 
 the plants of our own climes, do not exhibit anything better 
 than the gaudiness of great masses of flowers of the same 
 colour on, the one hand, and the repulsive formality resulting 
 from scientific arrangements of plants on the other. That 
 an infinitely Superior system is not only practicable but easy, 
 I have contended in various journals since I began to write ; 
 that it is so in at least one almost utterly neglected branch 
 of horticulture is, I hope, now proved ; and that it is so in 
 others, I hope equally to show in due time; 
 
 The numbers of amateurs who spend small fortunes on 
 hothouse plants, and who generally have not a dozen of the 
 equally beautiful flowers of northern and temperate regions 
 in their gardens, might grow an abundance of them with 
 a tithe of the expense required to fill a glass-house , with 
 costly Mexican or Indian orchids. Our botanical and great 
 public gardens, in which alpine plants are usually found in 
 frames, in obscure corners, or perhaps a few dozen of in- 
 different kinds on some absurdly formed rockwork, half 
 hidden under trees and shrubs, or a canvas roller-blind, as 
 if very properly ashamed of itself, might each exhibit a 
 beautiful alpine-garden, at half the expense and trouble 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 they now bestow on some tropical family displayed in a 
 single glass-house. In a word, there is not a garden of 
 any kind, even in the suburbs of our great cities, in which 
 they may not be grown and enjoyed. And I venture to 
 promise every person who makes himself a garden of alpine 
 flowers that, more than of any kind of garden he has ever 
 seen, he will say of it, in the words of Jerrold — " A garden 
 is a beautiful book, writ by the finger of God : every flower 
 and every leaf is a letter. You have only to learn them — 
 and he is a poor dunce that cannot, if he will, do that — to 
 learn them and join them, and then to go on reading and 
 reading. And you will find yourself carried away from the 
 earth by the beautiful story you are going . through. You 
 do not know what beautiful thoughts grow out of the 
 ground, and seem to talk to a man. And then there are 
 some flowers that seem to me like overdutiful children : 
 tend them but ever so little, and they come up and flourish, 
 and show, as I may say, their bright and happy faces to 
 you." 
 
 No attempt has been made in the following pages to repre- 
 sent the living beauty or colour of any of the plants. That 
 could only be done worthily at a vast expense, and in a work 
 very different in plan to this. To give a few figures, coloured 
 as they now generally are in books, would convey no plea- 
 sure to those who have seen the vivid hues of alpine flowers, 
 and give those who have not no idea of their beauty. The 
 aim of my illustrations is to endeavour to show how the 
 plants may be grown and enjoyed in various positions. 
 Where alpine plants occurred on any of the little scenes 
 illustrated, they have been rendered, for the first time on 
 such a small scale, I believe, with great fidelity, by Mr. W, 
 H. Hooper, who drew and engraved nearly all the illustra- 
 
INTROD UCTION. 
 
 tions that were not done by Mr. J. W.Whymper with his 
 ■ accustomed feeling. Four of the woodcuts, from ' Peaks, 
 Passes, and Glaciers,' have been kindly lent by Messrs. 
 Longmans. 
 
 Botanical descriptions of the species are not given. The 
 book has no pretensions to Botany, using that term in its 
 strictest and narrowest sense ; if countless technical descrip- 
 tions and multitudes of plants in the dried mummy stage 
 could have shown people , in general the exquisite beauty 
 of alpine flowers, they would have been popular long ago ! 
 But it seems to me that a knowledge of the names applied 
 to plants and of dried specimens is no more equal to an 
 acquaintance with them in a living state than is a knowledge 
 of the grammatical elements of a language to the experience 
 of its spirit-stirring eloquence. Anything approaching bota- 
 nical description I have endeavoured to put in the simplest 
 language possible. The first necessity is to familiarise many 
 with the plants in all their living beauty. 
 
 Whatever the merits of the book may seem to others, its 
 imperfections will appear far greater to myself than to any- 
 body else. But, to do the subject justice, one would require 
 to spend half a lifetime in alpine countries — on many little- 
 known parts of which bloom numbers of those diminutive 
 stars of earth as yet unknown to books, and, it may be, 
 in many cases, unseen by man— and to have the aid of most 
 faithful and loving artistic work, to show 'the beauty of the 
 plants both individually and as they are arranged by nature 
 in their own wild homes. As, however, this is but one small 
 and neglected division of a very extensive subject, witt all 
 the more important branches of which I hope to deal, these 
 and many other things are, and must long remain, impossible 
 to me. I have, however, inspected almost every good col- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 lection in these islands, including every botanic garden 
 therein ; have visited the Alps specially to see alpine flowers 
 in a wild state ; I have had considerable experience with 
 them in a cultivated state, and the best I can do for the 
 present is herein embodied. Some of the matter first 
 appeared in the ' Field,' the ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' and 
 other journals, iri which I have for some years past pleaded 
 the cause of these and like subjects. 
 
 My heartiest thanks are due to Mr. James Backliouse, of 
 York, for many pleasant days spent in his unrivalled collec- 
 tion, for the opportunity of taking sketches of various parts 
 of his rock-garden, and for an excellent contribution on the 
 formation of rockwork ; to Mr. James Atkins, of Painswick, 
 who kindly placed at my disposal the results of his long study 
 and great knowledge of Cyclamens, and for much valued 
 information on other alpine plants ; to Mr. J. C. Niven, of 
 Hull, who wrote the article on Drabas, and to whose most 
 extensive collection I have had thepleasure of paying several 
 visits ; to Mr. Thomas Moore, for his excellent advice as 
 regards this and other books of mine, and for a selection 
 of ferns most likely to succeed in exposed places; to Sir 
 Charles Isham, for photographs of various plants growing 
 on his rockwork ; to Mr. J. A. Watson, of Geneva, for great 
 kindness in guiding me to several very interesting localities 
 in the neighbourhood of that city ; and to many others. 
 
 A word in explanation of the non-appearance of this 
 book a year ago, as announced. It was to have been my 
 first book ; but I was unwillingly obliged to forsake it for a 
 time to confute the arguments and counteract the effects 
 of the prejudices of various pers.ons, who endeavoured to 
 discredit my statements as to the decided superiority of 
 the French in some branches of horticulture of great public 
 
 b 
 
INTROD UCTION. 
 
 importance. This I first . had to do to a large extent in 
 various journals; then followed a book on the subject 
 and that led to a much larger work, all of which delayed 
 ' Alpine Flowers.' 
 
 Should any reader observe in cultivation any alpine plants 
 of great beauty that are not included in this book, or which 
 do not receive due notice in it, I shall feel grateful for in- 
 formation on the subject, or for good specimens, as I shall 
 also be for photographs or sketches of beautiful rock-gardens, 
 or any other arrangements for alpine flowers possessing 
 distinct merit. 
 
 W. R. 
 London, March 17, 1870. 
 
THE CULTURE 
 
 OF 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 PART I, 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 In treating of the culture of alpine plants, the first important 
 consideration is that much difference exists among them as 
 regards constitution and vigour. We have, on the one hand, 
 a number of valuable subjects that merely require to be sown 
 or planted in the roughest way to ilourish — the common Arabis 
 and Aubrietia for example ; but, on the other, there are many 
 kinds, like Gentiana verna, and the Primulas of the high 
 Alps, with many of their beautiful companions near the per- 
 petual snows, which we rarely or never see in good health in 
 these islands or elsewhere in gardens. It is as to the less 
 vigorous species that advice is chiefly required. Nearly 
 the whole of the misfortunes which these little plants 
 have met with in our gardens are to be attributed to a false 
 conception of what a rockwork ought to be, and of what the 
 true alpine plant requires. These plants live on high moun- 
 tains ; therefore it is thought they will do best in our gardens 
 if elevated on such tiny heaps of stones and brick rubbish as 
 we pile together and dignify by the name of " rockwork." If 
 I shortly describe the conditions under which they thrive in 
 high regions, perhaps we shall better see how far the common 
 ideas are sound. 
 
 Mountains are often " bare,'' and cliffs are usually devoid of 
 soil ; but we must not conclude therefrom that the choice jewels 
 lery of plant life scattered over the ribs of the mountain or 
 
 J- 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 the interstices of the crag Hve upon little more than the moun- 
 tain air and the melting snow ! Where will you find such a 
 depth of well-ground stony soil, and withal such perfect drain- 
 age, as on the ridges of debris flanking some great glacier, 
 stained all over with tufts of crimson saxifrage ? Can you gauge 
 the depth of that narrow chink, from which peep tufts of the 
 diminutive and beautiful An^rosace helvetica f No : it has 
 gathered the crumbling grit and scanty soil for ages and ages. 
 
 
 Fig. I.— Ravine in rock-garden (artificial), with alpine flowers in every crevice. 
 (From a ^hoiograjihj 
 
 and the roots enter so far that nothing the tourist carries widi^ 
 him can bring out enough of them to enable the plant to exist 
 elsewhere. And suppose we find plants growing apparently 
 from mere cracks without soil. If so, the roots simply search 
 farther into the heart of the flaky rock, so that they are safer 
 from any want of moisture than if in the best and deepest soil. 
 In 1868 I met on the Alps with plants not more than an inch 
 high, and so firmly rooted in crevices of half-rotten slaty 
 rock that any attempt to take them directly out would have 
 proved futile. But, by carefully knocking and peeling away 
 the sides from some isolated bits of projecting rock I suc- 
 ceeded in laying the roots quite bare, radiating in all direc- 
 
Part I. THE ROCK-GARDEN. 3 
 
 tions against a flat rock, and some of the largest more than a 
 yard long. 
 
 We think it rapacious of the Ash, a towering forest tree, to 
 send its roots under our garden walls and rob the soil therein, 
 and are surprised at finding the roots of a tree more than loo feet 
 high descending a fifth or sixth of that distance into the ground ; 
 but here is an instance of a plant one inch high penetrating into 
 the earth forty times more than it ventures into the alpine air ! 
 And there need be no doubt whatever that even smaller plants 
 descend quite as deep, or even deeper, though it is rare to find 
 the texture and position of the rock such as will admit of tracing 
 them. It is true you occasionally find hollows in fields of flat 
 rock, into which moss and leaves have gathered for ages, and 
 where, in a sort of basin, without an outlet of any kind in the ' 
 hard mountain, shrubs and plants grow freely enough ; but in 
 exceptional droughts they are just as liable to suffer from want 
 of water as in our plains. On level spots of ground in the Alps 
 the earth is often of great depth, and if it be not all earth in 
 the common sense of the word, it is more suitable to the plants 
 than what we commonly understand by that term. Stones of 
 all sizes broken up with the soil, and sand, and grit, greatly tend 
 to prevent evaporation ; the roots lap round them and follow them 
 deeply down. While in such positions, they never suffer from 
 want of food and moisture, or vicissitudes at the root. Stone, 
 it need scarcely be remarked, is a great preventer of evapora- 
 tion, and shattered stone forms the dust as well as the subsoil of 
 the mountain flanks where the rarest alpine plants abound. It' 
 should also be taken into account that the degradation so con- 
 tinually effected by melting snow water and heavy rains in summer 
 serves to earth up, so to speak, many alpine plants. I have 
 torn up tufts of them showing this in so marked a manner that 
 the remains of many generations of the old plants were seen 
 buried and half buried in the soil beneath their descendants. 
 This would, of course, be effected to some extent by the decay- 
 ing of the plants themselves, but very frequently grit and peat is 
 washed down plentifully among them, and where it does not 
 come so thickly as to overwhelm them completely, they thrive 
 with unusual luxuriance. 
 
 Now, if we consider how dry even our English air becomes in 
 summer, and that no positions in our gardens afford such moist 
 and cool rooting places as those described, the necessity of 
 
ALPINE FL WERS. Part I. 
 
 giving to alpine plants a treatment quite different to what has 
 hitherto been in vogue will be fully seen. The' only sound prin- 
 ciple generally employed is that of elevating the plants above the 
 level of the ground. Naturally protected in winter by a dry- 
 bed of thick snow, some of them cannot exist on our level wet 
 soils in that season. But this principle of elevation should in all 
 cases be accompanied by the more essential one of giving the 
 plants abundant means, of rooting deeply into good and per- 
 fectly firm soil, sandy, gritty, peaty, or mingled with broken 
 stone, as the case may be. How not to do this is capitally illus- 
 
 Fig. 2. — The great Pyrenean Saxifrage, one, foot in diara. (From a photograph.} 
 
 trated by persons who stuff a little soil into a chink between the 
 stones in a rockery, and insert some minute alpine plant in that. 
 There is usually a vacuum between the stones and the soil 
 beneath them, and the first dry week sees the death of the 
 plant — that of course not being attributed to the right cause. 
 Precisely the same end would have come of it if the experiment 
 had been tried on some alp bejewelled with Gentians and Pri- 
 mulas ! Every one of these two brilliant families should have 
 means of rooting a yard or more into a suitable medium. 
 Thus we should not pay so much attention to the stones or 
 rocks as to the earth from which they protrude, There are cer- 
 tainly alpine plants that do not require a deep soil, or what is 
 usually termed soil at all ; but all require a firm roomy medium 
 for the roots. 
 
Part I. THE ROCK-GARDEN. 5 
 
 I will next speak of the various ways in which alpine plants 
 may be grown successfully, 
 
 In numbers of gardens an attempt at " rockwork " of some sort 
 has been made ; but in nine cases out of ten, the result is simply 
 ridiculous ; not because it is puny when compared with Nature's 
 work in this way, but because it is generally so arranged that 
 rock plants cannot exist upon it. The idea of rockwork arose 
 at first from a desire to imitate those natural croppings out of 
 rocks which in temperate and cold countries are frequently 
 covered with a dwarf but beautiful vegetation. It is strange that 
 the conditions which surround these, and their texture and posi- 
 tion, should rarely be taken into account by those who make 
 rockwork in gardens. Numei'ous places occur' in every county 
 in which a sort of sloping stone or burr wall passes as " rock- 
 work," a dust of soil being shaken in between the stones, and 
 the whole so arranged that, if you do cover it with suitable plants, 
 they perish speedily. In others, made upon a better plan as 
 regards the base, the " rocks " are all stuck up on their ends, 
 and so close that soil, or room fo^'a plant to root in them, is out 
 of the question. The best thing that usually happens to a 
 structure of this sort is that its nakedness gets covered by a 
 Cotoneaster, or some friendly climbing shrub, or some rampant 
 weed, of course to the exclusion of true rock-plants ; but in most 
 cases it is a standing eyesore. 
 
 In moist and elevated districts, where frequent rains and 
 showers keep porous stone in a continually humid state, this 
 straight-sided, stone-wall-like rockwork may manage to support 
 a few plants ; but in by far the larger portion of the British isles 
 it is quite useless, and always ugly and out of taste. And yet it 
 must not be concluded from this that erect faces of properly 
 formed rock may not be covered with a beautiful vegetation, 
 for Fig. 3 shows a portion of a vertical mass of rocks clothed 
 with alpine plants. But the vegetation must be suited to the 
 position. It is not alone because the mountain air is pure and 
 clear and moist that the Gentians and like plants prefer it, but 
 because the elevation is unsuitable to the coarser, growing vege- 
 tation, and our alpines have it all to themselves. Take a healthy 
 patch of Silene acaulis, by which the summits of some of our 
 highest mountains are sheeted, over with rosy crimson of various 
 shades, and plant it two thousand feet lower down in suitable 
 soil, keeping it moist enough and free from weeds, and you 
 
o ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 may grow it to perfection ; but leave it to nature in the same 
 neighbourhood, and soon the strong grasses and herbage will 
 run through and cover it, excluding the light, and finally and 
 quickly killing the hardy and vigorous but diminutive Moss 
 Campion. 
 
 Although hundreds orbrilliant alpine flowers may be grown 
 without a particle of rock near them, yet the slight elevation 
 given by rockwork is very congenial to numbers of the most 
 valuable kinds. The effect of a tastefully disposed rock-garden 
 is very desirable in garden scenery. It furnishes a home for 
 
 Fig. 3. — ^Vertical face of rock covered with narrow-leaved Ivy, and with various 
 ' alpine plants in the chinks. (From a photograph.) 
 
 many pretty native and other interesting plants, which may not 
 safely be put elsewhere ; and therefore it is most important that 
 the most essential principle to be borne in mind, when making it, 
 should be generally known. 
 
 The chief mistake generally made is that of not providing a 
 feeding place for the roots of the plants that are to embellish 
 the rockwork. In a wild state alpines may be seen protruding 
 their stems, crowned by dense tufls of leaves and flowers, from 
 very narrow chinks— as narrow, in fact, as those left in the 
 singular structures which I denounce ; but if we try to take up 
 the wild alpine, it is found that its tap roots descend down by 
 the side of the moist stones and under them, and then perhaps 
 
Part I. THE ROCK-GARDEN. 7 
 
 run on one side under the debris, and on the other into a fissure 
 of soil or through a mass of broken rocks several feet deep. 
 Now this is impossible in the rockworks generally made. On 
 them even the coarsest British weeds cannot find a resting-place, 
 simply because there is no motherly body of soil or. matter into 
 which the descending roots may penetrate, and find nourish- 
 ment sufficient to keep the plant fresh and bright and well in all 
 weathers. It is not only those who make their " rockwork " out 
 of spoilt bricks, cement, and perhaps clinkers, that err in this 
 respect, but the designers of some of the most expensive works 
 in the country. At Chatsworth, for instance, and also to some 
 extent at the Crystal Palace, you see rockwork satisfactory so 
 far as regards its distant effect in the garden landscape ; but, 
 when examined closely, it might well be imagined that rockwork 
 and rock plants were never intended for each other's company, 
 so bare are many of these large works of their proper and best 
 ornaments. It is generally a 
 pavement of small stones, huge 
 masses of rock, or imitation 
 rock formed by laying cement 
 over brickwork, and in none of 
 these cases is it adapted for the 
 cultivation of high mountain rig. 4.— pidaU^exposed rock resting 
 
 plants. °^ '^^ largest side. 
 
 It is quite possible to combine the most picturesque effects 
 of which rockwork is capable with all the requirements for 
 plant-growing ; but, in the case of extensive rockwork-making, 
 the owner must either call to his aid a landscape gardener of 
 some skill in this way, or possess .much taste and knowledge of 
 the work himself. It is easy to use the largest stones and make 
 the boldest prominences, and leave at the same time rather level 
 intervening spaces and fissures, in which rock plants may 
 luxuriate ; but I would not recommend ambitious attempts of 
 this kind — at least at first. It requires great taste to do it well, 
 and the higher and bolder the attempt the more conspicuous 
 will be a failure. 
 
 We will now enter into particulars as to the various 
 ways in which alpine plants may be grown, beginning 
 with the best type of rock-garden — that in which, in ad- 
 dition to low-lying, stony, and rocky banks and slopes, 
 where numbers of hardy and vigorous species may be grown. 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 there are miniature peaks, cliffs, and ravines with perhaps bog 
 and water. 
 
 Of the general arrangements of the rock-garden I can offer no 
 better guidance than is conveyed by the various illustrations in 
 this book ; wishing, however, thereby merely to point in the 
 right direction, as it is desirable that in these matters we should 
 have endless variety. 
 
 The most usual and deplorable of the faults in making rock- 
 work is that of so 
 arranging the stones 
 that they seem to 
 have as little connec- 
 tion with the soil of 
 the spot as if thrown 
 out of a cart, indeed 
 less so. Instead of al- 
 lowing what may be 
 temied the founda- 
 tions, or apparent 
 foundations, of the 
 rock-garden to bare' 
 ly show their upper 
 ridges above the 
 earth, as in Fig. 4, 
 and thereby sug- 
 gesting much more 
 endurable ideas of 
 " rock " than those 
 arising from the con- 
 templation of the 
 bold and unnatural 
 looking masses usu- 
 ally seen, the stones 
 are often placed on 
 the ground with 
 bricklayer in setting 
 explain exactly what 
 
 Fig. 6. — Wrong. 
 
 much the same idea that animates a 
 
 bricks. The two preceding cuts will 
 
 I mean ; both are accurately engraved from photographs, 
 
 both represent small portions of artificial rockwork ; the ugliest 
 
 of the two was much the most difficult and expensive to make. 
 
 A few loads of well-selected stones, allowed to peep from some 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 gentle isolated mound or open sunny spot, and arranged as 
 shown in Figs. 4, j, 27, and 28, would produce a better efifect 
 than several hundred tons placed as in Fig. 6. 
 
 In dealing with the construction of the bolder masses of rock- 
 work, we cannot have a better guide than Mr. James Backhouse, 
 to whom I am indebted for the following article, which first ap- 
 peared in the ' Field.' If we merely want a certain surface of 
 rock disposed in a picturesque way, such details as these may not 
 
 Fig. 7. — Aj Silene alpestris. B, Lychnis viscaria. c, Silene acaulis, 
 
 be worthy of attention, but if we wish our rock-gardens to be 
 faithful miniatures of those wild ones which are admitted to be 
 the most exquisite of nature's gardens, then they are of much 
 importance. t 
 
 " Comparatively few alpines prefer or succeed well in hori- 
 zontal fissures. Those, however, which, like Lychnis viscaria 
 and Silene acaulis, form long tap roots, thrive well in such fis- 
 sures, provided the earth in the fissure is continuous, and leads 
 backward to a sufficient body of soil. Where the horizontal 
 fissures are very narrow (as at A, Fig. 7), owing to the main 
 rocks ;being in contact in places, and leaving only irregular and 
 interrupted fissures, such plants as the charming Lychnis 
 
lo 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Lagasca, Lychnis pyrenaica, and others, bearing and preferring 
 hot sunny exposures, do well. But many plants that would bear 
 the heat and drought, if they could get their roots far enough 
 back, would quickly die if placed in such fissures from the 
 paucity of soil and moisture near the front ; therefore it is 
 usually better, in building rockwork with these fissures, to keep 
 the main rocks slightly apart by means of pieces of very hard 
 stone (basalt, close-grained ' flag,' &c.), so as to leave room for 
 
 Fig. S. — Horizontal fissure, witli firm descending bed of earth, grit, &c. 
 
 a good intermediate layer of rich loam, stones, or grit, mingled 
 with a little peat. The front view of such a structure would be 
 thus — the dark spaces in Fig. 8 being firmly filled with the 
 appropriate mixture of soil before the upper course of large rocks 
 is placed. 
 
 Wrong, 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 , Riglit. 
 
 " As a rule, obUque and vertical fissures are both preferable to 
 horizontal ones ; but care should be taken with oblique fissures 
 that the upper rock does not overhang. A plant placed at G, 
 Fig, 9, will often die, when the same placed at H will live, 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 because the rain falling on the sloping face of rock at I will 
 drop off at J, and miss the fissure G altogether, while that 
 falling on, the sloping face of rock at K will all run into the 
 fissure H. 
 
 " There are, however, some plants, like the rare Nofhochlcena 
 MarantcB and Androsace lanuginosa, which so much prefer 
 positions dry in winter that a fissure like G would suit them 
 better than one like H. Such are rare exceptions to a general 
 rule. 
 
 " The best and worst general forms of steep rockwork we have 
 tried are those indicated in Fig. lo. By making each rock 
 
 5«5Sf 
 
 Right, 
 
 Fig. 10. 
 
 Wrong. 
 
 slightly recede from the one below it, the rain runs consecutively 
 into every fissure. Where the main fissures reverse this order, 
 almost everything dies or languishes. Care should be taken to 
 have the top made of mixed earth and stones — not of rock, 
 unless use is intentionally sacrificed to scenic effect. 
 
 " Vertical fissiires (which suit many rare alpines best of all) 
 should always, as far as possible, be made narrower at the bot- 
 tom than at the top. If otherwise, the intervening earth, &c., 
 leaves the sides of the rock as it ' settles,' instead of becoming 
 tighter. 
 
 "In M, Fig. II, as the total mass of soil sinks, it becomes 
 compressed against the sides of the rock ; while in N the soil 
 leaves the sides of the fissures more and more as the mass 
 sinks, and almost invariably forms distinct 'cracks' (separa- 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 tions between the soil and rock) sooner or later. The same 
 principle applies to small stones and fissures. 
 
 " To prevent undue evaporation in the case of such .fissures as 
 M, stones, larger or smaller, may be laid on the top of the soil 
 (as in M, Fig. 1 1), care being taken not to cover too much of it, to 
 the exclusion of rain. 
 
 Right 
 
 Wrong 
 
 " Where a large fissure exists (as in Fig. 12), the smaller pieces 
 of stone in it are on this account best placed with the narrowest 
 edge or point upwards — not downwards. It will easily be seen 
 that the tendency of tlje mixed soil, both as a whole and in each 
 of its subdivided parts, is to become more and more compressed 
 by its own weight and by the action of rain. 
 
 " As to the general disposition of masses of rockwork. Fig. 13 
 is perhaps the best form. Assuming the same bulk of material 
 to be in Fig. 14, the latter is far inferior in efficiency, though 
 it may be more pictorial. I believe the best local positions for 
 very high alpines are narrow fissures catching the sun for several 
 hours each day, but having a gentle slope to the northward : 
 and if the rockwork can be so arranged that a ' high ' range of 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 13 
 
 ' crag' at its eastern end may cut off the sun till near noon from the 
 great fissures above alluded to, so much the better. Screen from 
 heat is worth double as 
 much in the morning as 
 it is in the afternoon. 
 An eastern exposiire is 
 dried up at a very early 
 hour of hot summer 
 days ; virhile the dew 
 often lingers on plants 
 having a western expo- 
 sure (or a northern one, 
 screened to the eastward) 
 till near noon, and the 
 great heat is cut off for 
 four or five hours, the 
 ' day ' (as a time of en- 
 durance) being curtailed 
 practically by so much. 
 The fact of an eastern 
 exposure being screened 
 in an afternoon from the | 
 hot rays is of compa- 
 ratively little advantage. 
 The air is roasted all the 
 day, and there is no more reviving dew till late in the evening. 
 So that from ' dew to dew ' a west aspect may have its day 
 of 16 hours practically reduced to lo or 11 hours, while an east 
 
 Fig. 12. — A properly formed large fissure. 
 
 Fig. 13. — Section. 
 
 aspect has the whole day to contend with. Fig. 13 supposes 
 a section cut from north to south through the middle of the 
 
14 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 mass ; but the north front of the same would show as ^ Fig. IS- 
 By this arrangement it will, be seen that alpmes placed m the 
 
 Fig. 14. — Section. 
 
 fissures AAA A will be screened for hours from the morning sun 
 by the rocks R R R. 
 
 Sai 
 
 
 \: 
 
 yffest. 
 
 Fig. 15. — Section. ' 
 
 " On Fig. 16, I give the worst superficial arrangement of rock 
 which may be associated with a correct general outline, showing 
 that what is right in the main may be wrong in bad detail. In 
 this case there is next to no rock for roots to feel, and the chasms 
 between the rocks are proportionately far too deep for most 
 alpines." 
 
 To the preceding excellent observations, I should like to add 
 
Part I. THE ROCK-GARDEN. 15 
 
 that I believe the arrangement of the rock as regards aspect 
 is not of great moment if the plants have a moist and solid 
 root-medium and if abundance of water be supplied in hot 
 weather. All sides may be suitably embeUished, with alpine 
 plants, but in this country it is desirable to have a greater extent 
 of the rock-garden with warm and sheltered aspects. And the 
 wetter and colder any given district is, the greater is the neces- 
 sity for having a sufficient surface fully exposed to the sun. 
 
 In the construction and planting of every type of rockwork it 
 should be distinctly remembered that every surface may and 
 should be embellished with beautiful plants. Not alone on rocks 
 or slopes, or favourable ledges, or chinks, or miniature valleys, 
 should we see this exquisite plant-life ; numbers of rare moun- 
 
 Fig, 16. — Section, 
 
 tain species will thrive on the less trodden parts of the footways, 
 others, like the two-flowered Violet, seem to thrive best of all 
 in the fissures between the rude steps of the rockwork, other 
 dwarf succulents delight in gravel and the hardest soil, others will 
 run wild in any wood or among low shrubs near the rock-garden. 
 
 Fig. 17 is from a photograph of the lower part of rude steps 
 ascending abruptly from a deep and moist recess in a rock- 
 garden. It shows very imperfectly — no engraving could show 
 it otherwise — the crowds of lovely plants that gather over it, 
 except where worn bare by feet, thriving year by year as freely as 
 they do on the most favoured spots in the Alps, yet without any 
 attention whatever except preventing some coarse lowland weed 
 from forcing its baneful society upon them. 
 
 It can scarcely be necessary to add that we cannot too care- 
 fully avoid any cemented work which would in the least degree 
 interfere with this happy tendency. In cases where the simplest 
 type of rockwork only is attempted, and where there are no 
 
i6 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 steps or rude walks in the rock-garden, the very fringes of the 
 gravel walks may be graceftiUy enhvened by allowing such plants 
 as the dwarfer Sedums to become established in them. I have 
 never seen the alpine Linaria more beautiful than when self- 
 sown in a gravel walk. 
 
 Another very important principle to bear in mind in both 
 making and planting is that, as a rule, . much more vegetation 
 than rocks should be seen. Where vast regions are inhabited 
 by alpine plants, acres of crag with a stain of flower or fern 
 here and there, are very attractive and imposing parts of the 
 
 Fig. 17. — Rude stair from deep recess of rock-gardeiij with every chink and crevice 
 mossed over with alpine flowers. 
 
 picture, but in gardens where our creations in this way can only 
 be Lilliputian, an entirely different method must be pursued, 
 except in places where great cliffs are naturally exposed, and 
 even in this case an abundant drapery of vegetation is desirable. 
 A rockwork is rarely seen in which plants predominate as much as 
 they ought. Very frequently masses of stone are met with under 
 this name with an occasional tuft of vegetation, every chink and 
 joint between the stones being thus exposed. This should not be 
 so ; every minute chink should have its little line of verdure, 
 and in this way we should not only have more plants but hide 
 the artificial nature of the structure. Where the ground is low 
 and bank-like, .there really is not the sHghtest' necessity for 
 placing stones all over the surface ; an occasional one cropping 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 17 
 
 up here and there from the mass of vegetation will produce the 
 best effect. 
 
 Alpine flowers are often seen in multitudes and in their love- 
 Uest aspect in some little elevated level spot, frequently without 
 a rock being visible through it, and, if so, merely peeping up 
 here and there. They are lovely too in the desolate wastes of 
 broken rock, where they cower down between the stones in 
 isolated, lonely-looking tufts ; but it is only when Gentians and 
 silvery Cudweeds, and minute white Buttercups, and strange large 
 Violets, and Harebells that waste all their strength in flowers, and 
 fairy Daffodils that droop their heads as gracefully as Snowdrops, 
 are seen, forming a dense turf of living enamelled work, that alpine 
 flowers are seen in their fairest aspects. Fortunately the flowery 
 
 Fig. iS.— A little upland valley in a rock-gairden. (From a fhoiogra^h.) 
 
 turf and stony mound are much more possible to us than the bare 
 moraine blocks or arid cliff. The accompanying illustration is a 
 view of a httle elevated stony valley in an artificial rock-garden 
 Its surface is composed of comparatively large stones, buf 
 between them there are chinks leading to deep masses of earth, 
 broken stones, and grit, and from thence issue vigorously tufts 
 of the Moss Campion and other, plants which lap over the 
 hard edges of the stones, and become at all seasons cushions 
 of glistening verdure — in spring and summer of innumerable 
 starry flowers. Stone and plants are seen in about equal pro- 
 portions, and the- effect is one 6i the most pleasing I have ever 
 seen in garden or in wild. 
 
 In cultivating the very rarest and most minute alpine plants, 
 the stony, or partially stony, surface is to be preferred. In their 
 
 C 
 
l8 • ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 case we cannot allow the struggle fof life to have its own re- 
 lentless way, or we should often have to grieve at finding the 
 Eritrichium from the high Alps of Europe overrun and exter- 
 minated by a dwarf American Phlox, and similar cases. Perfect 
 exposure is also necessary to complete success with very minute 
 plants, and the stones are very useful in preventing excessive 
 evaporation from their roots. Few people have any conception 
 of the great number of alpine plants that miay be grown on the 
 fully exposed level ground as readily as the common Camo- 
 mile ; but there are, on the other hand, not a few that require 
 some care to establish them, and there are usually new kinds 
 to be added to the collection, which, even if vigorous ones, should 
 be kept apart and under favourable conditions. Therefore, 
 in -every place where the culture of alpine plants is entered into 
 with zest, there ought to be a select spot on which to grow the 
 most deUcate, most rare, and most diminutive kinds. It should 
 be fully exposed, and while sufficiently elevated to secure perfect 
 drainage and all the effect desirable, should not be riven into 
 miniature peaks or crags or cliffs. 
 
 Fig 19 shows a portion of the select rock-garden recently 
 made by Mr. James Backhouse, at York, and which answers its 
 purpose admirably, the plants thriving much better upon it than 
 upon more vertical and ambitious contrivances. The greatest 
 watchfulness should be exercised over the plants on all such 
 structures as this. They will not perish from cold or heat or 
 wet if properly planted, but many of them are so minute that 
 they are not capable of affording a full meal, to a browsing slug, 
 and accordingly often totally disappear of a moist night. Now 
 as our gardens abound with sUmy creatures that play havoc with 
 many subjects colossal compared to our alpine friends, it is clear 
 that one of the main points is to guard against slugs, and as far 
 as possible against worms. Mr. Backhouse has very cleverly 
 fenced off the choicest parts of his rockwork from them by a 
 very irregular little canal, as shown in the opposite illustration. 
 It may be so arranged and cemented that, while not an eyesore, 
 and perfectly water-tight, no slug will cross it. It thus becomes 
 a much easier task to guard the plants from injury than when 
 they crawl in from all points of the compass. But even with 
 this precaution, it is necessary to search continually for snails 
 and slugs, and in wet weather the choicest parts should be 
 searched over at night, in the evening, or early in the morning ; 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 19 
 
 with a lantern, if at night. Sir Charles Lamport, who is 
 enthusiastic cultivator of rock-plants, informs me that he 
 
 an 
 not 
 
 only protects the toads, but does not " forget on laying the stones 
 to form little retreats for them underneath. They prefer a stone 
 
 C 2 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 just sufficiently raised to crawl under, and must do a deal oi 
 good by destroying slugs, &c. I also protect frogs and all car- 
 nivorous insects." Toads, however,, treated in this way, might 
 become too old and bloated to be agreeable objects reposing on 
 tufts of small Gentians, and the like. Ceaseless handpicking is 
 the remedy for slugs, and where not done, there is little hope of 
 succeeding with many subjects, at least in regions where slugs 
 are as abundant as we usually iind them in gardens. 
 
 Fig. 20. — Waterfall fringtd with Yuccas, Dwarf Pines, dimbing and trailing plants. 
 
 As water is often introduced in connection with rockwork, and 
 high cascades riiay be frequently attempted, and as the supply 
 often flows from a woody knoll, it is well to take advantage of this 
 position for the arrangement of Yuccas, large grasses, herbaceous 
 plants of noble port, and the like, that cannot well be arranged 
 among the dwarf inhabitants of the rock-garden proper. Among 
 the many plants suited for this position, the new Clematises 
 raised by Jackman and others are the most magnificent. Planted 
 high up on the rocks in a deep bed or vein of rich light soil, 
 they will fall over the faces of the sunny rocks, robing them as 
 with imperial purple. The plants suited for banks and high 
 rockwork will be enumerated farther on. 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 "Where water occurs near the rock-garden, one or more little 
 bridges are not unfrequently seen, and 1 venture to think that 
 some such arrangement as that suggested in the accompanying 
 cut would be far more satisfactory and tasteful. I, however, 
 
 Fig. 21. — Stepping-stone bridge, with Water Lilies and other aquatic plants. 
 
 introduce it here chiefly for the purpose of showing how well it 
 enables one to enjoy various beautiful aquatic plants, from the 
 fringed and crimson-tipped Bog-bean and graceful Carex pen- 
 dula at the sides to the golden Villarsia and Water Lilies sailing 
 among the stones. Arranged 
 thus, a number of interesting 
 plants not usually met with 
 seem to crowd around for ac- 
 quaintanceship. This mode of 
 garden bridge-making, while 
 infinitely more beautiful than 
 the ordinary one, is less ex- 
 pensive. Care is, however, 
 required to so arrange it that 
 it may satisfy taste, and offer 
 free passage to the water, and an easy means of crossing at all 
 times. 
 
 Rockworks made on the margin of artificial water are very 
 often objectionable — rigid, abrupt, unworn, and absurdly unna- 
 tural. In no position is an awkwardness more likely to be de- 
 tected ; in none should more care be taken not to offend good 
 taste. Charming effects may be produced on properly made rock- 
 work near water, by planting it with a combination of choice 
 
 Fig. 22. — Plan of preceding fig. 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 moisture-loving rock-plants, Yuccas, Pampas Grass, aijd like 
 subjects ; but even the grace and beauty of the finest of these 
 will not relieve the hideousness of the masses of brick-rubbish 
 and stone that are frequently placed by the margin of water. 
 
 Fig. 23, showing the fringe of a little islapd in one of the 
 lakes of Northern Italy, may serve to show how irregularly and 
 prettily the little waves carve the rocky shore. Frequently in 
 such places diminutive islands from a few feet to a few yards 
 across are seen, and, when tufted with Globeflowers, Ivy, Bram- 
 bles, &c. are very charming. A few artificial islets may be in- 
 troduced with good effect near a rocky margin. 
 
 It is the fashion to make the hardy fernery in some obscure 
 and sunless spot, in which it would be impossible to grow alpine 
 
 Fig. 23.— A glimpse at margin of island in Lago Miggiore. 
 
 plants, but there is no reason whatever why it should not be 
 made in more open positions, and in connection with the rock- 
 garden, as I endeavour to suggest more effectively by means of 
 the opposite illustration. No plants adhere more firmly to 
 hard vertical surfaces, or better sustain themselves in perfect 
 health without any soil, than ferns. In a wild state you find the 
 Maidenhair fern and many other species so rooted into mere little 
 fissures in the hardest rocks that no effort can get out a particle 
 of root. Some of our own small British wild ferns are found on 
 the face of dry brick walls when they are not to be found else- 
 where, growing spontaneously, in the same neighbourhood. 
 
 The general idea of fern wants is shade, humidity, and 
 sandy vegetable earth; but, though these suit a great, 
 number of ferns, others luxuriate under conditions the very 
 opposite. M. C. Naudin, of the Institute, now settled down 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN FERNERY. 
 
 23 
 
 to carry out his experiments on the shores of the Mediter- 
 ranean, informs me that the pretty little sweet-scented fern 
 Cheilanthes odora is never found, even in that warm and 
 sunny region, except on the south side of bare rocks and 
 walls where it is exposed to the full rays of the sun. It is 
 sought for in vain on northern exposures, is rarely found to 
 the east and west, and, when found, is badly developed. Walls 
 facing due south are covered with this little gem among ferns, 
 and not a vestige of the species occurs on the opposite side. In 
 
 Fig. 24. — Entrance to hardy fernery from rock-garden. 
 
 'the middle of winter it is in full vigour, by the end of spring the 
 fronds begin to dry, and through the torrid summer, when the 
 stones of the walls are burning hot, its roots, fixed between the 
 hot stones, are the only parts with life. In humid valleys and 
 recesses it is not found. Other ferns manifest analogous ten- 
 dencies. This merely by way of proof that some of the choicest 
 ferns may not only be grown well in the most sunny and arid 
 positions, but better on them than elsewhere. 
 
 I am informed by Mr. Atkins, of Painswick, who was the 
 first to bring the charming little Nothoclana maranta alive into 
 
24 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 the country, that he has had it in perfect health on a sunny rock 
 for the last fourteen years, and without the least protection. It 
 is reasonable to assume that many ferns which in a wild state 
 frequent half-shady spots would, in our colder cUme, flourish 
 best if permitted to enjoy all the sun of our cloudy skies, while 
 ferns that inhabit sunny rocks in countries not much warmer 
 than our own should always have the warmest positions we can 
 give them on the rockwork. And in the case of the species 
 that require shade, it is quite possible to grow them in recesses 
 in the rock-garden and in deep passages or miniature ravines 
 leading through it, even if a portion be not specially designed 
 as a fernery. Some small species and varieties may be used 
 in any aspect as a graceful setting to flowering plants. The 
 general subject of hardy fern culture is so well understood that 
 there is no necessity of adverting to it here. Among the select 
 lists, one of the ferns that thrive best in open exposed places 
 may meet the wants of some, but where the fernery is specially 
 designed as a part of the rock-garden, there is no necessity for 
 any selection, as all kinds, from the Killarney fern to the Os- 
 mundas, may then be grown. 
 
 Popular and almost universally cultivated as hardy ferns are, 
 however, it is not at all common to see some of the most noble 
 and interesting of them — the Royal Fern and several other 
 Osmundas — otherwise than, in a shabby, or at best in a half- 
 developed, condition. Mr. A. Parsons, of Danesbury, a well- 
 known florist and cultivator of ferns, has overcome this difficulty, 
 and narrates his marked success in the pages of the ' Florist and 
 Pomologist.' He formed a very large fernery in an old chalk 
 pit, and with much success ; but, notwithstanding all the care 
 taken of the Osmundas and alHed ferns, they were tried for four 
 seasons with no satisfactory result, the roots of the surrounding 
 trees robbing them of both soil and water. " A change was 
 then made : a piece of ground, of irregular shape, large enough 
 to contain about twenty plants, was staked out, and the mould', or, 
 more correctly speaking, the chalk, was removed to the depth of 
 three feet ; a bricklayer followed, and put in a floor of three 
 bricks laid on the flat, set in good Portland cement, and over 
 that a layer of plain tiles, the sides being made up to the ground 
 level with a four-and-a-half-inch wall, well built up in the same 
 kind of cement ; this made the whole water-tight, and prevented 
 the roots of the surrounding trees from penetrating and robbing 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN FERNERY. 
 
 25 
 
 the ferns of their moisture. The space was filled up with earth, 
 compounded of good loam, peat, and leaf-mould, in equal pro- 
 portions, with about one-fifth of good rotten manure added 
 thereto ; these ingredients were thoroughly mixed and well 
 trodden in, and then the ferns were planted. In forming this 
 bed, provision was made for the escape of the surplus water, by 
 introducing into the front wall, at about four inches from the 
 bottom, a common three-inch drain-pipe, which communicated 
 
 Fig. 25. — Entrance to cave fur Killarney fern in rock-garden. 
 
 with a small tank, about three feet square, sunk into the chalk, 
 so that all waste water became absorbed. This method proved 
 to be eminently successful, the plants far surpassing in size any 
 I have ever seen under artificial cultivation, and, judging from 
 report, rivalling their growth in their natural habitats. Last 
 season I could boast of Osjttunda regalis with fronds at least 
 eight feet in length, Osmunda spectabilis four feet and a half, 
 Osmunda Claytoniana five feet, Osmunda cinnamomea three 
 feet, and the beautiful Osmunda regalis, var. cristata, three feet 
 
26 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part \, 
 
 in length. Adiantum pedatum grew from two to three feet in 
 height, and others were proportionally fine. The plants were 
 not drawn up by being planted closely together, but were placed 
 at a fair distance apart, and became handsome and noble spe- 
 cimens. Every spring I apply a dressing of about two inches ot 
 rotten manure to the surface, and just cover it with mould for the 
 sake of appearance. This artificial swamp is the admiration of 
 all the visitors here. The plants are always in a healthy and 
 vigorous state, and have none of that half-starved appearance so 
 frequently to be seen. The result of my experience induces me 
 to believe that a more liberal treatment would not be found 
 objectionable in the cultivation of many more of our native ferns. 
 I intend making the experiment this season, and may possibly 
 find time to make known what amount of success I may meet 
 with. In concluding my remarks upon what I may term ' grow- 
 ing Osmundas under difficulties,' I would observe that the points 
 to be principally attended to are— (i) a deep water-tight and 
 root-tight tank, the depth of which may, with advantage, be 
 more than in the case I have described ; (2) a rich nutritious 
 soil ; (3) an abundant supply of water j and (4) a drain to carry 
 off the surplus." 
 
 Even the rare Killarney fern, usually kept in houses, may be 
 grown successfully in a cave in the rock-garden. Fig. 25 shows 
 the entrance to Mr. Backhouse's cave for growing this plant. 
 It is in a deep recess, perfectly sheltered and surrounded 
 by high rocks and banks clothed with vegetation. Here in 
 the darkness grows the Killarney fern, tufts of Hartstongue 
 guarding the entrance. It is very likely that various kinds of 
 New Zealand Trichomanes and filmy ferns will prove as .hardy 
 as the Killarney fern, and, if so, this is likely to be one ot 
 the most attractive and interesting of all phases of out-door 
 gardening. 
 
 In connection with alpine gardens, the masses of rockwork 
 occasionally made of brick-rubbish, concrete, and cement, 
 demand some notice. The next illustration shows one of 
 these. More successful ones as regards arrangement may be 
 seen in various places near London, the best, perhaps, at Oak 
 Lodge, Addison Road, Kensington, where it was designed by 
 Mr. -Marnock, and carried out by Mr. Pulham, of Broxbourne. 
 
 There can be no doubt that as picturesque effects may be 
 produced in this way as in any other, and that this variety of 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 27 
 
 artificial rockwork may be admirably associated with shrubs and 
 trees, and vigorous climbing and trailing plants, but it is utterly 
 unsuitable for true alpine vegetation. When properly con- 
 structed, care is taken to make the interior of the cemented 
 masses with deep beds of earth, leaving holes here and there in 
 the face of the structure from which plants can peep forth, while 
 the top is left open, and may be planted with shrubs or trees. 
 The new hybrid Clematises, with their noble flowers, will, if 
 planted in these rich cases of earth and allowed to fall over the 
 faces of the rocks, make an unrivalled display, and the position 
 is also most suitable for all kinds of climbers, trailers, and 
 
 Fig. 26. — Masses of artificial rock made of bricks and cement. 
 
 shrubs ; but the stony mound, free in every pore, or the rock- 
 work constructed of separate pieces of stone, is infinitely the 
 best for the small flora of the rocks. I have never seen on the 
 large masses of cemented rock half the amount of beauty 
 afforded in a few weeks after planting by the little bed shown in 
 Fig. 27. The plants that thrive luxuriantly on walls and old 
 ruins, and" send their roots far into the crevices of such, cannot 
 obtain the slightest footing on these large masses coated with 
 cement ; and little plants stuck in the " pockets " which the con- 
 structors leave here and there on the face of the edifice rarely 
 look otherwise than ridiculous. They should never be placed in 
 such positions, and the rockwork made of natural stone should 
 be preferred at almost any sacrifice. Where, however, natural 
 stone cannot be obtained, the cemented work may be used with 
 
28 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part L 
 
 an excellent result to form the " peaks " and " cliffs " of the rock- 
 garden, in the construction of cascades, &c., and in positions 
 where only the distant and picturesque effect of rocks in garden 
 scenery is sought. In places where it already exists, much 
 improvement may be effected by the creation of patches of true 
 alpine garden in open spots near the cementedrocks, covering 
 the last as much as possible with low shrubs and hardy shrubby 
 climbers. 
 
 Hitherto we have chiefly considered the rock-garden on a 
 somewhat extensive scale. As those who can afford this are 
 less likely to want' instruction than the much greater numbers 
 who cannot, I propose now to treat of several successful modes 
 of growing alpine flowers which may be carried out in the 
 smallest gardens at a trifling expense. A well-arranged and well- 
 planted alpine garden is somewhat costly, even where materials 
 are easily obtained, and, moreover, requires much labour, skill, 
 patience, and knowledge of plants to keep it in a perennially 
 interesting condition. Local conditions, want of suitable stones, 
 want of knowledge, and consequent want of interest in the 
 plants, must, in many cases, prevent the most interesting of all 
 phases of gardening from being enjoyed. I am therefore the 
 more desirous to help the smaller and humbler attempts of 
 those who cannot afford more than a very small patch of alpine 
 garden, as well as to assist beginners of every class. 
 
 One of the simplest of all ways of cultivating alpine plants is 
 in small rocky beds, arranged on the turf of some parts of the 
 garden, cut off by trees or shrubs from the ordinary flower beds, 
 without any of the pretensions of the ordinary rockwork ; one of 
 these will give much greater satisfaction than many an ugly and 
 extensive mass, and by the exercise of a very little judgment is 
 readily constructed so as to not offend the nicest taste. I once 
 induced the owner of a garden in the northern suburbs of Lon- 
 don to procure a small collection of alpines and try them in this " 
 way, and the resuh was so charming that a few words as to how 
 it was attained may be useful. 
 
 A little bed was dug out in the clay soil to the depth of two 
 feet, and a drain run from it to an outlet near at hand ; the bed 
 was filled with fine sandy peat and a little loam and leaf-mould, 
 and, when nearly full, worn stones of different sizes were 
 placed around the margin, so as to raise the bed on an average 
 one foot or so above the turf. More soil was then put in, atid a 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 29 
 
 few rough slabs, arranged so as to crop out from the soil in the 
 centre, completed the , preparation for the neater Sedums and 
 Sempervivums, such Saxifrages as casta and Rocheliana, such 
 Dianthuses as alpinus and petrceus, Mountain Forget-me-nots, 
 Gentians, little spring bulbs, Hepatica angulosa, &c. They 
 were planted, the finer and rarer things getting the best positions, 
 and, when finished, the bed looked a nest of small rocks and 
 alpine flowers. 
 
 In about eight weeks things had " taken so well," and the bed 
 looked so beautiful, from a dozen plants of Calandrinia umbellata 
 that had been planted on the little prominences flowering 
 so gaily and profusely as to make the arrangement equal to 
 
 Fig. 27. — Small rocky bed of alpine flowers, about 6 ft. across. 
 
 " It in not BrowinK Hko a treo 
 In bulk tliut mokes thinga better be." 
 
 one of bedding plants from the " effective " point of view, that 
 another was made in the same manner, with more loam, how- 
 ever, to suit the different tastes of the alpines, and planted with 
 as different subjects from those in the other bed as could be got ; 
 confining them, however, to the choicest alpines, except on the 
 outer side of the largest stones of the margin, where such plants 
 as Campanula carpatica bicolor were planted with the best 
 results. 
 
 The only attention these beds have required since planting has 
 been to keep a free-growing species' from over-running a subject 
 like Gentiana verna, to water the beds well in hot weather 
 — to keep them in fact thoroughly moist — and to remove even 
 the smallest weeds. With the exception of the exquisite 
 Gentiana bavarica, every alpine plant grew well, and the beds 
 presented fresh floral interest every week from the dawn ot 
 spring till late in autumn. 
 
 I have described the way by which this happy result has been 
 brought about. An extended scheme of this sort would be ad- 
 
30 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 mirable in some public garden, especially in those having large 
 collections of alpine and herbaceous plants, from which many 
 good things could be at once selected. Something of the sort 
 might be made in any garden — ay, even in a London square, 
 or in any other position fully exposed to the sun, and never 
 under the shade and drip of trees. 
 
 Rockwork is, as a rule, made for the display of mountain 
 plants, or those which by their dwarfness fall into the class com- 
 monly known as alpines. Some cover rockwork with cUmbing 
 shrubs and dwarf bushes, but in every case, unless where a rock 
 is introduced for its own effect in the landscape, the object is to 
 grow plants. Now, as very few of the subjects above alluded 
 to like shade, or even tolerate it, it follows that this is an ignorant 
 and bad practice. Many persons who arrange such things 
 doubtless fear the sun burning up their plants ; yet the sun that 
 beats down on the Alps and Pyrenees is fiercer than that which 
 shines on the British garden. But, while the alpine sun cheers 
 the flowers into beauty, it also melts the snows above, and water 
 and frost grind down the rocks into earth ; and thus, enjoying 
 both, the roots form perfectly healthy plants. Fully exposed 
 plants do not perish from too much sun, but simply from 
 want of water. Therefore it cannot be too widely known 
 that full exposure to the sun is the first condition of per- 
 fect rock-plant culture — abundance of free soil under the root, 
 and such a disposition of the soil and rocks that the rain 
 may permeate through and not fall off the rocks, being also 
 indispensable. 
 
 The preceding plan can be carried out in the very smallest 
 places'. The next is quite as easily formed on the fringe of 
 any shrubbery. An open, slightly elevated, and, if possible, 
 quiet, isolated, spot should be chosen, and a small rock- 
 garden so arranged as to appear as if naturally cropping out 
 of the shrubbery. With a few cart-loads of stones and earth 
 excellent effects may be produced in this way. The following 
 illustration well explains my meaning : an irregularly sloping 
 border with a few mossy bits of rock peeping from a swarming 
 carpet of Sandworts, Mountain-pinks, Rock-cresses, Sedums and 
 Saxifrages, Arabises and Aubrietias, with a little company of 
 fern-fronds sheltered in the low fringe of shrub behind the 
 mossy stones. 
 
 Having determined on the position of the bed, the next thing 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 31 
 
 to do is to excavate the ground to a depth of two feet, or there- 
 abouts, and to run a drain from it if very wet. If not, it is better 
 let alone, as a good deal of the success depends upon the beds 
 being continually moist ; and in dry soils, instead of draining, it 
 would be better to put in a substratum of spongy peat, so as to 
 retain moisture for the stony matter that the cavity is to be 
 filled with. As to soil, rock plants are found in all sorts ; but a 
 
 Fig. 28. — Rock-garden on margin of shrubbery. 
 
 good turfy loam, with plenty of silver or river sand added, will 
 be found to suit a greater number of kinds than any other. The 
 compost should be of a somewhat spongy character, and if not 
 naturally so, it should be so made by the addition of well de- 
 composed leaf mould, cocoa-nut fibre, or, failing these, peat. If 
 the trees of the shrubbery are of a nature likely to send hungry 
 roots into the mass of good compost prepared for the rock- 
 plants, it will be desirable to dig a narrow drain to below the 
 
32 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 level of their roots, and fill it with concrete to the surface ; this 
 will prevent the alpine plants from being starved by their more 
 vigorous neighbours. The kind of stone is not an important 
 point, and many people have to take their chance in this 
 respect and use that which can be got. Millstone grit and most 
 kinds of sandstone are good, where a selection can be made, 
 but almost any kind will do. Vitrified material should be 
 avoided. 
 
 With the soil should be incorporated the smallest and least 
 useful stones and ddbris among those collected for the work, so 
 that the plants to be seated on the top may send down their 
 roots through the mixture of earth and stone, and revel in it. 
 When this is well and firmly done, the larger stones may be 
 placed — ^half in the earth as a rule, and on their broadest side, 
 so that the mass, when completed, may be perfectly firm. Have 
 nothing to do with tree roots or stumps in work of this kind ; 
 •they crumble away, and are at best a nuisance and a disfigure- 
 ment to a gardeij. The intervening spaces may then be filled 
 up, half with the compost and half with the stony matter, and 
 the smaller blocks placed in position — the whole being made as 
 tastefully diversified as may seem desirable, taking the size of the 
 structure into consideration. When finished, it should look like a 
 bit of rocky ground, stones of different shapes protruding — here 
 a straight-sided one, under the lee of which a shade-loving plant 
 may flourish ; there two in juxtaposition, between which a cliff 
 alpine may find a place. Two or three feet high will as a rule 
 be high enough for the highest points of rocky fringes of this 
 sort, though the plan admits of considerable variation, and it 
 may be tastefully made twice or thrice as high. Iri some of our 
 public and private gardens want of means is given as ah excuse 
 for the presenceof the hideous pock-marked-potato-pit-like masses 
 of rockwork that disfigure them. The plan now recommended 
 is as much less expensive than these as it is less offensive ! 
 
 We will next discuss a most interesting way of growing alpines. 
 Most of us have had opportunities of seeing how the most unin- 
 viting surfaces often yield a resting-place and nutriment to 
 various forms of plant-life. The closest pavements, the stone 
 roofs of old buildings, the stems and branches of trees, the faces 
 of inaccessible rocks, and ruins, are all frequently embellished in 
 the most charming way with ferns and wild flowers. 
 
Part I. 
 
 RUIN AND WALL GARDENS. 
 
 7>Z 
 
 Fig 29 
 
 '* Here stood a shattered arcliway gay with flowefs. 
 And here had fallen a great part of a tower — > 
 Whole, like a crag that tumbles from a cliff, 
 And like a crag was gay with wilding flowers ; 
 And high above a piece of turret stairs. 
 Worn by the feet that now were silent, wound 
 Bare to the sun" — 
 
 is a true picture from Tennyson's ' Idylls ' of the plant-life on 
 many old ruins ; and on many comparatively new structures we 
 see flowers and ferns quite at home. Hundreds of plants that 
 are treated to the most carefully prepared soil grow naturally 
 on the barest and most arid surfaces. This fact must not be 
 supposed to be contradictory of previous statements, as to the 
 necessity of giving alpine plants a suitable material to root into ; 
 it is the open loose texture of the ordinary rockwork, or its solidly 
 cemented masses, into which the plants cannot root, that does 
 the mischief 
 
 It is not without considerable observation of the capabilities 
 of walls, even walls in good repair, to grow numerous rare and 
 pretty plants, and, moreover, keep them in perpetual health with- 
 out trouble, that I recommend everybody who takes an interest 
 in the matter to have the fullest confidence in growing them 
 easily in this way. Most of those who are blessed with gardens 
 have usually a little wall surface at their disposal ; and to all 
 such I can name some plants that will grow thereon better 
 than in the best soil. A mossy old wall, or an old ruin, would 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 afford a position for many dwarf rock-plants which no specially 
 prepared situation could rival ; but even on straight and well-pre- 
 served walls we can establish some little beauties, which year 
 after year will abundantly repay the .tasteful cultivator for the 
 slight trouble of planting or sowing them. Those who have 
 observed the way dwarf plants grow on the tops of mountains, 
 or on elevated stony ground, must have seen in what arid 
 positions many grow in perfect health — tufts springing from an 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 " The garland forest, which the grey walls wear."— J^cra». 
 
 almost imperceptible chink on an arid rock or boulder. They 
 are often stunted and diminutive in. such places, but always 
 more floriferous and long-lived than when grown fat and large 
 upon the ground ; in fact, their beauty is often intensified by 
 starvation and aridity. Now, numbers of alpine plants perish 
 if planted in the ordinary soil of our gardens, and many do so 
 where much pains is taken to attend to their wants. This results 
 from over-moisture at the root in winter, the plant being ren- 
 dered more susceptible of injury by our. moist green winters 
 
Part I. RUIN AND WALL GARDENS. 35 
 
 inducing it to naake a lingering growth. But it is interesting 
 and useful to know that by placing many of these delicate plants 
 where their roots can secure a comparatively dry and well- 
 drained medium, they remain in perfect health. My attention 
 was first called to the great adaptability of walls, ruins, &c. for 
 growing many choice rock-plants while visiting Dublin a few 
 years ago. Near Lucan, I observed the upper portion of the 
 old inclosing brick wall of a garden —indeed, all of it that was 
 out of convenient reach^covered with a dwarf, green, moss- 
 like plant, and before coming close to it, I asked the gardener 
 what it was that made the wall so green. " It is," he replied, 
 
 Fig, 31. — ^Alpine plants established on old fort wall. 
 
 "a plant like a moss, but every spring it is covered with the 
 most ' beauteeful ' ilowers." And " sure enough " that is its cha- 
 racter, for it proved to be the pretty little Erinus alpinus, which 
 would have had little or no chance of existing on the level ground 
 in the same place, and which had, in the old days of cultivating 
 rock-plants, escaped by seed on to the wall, and there found a 
 home as congenial as its native one. This will suggest at once 
 that many plants from latitudes a little farther south than our 
 own, and from alpine regions, may find on walls, rqcks, and 
 ruins that dwarf, ripe, sturdy growth, stony firmness of root 
 medium, and dryness in winter, which go to form the very con- 
 ditions that will grow them in a climate entirely different from 
 their own. There are many alpine plants now usually seen culti- 
 vated in frames, even in places where there is a fine collection 
 
36 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 and much knowledge of these subjects, that the most unpractised 
 may grow in such positions as I describe. 
 
 The reader will do well not to ask if what I advise is practised 
 in gardens growing collections of alpines, but to put the- matter 
 to the test of experiment. The idea of growing such splendid 
 alpine plants as the true Saxifraga longifolia of the Pyrenees 
 on the straight surface of a wall, has never even entered into the 
 heads of the managers of our largest gardens, and probably 
 some of them would laugh at it ; but I affirm that it is in the 
 power of any person to succeed with them, and the trial can be 
 made at a merely nominal cost. 
 
 Generally, the best way to establish them is by seed. The 
 Cheddar Pink, for example, grows on walls at Oxford much 
 better than I have ever known it do on rockwork or on the level 
 ground, in which last position indeed it soon dies. A few seeds of 
 this plant, sown in a mossy or earthy chink, or even covered with a 
 dust of fine soil, would soon take root and grow into neat little 
 specimens, living, moreover, for years in that dwarf and perfectly 
 healthful state so agreeable to the eye. So it is with most of the 
 plants enumerated ; the seedling roots vigorously into the chinks, 
 and gets a hold which it rarely relaxes. But of some things 
 seeds are not to be had, and therefore it will be often necessary 
 to use plants. In all cases young plants should be selected, and, 
 as they will have been used to growing in fertile ground, or good 
 soil in pots, and have all their little feeding roots compactly 
 gathered up near the surface, they must be placed in a chink 
 with a little moist soil, which will enable them to exist until they 
 have struck root into the interstices of the wall. In this way 
 I have seen several interesting species of ferns established, and 
 also the silvery Saxifrages, and can assure the reader that the 
 appearance of the starry rosettes of these little rock-plants (the 
 kinds with incrusted leaves, like .S". longifolia, and S. lingulatd) 
 growing flat against the wall will prove strikingly beautiful. 
 All the best kinds for our purpose, those that can be readily 
 obtained and established without trouble, are marked with an 
 asterisk in the list of selections which will be found farther on, 
 and should be chosen by the doubters and beginners in this 
 culture. 
 
 While many have old ruins and walls on which to grow alpine 
 plants, others will have no means of enjoying them this way ; but 
 all may succeed perfectly with the plan suggested in Fig. 32 
 
Part I. 
 
 RUIN AND WALL GARDENS. 
 
 37 
 
 By building a rough stone wall, and packing the intervals as 
 firmly as possible with loam and sandy peat, and putting, perhaps, 
 a little mortar on the outside of the largest interstices, a host of 
 brilliant gems may be grown with almost as little attention as 
 we bestow on the common Ivy. Thoroughly consolidated, the 
 materials of the wall would afford precisely the kind of nutriment 
 required by the plants. The wall would prove a more congenial 
 home to many species than any but the best constructed rock- 
 garden. In many parts of the country the rains would keep the 
 walls in a sufficiently moist condition, the top being always left 
 somewhat concave ; in dry districts a perforated copper pipe laid 
 along the top will diffuse the requisite moisture. In very moist 
 places natives of wet rocks and trailing plants like the Linnaa, 
 might be interspersed here and there among the other alpines ; 
 
 4 '-iif fi^irsssBPt*"®*^' 
 
 Fig. 32. — A rude stone wall covered with alpine plants. 
 
 in dry ones it would be desirable to plant chiefly the Saxifragas, 
 Sedums, small Campanulas, Linarias, and subjects that, even in 
 hotter countries than ours, find a home on the sunniest and 
 barest crags. The chief care in the management of this wall of 
 alpine flowers would be in preventing weeds or coarse plants from 
 taking root and overrunning the choice gems. When these are 
 once observed, they can be easily prevented from making any 
 further progress by continually cutting off their shoots as they 
 appear ; it would never be necessary to disturb the wall even in 
 the case of a thriving Convolvulus. The wall of alpine plants may 
 be placed in any convenient position in or near the garden : 
 there is no reason why a portion of the walls usually devoted to 
 climbers should not be prepared as I describe. The boundary 
 walls of multitudes of small gardens would look better graced by 
 alpine flowers than bare as they usually are. However, once it 
 is generally known that the very walls may be jewelled with this 
 
38 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 exquisite plant-life, it need not be pointed out where oppor- 
 tunities may be found for developing it. 
 
 The dwarfer and succulent alpine plants are capable of afford- 
 ing beautiful and distinct effects from their neat foliage and 
 habit alone, and the introduction of them is one of the most 
 rapidly growing improvements now taking place in our flower- 
 gardens. A few years ago they could only be found in very 
 few gardens ; now they may be seen in abundance in Battersea 
 Park, and many other places about London where flower- 
 gardening is well carried out ; and, a demand having arisen 
 for them, they may be seen in great variety in some of our 
 London nurseries. 
 
 The term " succulent " may not be familiar to every reader. 
 It is applied to plants with stems or leaves of a very fat and juicy 
 texture, and in which soft cellular tissue greatly predominates. 
 
 Fig. 33. — Raised beds with mosaic work of alpine succulents. 
 
 Usually in botanic gardens the term is applied to the Cactuses, 
 Aloes, Agaves, Mesembryanthemums, and plants of like cha- 
 racter, so very different to the types of vegetation we are ac- 
 customed to in this country. Thus the house in which these 
 plants, chiefly from South Africa, South America, Mexico, 
 and various warm parts of the world, are gathered together at 
 Kew, is called the " succulent house." It would be difficult 
 to find anywhere a house more worthy of a visit or more re- 
 markably striking than this, containing, as it does, a vast collec- 
 tion of the plants that to our eyes seem the most singular of all 
 that exist on our world at its present stage. But there are many 
 other succulent plants than those mostly well-armed and spiny 
 monsters from hot countries. The little Spider-webbed Semper- 
 vivum, that clothes the rocks on many a wild and cold alpine 
 slope, is a succulent as well as the enormous Cactus {Cereus 
 giganteus) which, rising like a great branching pillar to a height 
 
Part I. 
 
 ALPINE SUCCULENTS. 
 
 39 
 
 of from forty to nearly sixty feet, gives such an '' unearthly " cha- 
 racter to the mountain ridges of New Mexico. Many of the 
 dwarf plants with which the Alps and Pyrenees and other 
 mountain chains are clothed are succulent. They are as hardy 
 and as easily grown as the common Houseleek, which is an 
 example- of a northern succulent that must be familiar to all. 
 
 The way in which these plants have hitherto been found most 
 useful in flower-gardens is in the making of edgings, borders, &c. ; 
 but when people begin to be more familiar with their curiously 
 chiselled forms, they will use them abundantly for making small 
 mosaic beds. Their great value as border and rock plants need 
 not be spoken of here, as we are now merely considering them 
 in relation to the bedding system, from which till very recently 
 
 4^ r -^ * 
 
 Fig. 34. — Bed of alpine succulents, with centre of Eclieveria metallica, surrounded by 
 Pachypn>tam, and ed^jed with Echeveria secunda. 
 
 they were completely excluded. In addition to the making of 
 neat little panels, borders, edgings, and beds, they may be 
 employed for forming carpets to act as a setting for larger 
 subjects — a very pretty way of using them. 
 
 Among the plants that have been much admired when seen 
 in this way are a few that are not hardy, notably so Echeveria 
 metallica and Pachyphytum bracteosum, the first very effective 
 from its large leaves of a metallic lustre, the second pretty and 
 curious. These require greenhouse treatment in winter, and 
 where the first is scarce, and the plants small, they will be all 
 the better of passing their first winters in a dry and warm house. 
 Growing larger than most succulents used in this way, it is 
 valuable for using as a central object among the smaller kinds. 
 
40 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part !• 
 
 and also for association with flower-garden plants of the ordinary- 
 type. Another plant very much used is Echeveria secunda, and, 
 though this has remained out all the winter in various places, it 
 may practically be considered to require greenhouse Or frame 
 or pit treatment. The variety glauca, of a lighter and bluish 
 white tone, is more tender than E. secunda itself, and must 
 also receive greenhouse or frame treatment in winter. 
 
 Of hardy succulents that are fit for flower-garden use, none are 
 more worthy of cultivation than the Sempervivums. Being hardy 
 and easily grown in any soil, they will eventually become plants 
 for everybody's garden. Our old friend the Houseleek is not used 
 yi this way, but there is no reason why it should not be, as few 
 of the kinds are so large. One of the most distinct of the 
 ;.Dtlier kinds in cultivation is called S. Heuffelli; it is somewhat 
 ■ of the same aspect as the Houseleek, but the leaves turn to a dull 
 crimson in summer and autumn. Of the remaining Houseleeks 
 the following are hardy and suitable for forming very dwarf 
 edgings and beds : — Sempervivum arenarium, ciliatu^n, cal- 
 cafeum, Fu7ikii,glaucum,globiferum, Laggeri, hirtum,juratuin, 
 Mettenianum, montanum, Neilrichii, pilifei^um, Pomelli, Re- 
 quiem, ruthenicum, soboliferum, stenopetalmn, velutinum, vil- 
 losum, and arachnoideum. 
 
 Of Sedums the kind that has been most used is the dwarf 
 and pretty S. glaucum. Many other kinds will be found useful, 
 and among them the following are valuable ; — Sedum acre 
 variegatum, pulchellum, Ewersii, hispanicum, kamtschaticum, 
 rupestre, reflexum, sexangulare, sexfidum, Sieboldii, spurium, 
 teretifolium, ' iernaium, triangulare, villosum, virens, and 
 multiceps. 
 
 Among the silvery or Aizoon section of the Saxifrages there 
 are ^ome charming little plants, with their silvery leaves so 
 leathery and thick that I may well include them among hardy 
 garden succulents ; and among them the best are Saxifraga 
 Aizoon, Cotyledon, pyramidalis, Rocheliana, crustata, rosularis, 
 Hostii, intacta, Ungulata, and the fine Pyrenean xS". longifolia. 
 There are of Saxifrages alone scores of kinds suitable for this 
 purpose, from the silvery ones of the longifolia section to the 
 deep glistening green kinds of the hypnoides section, and there 
 should be no difficulty whatever in making numerous little ar- 
 rangements like those suggested in Figs. 33, 34, and 35, with the 
 vegetation of each entirely different from that of its neighbour. , 
 
Part I. 
 
 ALPINE SUCCULENTS. 
 
 41 
 
 Numbers of other useful alpine succulents will be found in the 
 lists of Sedunis, Sempervivums, and Saxifrages ; and many- 
 dwarf plants not succulent, such as small silvery Antennarias, 
 alpine Senecios, and the like, may be used in combination with 
 them. 
 
 The ways of arranging these plants so as to secure the most 
 satisfactory effects vary much. They make the most exquisite 
 little geometrical gardens yet seen, and have also been used with 
 charming effect in the English or natural style of garden on 
 a miniature scale. For several years past they have been much 
 used in Battersea Park, on a series of irregular mounds 
 ranging from two to twelve feet high — a Lilliputian imitation 
 
 ^i&- 35- — 3Bed of alpine succulents, crested with dwarf Agave. 
 
 of a hilly country — the whole simply formed by throwing up 
 earth. These little hills had very dwarf alpine plants for turf, 
 and neat specimen plants, hardy and tender, from six inches to 
 three feet high, for "trees.'' Two hills were covered with what it 
 is no exaggeration to say appeared like molten silver, and that 
 was Antennaria tomentosa. A little farther, and the " hills " 
 were covered with the dwarf sea-green Sedutn glaucum, and 
 dotted with the large metallic-hued Echeveria. Here and 
 there little pointed specimens of the dwarf Retinosporas dotted 
 over the earth, and presented the true pine-like aspect, while 
 a considerable variety of neat dwarf alpines occurred — among 
 those more largely employed, the pinky Sedum brevifoliu?n, the 
 little chubby Sedum dasyphyllum, dwarf Thyme, silvery-leaved 
 Veronica, Cobweb Sempervivum, and so on. Echeveria pur- 
 
42 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 purea, with leaves more of a dark blood-coloured than of a 
 purplish hue, was very effective on a glaucous or silvery turf, and 
 handsome greenhouse succulents came well into the background. 
 But the lesson the thing teaches is of far greater value than 
 the details of the planting, and every one who observes such ar- 
 rangements should bear in mind that all the little plants which 
 cover the ground in such a charming way are perfectly hardy, 
 and but a mere tithe of what may be used in the same way, and 
 with effects equally pretty and singular. 
 
 Fig. 33 shows a ridged bed about two feet high, very 
 tastefully formed, by Mr. Harry Veitch, in the Royal Exotic 
 Nursery, Chelsea, last spring ; Fig. 34, a circular bed ex- 
 
 Fig. 36. — Distant effect of small hills crested with Antennaria tonientosa. 
 
 quisitely' arranged, by Mr. Alfred Salter, in the Versailles 
 Nursery, at Hammersmith ; Fig. 35, an almost pyramidal 
 and strikingly pretty bed, formed by Mr. Eyles, in the Royal 
 Horticultural Gardens, South Kensington, during the past sum- 
 mer ; and Fig. 36 attempts to show the distant effect of 
 silvery carpets of Antennaria tomeniosa, suggesting the appear- 
 ance of snow on mounds, in Battersea Park, in 1869. 
 
 The old-fashioned mixed border offers a capital means of 
 growing, without trouble, numbers of first-class alpine plants. 
 
 This much abused, much misunderstood, sometimes over- 
 praised, method of arranging plants is now rarely or never 
 seen with us in what are called " good gardens." When seen, 
 it is usually a poor sight, and worthy of the ridicule be- 
 stowed by some horticulturists on what they have never seen in 
 perfection, and know little about. They misunderstand this old 
 system, and abuse it. However, its ancient admirers were not 
 
Part I. ALPINES IN MIXED BORDER. 43 
 
 backward in the first respect, as they filled it with tall, weedy, 
 and strong Asters, Solidagos, and the like, possessing no merit, 
 and therefore soon brought the system into contempt. It is 
 undervalued by nearly everybody ; curators of botanic gardens 
 — the very men who ought to know and appreciate its merit — 
 have sneered at it ; great " bedding-out people " have given it no 
 mercy, when it was nearly or quite finished without their aid ; 
 and finally, the very people of whose gardens it was the life 
 and soul — the owners of small gardens — have come to turn 
 up their noses at it ; in a word, it is almost banished from 
 the land. 
 
 Even yet, however, you may see a trace oi it about country 
 cottages, and nothing can be prettier than to find one surrounded 
 by a nice variety of hardy plants, from Roses and Honeysuckle to 
 double Saxifrage and Lily-of-the-valley ; but, unhappily, these 
 poor cottagers are also beginning to run after strange gods, as 
 would appear from the following extract from a letter addressed 
 by a Nottingham clergyman to the ' Field ' : — 
 
 " It is, I confess, with deep regret that in the last few years 
 I have seen the ' posy gardens ' of several cottages in my parish 
 destroyed — the Moss-roses, Clove Carnations, aye, and the Lads- 
 love and the Cemon Thyme, rooted out, and their place supplied by 
 a ridiculous grass plat, with a hole in the centre, empty for eight 
 months in the year, and containing for the other four months 
 scarlet Geraniums and Verbenas purchased at sixpence each from 
 some neighbouring nursery, and forming a wretched parody upon 
 the ' masses of colour ' which weary my eyes and try my temper 
 when I am conducted by lady flriends through their blazing 
 parterres, which, notwithstanding their perpetual sameness, I am 
 expected to admire." 
 
 Such is the happy result we have arrived at by " improving " 
 the flower-garden. Persons with houses and frames and other 
 garden conveniences can manage very well ; but what a sorry 
 thing it is to think that people with only means to grow hardy 
 flowers have rooted them out, and are obliged to buy or to beg a 
 few plants every spring ! For them the exquisite flora of the Alps 
 has no attractions. To them the vast families of plants that 
 garnish with unsurpassed beauty the woods and wilds of northern 
 and temperate climes offer not a sole specimen worthy of culti- 
 vation. But where is the interest or true beauty of their gardens ? 
 It does not exist ; and thus the delightful art of gardening has 
 
44 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 become with them a thing more contemptible than the pro- 
 duction of wall paper, because, instead of gathering round their 
 homes much of the choicest interest of the vegetable kingdom— 
 a thing which every Englishman can do without a particle of 
 expense for artificial heat — -they make a series of blotches, and 
 boast that there is scarcely a leaf to be seen. " I have," says the 
 gentleman above quoted, " amidst hundreds of plants in my own 
 garden, which recall absent friends and far-oif scenes — I have 
 flourishing in my flower-beds Acanthus from • the walls of 
 the Coliseum, Cyclamen from the tomb of Virgil, and Anemone 
 from the cliffs of Sorrento." Where are the associations of the 
 common " bedding " gardener ? where even the fragrance or the 
 beauty of his flowers ? They are mostly devoid of any such 
 thing, simply affording telling colour of some kind — it matters 
 not whether by leaves or flowers. We must change aU this, 
 without destroying any good feature of " bedding out." We must 
 again have our mixed borders, not the old mixed borders, but 
 better than were ever seen. 
 
 There are several other ways of arranging hardy plants in a 
 more beautiful, natural, and pleasing manner, but the mixed 
 border forms a sort of reception room for all comers and at all 
 times. On its front margin you may place your newest Sedum 
 or silvery Saxifrage ; at the back or in the centre your latest 
 Delphinium, Phlox, or Gladiolus ; and therefore it is, on the 
 whole, the most useful arrangement, though it should as a rule 
 be placed in a rather isolated part of the garden, where the 
 extent of the place permits of that. Not that a mixed border is 
 not sufficiently presentable for any position ; but, having many 
 more suitable things to offer for the more open and important 
 surfaces of the garden, this had better be kept in a quiet, 
 retired place, where indeed its interest may be best enjoyed, 
 y no better situation be offered than the kitchen-garden, make 
 a mixed border there by all means. The little nursery depart- 
 ment, if there be one, will also suit ; but best of all, in a large 
 place, would be a quiet strip in the pleasure-ground or flower- 
 garden, separated, if the garden be in the natural style, by a thin 
 shrubbery, from the general scene of the flower-garden. It is 
 vain to lay down any precise rules as to the position or arrange- 
 ment of this or anything else ; for, even if we succeeded in 
 having them adopted, what a sad end would it not lead to — 
 every place like its neighbour! That, above all others, is a 
 
Part I. ALPINES IN MIXED BORDER. 45 
 
 thing to be avoided. In old times the borders on each side of 
 the main walk of the kitchen garden were mostly appropriated 
 to herbaceous plants ; and, if well done, this is a good practice, 
 especially if the place be small. A border arranged in this way 
 in a small villa garden will prove a very attractive feature, espe- 
 cially if cut off from the vegetable and fruit quarters by a trellis- 
 work completely covered with good strong-growing varieties of 
 Roses on their own roots. 
 
 The mixed border is capable of infinite variation as to plan as 
 well as to variety of subjects. The most interesting variety is 
 that composed of choice hardy herbaceous plants, bulbs, and 
 alpine plants. Another of a very attractive description may be 
 made by the use of bedding plants only, from Dahlias and 
 Gladioli to the smallest kinds, but in this case we will confine 
 ourselves to the old-fashioned sort made with hardy plants 
 alone. There is a symmetrical system, which must be entirely 
 kept clear of — that of placing quantities of.one thing, good or bad, 
 as the case may be, at regular intervals from each other. The 
 very reverse of that is the true system for the best and most 
 interesting kind of mixed border. In a well-arranged one no 
 six feet of its length should resemble any other similar space of 
 the same border. Certainly it may be desirable to have several 
 specimens of a favourite plant ; but any approach to planting 
 the same thing in numerous places along the same line should 
 be avoided. I should not, for instance, place one of the neat 
 Saxifrages along in front of the border at regular intervals, fine 
 and well suited as it might be for that purpose, but, on the 
 contrary, attempt to produce in all parts a totally distinct yet 
 high type of vegetation. 
 
 The plan on next page shows a small portion of what I con- 
 ceive to be a tastefully arranged mixed border, and, at the same 
 time, the proper position for the alpine plants in the front line. 
 Each of the dwarf plants in front should be allowed to grow 
 into a strong spreading tuft. 
 
 The borders should be deeply prepared, and of a fine free tex- 
 ture — in short, of good, rich, sandy Idlam. That is the chief point 
 in theculture. It is a great mistake to dig among choice hardy 
 plants, and therefore no amount of pains should be spared in the 
 preparation of the ground at first. If" thoroughly well made 
 then, there will be no need of any digging of the soil for a long 
 time. 
 
46 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
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Part I. ALPINES IN SHRUBBERY BORDERS. 47 
 
 Many alpine plants, when grown in borders, are much bene- 
 fited by being surrounded by a few half-buried rugged stones or 
 pieces of rock. These are useful in preventing excessive evapo- 
 ration, and in guarding the plant, when small and young, from 
 being trampled Upon or overrun 
 by coarse weeds or plants, and 
 in keeping the ground firmer. Be- 
 sides, many mountain plants look 
 much more at home when ar- 
 ranged somewhat as shown in the 
 
 accompanying illustration than in "^^^^^^^*' 
 
 any other way on borders. pj^ 3^._Aipi„e pLt on border over- 
 
 A few barrowfuls of stones — the lapping half-buried stones. 
 
 large flints that edgings are often 
 
 made from will do well, if better cannot be obtained — will do 
 for many plants.; and this simple plan will be found to suit 
 many who cannot afford the luxury of a properly formed rock- 
 work. Lists of alpine plants suitable for the mixed border will 
 be found in the selections, at the end of the book. 
 
 Lastly, I will speak of the capabilities of common shrubbery 
 borders, &c. for growing a very considerable number of alpine 
 plants. No practice is more general, or more in accordance with 
 ancient custom, than that of digging shrubbery borders, and 
 there is none in the whole course of gardening more profitless 
 or worse. When winter is once come, almost every gardener, 
 although animated with the best intentions, simply prepares to 
 make war upon the roots of everything in his shrubbery border. 
 The generally accepted practice is to trim, and often to mutilate 
 the shrubs, and to dig all over the surface that must be full of 
 feeding roots. Delicate half-rooted shrubs are often disturbed ; 
 herbaceous plants, if at all delicate and not easily recognised, 
 are destroyed ; bulbs are often displaced and injured ; and 
 a sparse depopulated aspect is given to the margins, while 
 the only " improvement " that is effected by the process is the 
 annual darkening of the surface by the upturned earth. 
 
 Illustrations of my meaning occur by miles in our London 
 parks in winter. Walk through any of them at that season, 
 and observe the borders round masses of shrubs, choice and 
 otherwise. Instead of finding the earth covered, or nearly 
 covered, with vegetation close to the margin, and each indivi- 
 
48 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 dual developed into something like a respectable specimen of its 
 kind, we find a spread of recently-dug ground, and the plants 
 upon it, with an air of having recently suffered from a whirlwind, 
 or something or other that necessitated thp removal of mutilated 
 branches. Rough-pruners precede the diggers,- and bravely 
 trim in the shrubs for them, so that nothing may be in the way ; 
 and then come the delvers, who sweep along from margin to 
 margin, plunging deeply round and about plants, shrubs, or 
 trees. The first shower that occurs after this digging exposes a 
 whole network of torn-up roots. There is no relief to the spec- 
 tacle ; the same thing occurs everywhere — in a London botanic 
 garden as well as in our large West-end parks ; and year after 
 year is the process repeated. While such is the case, it will be 
 impossible to have an agreeable or interesting nlargin to a 
 shrubbery; albeit the importance of the edge, as compared to 
 the hidden parts, is pretty much as that of the face to the back 
 of a mirror. 
 
 Of course all the labour required to produce this unhappy result 
 is worse than thrown away, as the shrubberies would do better 
 if let alone, . and merely surface-cleaned now and then. By 
 utilising the power thus wasted, we might highly beautify the 
 positions now so very objectionable. 
 
 If we resolve that no annual manuring or digging is to be 
 permitted, nobody will grudge a thorough preparation at first. 
 The planting should be so arranged as to defeat the digger. 
 To graduate the vegetation from the taller subjects behind to 
 the very margin of the grass is of much importance, and this 
 can only be done thoroughly by the greater use of permanent 
 evergreen and very dwarf subjects. Happily, there are quite 
 enough of these to be had suitable for every soil. On 
 light, moist, peaty, or sandy soils, where such things as the 
 sweet-scented Daphne Cneorum would spread forth their dwarf 
 cushions, a better result would ensue than, say, on a stiff 
 clay ; but for every position suitable plants might be found. 
 Look, for example, at what we could do with the dwarf green 
 Iberises, Helianthemums, Aubrietias, Arabises, Alyssums, dwarf 
 shrubs, and little conifers like the creeping Cedar {Juniperu^ 
 squamatd), and the Tamarix-leaved Juniper! All these are 
 green, and would spread out into dense wide cushions, covering 
 the margin, rising but httle above the grass, and helping to cut 
 
Part I. ALPINE FLOWERS IN BORDERS. 49 
 
 off the formal line which usually divides margin and border. 
 Behind them we might use very dwarf shrubs, deciduous or 
 evergreen, in endless variety ; and of course the margin should 
 be varied also. 
 
 In one spot we might have a wide-spreading tuft of the pros- 
 trate Savin pushing its graceful evergreen branchlets out over 
 the grass ; in another the dwarf little Cotoneasters might be 
 allowed to form the front rank, relieved in their turn by 
 pegged-down roses ; and so on without end. Herbaceous plants, 
 that die down in winter and leave the ground bare afterwards, 
 should not be assigned any important position near the front. 
 Evergreen alpine plants and shrubs, as before remarked, are per- 
 fectly suitable here ; but the true herbaceous type, and the larger 
 bulbs, like Lilies, should be " stolen in " between spreading 
 shrubs rather than allowed to monopolise the ground. By 
 so placing them, we should not only secure a far more satis- 
 factory general effect, but highly improve the aspect of the 
 herbaceous plants themselves. The head of a white Lily, seen 
 peeping up between shrubs of fresh and glistening green, is in- 
 finitely more attractive than when forming one of z^ large batch 
 of its own or allied kinds, or associated with a mass of herba- 
 ceous plants. Of course, to carry out such planting properly, 
 a little more time at first and a great deal more taste than 
 are now employed would be required ; but what a difference 
 in the result ! In the kind of borders I advocate, nearly all 
 the trouble would be over with the first planting, and labour 
 and skill could be successively devoted to other parts of the 
 place. All the covered borders would require would be an 
 occasional weeding or thinning, &c., and perhaps, in the case of 
 the more select spots, a little top-dressing with fine soil. Here 
 and there, between and amongst the plants, such things as 
 Forget-me-nots and Violets, Snowdrops and Primroses, might be 
 scattered about, so as to lend the borders a floral interest, even 
 at the dullest seasons ; and thus we should be delivered from 
 digging and dreariness, and see our ugly borders alive with 
 exquisite plants. A list of species suitable for this purpose will 
 be found among the selections. 
 
 And now, having spoken of growing alpine flowers in various 
 ways, I will say a few words in favour of such of them as 
 happen to be among the plants usually termed "florists' flowers.'' 
 What is a " florists' " flower ? Well, simply one that has been 
 
 E 
 
5° ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 a great favourite with gardeners, and, being much raised from 
 seed by them, has sported into such a number of distinct 
 varieties in their hands that it forms a sort of little isolated 
 family in a corner away from botanical classification, so to 
 speak. The term is, in short, a bad one to designate flowers 
 that have been much grown by man, or rather which, exhibit- 
 ing considerable variation under his care, have been preserved 
 by him in their most striking and admired forms. They are 
 in many cases double flowers that belong to these florists' 
 groups — the Hollyhock and Dahlia, to wit — though not a few are 
 single, like the Gladiolus and Auricula. Florists' flowers that 
 have sprung from high mountain or rock plants, like the Auricula 
 or the Carnation, are perhaps more worthy of attention than 
 any others, in consequence of their rich and elegant mark- 
 ings, perfect hardiness, neatness of habit, shape of bloom, 
 and adaptability to the wants of cultivators in all parts of the 
 country. They ought to be in every garden — not of necessity to 
 be therein cultivated as " florists' flowers," but treated as ordi- 
 nary hardy plants. The true florist tends his flowers almost as 
 carefully as if they were so many tender exotics, and is precise 
 as to their position, soil, and every other condition ; but these 
 are such very hardy subjects that they may be well enjoyed with- 
 out any attention beyond planting in a suitable position in the 
 first instance. 
 
 We may assign some cause why many interesting plants and 
 classes of plants have gone out of cultivation ; but there is one 
 thing that can hardly be accounted for, and that is, why the 
 fragrant, beautiful, and neat classes of hardy florists' flowers — 
 from elegantly laced Picotees to richly stained Polyanthuses — 
 should have almost disappeared from our gardens, and be now 
 in want of the least advocacy from me. In them we have 
 flowers of unimpeachable merit, equally worthy of admiration 
 in garden of peer or cottager. They are as hardy as our native 
 plants, require no steaming in houses at any time of their lives, 
 are generally pleasing in habit, whether in or out of flower, 
 sometimes useful for the spring garden, and in nearly all cases 
 among the very best plants which the gardener can grow for 
 cutting from ; and yet, with all these undoubted merits, where 
 are they ? Generally speaking, fallen into " the abyss of things 
 that were." They have, of course, been driven from the field by 
 the bedding system ; but so surely as taste and perception of 
 
Part I. 
 
 THE NATURAL ROCK-GARDEN. 
 
 SI 
 
52 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part L 
 
 what is really beautiful -still live amongst us, so surely will they 
 come into our gardens again, and take up a prominent position. 
 Perhaps the most fortunate of all lovers of alpine flowers are 
 those who have opportunities of growing them where there is a 
 natural rock-garden — a not uncommon case in many parts of 
 these islands. Where the rock crops up naturally in any way 
 approaching that shown by Fig. 38, a very trifling expense, a 
 little taste, and some knowledge of suitable plants, is all we 
 require to produce a magnificent result. Numbers of exotic 
 herbs are sufficiently vigorous to take care of themselves among 
 the .weeds that grow in such places, while a select open spot may 
 be easily cleared for the rarer and more delicate alpine plants. 
 Even if only a few points of rock show, excavating or procuring 
 smaller masses, and arranging them so that they seem to peep 
 naturally from the earth, cannot be a matter of difficulty. The 
 nobler herbaceous plants, from the stately Pampas Grass to the 
 brilliant Tritoma, might here be associated with the Brake-fiern 
 and the Struthiopteris ; the light tracery of the various splendid 
 everlasting peas, white and crimson, might twine in undisciplined 
 loveliness amongst the huge leaves of such plants as Rheum 
 Emodi and Acanthus latif alius ; the superb new purple Clema- 
 tises, with countless blooms like saucers of purple, and many trail- 
 ing mountain herbs, might drape over the rocks not too thickly 
 studded with ferns or flowers ; the Cyclamens and Lihes, and 
 many brilHant hardy bulbs of the sunny hills of Italy and 
 Greece, might here bloom in company with the Linnaea of 
 North Europe and Scotland, and the many interesting plants 
 that haunt the bogs and mossy woods of northern and arctic 
 regions ; and with all these, and many more, might be carried 
 out Lord Bacon's conception of a " Naturall wildnesse. Trea 
 1 would have none in it; But some Thickets, made only of 
 Sweet-Briar,?i.n6. Honny-suckle, and some Wilde- Vine amongst ; 
 and the Ground set with Violets, Strawberries, and Prime- 
 Roses. For these are Sweet, and prosper in the Shade. And 
 these to be in the Heath, here and there, not in any Order. 
 I hke also little Heaps, in the Nature of Mole-hils, (such as are 
 in Wilde Heaths) to be set, some with Wilde Thyme ; Some with 
 Pincks ; Some with Germander, that gives a good Flower to the 
 Eye ; Some with Periwinckle ; 3ome with Violets ; Some with 
 Strawberries ; Some with Cowslips ; Some with Daisies ; Some 
 with Red-Roses ; Some with Lilium Convallium ; Some with 
 
Part I. 
 
 WILD ROCK-GARDEN IN WOOD. 
 
 53 
 
 Sweet- Williams Red ; Some with Beares-Foot ; And the like 
 Low Flowers, being withal Sweet, and Sightly." 
 
 Where natural rock appears in only one spot, and we desire 
 to make the most of it, it is better to clear away any wood 
 or coarse undershrub that may surround it, so as to permit 
 the full development of alpine and rock plants ; but should it 
 crop up in more than one or in several positions in woods, it 
 would be better to leave at least one such spot as much shaded 
 with trees as possible, so that wood and copse plants and shade- 
 loving ferns might be therein fully developed. Such a spot 
 
 Fig. 3g. — Site for rock-garden in wood. 
 
 would form a very agreeable retreat in hot days. A few groups 
 of the noble-leaved Berberises in the way of B. nepalensis 
 woufd thrive admirably in peat near such a position ; in an 
 open, sunny, but sheltered, nook a wild arrangement of Cannas 
 and other sub-tropical plants would form a fine feature, while 
 various low wood shrubs, like the American Rubus nutkanus 
 and R. spectabilis would be seen to greater advantage running 
 wild near such positions than in any others. And so of a 
 number of interesting hardy grasses, herbs, and shrubs, and 
 dwarf wood plants like the Pyrolas. 
 
 Hitherto, all the arran'^'cmfnts t-catecl of. whpt-he- b.'-Ei" or 
 
54 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 small, ambitious or hmiible, require some kind of garden in 
 which to carry them out. We will next consider the case of the 
 owners of those limited sites for gardens — ^window sills. On these 
 numbers of diminutive and interesting aLpine plants may be 
 easily grown. My first proposal is to pick out some of the 
 prettiest and most diverse of the Stonecrops, Houseleeks, silvery 
 Saxifrages, &c., to plant them in a goodly-sized box, and use a 
 few rough stones by way of miniature rocks. I would place the 
 box or boxes in the full sun, and give them plenty of water from 
 a rose in warm spring and summer weather, and, indeed, at all 
 times when they are dry, which is not likely to occur often 
 during the dull months of winter. Among and between the 
 alpine plants I would in autumn pop in here and there a dimi- 
 nutive spring-flowering bulb — say Bulbocodium vernum, Scilla 
 sibirica and bifolia, small Daffodils, Snowdrops, Snowflakes ; 
 and, if the box was large, a few of the delicately coloured 
 Crocuses. The boxes should never be taken indoors, except 
 to re-arrange or refresh. When the snow comes, the plants 
 are comfortable, as it is their natural protection in a wild 
 state ; frost or rain hurts them not,*^ and even London smut 
 is not able to destroy their little lives, tolerably attended to. 
 The boxes most suitable for this purpose are wooden ones, 
 with zinc troughs, decorated externally with clippings of oak 
 and apple trees, fir cones, &c., or what may be called archie 
 tectural boxes, of wood also, but painted stone-colour exter- 
 nally, and designed so as to suit buildings, which the rustic 
 ones do not, Both these boxes are made in good form by 
 various firms in London and elsewhere. No matter what kind 
 of box is adopted, it is desirable to allow some plants of 
 a trailing habit to fall over its outer edge. If the outer mar- 
 gins of the boxes were well covered, it would matter little 
 what form were adopted. The common Stonecrop, Sedum 
 Sieboldii, Thymus lanuginosus, the woolly-leaved Cerastiums, 
 and many other hardy plants, will do this effectively. 
 
 A yet more satisfactory window rock-garden can be made out- 
 side of a window to which light has free access, by forming a 
 miniature alpine garden on the sill. It is simply done by 
 putting a few irregular stones along the front margin, and 
 packing a few small bits of turfy peat or loam inside them 
 to prevent the fine soil, afterwards to be added, from being 
 washed out. Then fill in the hollow with sandy loam, mixed, if 
 
Part I. THE WINDOIV ROCK-GARDEN. 55 
 
 convenient, with morsels of broken sandstone. A few mossy or 
 ancient-looking stones should be half buried on the upper sur- 
 face, and then the whole should be planted, the best time to do 
 this being April. It is not merely possible to keep alpine suc- 
 culents in this way : it is easy to grow a multitude of the most 
 interesting and beautiful kinds ! I never in wild or garden saw 
 these plants in better health, or looking more at home, than on 
 the outside of a low sunny window in Mr. Peter Barr's house at 
 Tooting. Fig. 40 shows a view of this from the interior ; it 
 was no less pretty seen from without. It is, however, impossible 
 to show in an engraving the exquisite effect of the Lilliputian 
 succulents when struggling in graceful confusion on a spot they 
 enjoy so much. The attention required is very trifling, some 
 little taste in forming and planting, a judicious selection of 
 
 Fig. 40. — The window rock-garden (interior view). 
 
 plants, and thorough waterings during the dry season. I need 
 hardly add that small and brilliant spring bulbs might be em- 
 ployed to hght up this tiny garden in spring as well as that 
 previously mentioned. It would also be desirable to plant 
 subjects of a drooping character on the outer margin. The 
 alpine succulents are all thoroughly hardy, and would remain 
 in good condition during the winter, but a little changing and 
 replanting every spring would be very desirable. 
 
 Hitherto alpine plants have generally been grown in pots, and 
 it might perhaps be supposed from this fact that something like 
 perfection was arrived at in their culture. It is not so. I do 
 not advocate their culture in pots at all where an opportunity of 
 making even the smallest type of rockwork exists ; but there are 
 many cases in which they cannot be well grown in any other 
 way. It is desirable to keep some kinds in pots till sufficiently 
 
5 6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 plentiful, and it is very desirable to grow a number of distinct 
 and handsome kinds in this way for the purpose of exhibiting 
 them at flower shows. 
 
 We are pre-eminently great at exhibiting ; our pot-plants are 
 far before those of other countries ; specimens are to be seen at 
 every show which are models not only as regards beauty, but as 
 showing a remarkable development of plant from a very small 
 portion of confined earth, exposed to many vicissitudes ; yet in 
 one respect we have made no progress whatever, and that is, in 
 the pot-culture of alpine and herbaceous plants, for exhibition 
 purposes. 
 
 Prizes are frequently offered at our flower shows for these 
 plants, and usually awarded, but the exhibitors rarely deserve a 
 prize at all, for their plants are usually badly selected, badly 
 grown, and such as never ought to appear on a stage at all. 
 In almost every other class, the first thing the exliibitor does is 
 to select appropriate kinds — :distinct and beautiful, and then he 
 makes some preparation beforehand for exhibiting them ; but 
 in the case of our hardy friends, anybody who happens to have 
 a rough lot of hardy miscellaneous rubbish exhibits it, and thus 
 it is that I have seen such beauties as the following more 
 than once exhibited: a common Thrift with the dead flower- 
 stems on it, and drooping over the green leaves ; a plant of 
 Arabis albida out of flower ; the Pellitory-of-the-wall, which has 
 as little beauty in flower as out of it : not to speak of a host of 
 worthless things not in themselves ugly, but far inferior to others 
 in the same families. What would become of our shows if the 
 same tactics were carried out in other classes ? Even the most 
 sufccessful exhibitors are apt to look about a day before a show, 
 for the best flowering cuttings of such things as Iberis correa- 
 folia, and, sticking four or five of these into a pot, present that 
 as a " specimen." Now, what is so easily grown into the neatest 
 of specimens as an Iberis ? By merely plunging in the ground 
 a few six-inch pots filled with rich soil, and putting in tliem a 
 few young cutting plants, they would, " left to nature," be good 
 specimens in a short time, while with a little pinching, and feed- 
 ing, and pegging-down, they would soon be fit to grace any 
 exhibition. So it is with many other things of like habit and 
 size — the dwarf shrubby Lithospermum prostratum, for example ; 
 a little time, and the simplest skill, will do all that is required. 
 Such subjects as the foregoing, with tiny shrubs like Andromeda 
 
Part I. ALPINE PLANTS IN POTS. 57 
 
 tetragona and A . fastigiata,\ht Menziesias and Gaultheria pro- 
 cumbens, the choicer Hehanthemums and dwarf Phloxes, and 
 many others enumerated in the selections of exhibition plants, 
 might be found pretty enough to satisfy even the most fasti- _ 
 dious growers of New Holland plants. 
 
 The very grass is not more easily grown than plants like 
 Iberises and Aubrietias, yet to ensure their being^ worthy of a 
 place, they ought to be at least a year in pots so as to secure 
 well-furnished plants. Such vigorous subjects, to merit the 
 character of being well grown, should fall luxuriantly over the 
 edge of the pots, and in all cases as much as possible of the 
 crockeryware should be hidden. The dwarf and spreading 
 habit of many of this class of plants would render this a matter 
 of no difficulty. In some cases it would be desirable to put a 
 number of cuttings or young rooted plants into six-inch pots, so 
 as to form specimens quickly. Pots of six inches diameter suit 
 well for growing many subjects of this intermediate type ; and with 
 good culture, and a little liquid manure, it would be quite pos- 
 sible to get a large development of plant in such a comparatively 
 small pot, but if very large specimens were desired, a size larger 
 might be resorted to. 
 
 To descend from the type that seems to present the greatest 
 number of neat and attractive flowering plants to the cultivator, 
 we will next deal with the dwarf race of hardy succulents, and 
 the numerous minute alpine plants that associate with them in 
 size — a class rich in merit and strong in numbers. These should, 
 as a rule, be grown and shown in pans : they are often so pretty 
 and singular in aspect, as in the cases of the little silvery Saxi- 
 frages, that they will be very attractive when out of flower, 
 while the flowers are none the less beautiful because the leaves 
 happen to be ornamental in an unusual way. Many of a Uke 
 size, as Erpetion reniforme and Mazus Pumilio, must be shown 
 in good flower. All these little plants are of the readiest culture 
 in pans, with good drainage, and light soil. Of course the 
 quick way to form good specimens of the most diminutive kinds 
 is to dot young plants over the surface of the pot or pan at once. 
 
 Some few alpine plants are somewhat delicate or difficult to 
 grow ; and amongst the most beautiful and interesting of these 
 are the Gentians, and certain of the Primulas. There are many 
 who will of course be ambitious to succeed in cultivating them, 
 but, in a general way, it would be better to avoid, at first, all 
 
S8 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I, 
 
 such difficult subjects, since a failure with them is apt to be 
 disheartening. I believe that a more liberal culture than is 
 generally pursued is what is wanted for these more difficult 
 .kinds, and such as are usually considered impossible to culti- 
 vate. The plants are often obtained in a delicate and small 
 state; then they are, perhaps, kept in some out-of-the-way 
 frame, or put where they receive but chance attention ; of, 
 perhaps, they die off from some vicissitude, or fall victims to 
 slugs, which seem to relish their flavour, considering how clean 
 they eat off' some kinds ; or, if a Httle shaky about the roots, are 
 interred by earth-worms, whose casts serve to clog up the drain- 
 age, and thus render the pot uninhabitable. With strong and 
 healthy young plants to begin with, good and more liberal cul- 
 ture, and plunging in the open air in beds of coal-ashes through 
 the greater part of the year, the majority of those supposed 
 to be unmanageable would soon flourish beautifully. I have 
 taken species of Primula, usually seeii in a very weakly and poor 
 state, divided them, keeping safe all the young roots, put one 
 sucker in the centre, and five or six round the sides of a 32- 
 sized pot, and in a year made ''perfect specimens'' of them, 
 with, of course, a greater profusion of bloom than if I had 
 depended on one plant only. Annual or biennial division is an 
 excellent plan to pursue with many of these plants, which in a 
 wild state run each year a little farther into the deposit of decay- 
 ing herbage which surrounds them, or, it may be, into the sand 
 and grit which are for ever being carried down by natural agen- 
 cies. In our long summer some of the Primulas will make a 
 tall growth and protrude rootlets on the stem — a state for which 
 dividing and replanting firmly, deep down to near the collar, is 
 an excellent remedy. 
 
 There are many plants with which an entirely different 
 course must be pursued, which demand to be permanently esta- 
 blished, Spigelia marilandica, Gentiana verna, G. bavarica, and 
 Cypripedium spectabile, for example. The Gentians are very 
 rarely well grown, and yet I am convinced that few will fail 
 to grow them if they procure in the first instance strong esta- 
 blished plants ; pot them carefully and firmly in good sandy 
 loam, well drained, using bits of grit or gravel in the soil ; 
 plunge them in sand or coal-ashes to the rim, in a position fully 
 exposed to the sun ; and give them abundance of water during 
 the spring and summer months, taking, of course, all necessary 
 
Part I. ALPINE PLANTS IN POTS. 59 
 
 precautions against worms, slugs, and weeds. And such will 
 be found to be the case with many other rare and fine alpine 
 plants. The best position in which to grow the plants would 
 be some open spot near the working sheds, where they could be 
 plunged in coal ashes, and be under the eye at all times. And 
 as they should show the public what the beauty of hardy plants 
 really is, so should they be grown entirely in the open air in 
 spring and summer. To save the pots and pans from cracking 
 with frost, it would in many cases be desirable to plunge them 
 in shallow cold frames, or- cradles, with a northern exposure in 
 winter ; but in the case of the kinds that die down in winter, 
 a few inches of some light covering thrown over the pots, when 
 the tops of the plants have perished, would form a sufficient 
 protection. 
 
 Alpine and herbaceous plants in pots, and kept in the open air 
 all the winter, are best plunged in a porous material on a porous 
 bottom, and on the north side of a hedge or wall, where they 
 would be less liable to change of temperature, or to be excited 
 into growth at that season. 
 
 For growing the Androsaces and some rare Saxifrages a 
 modification of the common pot may be employed with a good 
 result. It is effected by cutting a piece out of the side of 
 the pot, one and a half or two inches deep. The head of the 
 plant potted in this way is placed outside of the pot, leaning 
 over the edge of the oblong opening, its 
 roots within in the ordinary way, among 
 sand, grit, stones, &c. (Fig. 41). Thus 
 water cannot lie about the necks of the 
 plants to their destruction. Undoubtedly 
 it is anadvantagefordelicatetufted plants ^«- '^aT^™/,' "^"'''"^ 
 liable to perish from this cause. I first 
 observed this method in M. Boissier's 
 ■ garden, near Lausanne, in 1 868. The pots 
 used there were taller proportionately 
 than those we commonly use, so that there ^^^ 
 
 was plenty of room for the roots after the ^.^ ^, _Aipine plant grow- 
 rather deep cutting had been made. ing between stones in pot. 
 
 A yet more desirable mode than the pre- 
 ceding is that of elevating the collar of the plant somewhat above 
 the level of the earth in the ordinary pot by means of half-buried 
 stones, as shown in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 42). 
 
6o ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 In this way we not only raise the collar of the plant so that it 
 is less liable to suffer from moisture, but, by preventing evapora- 
 tion, preserve conditions much more congenial to alpine plants, 
 and keep the roots firm in the ground ; besides, the small plants 
 look more at home springing from and spreading over their 
 httle rocks. It should, however, be distinctly understood that no 
 such attention is required by the great majority of alpine plants. 
 
 No matter in what way these plants may be grown in gar- 
 dens, it is desirable to keep the duplicates and young stock in 
 small pots plunged in sand or fine coal-ashes, so that they may 
 be carefully removed to the rockwork, or sent away at any time. 
 The best way of doing this is shown in Fig. 43, representing a 
 
 Fig. 43- — Bed of small alpine plants in pots plunged in sand. 
 
 four-foot bed in which young alpine plants are plunged in sand 
 the bed being edged with half-buried bricks. In bottoms 
 of beds of this kind there should be half a dozen inches of coal- 
 ashes, so as to prevent worms getting into the pots, in which 
 they always prove very injurious. Sand, or grit, or fine gravel, 
 from its cleanliness and the ease with which the plants may be 
 plunged in it, is to be preferred, but finely sifted coal-ashes will 
 do if sand cannot be spared for this purpose. 
 
 Such beds should always be in the full sun, near to a good 
 supply of water, and, if several or many are made, should be 
 separated by gravelled alleys of about two feet wide. The 
 watering is very important. In a large nursery it should be laid 
 on and given with a fine hose. This certainly is the most con- 
 venient and economical way. Over some of the beds in Mr. 
 Backhouse's nursery at York may be seen an ingenious way of 
 
Part I. ALPItWE PLANTS FROM SEED. 6 1 
 
 giving a constant supply of water to Primulas, Gentians, and 
 other plants. Two perforated half-inch copper pipes are laid 
 just above the plants in the beds 
 as shown by Fig. 44. From the 
 perforations in every two feet or 
 so of the pipe, drops continually 
 trickle down in summer, saturating 
 the beds of sand, and of course the p-jg ^^_ 
 
 porous pots and their contents. In 
 
 winter or very wet weather the water can be readily turned off. 
 I do not believe there is any necessity for this system, pro- 
 vided the water is laid on and applied copiously with a fine hose. 
 A large number of alpine plants may be raised from seed, and 
 in every place where there is a collection, it is desirable to sow 
 the seeds of as many rare and new kinds as are worth raising in 
 this way. -A good deal will depend on the apphances of the 
 garden as to the precise way in which they are to be raised ; 
 but whether there be greenhouses on the premises or not 
 even a glass hand-light, alpine plants and choice perennials 
 may be raised there in abundance. Supposing we are supphed 
 with a good selection of seeds in early spring, and have room 
 in frames and pits to spare, some time might be gained by 
 sowing in pans or pots, and by placing them in those frames, or 
 by making a very gentle hotbed in a frame or pit, covering it 
 with four inches or so of very light earth, and on that sowing 
 the seeds. If this mode be adopted, they may be sown in March ; 
 and, thus treated, many will flower the first year. In gardens 
 without any glass they may be raised in the open air. About 
 the best time to sow is in April, choosing mild open weather, 
 when the ground is more hkely to be in the comparatively dry 
 and friable condition so desirable for seed-sowing. But it should 
 be borne in mind that they may be sown at any convenient time 
 from April till August, as it is not till the year after they are sown 
 that they display their full beauty or perhaps flower at all ; and, 
 therefore, should a packet or more of choice seed come to hand 
 during the summer months, it is always better to sow it at once 
 than to keep it till the following spring, as thereby nearly a 
 whole season is lost. Those who already possess a collection of 
 good hardy flowers may find a choice perennial ripening a crop 
 of seed in May, June, or July— say, for instance, an evergreen 
 Iberis, a Campanula, or a Delphinium. Well, suppose we want 
 
62 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 to propagate and make the most of it, the true way is to sow it 
 at once instead of keeping it over the winter, as is usually done. 
 By winter the seedlings will be strong enough to take care of 
 themselves, and be ready to plant out for iiowering wherever it 
 may be desired to place them. 
 
 But to the immediate subject of raising them in spring. Well, 
 the seeds we will suppose provided, and the month of April to 
 have arrived. If not already done, a border or bed should be 
 prepared for them in an open but sheltered and warm position, 
 and where the soil is naturally light and fine, or made so by 
 artificial means. It would be as well to prepare and devote two 
 or three, or more, little beds to this purpose of raising hardy 
 flowers. They vijould form a most useful nursery-like kind of 
 reserve ground, from which plants could be taken at any time to 
 fill up vacancies, to exchange with those having collections, and 
 to give away to friends ; for assuredly it is one of the greatest 
 pleasures of gardening to be able to give away a young specimen 
 to a friend who happens to see and admire one of our " good 
 things " in flower ; and by raising them from seed we can always 
 do this with ease. I have said that the seed-bed should be in a 
 warm position, but let it, if possible, be in or near what is often 
 called the reserve garden in large places, or, in smaller, in the 
 kitchen-garden— anywhere but in the portion of the gardens 
 devoted to ornament. If the ground happen not to be naturally 
 fine, light, and open, make it so by adding plenty of sand and 
 leaf mould, and then surface the ground with a few inches of 
 fine soil from the compost-yard or potting-shed. The sifted 
 refuse of the potting-bench will do well. Then level the 
 beds nicely, and form little shallow drills in them for the 
 reception of the seed. Let the beds be about four feet wide, 
 with a. httle footway or alley between each about fifteen inches 
 wide, and let them run from the back to the front of the 
 border, not along it. Make the little drills across the beds, and, 
 instead of making these drills with a hoe or anything of the kind, 
 simply take a. rake handle, a measuring rod, or any straight 
 thing of the sort that happens to be at hand, and, laying it across 
 the little bed, press it gently down till it leaves a smooth impres- 
 sion about one inch deep. Do this at intervals of about six 
 inches, and then your little nursery bed is ready for the seed. 
 From these smooth and level drills the seeds will spring up 
 evenly and regularly. 
 
Part I. ALPINE PLANTS FROM SEED. 63 
 
 It is a pleasant thing to sow tlie seeds of novel or rare plants ; 
 indeed, to the real lover of a garden, it is more congenial work 
 than cutting the flowers when arrived at perfection ; and 
 every lover of plants enjoys more or less flowers " of my own 
 raising." Well, before opening the seed packets, it is necessary 
 to have clearly written wooden' labels at hand on which to write 
 the name of each species, so that there may be no confusion 
 when the plants come up. These labels should be about eight 
 or nine inches long, and an inch wide, and the name should be 
 written as near the upper end as possible, so that it may not 
 be soon obliterated by contact with the moist earth. Now, this 
 labelling process is usually performed in all such cases at the 
 time of sowing the seeds, but a very much speedier and better 
 way is to lay out all the seeds on a table some wet day when 
 out-of-door work cannot be done, and there and then arrange 
 them in the order of sowing. Write a label for each kind, 
 tie the packet of seeds up with a piece of matting, and then, 
 when a fine day arrives for sowing them, it can be done in a 
 very short time. In sowing, put in at the end of the first little 
 drill the label of the kind to be sown first, then sow the seed, 
 inserting the label for the following kind at the spot to which the 
 seed of the first has reached, and so on. Thus there can be no 
 doubt as to the name of a species when the same plan is pursued 
 throughout. Near at hand, during the sowing, should be placed 
 a barrow of finely sifted earth ; with this the seeds should be 
 covered more or less heavily according to size, and then well 
 watered from a very fine rose. Minute seed like that of Cam- 
 panula will require but a mere dust of the sifted earth to cover it. 
 
 Once sown, the rest may be left to nature, save and except 
 the keeping down of weeds, the seeds of which abound in the 
 earth in all places, and wiU be pretty sure to come up among 
 the young plants. But these being in drills, we can easily tell 
 the plant from the weed, and nothing is required but a little per- 
 severing weeding. In these little beds the finest perennials will 
 come up beautifully, and may be left exactly where sown till the 
 time arrives for transplanting them to the rockery, spring garden, 
 or mixed border. This is a better way than sowing in pots, 
 where they are liable to much vicissitude, and from which they 
 require to be " potted off." Of course in the case of a very rare 
 or admired kind, the seedlings might be thinned a little and the 
 thinnings dibbled into a nursery bed, but by sowing rather thinly 
 
64 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 the plants will be quite at home where first sown till the time 
 arrives for planting them out finally. 
 
 I am convinced that in finely pulverised earth, with, if con- 
 venient, an inch or so of cocoa fibre and sand between the drills 
 to prevent the ground getting hard and dry, much better results 
 will be obtained than by sowing in pots. In the open air they 
 come up much more vigorously, and never suffer from trans- 
 plantation or change of temperature afterwards. Nevertheless, 
 as few will venture the very finest and rarest kinds of seed in 
 the open air, how to treat them in frames is of some importance, 
 and the following observations on this matter are by Mr. Niven, 
 of the Hull Botanic Garden, one of the most successful culti- 
 vators of alpine plants, who possesses, chiefly in pots, one of 
 the most complete collections ever made. They were communi- 
 cated to the ' Gardener's Chronicle.' 
 
 " Much disappointment is often experienced in raising the 
 seeds of perennial plants, and blame is attributed to the vendor 
 of the seeds, that ought in reality to be awarded nearer home. 
 Presuming that the selection of the seeds is made, and that 
 the seeds themselves are in the hands of the purchaser, the 
 operation of sowing should take place as early as may be prac- 
 ticable in March. First of all, the requisite number of five- or 
 six-inch pots should be obtained, so that each seed packet can 
 have a separate pot for itself. Some nice light soil, with a fair 
 amount of sand and leaf-mould therein (if obtainable), should be 
 prepared, and passed through a coarse sieve, keeping a sharp eye 
 after worms, and at once removing them ; the rough part which 
 remains in the sieve should be placed above the drainage in the 
 bottom of the pots to the extent of two-thirds of the depth, filling 
 the remaining third with the fine soil ; the whole should then be 
 well pressed down, so that the surface for the reception of the 
 .seeds should be half an inch below the brim of the pot, and 
 tolerably even. Each packet of seed should then be sown, and 
 covered with a sprinkUng of fine soil, which is to be pressed 
 down by means of a flat piece of wood, or, what vsfill be perhaps 
 more readily available, by the bottom of a flower-pot. 
 
 " The best guide as to the thickness of covering required is to 
 arrange so that no seeds shall be seen on the surface after the 
 operation. If the seeds are minute, a very small quantity will 
 be required to attain this end ; if they are large, more will be 
 requisite. This completed, and each pot duly labelled with the 
 
Part I. ALPINE PLANTS FROM SEED. 65 
 
 name of the plant and height of growth, the pots should then 
 be placed in a cold frame tolerably near the glass, taking care 
 that each pot is set level or as nearly so as practicable. 
 
 " In preparing the frame for their reception, it is desirable to 
 have a good thickness of lime rubbish in the bottom, say from 
 nine to twelve inches, as a protection against worms. 
 
 " Many seeds come up a long time after others ; in fact, seed- 
 pots are often thrown away in the supposition that the seeds are 
 dead, when they are perfectly sound ; and some will come up 
 a year or so after being sown. All that is necessary with the 
 seeds that do not come up during the spring is to give them an 
 occasional watering, and to guard against the growth of the 
 Lichen-like Marchantia. This is frequently a great pest in 
 damp localities, and is only to be kept in check by carefully 
 removing it on its first appearance, for if allowed to make 
 too much headway, any attempt at removal carries away 
 the surface soil, and with it the seeds. In the month of October 
 each pot should be surfaced with a sprinkling of fine soil, well 
 pressed down ; in fact, the process before described after sowing 
 should be repeated. The pots may remain in the frame till the 
 spring, nor should they be despaired of altogether till May or 
 June, or in some instances later. 
 
 "To those who may not have the advantage of a cold frame 
 to carry out the foregoing instructions, I would still recommend 
 the use of flower-pots rather than sowing in the open ground ; 
 but under these circumstances I would say — sow one month 
 later ; place the pots in a warm, sunny corner, and arrange some 
 simple contrivance so that you can shade with mats during hot 
 sunshine, and also cover up at night, in order to keep off heavy 
 rains ; the same care in watering should be observed, and the 
 same watchful eye after snails, woodlice, and other depfedatorSj 
 should be maintained. 
 
 " So much for the seeds in their seed-pots. Now a word or two 
 as to the treatment of the plants afterwards. My practice is to pot 
 off, as soon as they are sufficiently strong to handle, as many as are 
 required, in three- or four-inch pots, say three in each pot. I n these 
 they will grow well during the summer, and become thoroughly 
 rooted, ready for consigning to their final habitat, be it rockery, 
 border, or shrubbery, in the early part of spring, after the borders 
 have been roughly raked over ; thus giving them ample time to 
 establish themselves before autumn arrives, and their enemy, 
 
 F 
 
66 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 the spade, is likely to come in their way. Failing a supply of 
 pots sufficient for all, some of the stronger growing ones may be 
 planted in a sheltered bed of light soil, care being taken to 
 shade them for a few days after being plasnted ; or a few old 
 boxes, five or six inches deep, may be used with even greater 
 advantage for the same purpose, as they may readily be moved 
 from the shady side of a wall to a more sunny locality after they 
 have. recovered sufficiently the process of transplanting ; and, 
 finally, they may receive the shelter of a cold frame as soon as 
 winter sets in. This recommendation must not be considered 
 as indicative of thei'r inability to stand the cold weather, but as 
 a preventive of the mechanical action of frost, which, in some 
 soils especially, is apt to loosen their root-hold, and force the 
 young plants, roots and all, to the surface. 
 
 " In the case of the smaller-growing alpines, such as the Drabas, 
 Arabises, &c. I generally find that they stand the first winter best 
 in pots of the smallest size, and in this form they may be the 
 more readily inserted in the interstices of a rockery, where they 
 will permanently establish themselves." 
 
 Than the question of watering there is nothing of more im- 
 portance in connection with our subject. The popular and 
 erroneous notion that alpine plants want shade arises from the 
 fact that those placed in the shade do not perish so soon from 
 drought as those in the sun. The reason that alpine plants perish 
 so soon on bare fiower-borders, the surface of which may be 
 saturated with rain one day and as dry as snuff the next, at least 
 to the depth to which the roots of a small or young alpine plant 
 would penetrate, is therefore very easily accounted for. Matted 
 through a soft carpet of short grass in their native hills, or rooted 
 deeply between stones and chinks, they can stand many degrees 
 more heat than they ever encounter in this country. As a rule, 
 it is impossible to water them too freely if the drainage be good, 
 which of course it will be in the well-formed rock-garden. To 
 have the water laid on and apphed thoroughly and regularly 
 with a fine hose is the best plan for districts not naturally very 
 moist, and where there is a large rock-garden ; many small ar- 
 rangements may be suppUed in the ordinary way from pots or 
 barrels, and in some parts of the country the natural moisture 
 will suffice. Some lay small copper pipes through the masses 
 and to the highest points of the rock, allowing the water to gently 
 trickle from these, but, except in special cases, the plan is not so 
 
Part I. HARD Y AQUA TIC PLANTS. 6 7 
 
 good as the hose. It may, however, be worth adopting for one 
 spot in which Qentiana bavarica and other plants that hke 
 abundant moisture are planted. Whatever system be adopted, 
 the rule should be : Never water unless you thoroughly saturate 
 the soil, say with from one and a half to two inches deep of water 
 over the whole surface. As a rule, ambitious, wall-like, erect 
 masses of rockwork require half a dozen times as much water as 
 those constructed on a proper principle with plenty of soil so 
 arranged that it is saturated by the rains. Indeed, nothing but 
 ceaseless watering could preserve plants in a healthy state on the 
 rockwork commonly made. As regards the time of watering, it is 
 a matter of very little importance, though for convenience' sake 
 it is better not done in the heat of the day. The really im- 
 portant point is to see that it is equably and thoroughly done. 
 
 As to soil, the great majority of alpine plants will flourish in 
 one composed of three-fourths good loam and one-fourth mixed 
 peat and sand or peat and grit. In a word, ordinary light 
 garden soil, or what is called sandy loam, will suit them per- 
 fectly. But a particular kind of soil is required in special in- 
 stances. Rhododendron Chamcscistus, for example, likes lime- 
 stone ; Spigelia marilandica and Rhexia virginica I have seen 
 attain full health only in peat. The soil suitable for each plant 
 is given under its name in the second part of the book. As to 
 the kind of rocks and stones to be employed in the formation 
 of the rock-garden, almost any sort will do ; selecting, however, 
 as much as possible only one kind, in the largest masses, and in 
 the most worn and " natural-looking " condition. 
 
 Hardy Aquatic Plants. — As ornamental water and aquatic 
 plants are often intimately associated with rockworks, something 
 requires to be said of the most desirable water-plants. 
 
 A great deal of beauty may be added to the -margins, and here 
 and there to the surface, of ornamental water, by the use of a 
 good collection of hardy aquatics arranged with some taste, but, 
 so far as I have seen, this has not yet been fairly attempted by 
 any designer of a garden or piece of water. Usually you see the 
 same monotonous vegetation all round the margin if the soil be 
 rich ; in some cases, where the bottom is of gravel, there is little 
 or no vegetation, but an unbroken ugly line of washed earth 
 between wind and water. In others, water-plants accumulate till 
 they are a nuisance and an eyesore — I do not mean the sub- 
 merged plants like Anacharis, but such as the Water Lily, when 
 
68 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 they get matted. Now a well-developed plant or group of 
 plants of the queenly Water Lily, floating its large leaves and 
 noble flowers, is a sight not surpassed by any other in 
 our gardens ; but when it increases and runs over the whole 
 or a large part of a piece of water, and thickens together and 
 weakens in consequence, and the fowl cannot make their way 
 through it, then even the queen of British water-plants loses its 
 charms. No garden water, however, should be without a few 
 fine plants or groups of the Water Lily, and if the bottom did 
 not allow of the free development of the plant, scrapings or, 
 rubbish might be accumulated in the spot where it was desired 
 to exhibit the beauties of NymphcEa, and, thus arranged, it would 
 not spread too much. But it is not difficult to prevent the plant 
 from spreading ; indeed we have known isolated plants and 
 groups of it remain of almost the same size for years, and where 
 it increases too much, reduction to the desired limits is of veryi 
 easy accomphshment, either by cutting off the leaves or getting 
 at the roots in the bottom. 
 
 The yellow Water Lily, Nuphar lutea, though not so beautiful 
 as the preceding, is worthy of a place ; and also the little N. pu- 
 mila, a variety or sub-species found in the lakes of the North of 
 Scotland. Then there is the fine and large N. advena (a native 
 of America), which pushes its leaves boldly above the water, 
 and is very vigorous in habit. It is very plentiful in the 
 Manchester Botanic Garden, and will be found to some extent 
 in most gardens of the same kind. In collecting these things, 
 the true and the only way is to get as many as possible from 
 ordinary sources at first, and then exchange with others having 
 collections, whether they be the curators of botanic gardens or 
 private gentlemen fond of interesting plants. With a little per- 
 severance, many good things may soon be collected in this way. 
 One of the prettiest effects I have ever observed was afforded 
 by a sheet of Villarsia nymphceoides belting round the margin of 
 a lake near a woody recess, and before it, more towards the deep 
 water, a fine group of Water Lilies. The beauty of this Villarsia is 
 very insufficiently developed in garden waters. It is a charming 
 little water-plant, with its Nymphaea-like leaves and numerous 
 golden-yellow flowers, which furnish a beautiful effect on fine 
 days under a bright sun. It is not very commonly distri- 
 buted as a native plant, though, where found, generally very 
 plentiful, and not difficult to obtain in gardens where aquatics 
 
Part I. HARD Y AQUA TIC PLANTS. 69 
 
 are grown. It is in all respects one of the most serviceable of 
 hardy water-plants. 
 
 Not rare — growing, in fact, in nearly all districts of Britain — 
 but exquisitely beautiful and singular, is the Buckbean or Marsh 
 Trefoil {Menyanthes trifoliata), with its flowers elegantly and 
 singularly fringed on the inside with white filaments, and the 
 round unopened buds blushing on the top with a rosy red like 
 that of an apple-blossoniv In early summer, when seen trailing 
 in the soft ground near the margin of a stream, this plant 
 has more charms for me than any other marsh-plant. It will 
 grow in a bog or any moist place, or by the margin of 
 any water. Though a rather common native plant, it is not 
 half sufficiently grown in garden waters ; but, indeed, these 
 are invariably neglected. Generally peoples' minds are so 
 much fixed upon bedding out that they care little or nothing 
 for the permanent embellishment of the place with fine. hardy 
 subjects, and nothing at all for the waterside. For grace 
 and singularity combined, you cannot possibly surpass Equi- 
 setum Telmateia, which, in deep soil, in shady and sheltered 
 places near water, often grows several feet high ; the long, 
 close-set, slender branches depending from each whorl in a 
 singularly graceful manner. It is grown in many parts of 
 England, but does not penetrate far into Scotland, and may be 
 seen finely developed against the wall near the fernery in the 
 Oxford Botanic Garden : I doubt not that many who see it 
 there conclude it to be a foreigner, so distinct is it from our 
 ordinary native vegetation. For a bold and picturesque plant 
 on the margin of water nothing equals the great Water Dock 
 {Rumex HydrolapathuTii), which is rather generally dispersed 
 over the British Isles ; it has leaves quite subtropical in aspect 
 and size, becoming of a lurid red in the autumn. It forms a 
 grand mass of fohage on rich muddy banks. The Cats-tails 
 {Typhd) must not be omitted, but they should not be allowed to 
 run everywhere. The narrow-leaved one (T. angustifolid) is 
 more graceful than the common one {T. latifolid). Carex pen- 
 dula is excellent for the margins of water, its elegant drooping 
 spikes being quite distinct in their way. It is rather common 
 in England, more so than Carex pseudo-cyperus, which grows 
 well in a foot or two of water or on the margin of a muddy 
 pond. Carex paniculata forms a strong and thick stem, some- 
 times three or four feet high, somewhat like a tree-fern, and with 
 
7° ALPINE FLOWERS, Part I. 
 
 luxuriant masses of drooping leaves, and on that account is trans- 
 ferred to moist places in gardens, and cultivated by some, though 
 generally these large specimens are difficult to remove and soon 
 perish. Scirpus lacustris (the Bulrush) is too distinct a plant 
 to be omitted, as its stems, sometimes attaining a height of 
 more than seven and even eight feet, look very imposing ; and 
 Cyperus longus is also a desirable thing, reminding^ one of the 
 aspect of the Papyrus when in flower. It is found in some of 
 the southern counties of England. Poa aquatica might also be 
 used. Cladium mariscus is also another distinct and rather 
 scarce British aquatic which is worth a place. 
 
 If one chose to enumerate the plants that grow in British and 
 European waters, a very long list might be made, but the enu- 
 meration and recommendation of those which possess no distinct 
 character or no beauty of flower are precisely what I wish 
 to avoid, believing that it is only by a judicious selection of the 
 very best kinds that horticulture of this kind can give satisfac- 
 tion ; therefore, omitting a host of inconspicuous water-weeds, 
 I will endeavour to indicate all others really worthy. 
 
 If you have ever seen the flowering Rush {Butomus umbel- 
 latus) in flower, you are not likely to pmit it from a collection of 
 water-plants, as it is conspicuous and distinct. It is a native of 
 the greater part of Europe and Russian Asia, and is dispersed 
 over the central and southern parts of England and Ireland. 
 Plant it not far from the margin, as it likes rich muddy soil. The 
 common Sagittdria, very frequent in England and Ireland, but 
 not in Scotland, might be associated with this ; but there is a very 
 much finer double exotic kind to be had here and there, which is 
 really a fine plant, its flowers being white, and resembling, but 
 larger than, those of the old white double Rocket. This I once saw 
 in abundance in the pleasure gardens of the Rye House at Brox- 
 bourne, where it filled a, sort of oblong basin or wide ditch, and 
 looked quite attractive when in flower. It has the peculiarity 
 of forming large egg-shaped tubers, or rather receptacles of 
 farina, and I have found that in searching for these, ducks, or 
 something of the kind, have destroyed the plants. This makes 
 me suspect that it might prove a useful plant for the feeding of 
 wild fowl, and that it might be worthy of trial in that way. No 
 native water plant that I am acquainted with has anything like 
 such a store of farina as is laid up in the tubers of this plant. 
 Calla paluitris is a beautiful bog plant, and I know nothing that 
 
Part I. HARDY AQ UA TIC PLANTS. 7 1 
 
 produces a more pleasing effect over a bit of rich, soft, boggy 
 ground. It will also grow by the side of water. Calla cethiopica, 
 the well-known and beautiful " Lily of the Nile," is hardy enough 
 in some places if planted rather deep, and in nearly all it may be 
 stood out for the summer ; but except in quiet waters, in the 
 South of England and Ireland, I doubt if it would make any 
 progress. However, as it is a plant so commonly cultivated, it 
 may be tried without loss in favourable positions. The pine-like 
 Water Soldier (Stratiotes aloides) is so distinct that it is worthy 
 qf a place ; there is a pond chokeful of this plant at Tooting, and 
 it is common in the fens. It is allied to the Frogbit (Hydrocharis 
 morsus-rana), which, like the species of Water Ranunculi and 
 some other fast-growing and fast-disappearing families, I must 
 not here particularise; they cannot be "established" perma- 
 nently in one spot like the other things mentioned. The tufted 
 Loose-strife (Lysimachia thyrsiflora) flourishes on wet banks and 
 ditches, and in a foot or two of water. It is curiously beautiful 
 when in flower ; rather scarce as a British plant, but fouiid in 
 the North of England and in Scotland. Pontederia cordata is a 
 stout, firm-rooting, and perfectly hardy American water-herb, 
 with erect distinct habit, and blue flowers ; not difficult to obtain 
 from botanic garden or nursery. There is a small Sweet-flag 
 (Acorus gramineus) which is worth a place, and has also a well- 
 variegated variety, while the common Acorus, or Sweet-flag, will 
 be associated with the Water Iris (I. pseudacorus), the rather 
 ornamental Water Plantain (Alisma Plantago), and the pretty 
 Alisma ranunculoides, if it can be procured ; it is not nearly so 
 common as the Water Plantain. The pretty and interesting 
 little Star Damasonium of the southern and eastern counties of 
 England is very interesting, but, being an annual, is not to be 
 recommended to any but those who desire to make a full 
 collection, and who could and. would provide a special spot for 
 the more minute and delicate kinds. In such a spot, or even in 
 the basin of a fountain, where they should be safely watched from 
 being choked by larger weeds, the very tiny and pretty yellow 
 Water Lily, Nupkar Kalmiana, the little white Nymphaa odorata. 
 Lobelia Dortmanna, and not a few other things, might be grown. 
 The Water LobeUa does not seem to thrive away from the 
 shallow parts of the northern lakes, getting choked by the 
 numerous water weeds. Aponogeton distachyon is a singularly 
 pretty plant, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, which is 
 
72 ALPINE FLOWERS. .Part I. 
 
 nearly hardy enough for our dimate generally, and, from 
 its sweetness and curious beauty, a most desirable plant to 
 cultivate either in a basin or fountain in the greenhouse, or in 
 a warm spot in the open air. It is largely grown in one or 
 two places in the south, and it nearly covers the surface of the 
 only bit of water in the Edinburgh •Botanic Garden with its 
 long green leaves, among which the sweet flowers float 
 abundantly. The curator of the garden accounts for the plant 
 doing so well by the fact that there are springs in the bottom of 
 the water which, to some extent, elevate its temperature. In 
 any sort of a greenhouse or conservatory aquarium, where it 
 may have room to develop itself, it is one of the loveliest of 
 water-plants. In the open air, plant it rather deep in a clean 
 spot and in good soil ; see that the long and soft leaves are not 
 injured either by ducks or any other cause. The Water Ranun- 
 culi, which sheet over our pools in spring and early summer with 
 such silvery beauty, are not worth an attempt at cultivation, so 
 rambhng and unfixable are they ; and the same applies to not 
 a few other things of interest. Orontium aquaticum is a scarce 
 and handsome aquatic for the choice collection, but as beautiful 
 as any is the not-difficult-to-be-found Water Violet (Hottonia 
 palustris). It occurs most frequently in the eastern and cen- 
 tral districts of England and Ireland. The best example of it that 
 I have seen was on an expanse of soft mud near Lea Bridge, in 
 Essex. It covered the muddy surface with a sheet of dark fresh 
 green, and must have looked better in that position than when 
 in water, though doubtless the place was occasionally flooded. 
 Polygonum amphibium and P. Hydropiper frequently flower 
 prettily by the side of streams and ponds, while the Marsh Mari- 
 gold (Caltha palustris), that " shines like fire in swamps and 
 hollows grey," will burnish the margin with a glory of colour 
 which no exotic flower could surpass. A suitable con> 
 panion for this Caltha is the very large and showy Ranunculus 
 lingua, which grows in rich ground to a height of three feet or 
 more. It is not scarce and yet not common — locally distributed, 
 in fact. Lythrum roseum superbum, a beautifully coloured 
 variety of the common purple Loose-strife, and Epilobium 
 hirsutum, are two large and fine plants for the water-side. 
 
 What to avoid.— In the selection of a few illustrations show- 
 ing on what a mistaken principle, and with what deplorable taste, 
 rockwork is generally made, my first intention was to have had 
 
Part I. 
 
 WHA T TO A VOW. 
 
 73 
 
 them engraved from drawings taken in various gardens, public 
 and private ; but as this course might have proved an invi- 
 dious one, I have preferred to take them from our best books 
 on Horticulture — the works of our highest authorities, Loudon, 
 Macintosh, and others. From these the reader may glean some 
 idea of popular notions on this subject, and it is scarcely needful 
 to add that, if such ridiculous objects occur in our most trust- 
 worthy books, yet more absurd must they be in many gardens. 
 
 The first simple beauty is copied from the frontispiece of 
 a small book on alpine plants, 
 published not many years ago. 
 Growing naturally on the high 
 mountains, unveiled from the 
 sun by wood or copse, alpine 
 plants are grouped here be- 
 neath what appears to be a 
 weeping willow — a position in 
 which they could not possibly 
 attain anything like their na- 
 tive vigour and beauty, or do 
 otherwise than lead a sickly 
 existence. The degree of 
 contentment and delight felt 
 by the artist for his sub- 
 ject is shown by his planting 
 the ponderous vase in the 
 centre of the group, and the introduction of the railing is quite 
 beyond all praise. Had Mr. Ruskin seen it, he might have 
 spoken more kindly of iron railings in the ' Two Paths ' ! * A 
 
 Fig. 45- — Frontispiece of a book on 
 alpine plants. 
 
 * **0n the other hand, we cast our iron into bars — brittle, though an inch thick — 
 sharpen them at the ends, and consider fences, and other work made of such materials, 
 decorative ! 1 do not believe it would be easy to calculate the amount of mischief 
 done to our taste in England by that fence ironwork of ours alone. If it were asked 
 of us, by a single characteristic, to distinguish the dwellings of a country into two 
 broad sections : and to set, on one side, the places where people were, for the most 
 part, simple, happy,- benevolent, and honest; on the other side, the places. where 
 at least a great number of the people were sophisticated, unkind, imcomfortable, and 
 unprincipled, there is, I think, one feature that you could fix upon as a positive test : 
 the uncomfortable and unprincipled parts of a country would be the parts where 
 people lived among iron railings, and the comfortable and principled parts where they 
 had none . . . Consider every other kind of fence or defence, and you will find some 
 virtue in it ; but in the iron railing none ... a thing which you can't walk inside of 
 without making yourself look like a wild beast, nor look out at your window in the 
 morning without expecting to see somebody impaled upon it in the night." 
 
74 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Fig. 46. — After Loudon. 
 
 few blacking pots -or pieces of obscene crockery are all that is 
 needed to make the group complete. 
 
 One of the commonest forms which rockwork is made to 
 assume is that of a rustic arch ; and the following illustration, 
 copied from Loudonj is less hideous than numbers that may be 
 seen about London. Frequently they are formed out of burrs, and 
 occasionally of clinkers, but even if 
 composed of the finest stone obtain- 
 able, they are utterly useless for the 
 growth of alpine vegetation. How 
 many Saxifrages, or Pinks, or Prim- 
 roses, could find a home on such a 
 structure planted in a part of the 
 Alps highly favourable to vegeta- 
 tion ? Probably not one, and should 
 a few succulents establish themselves 
 on its lower flanks, they would in 
 all probability perish from heat and 
 drought if their roots had not a free course to the earth beneath. 
 Even persons with some experience of plant life may be seen 
 sticking plants over such objects as these, as if their tender roots 
 were capable of bearing as many vicissitudes of heat and cold as 
 a piece of copper wire. The fact that plants push their roots far 
 into masses of old brickwork is no 'justification for the rustic 
 arch as a home for alpine flowers. If the cement, burrs, and 
 clinkers permitted them even to enter 
 it, they have nothing of any kind into 
 which to descend. There is rarely an 
 excuse for constructing such arches ; 
 where they occur, they should be 
 completely clothed with Ivy or other 
 vigorous climbers : the expense ne- 
 cessary to construct one would suf- 
 fice for one of the simpler types of 
 rock-garden already described. 
 
 The next scene is one in which a 
 miniature representation of various 
 mountains is attempted. Efforts of 
 this kind usually end ridiculously, ex- 
 cept when carried out at a vast expense. Let us succeed with a few 
 square yards of stony mountain turf and flowers before we attempt 
 
 Fig. 47.— All the Alps seen from the 
 hall-door. (After Macintosh.) 
 
Part I. 
 
 WHAT TO AVOID. 
 
 75 
 
 Fig. 48. — Fountain and rock- 
 work. (After Loudon.) 
 
 to delineate all the mountains of a continent. A few hundred 
 yards in length or even a single nook of many an alpine valley 
 is often sufficient to impress the traveller with wonder and awe. 
 We cannot therefore help admiring the boldness of those who 
 even try their hand at a solitary alp. 
 
 The next illustration shows a rockwork and fountain in what 
 we may call the true mixed Style — huge shells, " cascades," and 
 " rockwork." How any such object can be 
 conceived to be in any sense ornamental 
 is not easily explained, but it has been 
 extracted as a model from a work of au- 
 thority. In the fulness of time, no doubt, 
 such abominations will be suppressed by 
 act of parliament ; but as many foolish 
 persons will continue to erect them in 
 the mean time, let us beg of them not in 
 any way to associate them with alpine 
 flowers. Even if it were possible to in- 
 duce these to luxuriate on such objects 
 
 as Fig. 48, they would merely serve to spoil the unity of the 
 design. 
 
 Our next figure shows a truly laudable attack upon monotony. 
 The tall stones are to the smaller ones as the Lombardy poplar 
 is to his round-headed brothers of 
 the grove. The front margin of this 
 graceful scene consists of two rows 
 of prostrate and one row of erect 
 clinkers, and is much less irregular 
 and more hideous than the engraver 
 has had the heart to make it. The 
 back wall is of a very common type, and precisely of that texture 
 on which alpine plants will not exist. This cut is not extracted 
 from the great books of Loudon or of Macintosh ; it is a 
 comparatively recent improvement, and was sketched during 
 the past summer in a botanic garden not one hundred miles 
 from London. 
 
 Fig. 50, after Mrs. Loudon, while not so repulsive as some 
 of the others, shows in its elevated nodding head the tendency 
 to make such arrangements conspicuously offensive by raising 
 them too high proportionately, and by so placing the stones 
 that the rain cannot nourish the plants. Like the arches, 
 
 Fig. 49. 
 ' Infandi scopuli."- 
 
 •(After — .) 
 
>6 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Fig. 50. — After Mrs. Loudon. 
 
 these should in all cases be covered with Ivy, or some kindly 
 veil of vegetation. It should be noted that when rocks or stones 
 are properly placed in the rock-garden, 
 they do not require any cementing, 
 but are surrounded by and placed on 
 moist stony earth or grit, inviting to 
 every fibre of the root that descends. 
 From this we may deduce the rule — 
 Rockwork consisting of stones ce^ 
 mented together is utterly bad in all 
 respects. A distinction should, how- 
 ever, be here drawn between this variety and that in which a 
 shell of artificial rock, so as to resemble natural strata, is made 
 to contain rich bodies of earth suitable for Clematises, Rho- 
 dodendrons, &c. 
 
 A. variety is occasionally seen bordering drives, often with 
 large stones arranged in porcupine-quill fashion. This may be 
 described as the style dangerous for coachmen on dark nights, 
 or indeed at any time, when a swerve or tumble occurs. A 
 sketch taken near York, and showing a dentate ridge of rocks 
 springing up close from each side of a drive for a considerable 
 length near the entrance gate, has been mislaid, or I should 
 have had the pleasure of figuring this variety. Such a position 
 is the last that should be chosen for the rock-garden, especially as 
 we live in an age when it is not desirable to combine it with any 
 kind of fortification. 
 
 Lastly, and without alluding to even half the genera, much less 
 the species, of the ridiculous rockwork tribe, I have the pleasure 
 of presenting a plan of some, recently constructed on the margin 
 
 of a. stream in a popu- 
 lar London park. It 
 shows exactly what not 
 to do with any rocks in- 
 troduced near the mar- 
 gin of water. A poultry 
 breeder, desirous of 
 constructing a series 
 of nests for aquatic 
 birds, could scarcely 
 have originated anything in baser taste. By turning to p. 22, 
 something suggestive of Nature's work in this way will be seen. 
 
 Fig. SI. — Ground plan of rockworks recently made 
 in a London park on margin of water. 
 
Part I. 
 
 WHAT TO AVOID. 
 
 77 
 
 and that by no means a selected example. So far from these 
 figures illustrating exaggerated or extreme instances, I should 
 have no difficulty in finding many, even uglier and more un- 
 suitable, in a few hours' walk near London. That such blemishes 
 are not confined to obscure places, where the light of modern 
 progress in these matters has not yet shone, is evident, as 
 one of the most absurd sketches was taken in one of our 
 greatest parks and another in one of the most popular of London 
 public gardens. 
 
 T^ 
 
 
 
 W 
 
 Fig. 52. 
 ' . . . . the tall pines dwindled as to shrubs 
 In dizziness of distance." 
 
78 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 Fig. S3. — " Excelsior ! '' 
 
 A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 
 
 As this book niay prove of some use as a guide, not only to 
 those who have visited or are familiar with the countries in 
 which' alpine plants abound, but to many who have no oppor^ 
 tunities of seeing them in a wild state, \ have thought it worth 
 while to include a few notes of my first short excursion in a 
 eally alpine country. It may serve to give some notion of such 
 I region to those who have no better means of becoming ac- 
 jjuainted with it. Zest is certainly added to the knowledge of 
 our tiny mountain gems if they are associated in our minds 
 with ideas or remembrances of their beautiful and often awful 
 native haunts. It relates no exciting accounts of attempts to 
 mount any peaks that happen to be a few hundred feet higher 
 than those of comparatively easy access. It only deals, in pass- 
 ing, with one of the few texts that one may read in the great 
 book of the Alps. Therefore, all critics accustomed to books of 
 sensational adventure, owners of Murray's guides, travelled per- 
 sons generally, and, above all, the " general reader," in quest of 
 excitement, are fairly warned that they will find it as empty as 
 Sir Charles Coldstream found the crater of Vesuvius. 
 
 The first day's work shall be devoted to the ascent of the 
 Grande Salfeve, which, though not a great mountain, and with 
 
Part I. 
 
 A LITTLE TOUR IN. THE ALPS. 
 
 79 
 
 green meadows instead of snow at its top, is nearly 5000 feet 
 high, and affords a good opportunity of commencing training 
 for more serious work. The hmestone chain, to the highest 
 point of which we have to walk, is situated a little to the south of 
 Geneva, and has vast escarpments looking toward that town. It 
 will afford us our first introduction to alpine flowers, and a mag- 
 nificent view of the mountains around. We are on the banks of 
 Lake Leman, and the " live thunder " is not leaping from 
 darkened Jura to the "joyous Alps ; " but, valleys, hills, and far- 
 
 off mountains all glow with the genial sun of a clear June 
 morning. A few miles' drive through the clear sparkling air 
 brings us from the fringe of the lake to the roots of the mountain 
 before six o'clock, and then we gradually and pleasantly begin 
 the ascent, through the last patches of meadow land, for the 
 most part very like Enghsh meadow land, but much more gay 
 with flowers. Bright Pinks, blue Harebells, Sages, and various 
 Pea-flowers, make the scene as gay with colour as the air is full 
 of the voices of innumerable insects, for which the long grass is a 
 forest. Soon we pass the cultivated land, and enter on the hem 
 of an immense belt of hazel and low wood, with numerous little 
 
8o 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 green and bushless carpets of grass here and. there, which cuts 
 off vine, and corn, and meadow, from the slopes of the mountains. 
 Here in this, at half past six in the morning, the nightingale is 
 singing ; while white-headed eagles float aloft, now over the 
 lake, and now over plain and hill, sometimes on motion- 
 less wing, and yet rapidly and silently gliding along on the 
 look-out for prey. From floating bird in glowing air, perfumed 
 by wild Lily-bf-the-valley, the white bells of which may be 
 seen leaning out of it,s tufts of tender green, at the base of the 
 
 Fig- 55- — In the woody region. 
 
 bushes, to the flower-clad heaps of stone, and in every peep 
 which 'the eye obtains through the bush and wood to the villa- 
 dotted margins of the lake, the scene is one of unalloyed beauty 
 and abounding life — 
 
 " A populous solitude of bees, and birds, 
 And fairy-formed and many-coloured things.'' 
 
 Some magnificent gorges and precipices are gradually reached 
 and exposed to view, every crevice having some plant in it, and 
 all the ledges being clothed with the greenest grass or bushes, 
 the precipices being so well, covered to the very brows that the 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 8i 
 
 danger of approaching them too closely is somewhat shaded 
 from the unwary — but as yet few of such as are generally 
 termed alpine plants. Many of the most delicate and minute of 
 these would grow well in such a position, but the long and 
 luxuriant grass and low wood would soon overrun and destroy 
 them. The low tree gets a vantage ground on the shattered 
 flanks of the mountain, and retains it. But in such positions we 
 find numbers of beautiful flowers that may be termed sub- 
 alpine, and occasionally plants that are found, of very diminutive 
 size, near the crest of an alp, are here several times larger and 
 taller. The plants that occur in such places should have a pecu- 
 liar interest for all who love gardens, because they flourish in a 
 temperature nearly like that of the greater part of these islands. 
 Every copse, shrubbery, thin wood, or semi-wild spot in pleasure- 
 grounds, throughout the length and breadth of the land, may 
 grow scores of these plants, that now rarely or never find a 
 suitable home in our gardens. 
 
 That fine rock-plant. Genista sagittalis, with curious winged 
 stems and profuse masses of yellow flowers, forms the very turf 
 in some spots. I do not diverge a step from the well-beaten 
 path up which many are going, and therefore botanical rarities 
 do not come in the way, but some things occur in such pro- 
 fusion that tourists can never exterminate them, and soon I 
 meet with grey tufts of that fine rock-plant, the mountain Oxy- 
 tropis, which is here quite plentiful. Although many gather 
 Ferns by the path, there are tufts of Asplenium fontanum here 
 and there on this much frequented mountain, which may with 
 some irreverence be called the Hampstead Heath of Geneva. 
 Nevertheless, the ascent of it is better and more difficult exer- 
 cise than mounting Box Hill, even though a pathway has 
 been made all the way. Dwarf neat bushes of Cytisus sessili- 
 Jolius become very common ; it is well worthy of cultivation, 
 ■ and soon I gather my first truly wild Cyclamen. The Lily- 
 of-the-valley forms a carpet all under the brushwood. The 
 Martagon Lily shoots up here and there among the common 
 Orchids and Grass, and I begin to enjoy, for the second time 
 during the year, the fragrance of the Hawthorn Bush. The 
 Laburnum is mostly past ; but on high precipices, by looking 
 closely, you may yet see bushes of it in flower. The great 
 yellow Gentian begins to be very plentiful everywhere, and 
 Globularia cordifolia is in dense dwarf sheets here and there, 
 
 G 
 
82 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 showing its latest flowers. Anthericum Liliago is very plentiful 
 and pretty ; and we see all this by the side of a well-beaten 
 path, from which, no doubt, every rare plant has been gathered. 
 Trifolium, Dianthus, Melampyrum, AnthyUis, and Euphorbia 
 struggle for the mastery wherever a little grass has a chance 
 to spread out, and every chink and small hole in 'the rocks 
 where a little decomposed mould has accumulated supports 
 some vegetation. 
 
 After a walk of three hours, I reach the top, having often 
 stopped to admire the magnificent and varied views. From the 
 bottom the visitor might have expected a stony barren mountain 
 top, a contracted space, with stunted, if rare forms of vegetation ; 
 but it is an immense plateau, stretching miles in length, and 
 covered with the greenest and freshest verdure. The best 
 meadows of England, or even the Green Isle, could not vie 
 with it in these points, while the grass is gay with flowers to 
 which they are strangers, and here and there young plants of 
 the great yellow Gentian, with their large and handsome leaves, 
 act as the " foliage plants " of the region. Trees there are 
 none ; but occasionally the Hazel, Cotoneaster, and other shrubs 
 form a little group, and perhaps enclose some spot, so that the 
 cattle that are driven up here in the summer months cannot eat 
 down the flowers there. They were but lately driven up, and had 
 not yet injured the beauty of the fair pasture elsewhere. The air 
 is delightfully fresh and sweet, and carries with it the tinkling of 
 the bells from the numerous cattle that are now grazing here. 
 The mountain is of a limestone formation, but now and then 
 I meet with a great block of solid granite, a remembrancer of 
 the days when enormous glaciers from the far off Mont Blanc 
 range stretched to this, and when the rich and pleasant valley of 
 the Alps was not. In several places there is a large expanse 
 of well-worn rock, a. level well-denuded mass, with cracks in it, 
 in which Polypodium Robertiamim and other Ferns grow luxu- 
 riantly. The surface is indented with roundish hollows, as if 
 great hzards and salamanders had left their impress on it ; these 
 have in the course of ages become filled with a few inches of 
 mould from decomposed moss, &c., and in them grow Vacci- 
 niums. Saxifrages, and Ferns, quite as well as if the "most 
 perfect drainage " were secured. I tore up some flakes of plants 
 here as easily as if they had been carefully detached from the 
 rocks before, so lightly did they grow in the smooth hollows. 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 83 
 
 There was no need for any careful exertion in getting things up 
 in this spot. 
 
 I was of course very glad to meet with my first silvery Saxifrage 
 in a wild state, having long held that these Saxifrages, so often 
 Icept in pots even in botanic gardens, require no such attention , 
 and may be grown everywhere in the open air with the greatest 
 ease. The position of the specimens here fully confirmed this 
 opinion. They grew in every conceivable position, at the bottom 
 of small narrow chasms, under the shade of the bushes, in 
 little thimble-holes on the surface of the rocks, in a tiny and 
 sometimes flaccid condition from the drought ; and here and 
 there among Festuca glauca and Asplenium Trichomanes, where 
 the accumulated soil was a little deeper. 
 
 The vernal Gentian is known to many as the type of all 
 that is charming in alpine vegetation : its vivid colour and 
 peerless beauty stamp themselves on the mind of the dullest 
 traveller that crosses the Alps as deeply as the vast and death- 
 like wastes of snow, ever-darting silvery waterfalls, or the high, 
 dark, plumy ridges of pines, though it be but a diminutive speck 
 compared to any of these. It is there a hardy little gem-like 
 triumph of life in the midit of death, buried under the deep all- 
 shrouding snow for four, six, or even eight months out of the 
 twelve, and blooming during the .brightest summer days near the 
 margin of the wide glaciers, and within the sound of the little 
 snow cataracts that tumble off the high Alps in summer. But it 
 is not confined to such awful, if attractive, spots ; it descends to 
 the crests of comparatively low mountain tops like this, where 
 the sun's heat has power to drive away all the snow in spring, 
 and where the snow is quickly replaced with boundless 
 meadows of the richest grass, that form a setting for innumer- 
 able flowers. Among these the "blue Gentian" occurs, and 
 blooms abundantly late in spring, while acres of the same 
 kind lie deep and dormant, under the cold snow, on the slope 
 of the high neighbouring alp for months afterwards. It also 
 ventures into non-alpine countries, being found in Teesdale 
 and Galway. 
 
 This brilliant Gentian is very plentiful in the pastures here, 
 but it is now passed out of flower, and the seed-pods, very full 
 and strong, are to be seen among the taller herbage. In one 
 spot I found a perfect bloom, the deepest bit of blue on the 
 whol,e mountain. A few weeks earlier this plant was in per- 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 fection — now the Grass makes it difficult to see its leaves, 
 and somewhat obscures the dwarf silky Cudweed, which seems 
 placed to form a silvery bed for the Gentian. Alpine travel- 
 lers, botanists, and horticulturists, say that this lovely plant 
 and its fellows cannot be cultivated, and Dean Close regret- 
 lully echoed this in describing in ' Good Words ' his passage 
 over the Simplon. This idea is quite erroneous, as anybody 
 can prove who carries out the directions given farther on in 
 this book. 
 
 Having arrived at the summit, let us sit down and survey the 
 varied and magnificent prospect around. On one side we have 
 
 Fig. 56. — View of a part of distant range. 
 
 the Jura range, and the wide sunny valley cultivated in every spot 
 below the town of Geneva, and, between the Jura and our position, 
 the lower part of the lake of Geneva, scarcely fluttered by the light 
 breeze, the countless pleasant spots along its famous shores, and 
 issuing from it the blue waters of the Rhone. Below the town it 
 flows for some distance before being joined by the Arve, and 
 from the summit of this mountain both may be seen wending 
 their way to the meeting place— the one a dirty ash ( olour, the 
 other almost a porcelain blue. By turning to the other side, 
 another beautiful and well cultivated valley is seen, and beyond 
 it a round isolated mountain, which from Geneva looked as tall 
 as some of the giant ones, but which now seems a mere Primrose 
 Hill compared with others to be seen from thi's spot, Many 
 green and well-pastured mountains he beyond, with dark clouds 
 
Part I. 
 
 A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 
 
 85 
 
 of Pine woods above and among them. Others still higher, and 
 with the verdure less visible, are behind, and above all a great, 
 bony, steep-scarped, dark range stretching all across the view. 
 The hollows between the angular-pointed ridges are white with 
 vast fields of snow, while others seem variegated with it in 
 narrower bands, against the dark framework of the mountains. 
 Clouds cap this far-off region — round, high, silvery clouds, con- 
 trasting with the deep blue sky above, and the wide range of 
 mountains with the deep snow-seams down their dark sides 
 below. A few minutes afterwards a break has occurred in these 
 great " cloud-lands," and something reveals itself among them 
 lit up with the hues of the silvery woolpacks around, and 
 yet not of them, for there is here and there a dark spot suggestive 
 of solid earth, and you ask yourself, can it be that that is a 
 mountain ? Yes, that is the tall old father of all the magnificent 
 mountains around, his head silvery with age, while his eldest 
 sons are merely beginning to show the silver here and there, and 
 the younger ones have not a trace of anything but the fresh hue 
 of youth. 
 
 The indescribable variety and beauty of the country traversed 
 on descending the other side of the Salfeve, and the margins of 
 calm, blue, celestial-looking Lake Leman, with vast ranges of 
 snowy mountains beyond its broad expanse, give the young 
 traveller a very rose-coloured 
 impression of the Alps, 
 which forty-eight hours' jour- 
 ney from Geneva was quite 
 sufficient to modify in my 
 case. The country has every 
 conceivable variety of attrac- 
 tive pastoral scenery, and, 
 better still, the human beings 
 in it seem to partake of the 
 felicity which appears to be 
 here the lot of all animated 
 nature. Their cottages and 
 houses, nestling in nooks in 
 the sweetest of flowery fields, 
 and carved out of the abundant wood ot the region, snug gar- 
 dens, fields of emerald green, vine-clad slopes, happy-looking 
 villas, numerous flocks, and high ridges of. mountain-lawn, with 
 
 57. — Castle of Chillon. 
 
86 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 noble groups of dark Pines, forming vast natural parks — fill him 
 with the most agreeable ideas of what his lot is to be when he is 
 up amongst the Gentians and Primulas on the high mountains. 
 The Castle of Chillon comes in to make the scene more interest- 
 ing, associated as it is with thoughts of Rousseau and the author 
 of ' The Prisoner of Chillon.' The too rapid rail allows but a 
 moment to see the castle and the neighbourhood of varied love- 
 liness by which it is surrounded, and a glimpse at the solitary 
 little islet — 
 
 " A small green isle, it seemed no more, 
 Scarce broader than my dungeon-floor ; 
 But in it there were three tall trees. 
 And o'er it blew the mountain breeze. 
 And by it there were waters flowing. 
 And in it there were young flowers blowing. 
 Of gentle breath and hue." 
 
 But we must leave these Arcadian spots, and enter the great 
 valley of the Rhone. I wished to reach Visp, situated at the 
 mouth of the Saas Valley, ahd left Geneva in the belief that I 
 should get there in one day, but found the diligence only left 
 Sion near midnight. Jogging over rocky roads in a diligence is 
 not the happiest way of passing the night, particularly when 
 you are informed that it will take seven or eight hours to com- 
 plete your first little stage. I formed one of the passengers 
 of a supplementary diligence, as the ordinary one had already 
 its full complement, and unhappily our carriage parted com- 
 pany with the horses several times during the night, so that 
 there were occasionally stoppages to enable the^drivers to esta- 
 blish with ropes a connection between horses and vehicle. The 
 delay caused by this made me allow a margin beyond the allotted 
 seven hours for Visp, and when, the following morning, we all 
 turned out of our uncomfortable carriages, I had the pleasure of 
 finding that .1 had been carried to Brieg, miles beyond Visp, and 
 at the foot of the Simplon. Fortunately the supplementary 
 diligence was returning by the same route ; so I was enabled 
 to get back to this little earthquake-shaken town without much 
 inconvenience, and soon commenced my first real day on the 
 Alps. 
 
 My intention was to get to Saas, situated about fifteen miles 
 up the valley, see the flora of the region thereabouts, get back 
 to Visp, and, provided only with an alpenstock, determined to 
 return in a day or two ; but unforeseen circumstances pre- 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 87 
 
 vented that. Several weeks elapsed, and I crossed the Alps 
 twice, before I again got back to the hotel at Visp. I left my 
 luggage there, took instructions from the landlord as to the 
 " road," and started about ten o'clock on a rather dull morn- 
 ing. I soon overtook an individual, who told me he was a 
 guide, hunted the chamois when there was little else to do, and, 
 better than all, was going to Saas. It was lucky that I met him, 
 for, though an inexperienced traveller might make his way 
 through this tortuous valley in ordinary weather, such weather as 
 I encountered in it would puzzle one in a familiar district. Com- 
 pared to the enchanting shores of the lake I had passed the day 
 before, this dark valley, with its deeply worn river-bed, and vast 
 sides of gloomy rock, looked anything but a cheerful introduction 
 to the Alps ; but fortunately I had other resources than those of 
 the landscape or the sky, and as yet the weather permitted of en- 
 joying them, for here were countless tufts of the interesting Cob- 
 web Houseleek {Sempervivum. arachnoideum), a not common, 
 though always admired, inhabitant of our gardens. It was the 
 first time I had ever met with it in a wild state, and cushioned in 
 tufts, over the bare rocks, in the spaces between the stones that 
 here and there had been built up to support the side of the path- 
 way, and in almost every chink, 1 could have gathered thou- 
 sands of plants of it. 
 
 Although some of the Houseleeks are among the most interest- 
 ing and singular of all dwarf plants, many persons do not know 
 a single kind, except it be the common one. They are the suc- 
 culent plants of the Alps : their geometrically carved little ro- 
 settes may be compared to miniatures of the great stately Agaves 
 of America. Some have rosettes as large as a saucer ; some are 
 small enough to be covered with a thimble ; they vary in the hue 
 of their leaves from a decided glaucous tone to light green ; some 
 are ciliated at the margins of the leaves, while the Cobweb one 
 is white from a densely interwoven cottony down. They are 
 amongst the hardiest of all plants, enduring any weather, and 
 living even in smoky London, where many things people gene- 
 rally think much more hardy and vigorous quickly perish. 
 There is not a window-sill in London to which the light of the 
 sun can occasionally penetrate on which they may not be grown 
 either in pots or boxes, while in all open gardens they merely 
 require to be kept free from weeds and " left to nature ; " though 
 even in our largest scientific gardens it is common to see them 
 

 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 89 
 
 grown in pots, which they no more require than does a young 
 oak. To the cottage or garden of the poorest they will lend an 
 interest, and any of our largest gardens would be improved by 
 their presence, if suitably arranged. Generally it is rare to see 
 them in cultivation, but lately a fine species, S. calcareum, has 
 come into use as an edging plant. 
 
 The Cobweb Houseleek is usually kept in a miserable state in 
 pots, though the accompanying cut, from a photograph taken 
 at Lamport Hall, Northampton, the 
 seat of Sir Charles I sham, shows 
 that it attains the rudest vigour in 
 British gardens. Indeed, I have not 
 seen it so vigorous on the Alps as 
 at Lamport Hall last summer. It 
 is, however, impossible to fully re- 
 present its singular structure in an 
 
 engraving. Fig- 59.— The Cobweb Houseleek. 
 
 Next our pretty old friend, the 
 Hepatica, came in sight, peeping here and there under the brush- 
 wood, but rarely in such strong tufts as one sees it make in our 
 gardens. In a wild state it has, like everything else, to fight for 
 existence, and is none the worse for it. To meet the httle king 
 of all our early. spring flowers in his old wild home would have 
 rewarded me for a day'^ hard walking in these soUtudes. This 
 plant had many interesting companions ; not the least attrac- 
 tive and welcome being the Helvetian Selaginella, occasionally 
 seen in fern collections in this country, which mantled over the 
 rocks in many places, pushing up little erect fruiting stems from 
 its green branchlets. It is hardy and well suited to gracefully 
 accompany the smallest flowering rock-herbs. 
 
 The scenery now began to get very bold and striking, and, 
 after a walk of nearly two hours, we reached a village with a 
 very poor inn, where we had some black bread and wine. By 
 this time a sUght -misty rain had begun to fall, and bearing in 
 mind the long and toilsome valley we had to traverse before 
 reaching a place where we could rest for the night, we resolved 
 to use our legs as rapidly as possible, and practically shut our 
 eyes to all the interesting objects around us. A soaking rain 
 helped us to carry out this part of the plan. With rapid pace 
 and eyes fixed on the stony footway, on we went, the valley 
 becoming narrower as we progressed, and in some parts danger- 
 
9° 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 ous-looking from almost perpendicularly rising hills of loose 
 stone. Presently a little rough weather-beaten wooden cross 
 was passed beside the footway. " Why a cross here ? " said I 
 to the guide. " That great stone or rock 
 you see, killed, in its way down, a man 
 returning with his marketings from the 
 valley," he replies. Poor fellow ! he must 
 have formed but a small obstacle to that 
 ponderous mass — hard as iron and big as 
 a small cottage — which fell from its bed 
 with such impetuosity that it leaped from 
 point to point, and at last right over the 
 torrent-bed, resting on a little lawn of rich 
 grass and bright flowers on the other side. 
 Ten minutes afterwards we came to a 
 group of three more rough wooden crosses, 
 almost projecting into the pathway, and 
 loosely fixed in the stones at its sides. 
 They marked the spot where three human 
 beings, two women and a man, had been 
 buried by an avalanche. " And how," said 
 I, "do you recover -people's bodies who 
 are thus overwhelmed.?" "We wait till 
 the snow melts in spring, and then find and 
 bury them." If our interesting friends the'lrish could be traced 
 back to these valleys, one could easily explain the origin of their 
 expression " kilt entirely ! " It is no exaggeration to state that in 
 many places along this valley these wooden crosses, marking the 
 scene of deaths from hke causes, occurred so thickly as to remind 
 one of a cemetery. I should not have minded seeing one or two 
 instances, but to meet them within view of each other was highly 
 suggestive. A railway collision would seem to offer, capital 
 chances of escape compared to what one would have in case 
 of being in the way of any crumbling matter in these parts. 
 
 We have all heard of the merry Swiss boy, but few of us 
 have an idea of the hard and fearful nature of the lives of the 
 peasantry of the elevated parts of this country. In the wide 
 valleys and level land about the lakes life is as easy as need be ; 
 but where man creeps up to occupy the last tufts of verdure that 
 are spread out, where the Alps defy him with fortifications of 
 rock and fields of ice and snow, there his IJfe is not an enviable 
 
 Fig. 60. 
 
Part I. ^ LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 91 
 
 one. Perhaps its hardships make it none the less dear. Even 
 the procuring of the necessaries of Hfe renders them liable to 
 dangers of which in this country we have no experience ; almost 
 every commodity of life has to be dragged up these valleys 
 on the backs of men or mules from the villages and towns 
 in the Rhone valley ; while in their dwellings, made of stems 
 of the ever-abundant Pine, and usually placed on spots likely 
 to be free from danger from avalanches, they are sometimes 
 buried alive. 
 
 The following description by Mr. Ruskin of one of their sad 
 little groups of houses is fearfully true, and as it is perhaps 
 desirable that we should know a little about the people as well 
 as the plants, it may not be out of place here : — 
 
 " Here, it may well seem to him, if there be sometimes hard- 
 ship, there must be at least innocence and peace, and fellowship 
 of the human soul with nature. It is not so. The wild goats 
 that leap along those rocks have as much passion of joy in all 
 that fair work of God as the men that toil among them. Perhaps 
 more. Enter the street of one of those villages, and you will 
 find it foul with that gloomy foulness that is suffered only by 
 torpor, or by anguish of soul. Here it is torpor — not abso- 
 lute suffering — nor starvation or disease, but darkness of calm 
 enduring ; the spring known only as the time of the scythe, and 
 the autumn as the time of the sickle, and the sun only as a 
 ■warmth, the wind as a chill, and the mountains as a danger. 
 They do not understand so much as the name of beauty, or 
 of knowledge. They understand dimly that of virtue. Love, 
 patience, hospitality,- faith — these things they know. To glean 
 their meadows side by side, so happier ; to bear the burden up the 
 breathless mountain flank unmurmuringly ; to bid the stranger 
 drink from their vessel of milk ; to see at the foot of their low 
 deathbeds a pale figure upon a cross, dying also, patiently — in this 
 they are different from the cattle and from the stones, but in all 
 this unrewarded as far as concerns the present life. For them, 
 there is neither hope nor passion of spirit ; for them neither ad- 
 vance nor exultation. Black bread, rude roof, dark night, laborious 
 day, weary arm at sunset ; and life ebbs away. No books, no 
 thoughts, no attainments, no rest ; except only a little sitting in 
 the sun under the church wall, as the bells toll thin and far in the 
 mountain air ; a pattering of a few prayers not understood, by 
 the altar rails of the dimly gilded chapel, and so back to the 
 
92 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 sombre home, with the cloud upon them still unbroken — that 
 cloud of rocky gloom, born out of the wild torrents and ruinous 
 stones, and unlightened, even in their religion, except by the 
 vague promise of some better thing unknown, mingled with 
 threatening, and obscured by an unspeakable horror — a smoke, 
 as it were, of martyrdom, coiling up with the incense, and, 
 amidst the images of tortured bodies and lamenting spirits in 
 hurtling flames, the very cross, for them, dashed more deeply 
 than for others, with gouts of blood. 
 
 Fig. 6i. — An alpine village. 
 
 " Do not let this be thought a darkened picture of the life ot 
 these mountaineers. It is literal fact. No contrast can be more 
 painful than that between the dwelling of any well-conducted 
 English cottager and that of the equally honest Savoyard. The 
 one, set in the midst of its dull flat fields and uninteresting 
 hedgerows, shows in itself the love of brightness and beauty ; 
 its daisy-studded garden-beds, its smoothly swept brick path to 
 the threshold, its freshly sanded floor and orderly shelves of 
 household furniture, all testify to energy of heart, and happiness 
 
Pakt I. 
 
 A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 
 
 93 
 
 
 \ -Hl^ 
 
 in the simple course and simple possessions of daily life. The 
 other cottage, in the midst of an inconceivable, inexpressible 
 beauty, set on some sloping bank of golden sward, with clear 
 fountains flowing beside it, and wild flowers, and noble trees, 
 and goodly rocks gathered round into a perfection as of Para- 
 dise, is itself a dark and plague-like stain in the midst of the 
 gentle landscape. Within a certain distance of its threshold 
 the ground is foul and cattle- 
 trampled ; its timbers are 
 black with smoke, its garden 
 choked with weeds and name- 
 less refuse, its chambers empty 
 and joyless, the light and wind 
 gleaming and filtering thfough 
 the crannies of their stones. 
 All testifies that, to its inha- 
 bitant, the world is labour 
 and vanity ; that for him 
 neither flowers bloom, nor 
 birds sing, nor fountains glis - 
 ten ; and that his soul hardly 
 differs from the grey cloud 
 that coils and dies upon his 
 hills, except in having no fold 
 .of it touched by the sun- 
 beams." 
 
 An hour brought us to a 
 chilet, where we discussed the 
 advisability of remaining all 
 night, as the rain had begun 
 to come down in torrents ; 
 howevei;, I decided to go on, 
 as I . wished to overtake a 
 friend who, I expected, would 
 be at the head of the valley on that day, and off we again 
 started in the drenching rain. 
 
 The water soon began to trickle across our path in tiny 
 streamlets, hinting the desirability of getting on as quickly 
 as possible, and the crosses still followed us with their doleful 
 associations. Presently, on coming to an immense scarp of wet 
 
 Fig. 62. — An alpine waterfall. 
 
 rusty mountain-side, from which many masses had been detached 
 
94 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 during the winter, my guide pointed to some parts of it peculiarly 
 shaky, with the remark, " We had better run past here, as the 
 heavy rains may have loosened some of the stones ; " and run 
 we did with all speed. Soon the rain began to be mingled 
 with an occasional wet flake of snow, which in another half-hour 
 was descending in a regular heavy fall ; and as we gradually 
 ascended, soon every surface was covered with it, except that of 
 the torrent beneath, which roared away with as much noise as if 
 the waters of a world, and not those of one hollow in a grea,t range, 
 were being dashed down its wonderfully picturesque bed — some- 
 times cutting its way through walls of solid rock of great depth, 
 at others dashing over wastes of worn and huge stones, carried 
 down and ground by its action. Often we crossed it on small 
 
 Fig. 63. — -A disputed passage. 
 
 rough bridges of pine-wood, fragile looking, heavily laden with 
 fresh-faUen snow, not offering a very agreeable passage to the 
 nervous. Happily, in crossing we did not encounter any unex- 
 postulating but stubborn denizen of the mountains hurrying 
 down from the snow-clad pastures. The hissing splash of many 
 cascades accompanied the tumult of the river-bed — many of 
 these born of the melting snow and previous heavy rain, the 
 main ones much swollen by it. The air being simply full of 
 large downy flakes of snow, the pines on the white mountain 
 side began to look quite sharp-coned from the pressure of its 
 weight on their branches. Our shoulders, too, began to be 
 laden ; and, to get rid of the load, we were now and then 
 obliged to step under the cave-like sides of some of the great 
 boulders by the wayside and shake it off. 
 
 We had by this time evidently got into a region abounding 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TO US. IN THE ALPS. 95 
 
 with flowers, as every one of these caves was literally lined with 
 the pretty little yellow Viola biflpra. Every cranny was golden 
 with its flowers ; every seam between the rocks and stones 
 enlivened by it. On entering one of these caves, I saw some 
 crimson blooms peeping from under the snow about the roof or 
 brow. They were those of the first Alpine Rose {Rhododendron 
 ferruginezim) I had ever seen wild. One might meet it under 
 more agreeable circumstances, but I shall remember the shallow 
 caves lined with the yellow Violet and crested by the Alpine 
 Rose longer than many sunnier scenes. Occasionally, pressed 
 by the snow, the handsome flowers of a crimson Pedicularis 
 might be seen ; and in almost every place where a little soil was 
 seated on the top of a rock or stone, so straight-sided that the 
 snow only rested on the top, the beautiful, soft, crimson, white- 
 eyed flowers of Primula viscosa were to be seen. It grows in 
 all sorts of positions — wherever, in fact, decomposed moss, &c. 
 forms a little soil. In dry places it is smaller than in wet ones, 
 and is usually particularly luxuriant on ledges where a gradual 
 or annual addition of moss or soil takes place, so that the 
 tendency of the stems to throw out rootlets is encouraged. 
 
 Several hours in falling snow, feet saturated with deep snow- 
 water, and extremities beginning to chill, notwithstanding the 
 hard walking, make Saas, and Saas only, the one object to 
 attain. To gain it, we passed through one or two small hamlets, 
 the inhabitants of which were as much surprised as ourselves 
 at the sudden and heavy fall of snow in June, and eventually 
 reached this poor collection of houses just as evening was fall- 
 ing. By this time nearly a foot of snow had fallen on the corn, 
 already far advanced in the ear. Unhappily we found the hotel 
 closed, as the tourist season had not yet commenced. Standing 
 on its threshold, thoroughly soaked with snow, waiting till some- 
 body came to open it, and realising a hotel in such a region and 
 on such a day without an inmate or a fire, was cold comfort in- 
 deed. Among the first of those who came to see us was the cur^, 
 who wondered how we got there in such weather ; and he imme- 
 diately set to work to dispel the hunger and the cold by instruct- 
 ing a maid to make a fire with all haste, and by ordering dinner. 
 A change of clothing was indispensable. I had something to 
 take off, but nothing to' put on : what was to be done ? I 
 appealed to the curd for a pair of breeches. He soon brought 
 me a most antiquated-looking specimen from the wardrobe of a 
 
96 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 native, made apparently of old petticoat stuff, and coming a 
 shade below the knees. Fortified with these and a pair of 
 stockings, I seized the duvet, or bag of down a foot thick, which 
 frequently lies on the beds in continental houses, and, wrap- 
 ping it round my shoulders, sat down to extract as much heat 
 as possible out of the fire — not a good one, despite my passionate 
 entreaties for more wood. I felt horribly lonely, and was, I should 
 say, not very ornamental, crouched over the fire in this attire. 
 The room was big, and the walls damp with a winter's frost in 
 them. Outside the large windows was a little field of corn, sup- 
 ported by a rough terrace-wall ; the ears bent over the wall with 
 the weight of snow ; beyond, ghostly-looking pines, heavily laden, 
 and away in every direction the eye could detect dim outlines of 
 near and high mountains — not imposing or majestic as usual, 
 
 because enveloped^ like every- 
 thing else, in an atmosphere of 
 flakes. Dinner Catne. It was 
 hard, bad bacon, swimming in 
 an inch of oil, accompanied by 
 almost unbearable fried pota- 
 toes, also liberally done in liquid 
 fat — a mess which nothing but 
 fierce hunger could enable one 
 to face. After this I went to 
 bed under the duvet, which 
 had served me so well while the 
 guide was drying my clothes. I had another visit from the kind 
 priest of the parish, who conveyed the unwelcome intelligence 
 that snow had fallen so deeply that I had no chance of seeing 
 the flowers of the P'ee Alp — a most curious spot in the neigh- 
 bourhood, a sort of green islet surrounded by glaciers, and very 
 rich in plants — for three days to come. Such was my first 
 day in search of plants in the Alps. After this march through 
 the Saasthal and previous night in the Simplon dihgence, I 
 slept the sleep of the thoroughly-tired. 
 
 I was a day too late to meet my friend, Mr. A. Wheeler, here, but 
 the curd despatched two men early next morning : they overtook 
 him towards the crest of the pass of Monte Moro, and all returned 
 to Saas. As the country for miles around was covered with a 
 dense bed of snow, my hopes of seeing the plants of the high 
 Alps in this region were over, and rather 'than return by the 
 
 Fig. 64. — In the liotel.' 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 97 
 
 same long and dreary valley, I determined to cross the Alps and 
 descend into the sunny valleys of Piedmont, where we should, 
 at all events, probably see some traces of vegetable life. 
 
 Next day we set out for Mattmark, nearly nine miles from 
 Saas, more than 7000 feet higher than the sea-level, and above 
 the level of the pine or any exalted vegetation. Only a few spots 
 under ledges, &c. were bare, but we found many ordinary and 
 well-known plants, as well as the rare Ranunculus glacialis, in 
 full beauty, some of the flowers measuring nearly an inch and a 
 half across. Near where we found this, a great sea-green arch 
 shows the end of a large glacier, apparently, a wide and deep 
 river of ice beneath a field of snow, except where in places it is 
 riven into glass-green crevasses. We have to skirt this field of 
 ice to reach Mattmark, where there is a lake, the overflow from 
 which passes right under the glacier. Although all surfaces were 
 rendered pretty much alike by the snow, the scene was a striking 
 one. Within a few steps of the lonely hotel there stand several 
 enormous boulders, so large that, but for the frequent evidence of 
 the great masses borne onwards by glaciers, it would be difficult 
 to believe that any such agency had brought them there. 
 
 Lloydia serotina we met with in great abundance in the region 
 of the glacial Ranunculus, and also Androsace Chamcejasme, 
 the still rarer A. imbricata, and the mountain form of Myosotis 
 sylvatica. By scraping off the snow here and there, we could 
 see the very pretty Pyrethrum alpinum, reminding one of a Daisy 
 with its petals down in bad weather. Several not common 
 Saxifrages, and a few Sempervivums, Geum montanum, Linaria 
 alpina, very dwarf, but with the flowers much larger than usual ; 
 ' Gentiana verna, abundant ; a pink Linum, Polygala Chamce- 
 buxus, Loiseleuria procutnbens, Androsace carnea, Senecio uni- 
 florus, with deep orapge flowers, and the most silvery of leaves 
 an inch or so high ; and the beautiful Eritrichiujn nanum, from 
 half an inch to an inch high, and with cushions of sky-blue flowers 
 — were among those not hidden from us by the snow. 
 
 Next morning we were up early to cross the pass of Monte 
 Moro into Italy ; the snow, was very deep, and we were the 
 first tourists who had crossed during the year. The snow was 
 eighteen inches thick even in the lower parts of our three hours' 
 walk, so that it was impossible to gather any specimens ; and this 
 was unfortunate, as the neighbourhood of the little lake of Matt- 
 mark, between two glaciers, is said to be very rich in plants. 
 
 H 
 
98 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part!. 
 
 However, there was quite enough to do to ascend Monte Moro, 
 with its deep coating of snow ; in fact, it was hard work, and con- 
 sequently took a good deal more time than usual. Arrived at 
 the cross which marks the top, a new and magnificent prospect 
 bursts upon us — the white clouds lie in three thin layers along 
 the sides of Monte Rosa, but permit us to see its crest, while 
 the great mountains which tower up their snowy heads around it 
 are here seen in all their majesty. On the Swiss side nothing but 
 snow is seen on peak or in hollow ; on the Italian, a deep valley 
 has wormed its way among the magnificent mountain peaks, 
 crested with sun-lit snow and dark crags, and guarded by vast ice 
 rivers and unscalable heights. We can gaze into this .valley as 
 easily as one does from a high building into the street below ; 
 and, crouched on the sunny side of a vertical cliff, to gain a little 
 shelter from the icy breeze that flowed over the pass, view its 
 quiet signs of life and green meadows, and above their highest 
 fringes the vast funereal groves of pines on every side, 
 guarding, as it were, the green valley from the vast and death- 
 like wastes of snow above it. A grander scene it would be diffi- 
 cult to find, even in the most remarkable alpine regions of the 
 world, and probably it was much enhanced by the quantity of 
 snow that had just fallen and covered up thousands of acres 
 of the higher ground. The contrast between the valley flushed 
 with verdant life and the great uplands of snow was most imposing. 
 We had several miles to descend through the snow before a 
 trace of vegetation could be seen, when fairy specimens of the 
 nearly universal Primula viscosa began to show their rosy 
 flowers here and there on ledges, where they were pressed down 
 by the snow ; and by clearing little spaces with the alpenstock, 
 we found the ground nearly covered with them. Then the 
 glaoial Ranunculus began to make its appearance in abundance. 
 Another rare and minute gem was here in quantity — the silvery 
 Androsace imbricata, growing on the under side of rocks — the 
 tufts, not more than half an inch high, sending roots far into the 
 narrow chinks. These having a downward direction, the water 
 could reach the roots from above. One plant was gathered 
 under the recess of a deep cliff, with at least one hundred little 
 rosettes and flowers, forming a tuft three inches in diameter, all 
 nourished by one little stem as thick as a small rush, and which 
 was bare for a distance of two or three inches from the margin 
 of the chink from which it issued. The tuft, bloom, and minute 
 
100 ALPINE FLOWERS, Part I. 
 
 silvery leaves suspended by this were in all probability as old as 
 any of the great larches in the valley below. 
 
 The Androsaces, with very few exceptions, which have not 
 •until quite recently been successfully cultivated, are, as it were, 
 the very humming-birds of the vegetable kingdom. Their silvery 
 rosettes are more delicately chiselled than the prettiest encrusted 
 Saxifrage ; their flowers have the purity of the Snowdrop, and 
 occasionally the glowing stains and blushes of the alpine Pri- 
 mulas. They are the smallest of beautiful flowering plants, 
 and they grow on the very highest . spots on the Alps where 
 vegetation exists, carpeting the earth with wondrous loveliness 
 wherever the Sun has sufficient power over King Ice and King 
 Death to lay bare for a few weeks in summer a square yard of 
 wet rock-dust. 
 
 The icicle-fringed cliffs, on the concave sunny faces of which 
 the only traces of vegetation seen about here were found, and 
 the rocky precipices seen from the spot, make all this diminutive 
 enduring flower-life the more interesting and remarkable. 
 
 " Meek dwellers mid yon terror-stricken cliffs ! 
 
 With brows so pure, and incense-breathing lips, 
 ' Whence are ye ? Did some white-winged messenger 
 
 On mercy's missions trust your timid germ 
 
 To the cold cradle of eternal snows ? 
 
 Or, breathing on the callous icicles, 
 
 Bid them with tear-drops nurse ye ? 
 
 Tree nor sTirub 
 
 Dare that drear atmosphere ; no polar pine 
 
 Uprears a veteran front ; yet there ye stand, 
 
 t • unblanched amid the waste 
 
 Of desolation." Mrs, Sigourney, 
 
 A very pretty dwarf Phyteuma, with blue heads, was found on 
 the rocks here, and as we got down the mountain, Geum monta- 
 num, with its large yellow flowers, gilded the grass somewhat 
 after the fashion of our Buttercups. Sempervivum Wulfenii, a 
 large kind, was in flower, and the fine Saxifraga Cotyledon was 
 also coming in. One specimen found had a rosette of leaves 
 eight inches across. Pyrethrum alpinum here takes the place 
 of the Daisy, and is full of flower. Arnica montana, so well 
 known as a medicinal plant, is in great abundance, and very 
 luxuriant, looking like a small single Sunflower. Silene acaulis 
 is everywhere, and no description c^n convey an idea of the 
 dense way in which its flowers are produced. Starved between 
 chinks, its cushions are as smooth as velvet, one inch high — 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. loi 
 
 though perhaps a hundred years of age — so firm that they resist 
 the pressure of the finger, and so densely covered with bright 
 rosy flowers that the green is totally, echpsed in many specimens. 
 These flowers barely rise above the level of the diminutive leaves. 
 
 Soon we reached the meadow-land towards the bottom of the 
 warm valley, and found this Piedmontese meadow almost 
 blue with Forget-me-nots and strange Harebells, enlivened by 
 orchids, and jewelled here and there with St. Bruno's Lily [Para- 
 disia Liliastruni). This is one of the very best of all herbaceous 
 or border plants, but I never saw it in such perfection as here in 
 the fresh green grass. The flower is nearly two inches long, of 
 as pure a white as the snows on the top of Monte Rosa. Each 
 petal has a small green tip, like the spring Snowflake, but smaller 
 and purer, and golden stamens adorn the interior of the flower. 
 
 The pleasure of finding so many beautiful plants, rare in 
 cultivation, growing in the long grass under conditions very 
 similar to those enjoyed in our meadows, was greater than that 
 of meeting with the more diminutive forms on the high alp ; and 
 though our faces were red and painful from the reflection 
 from the surface of such a wide waste of snow, we were as 
 glad of our harvest as Mrs. Browning was when, '' ankle deep 
 in English grass, she leapt and clapped her hands and called 
 all very fair." No flowers grow in those mountain meadows 
 that cannot be grown equally well in the rough grassy parts of 
 many British pleasure-grounds, woods, and copses ! 
 
 From the top of the pass, in addition to the great glacier, 
 two remarkable objects were seen — one an island, called the 
 Belvedere, which breaks the descending ice river, dividing 
 it into two branches, so fresh and green and garden-like as 
 to seem quite out of place in such a position ; the other a great 
 moraine, so formal in outline that to the inexperienced it actually 
 looked like a large embankment, the recent work of some railway 
 company about to open up the valley. But it, like all its fellows, 
 is simply one of those colossal accumulations of rocks and grit 
 borne down for ages by the great ice river and deposited along 
 its flanks. 
 
 Next day we explored the Belvedere between the two branches 
 of the glacier, and then turned to the left and traversed a great 
 deal of the mountain above Macugnaga up to the line of snow, 
 but, strange to say, found both the Belvedere moraines and 
 mountains a desert, so far as rare alpine plants are concerned. 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Soldanella alpina was extremely abundant. The great bearded 
 seed-heads of the fine alpine Anemone gave a marked feature to 
 th^ meadows in some places. The yellow alpine Anemone was 
 not uncommon higher up. The little two-leaved Lily-of-the- 
 valley grew along with the common one in the lower fringes of 
 the woods. The dwarf Loiseleuria procumbens half covered the 
 
 Fig. 66.— The limit of life. 
 
 , Wli^ro the birdH tlnrc not build, nor InBGCt'B wing 
 ■■ Plit o'lir the horblesa Branito." .,-- 
 
 mountains. The white-flowered Ranunculus aconitif alius was 
 very common in the tall grass ; this is the wild form of the 
 double flower known in English gardens as the " Fair Ladies of 
 France.'' The sky-blue Campanula barbata, with the delicate 
 downy hairs about the margins of its bells, was very common, and 
 the sweet Primula viscosa was everywhere. Coming over the 
 pass of Monte Moro, it was in perfect condition and full bloom, 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 103 
 
 and yet so small that a shilling would cover the entire plant. 
 In lower spots on the opposite side of the valley single leaves 
 of it were nearly three inches across and five inches long ! 
 This will help to show the fallacy of supposing that, because 
 a plant is found in almost inaccessible places and hard chinks of 
 cold alpine rock, we must attempt the nearly impossible task 
 of imitating such conditions, or give up the culture of such 
 an interesting class of plants. 
 
 The views here are magnificent, especially that from above 
 the level of the glacier at the upper end ; and looking down the 
 valley and along the great ranges which seem to border it, 
 indeed hardly anything can be finer than the Monte Rosa group 
 at the head of the valley. The cliffs rise in some parts like a 
 vast wall to a height of 8000 feet — awfully beautiful towers of 
 rock and sunlit snow, perfectly lifeless, but reverberating now 
 and then with small tumbling avalanches of the recently fallen 
 snow. 
 
 Above the village of Macugnaga, as in many other parts of the 
 Alps, some of the Larch-woods are beautiful from the evidences 
 of the struggle for life. Once the breath of summer has passed 
 over the earth, the dwarf herbage is all freshness and life — the 
 smallness and feebleness of the minute vegetation preventing us 
 from seeing the stamp of the destroyer. The winter snow 
 weighs down the little stems, and then when in spring their 
 successors come up in crowds, the earth is covered with a carpet 
 as if winter would never come again. But not so with the trees. 
 Many lay prostrate, dead, barked, and bleached nearly white 
 among the flowers that crowded up around them. Others were 
 in the same condition, but leaning half erect amidst their fresh 
 green companions : others were dashed bodily over the faces of 
 cliffs : others had their heads and bodies swept over the cliffs by 
 the fierce mountain storms, but holding on by their roots, and 
 assuming the quaintest contortions, endeavoured to lift their 
 living tops above the rocky scarp from which in their pride 
 of youth they had been cast. I never in any wood saw 
 anything so wildly and grimly beautiful as this. It suggested 
 that it would be an improvement to allow something analogous 
 to take place in woods planted for ornament only, or in 
 such parts of woods as form portions or fringes of our pleasure- 
 grounds. In ornamental gardening we often lose by remov- 
 ing all traces of death, as Dr. Hooker has shown us by allowing 
 
I04 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 the decayed leaves of the tree ferns and pakns at Kew to re- 
 main on and clpthe their shafts — before always rigidly trimmed. 
 
 Disappointed in finding a rich flora of the small alpine plants 
 in the neighbourhood of Macugnaga, we resolved to descend 
 into the plains of Lombardy, cross the lakes of North Italy, go 
 as far as Lecco on the lake of Como, ascend Monte Campione, 
 and find Silene Elisabethce, a plant as rare as beautiful, and any 
 like subjects which that region might afford. 
 
 The long and ever-varying Val Anzasca, which runs from the 
 foot of Monte Rosa to the great road from the Simplon, is un- 
 surpassed for the grandeur, beauty, and variety of its scenery. 
 We started from the Hotel Monte Moro at about half past three 
 in the morning, when several of the highest peaks were il- 
 lumined by a ruddy light, and all the lower ones were in the 
 
 Fig. 67. — Cascade in a high wood. 
 
 dull grey of daybreak. Almost every step revealed a fresh pros- 
 pect of the mountains. We saw very little of the rare vegetation 
 of the valley, having to hurry on to Milan without diverging 
 from the pathway ; but the beauty of the orange Lily in the grass 
 was something quite remarkable. Not growing higher than the 
 grass, and in single specimens, not tufts, the effect was not what 
 we are accustomed to in Lilies. By looking over a ledge now 
 and then, one of those small alpine meadows, apparently stolen 
 from the vast wilderness, was seen thinly studded with large 
 fully-expanded Lily blooms, every flower relieved by the fresh 
 grass. It was beautiful ! Asplenium septentrionale was ex- 
 tremely abundant. Of flowers we saw but few, for the taller 
 tree vegetation cuts off the view and runs up and clothes 
 the secondary mountains to the very summits,- except where 
 grass that is like velvet spreads out as if it were to show the 
 
Part I. 
 
 A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 
 
 i°S 
 
 small silvery streams, which soon hide in the woods, and by 
 and by are seen in the form of cascades falling, over wide pre- 
 cipices, to be again lost in deep, wet, tortuous stony beds, and 
 presently forming larger cascades near the path of the traveller, 
 who is obliged to cross them by bridges. Then lower down they 
 break and shoot perhaps for three hundred feet, tiU they join the 
 main stream of the valley below, which has cut itself an 
 ever-winding, diving, and foaming bed between terraces, and 
 cliffs, and gullies of rock, affording scenes of such infinite beauty 
 and variety that nothing but a visit could convey the faintest 
 notion of them. 
 
 Fig. 68. — ^The same lower down. 
 
 We walked twelve miles down the valley before breakfast, and 
 every step revealed a new charm. Before us, a great succession 
 of blue mountains ; on each side, mountain slopes green to the 
 line of blue sky ; behind, all the glory of the Monte Rosa group, 
 in some places flat-topped and of the purest white, like vast un- 
 sculptured wedding cakes — in others dark, scarred, and pointed 
 to the sky, like some of the aged pines of their lower slopes, 
 standing firmly, but with branch and bark seared off by the 
 fierce alpine blast. Lower down, the vaUey begins to show 
 pleasant signs of human life ; the women are simply, well, and 
 tastefully dressed, and occasionally display features not un- 
 worthy of the best days of their race. Really well-built and clean- 
 
io6 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 looking houses, as much superior to those of some of the Swiss 
 valleys as an Australian clipper is to a Thames barge, begin 
 to appear in abundance ; the slopes of the hills are frequently 
 terraced, to give the necessary basis for pursuing a little cultiva- 
 tion ; and the churches are large and well decorated in the 
 interior. Vines begin to appear, and for the most part are 
 trained on a high loose trellis from five to seven feet above the 
 surface of the ground, so as to permit of the cultivation of a crop 
 underneath. The trellises are frequently held up by flat thin 
 pillars of rough stone, which support branches tied here and 
 there with willows. It seems a good plan for .countries with 
 a superabundance of light and sun. From nearly every rock 
 and cliff along the valley spring the pretty rosettes and foxbrush- 
 like panicles of flowers of the 
 great silvery Saxifrage. But, 
 beyond doubt, the charm of 
 the valley is its ever-varying 
 and magnificent scenery. No- 
 thing can surpass many of 
 the prospects from the lower 
 parts, where you get a fore- 
 ground of Italian valley vege- 
 tation — the deep-cut river bed 
 below, the ascending, well- 
 clothed mountains to the 
 right and left, and then up 
 the valley the higher pine- 
 clad slopes, all again crowned 
 by the majestic mountain of the rosy crest. Our Scotch and 
 Irish friends who now and then enthusiastically bore us about 
 their often dreary and boggy wastes, should be sent in single file 
 through one of these southern valleys of the Alps, and for ever 
 silenced thereby. But the most passionate and unreasoning love 
 of country would be excusable in the inhabitants of these happy 
 spots, enriched with the vine and other products of the south, 
 sheltered by evergreen, and chastened by arctic, hills. In fact, 
 the valley is a Paradise, with one exception— beside every church 
 there is one of those small buildings in which numerous skulls of 
 the departed are placed, with a view, no doubt, to the edification 
 of the hving generation. These are well shown to the road, in 
 some cases placed right against it, and occasionally have a lamp 
 
 Fig. 6g.-rRoad through cliff. 
 
Part I, 
 
 A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 
 
 107 
 
 suspended in the centre, probably to heighten the effect at night, 
 on important occasions. Considering how many things there are 
 to remind us that we are dust, this practice is as unnecessary 
 as it is barbarous and disgusting. Who has given any one a 
 right to take up a man's bones from where they were " buried 
 out of sight," and expose them thus ? Instead of effecting any 
 good or acting as a wholesome caution, such an exhibition, 
 placed under the' nose of all the small fry of the village, is more 
 likely to familiarise them with horror, and deprive life, and death 
 too, of their sacredness. 
 
 Fig. 70. — Island in Lake Maggiore 
 
 We will hasten by the streams that feed Lake Maggiore, and 
 stop for a while near the islands on its fair expanse. Mountains 
 with dense green woods creeping to their very tops are reflected 
 in the transparent water in which they seem to be rooted, so near 
 do they rise from its margin, and only showing here and there, 
 where a deep scar or scarp occurs too precipitous for vegetation, 
 cheir stony ribs. 
 
 The isles look pretty, but not beautiful, because of the rather 
 
lo8 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I.' 
 
 extensive and. decidedly ugly buildings and terraces upon them ; 
 but they are only specks in a great natural garden, which, even 
 if dotted with smoke-polluted towns like those in the North 
 of England (Sheffield, for example), would still be lovely. Brock- 
 enden is quite right when he says of one of them, " It is worthy 
 only of a rich man's misplaced extravagance, and of the taste 
 of a confectioner." The Maiden-hair fern is abundant on the 
 islands. The vegetation here and on the margins of the lake 
 is often of a remarkable and interesting character, quite sub- 
 tropical in some places ; but as our business is with alpine and 
 rock plants only, we must pass all this by, and hasten on to the 
 shores of Como. "When approaching I sola Madre, the first thing 
 that struck my attention was a plant like a greyish heath, covered 
 with light rosy flowers, growing out of the top of a wall. It 
 proved to be an old friend, the Cat Thyme, and, in beautiful con- 
 dition ; as grown in England, nobody would ever suspect it to be 
 capable of yielding such a sweet show of flowers. Trachelium 
 ccerulewn. grows very commonly on the walls, and so does the 
 Caper, a noble plant when seen issuing from a wall and bearing 
 numbers of its large blooms. 
 
 Arrived at Lecco, the next object is to hunt for the handsome 
 Catchfly on the crest of Monte Campione, and we start at three 
 o'clock in the morning, as it is desirable to get up a little out 
 of the warm valleys before the dew has been dissipated. Soon 
 we find ourselves on the spur of a mountain, on which Cyclamens 
 peep forth from among the shattered stones here and there — . 
 sometimes a solitary bloom or two, at others handsome tufts, 
 where the position has favoured free development, and how and 
 then springing in a miniature condition from some chink, where 
 there was very little nutriment or root-room to be obtained. 
 Then we meet Silene Saxifraga very abundant on the larger 
 boulders and in sandy spots. In a wild state or in cultivation it 
 is not a pretty plant, although it has often been recommended. 
 Lower down we met with the neat Tunica Saxifraga on the 
 tops of walls, and it accompanied us a little higher up, rarely 
 looking so pretty as when well cultivated. The Maiden-hair 
 fern does not ascend up the mountain sides, nor even find a 
 home in the villages up the valley, though in the town of Lecco 
 it adorns the very mill wheels and moist walls near water- 
 courses with abundance of small pretty plants, adhering closely 
 to the wall, and dwarf from existing on moisture or very little 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 109 
 
 more. The pretty Coronilla varia is often seen low down ; and 
 what can form prettier tufts, or fall more gracefully over the 
 brow of rocks ? As we ascend, the fine flowers of Geranium 
 sanguineuin are everywhere .seen, and Horminum pyrenaiciim 
 begins to show itself here and there, becoming more abundant 
 as the mountains get higher, and growing to the top. It is barely 
 worthy of cultivation ; a pinkish variety was noticed in several 
 places. The Privet, in a' very dwarf and floriferous condition, 
 adorns the rocks in abundance, while Aconites, Lilies, &c. are ' 
 occasionally seen. The orange Lily is a great ornament here- 
 abouts. I saw on one of the topmost and most inaccessible 
 cliffs of the mountain one of its bold flowers like a ball of fire in 
 the starved wiry grass, and small plants of it growing on a nar- 
 row ledge. The Martagon Lily is also abundant, though not so 
 effective. Dwarf Cytisuses are great ornaments to the rocks, 
 and here and there the leaves of Hepatica are mingled with 
 those of Cyclamen, suggesting bright pictures Of spring in these 
 localities. The Cyclamens are deliciously sweet, and the great 
 spread of Erica carnea, seen in all parts, must afford a lovely 
 show of colour in spring. 
 
 And, speaking of this brilliant little Heath, I may allude to 
 what we may do with boggy heathy ground, as I have before 
 hinted how we may improve our woodlands. That even the com- 
 monest and most universally distributed of our Heaths are of no 
 small attraction, when seen in a tolerably good wild state, need 
 scarcely be said ; but there are many varieties which are seldom 
 seen that are more beautiful still, and would be worth adding to 
 that portion of the wild ground which approached nearest to the 
 house. In many parts of the British Isles houses are placed right 
 in the midst of peat land that will grow all hardy Heaths to per- 
 fection ; and on such places a charming display of wild beauty 
 may be made by planting the hardy Heaths alone. Of the 
 common kind— the Ling— there are twelve or more different 
 varieties ; of the Scotch Heather, half a dozen ; oi E. Tetralix, 
 about the same ; and it is to be observed that some of these 
 being much richer in colour and prettier than the common 
 ones, have been selected for cultivation. Therefore anybody 
 with a bit of peaty land, or rough rocky surface cropping out- 
 such as one meets with in going from Sheffield to Chatsworth — 
 may make it most attractive with those British Heaths which 
 are easily obtained. The best of all hardy Heaths, and indeed 
 
no ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 one of the best of all spring flowers, Erica carnea, is never found 
 wild in England, though a close ally oScurs freely in one part 
 of the West of Ireland, as does the beautiful Menziesia polifolia 
 or St. Dabeoc's Heath. Of course this charming dwarf spring 
 Heath, E. carnea, would grow as well in any peaty waste as on 
 its native mountains, and prove a plant of no ordinary attrac- 
 tion. It is sold cheaply, by the dozen or hundred, in nurseries 
 that grow American or peat plants ; and all that would be neces- 
 sary in planting it would be to clear away a portion of the ordinary 
 Heath or weeds of the spot, so that it may have a fair chance of 
 becoming established. It is so particularly neat and pretty in 
 spring that few once acquainted with it will fail to cultivate 
 it freely for the garden or pleasure-ground, as it is admirable for 
 edging beds. 
 
 The ground is rocky, and we think we have taken leave of all 
 the meadow-land, when the hills again begin to break into small 
 pastures, where Orchises, Phyteumas, Arnica, Inula, Harebells, 
 and a host of meadow plants, struggle for the mastery. Soon 
 we come to great isolated masses of erect rock, whose surface 
 is quite shattered and decayed in every part ; and, after half an 
 hour among these, see far up rosettes of the blue flowers of 
 Phyteuvia comosum, projecting about two inches from the rock. 
 The rosettes are as wide as the plant is high, and much larger 
 than the leaves, which are of a light glaucous colour. 
 
 We ascend far above these rocks, and find the mountain-side 
 has broken into wide gentle slopes, park-Hke, with birch and 
 other indigenous trees here and there, but for the most part a great 
 spread of meadow-land, adorned in every part with a glorious 
 company of flowers. Conspicuously beautiful was the St. Bruno's 
 Lily, growing just high enough to show its long and snow-white 
 bells above the grass. It should be called the Lady of the 
 Meadows, for assuredly no sweeter or more graceful flower em- 
 bellishes them. In every part where a slight depression oc- 
 curred, so as to expose a little slope or fall of earth on which 
 the long grass could not well grow, or along by a pathway, 
 Primula integrifolia was found in thousands, long passed out 
 of flower. 
 
 In wandering leisurely over the grass, an exquisite Gentian, of 
 a brilUant deep and iridescent blue, caught my eye. At first I 
 thought it was the fine Gentialia vernaj but on taking up some 
 plants, it proved to be an annual kind, quite as beautiful and 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. Ill 
 
 brilliant as either G. bavarica or G. verna, gems as they are. 
 Wherever a boulder or mass of rock showed itself, Primula 
 Auricula was seen, often in the grass, and always on the high 
 rocks and cliffs. A species of Pedicularis, with deep rosy shining 
 flowers, is a fine ornament, and ascends to the very highest 
 points. A showy Epilobium and Dentaria are also seen among 
 the taller vegetation, while the compact little blue Globularia 
 creeps from the surrounding earth over every rock. As we mount, 
 the mist of the higher points begins to envelope us, and hide the 
 lovely and ever-varying scenery below and on all sides, except 
 now and then when the breeze clears the vapours away. 
 
 As the upper lawns are reached, the extraordinary nature of 
 the mountain begins to be seen through the increasing mist. 
 Lower down, and indeed in all parts, erect, isolated masses of 
 rock are met with ; but towards the great straight-sided mass 
 that forms the central and higher peak, huge aiguilles are 
 gathered together so thickly that, dimly seen through the mist, 
 they seem like the ghosts of tall old castles and towers creeping 
 one after the other up the mountain-side. The highest point, 
 formed by a most imposing rock of this description, has never yet 
 been ascended. Lower down cliffs of the same nature and great 
 height form one side of the mountain, their giant and weird appear- 
 ance, when we saw them, being much heightened by the mist 
 which completely hid the valley and made them seem baseless. 
 
 Hereabouts we came upon some little tufts of the most dimi- 
 nutive and pretty Saxifraga ccEsia. In little indentations in 
 rocks it sometimes looked a mere stain of silvery grey like a 
 Lichen ; on the ground, it spread into dwarf silvery cushions, 
 from one to three or four inches wide. It seemed quite indif- 
 ferent as to position, sometimes growing freely along, and even 
 in, a channel the sides and bed of which are a mass of shattered 
 rocks, and which is in winter a stream and a torrent after heavy 
 rains and thaws. I found one plant as circular and as wide as 
 a dessert plate, a mass of Lilliputian silvery rosettes, each about 
 the eighth of an inch across, each rosette being formed of from 
 fifteen to twenty-five diminutive leaves, and hundreds of rosettes 
 going to form a tuft about an inch high. 
 
 This is one of the brightest little gems in the large Saxifrage 
 family, which affords a greater number of distinct plants worthy 
 of cultivation in the rock-garden than any other at present 
 known to us. These plants grow upon the mountain tops far 
 
1 1 2 ALPINE FL WERS. Part I: 
 
 above the abodes of our ordinary vegetation, not only because 
 the cool pure air and moisture are congenial to their tastes, but 
 because taller and less hardy vegetation dares not venture there . 
 to overrun and finally extinguish them. But though they dwell 
 so high in alpine regions, they are the most tractable of all 
 plants in British gardens, and with but little attention grow 
 away as freely as our native lowland weeds in gardens where 
 Gentian and alpine Primula and precious mountain Forget-me- 
 not sicken and die. They are evergreen, and more beautiful to 
 look upon in winter than in summer, so far as the foliage is con- 
 cerned, and their foliage is beautiful exceedingly. But unlike 
 many other things which have attractive leafage, or a peculiar 
 form and habit, they flower as freely in the early summer as if 
 they were herbaceous and uninteresting, instead of being per- 
 manent and of exquisite chiselling. 
 
 One would think that coming from habitats so far removed 
 from all that is common to our phlegmatic and monotonous 
 skies, it would be impossible to keep these little stars of the earth 
 in a living state, and reasonably enough, as it would be easier to 
 imitate the temperature of the hottest ravines of Borneo, or the 
 clime where the unearthly-looking Welwitschia grows, than to 
 produce in any way known to us even the faintest imitation of 
 such a climate as theirs. But that is needless, as they can grow 
 no better on their native hills than they do even within large towns 
 and cities in the United Kingdom. Our climate suits them to 
 perfection, and they are the chief glory of the cultivator of 
 alpine plants. Hitherto they have been but very little appre- 
 ciated. They are usually grown in pots, where people cannot 
 see half their loveliness, and in which they sicken and dwindle. 
 Not so when planted in the open air. 
 
 In autumn, when most plants and trees are making them- 
 selves quite melancholy-looking before the approach of darkness, 
 wintei;, and frost, and casting off their soiled robes, the Saxi- 
 frages are expanding their compact little rosettes, and glisten 
 with silver and emerald when the rotting leaves are hurrying 
 by before the stiff, wet breeze. 
 
 They are divided into numerous sections botanically, but for 
 our purpose, the mossy section, of which our own .J. hypnoides is 
 the type, and the silvery one, of which the alpine ..5". Aizoon 
 is the most familiar member, are the two most important. 
 The mossy and green Saxifrages look like fully developed very 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 113 
 
 green moss to the non-botanical observer or amateur. They 
 are very numerous ; I once saw seventy species, or at least 
 varieties, of these plants in one narrow border in the garden of 
 the late Mr. William Borfer, at Henfield in Sussex. The various 
 tints of green of these in early autumn and winter are indescrib- 
 able ; some of them appear as if translucently dew-bespangled, 
 like the hoariness of morning on a dwarf Savin bush ; others, 
 like vS". densa and S. tnuscoides, have the colour of a well-made 
 lawn in autumn, a week after being mown and rained heavily 
 upon — the distant effect of the grass I mean ; but in these little 
 species you look down upon the plant, and get the same colour 
 as the general tone of the grass ; others are of a tint of green 
 that shines just as the laurels do in genial coast gardens after 
 autumnal showers ; others of a dark paint green, and so on 
 through a score of shades of healthiest hue. 
 
 Then there is the silvery race, with such noble species as 
 .S". Cotyledon and .5". lottgifolia, and ending with such earth-biting 
 mites as ^. ccesia and ^. Rocheliana — some large and bold, with 
 tongue- and strap-shaped leaves, margined with distinct white 
 dots ; others forming round swelling masses of silvery rosettes, 
 each about the size of a sixpence ; and others of which the 
 leaves and rosettes are so minute that they become lost in the 
 individuality of the whole plant, and you may fancy you are 
 looking at a small glistening pin-cushion. 
 
 In the moist climate of these islands all the species do quite 
 as well as on their native Alps and Pyrenees ; indeed, I have 
 rarely seen them attain the same vigour in a- wild state that 
 they do in gardens where any attention is paid to them. With 
 us they suffer only from very drying winds in March, and from 
 great droughts — from these causes chiefly the mossy section ; 
 but if watered at such times, there is not the least danger ; if 
 not, unless the soil is very dry and arid, they do not come to much 
 grief, but recover after a while. If watered now and then in dry 
 weather at any season, perfect health would always result. The 
 reason that the arid weather hurts them is this : the little stems 
 send out numerous white delicate rootlets, which gently probe 
 down into the dense masses of moist leaves, and there drink nutri- 
 ment ; but when the arid heat or drought comes, and thoroughly 
 dries up the dense mass of foliage, it also evaporates, so to 
 speak, the life out of these little feeders, and the plants become 
 brown and withered in consequence. But it is not a serious 
 
 I 
 
114 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 matter, as on any common soil a choice collection may be kept 
 in perfect health with far less trouble than is required by the 
 commonest of bedding plants. 
 
 The Lion's-paw Cudweed is very abundant on Monte Cam- 
 pione. Daphne and Rhododendron in small quantities, and the 
 pretty little Polygala Chamabuxus, often crop out in a very 
 diminutive state, much less beautiful than when in cultivation. 
 A blue Linum, probably L. alpinum, is very common ; the rare 
 Allium Victor tale I found sparsely on high rocks ; and Dryas 
 oclopelala zhimdaniiy in flower, with Anemone alpina in a very 
 dwarf state ; while pale flowers of the common Gentiana acaulis 
 looked up singly here and there. In the higher and barer 
 parts of the meadows. Aster alpinus was very charming, not in 
 tufts or masses, but dotted singly over the turf. Having climbed 
 so high for the chief object of our ascent, we failed to find 
 it there after a long search, and, disappointed, were de- 
 scending the mountain down a long and rocky chasm formed 
 of a vast > bed with' banks - of shattered rock, when, much - to 
 our pleasure, a little plant with a few leaves was discerned 
 growing from a chink on a low mass of rock. By carefully 
 breaking away portions ..of .this, we succeeded -in getting the 
 plant, roots and all, out intact, and,' by very diligent searching, 
 found a few more specimens of it. It was not yet' in: flower, but 
 pushing up the stem preparatory to it. Then, a' long trudge 
 down mountain, valley, and hilly road, brought us home to our 
 quarters at half-past nine, after a long and interesting day of 
 nearly twenty hours', walking. A description of the scenery from 
 the top of this mountain -is,ietter not attempted, and, indeed, 
 for several hours near the top^'V)&^.,could not see many; yards 
 before us because of a white mist. Butohe.time, when as:^igh as 
 we could go, the guide shouted to attract our attention,- and we saw 
 through a rent in the mist the far-off country below— lake, hills, 
 and villa-dotted lowlands, warmed by a bright .sun, and happy- 
 looking as Eden " when o'er the four rivers the first ro&es bleyv." 
 
 I returned from North Italy by the Simplon. With a few 
 words on the vegetation of some parts of that great range, 
 these notes will end. The chief feature of the smaller vege- 
 tation alongside the great Simplon Road is the foxbrush-hke 
 flowering pyramids of the great Saxifraga Cotyledon. The 
 little Campanula caspitosa is very abundant and pretty in 
 some spots, and on the highest parts of the road, wherever 
 
Part I. 
 
 A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 
 
 115 
 
 the ground near it breaks into -anything like turf, the vivid 
 blue of the vernal Gentian sparkles amongst bright yellow Poten- 
 tillas and Ranunculi. It is pleasant to meet with it in flower 
 weeks after one has left it in full flower in England in April, and 
 seen it bear seed on mountains about 5000 feet high. About 
 the end of June it was in fresh and perfect condition here, and 
 likely to remain so fbr some time to come. Observe the capa- 
 bilities of the plant, and the changes that it endures without 
 losing health in any case. In perfect health in England, without 
 
 C'f^l 
 
 
 4$ 
 
 Vm 
 
 .A 
 
 
 Fig. 71. — An alpine mail-road. 
 
 a covering of snow through the winter, and flowering strongly 
 in early spring, it flowers here in the month of June, and higher 
 up in July. 
 
 Let us ascend one of the highest mountains of the range a 
 little way, climb upwards for two hours, passing the limits of the 
 pines, till we get at the base of the bed of an enormous glacier, 
 a vast high field of snow apparently, which fills the upper 
 portion of a wide gap between two mountains. Here and 
 there you see flakes of it like green glass, and its face, where 
 
 I 2 
 
ii6 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 the water wears itself arches in issuing from beneath the slowly 
 melting mountain of ice, is also of that tint. The wide expanse 
 of ground which we are traversing is simply a mighty bed of 
 shattered rock, which at a remote day was carried down by this 
 colossal, ever-gathering and ever-levelling machine, and it is now 
 covered with a scanty vegetation of alpine Rhododendron, and 
 high mountain plants. 
 
 Fig 72, — The limit of the pines. 
 
 Everywhere, and very pretty, is the mounUin form of the 
 Wood Forget-me-not, but no trace of the true Myosotis alpes- 
 tris. Apparently the white form of the Wood Forget-me-not 
 is very abundant among the blue, but upon looking closer, 
 the simple-looking white flower growing amongst the Forget- 
 me-nots is seen to be a white Androsace. Ever)'where the 
 large white flowers of the mountain Avens are covering the 
 surface, but as we are in such rich ground, we had better confine 
 
Part I. 
 
 A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 
 
 117 
 
 ourselves to plants not British, and — climb. That exertion is 
 above all things necessary ; the vast slopes of shattered rock 
 seem interminable — an hour's hard work brings you to a point 
 that you thought you could reach in five minutes, and this point, 
 instead of proving the resting-place and exploring-ground you 
 had expected it to be, merely shows you that still the wide and 
 mighty mass of shattered rock creeps upwards higher and 
 higher, far beyond your powers of approach, until at last the 
 
 ^9? i^i"^^ 
 
 '','^.. < 
 
 *'.''t'«>V^ 
 
 >^" >• m^h^i]? 
 
 
 Fig. 73. — A glacier. 
 
 wall of ice, " durable as iron, sets death-like its white teeth 
 against us." On a great ridge beneath it are some scattered 
 fragments of vegetation rooting deeply among the stones, and 
 gaining a scanty subsistence from the sandy grit which results 
 from the decomposition and friction of the fields of brittle rock. 
 The opposite-leaved Saxifrage is a perfect mass of flower ; you 
 cannot see anything but flowers on its dense cushions, here as 
 beautiful in this awful solitude as the choicest flowers of climes 
 . genial enough for the humming-bird. Here and there a large 
 yellow flower is seen, which proves to be Gewn reptans, a fine 
 
il8 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 
 
 plant, from three to six inches high. Presently, while admiring 
 the bravery and the beauty of the crimson Saxifrage here, within 
 a few feet of wide beds of snow, that lie on each side of the ridge 
 on which I stand, what appears a giant specimen comes in sight ; 
 the flowers are much larger, so that instead of looking at 
 little cushions made up of a multitude of blooms, I see the 
 individual cup-hke blooms standing boldly up, of much deeper 
 hue, and the leaves also grown large and distinct. It is the ' 
 noble Saxifraga biflora, and I hope nobody will object to my 
 calling it noble when I say that it only grows about half an inch 
 high ! It is raining heavily, and the place is anything rather 
 than cheerful, but it is a very great pleasure to gather this plant 
 here, and also Linaria alpina, more familiar to me, but so beau- 
 
 ^^ 
 
 Fig. 74.— A glimpse at the home of the two-flowered Saxifrage. 
 
 tiful here that I can hardly hope to give the reader an idea of it. 
 Many alpine plants are prettier in cultivation than in a wild 
 state, for instance, Polygala Chamabuxus, - which grows here- 
 just venturing out one or two little shoots and flowers at a time. 
 Not so Linaria alpina, which grows and flowers well in sandy 
 soils and moist places at home, and gets so strong that its 
 glaucous leaves form quite a little tuft, almost high enough for 
 an edging plant, but which here shows its rich orange and purple 
 flowers, ■gathered in dense tiny tufts here and there among the 
 stones, without any leaves being perceptible. It is infinitely 
 more lovely here than in cultivation, though its beauty in either 
 case is of the highest order. ' The very dwarf and pretty little 
 Campanula cenisia was abundant among the higher plants its 
 tufts of very hght green growing among the debris. By turning 
 over the stones, plants with good roots could be got out. One 
 solitary tuft of Ranunculus alpestris was met with by the side 
 of a Httle rivulet ; it was a roundish specimen, about six inches 
 in diameter, and quite pretty where " specimens " are rare, and 
 where one thing struggles with another in the grass. 
 
Part I. A LITTLE TOUR IN THE ALPS. 1 19 
 
 Descending, the grouild, becoming more level, begins to form 
 an undulating basin between two ranges, and here the short 
 grass is perfectly jewelled with dwarf alpine plants and flowers. 
 The silky-leaved and very dwarf Senecio incatzus occurs in 
 thousands, the Cudweeds too are abundant, while a few inches 
 above the dense silvery turf formed by such plants, the large 
 and beautiful purple flowers of Viola calcarata form, not a sheet 
 of colour — for the flowers occur singly, and are separated one 
 from the other by bits of green and silvery turf — but sometimes 
 the eye is brought nearly level with the surface of a bank dotted 
 over in this way, and the effect is something' exquisite. It is not 
 the effect of " massing " flowers, but that of " shot " silk. The 
 flowers of this Violet were generally very large — I measured 
 several an inch and a half across, while the plants from which 
 they sprang were almost inconspicuous, and generally I had 
 to use the flower stem as a guide to the minute rosette of leaves 
 in the grass. A still more beautiful effect, and perhaps more so 
 than I have seen either in flower-garden or wild, was observed 
 when tufts of Gentiana verna occurred pretty freely amongst this 
 Violet, the vivid blue of the Gentian in patches amongst the 
 groundwork of the Violet. In quite a valley of Gentians — a 
 Uttfe lawn at an elevation of about 7000 feet— I noticed some 
 growing in a watery hollow. I had almost passed them by 
 when I chanced to look closely down to admire their deep, 
 vivid, and exquisite blue, and saw that they were grand tufts 
 of Gentiana bavarica that I was admiring. The little Box-like 
 leaves were in compact tufts, and the flowers were larger, of a 
 deeper and more beautiful blue, than G. verna, which is saying 
 a great deal. I have one specimen now with thirteen perfect 
 blooms — a by no means selected specimen — in a single close 
 tuft, not more than an inch and a half across. 
 
 There were spots near at hand, where G. verna formed a turf of 
 its own, and yet it was not so beautiful as G. bavarica, which was 
 growing exactly in positions that would suit the Bog Bean and the 
 Marsh Marigold. Attempts to cultivate G. bavarica in England 
 have hitherto been a failure. It is very rarely seen with us even 
 in botanic gardens, and, when it is seen, is usually yellow and in 
 poor health. A few words, then, about the position in which I 
 found it in such perfection may prove useful. A little mountain 
 streamlet diverges from its channel and spreads over the surface 
 of the ground for twenty or thirty yards across, not destroying 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 the grass, but simply showing itself in trickling patches here and 
 there. On the little hillocks of grassy earth that stood a few 
 inches above the water, I found the plant in very good condition, 
 the roots certainly in the water and the " collar " of each plant 
 very little above it. Somewhat lower down the waters gathered 
 together again, leaving the sides of that marshy spot and the 
 iiitermediate ground, perfectly green, but very wet, and here and 
 there dotted with clusters of blue stars, to which in brilliancy of 
 tone the choicest gems ever seen were but dull and earthy. In 
 walking on this green spot the water hissed and bubbled up 
 around. Here the specimens were very fine, the pretty little 
 close-growing tufts of light green leaves clearing spots for them- 
 selves in the longish grass. The slightest impression made 
 here immediately became a small pool, and in no place did 
 I find the plant but where the thumb, if pressed into the grass, 
 became immediately surrounded by water. A few steps away 
 and Gentiana verna was everywhere in fuU beauty on dry 
 banks ; but in no case did either species manifest a tendency to 
 invade the ground of the other. In fact, proof was there that 
 G. bavarica is a true bog plant. And what a beautiful com- 
 panion for the Wind Gentian, the Water Violet, the fine white 
 bog Arum, the moist-peat-loving Spigelia marilandica, and \he_ 
 early Myosotis {M. dissitiflord), which loves a bog, Rhexia vir- 
 ginica, the little creeping Bellflower and like plants ! Why, it is 
 worth our while to make a little bog, with a surface of Sphagnum 
 and dwarf plants that will not run riot through the bed and 
 spoil it, as the Eriophorums and Carices would,' for the mere 
 sake of growing this exquisite plant. 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 ACffiNA MICEOPHYLLA. — Rosy-spined Acana. 
 
 A MINUTE trailer from New Zealand, curiously beautiful from 
 its small, close, round head of inconspicuous flowers being 
 furnished, with long crimson spines. The leaves are pinnate, 
 the leaflets deeply incised, those at the apex of the leaf much the 
 largest, the whole of a brownish green tint. The plant spreads 
 into dense tufts, no taller than the Lawn Pearlwort, and in 
 summer and autumn becomes thickly bestrewn with the showy 
 and singular globes of spines. It is quite easily increased by 
 division, is perfectly hardy, grows in ordinary soil, but thrives 
 much the best in that of a fine sandy and somewhat moist 
 character. Its home is on bare level parts of the rockwork, usually 
 beneath the eye, and it is also good as a border or even an 
 edging plant in soils where it thrives. Occasionally it may be 
 used with a singularly good effect to form a carpet beneath larger 
 plants not thickly placed. 
 
 ACANTHOLIMON GLUMACEUM.— /"rzf/?/)/ Thrift. 
 
 A VERY compact and distinct little alpine plant, with dark- 
 green pink-like leaves, with sharp spines at the' points, and 
 bearing one-sided spikes of pretty rose-coloured flowers — each a 
 little more than half an inch across. It seems to thrive on 
 almost any kind of soil, but is best suited for rockwork, on 
 which it forms neat tufts from three to six inches high, wrap- 
 ping itself round the stones, and blooming freely in summer. 
 I have found it thrive perfectly well on slightly elevated rock- 
 work far into London. It may be propagated by seed, cuttings, 
 or division ; but not very rapidly in the last way, and it should 
 be divided very carefully. A native of Armenia, perfectly 
 hardy everywhere in this country, at least when elevated on 
 rockwork or banks. Synonyme Stat ice Ararati. 
 
ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 ACHILLEA MCTTBIHhaK.— Egyptian Yarrow. 
 
 A VERY silvery plant in all its parts, with finely cut leaves, and 
 handsome heads of rich clear yellow flowers. It is distinct 
 from any other kind, and, while quite equal to any of its relatives 
 in beauty of flower, has something of the grace of an elegant 
 fern in its leaves. A native of Egypt and Greece, and probably 
 widely distributed in the East, it is not hardy in all soils and 
 positions, but is quite so on well-drained sunny sides of rock- 
 work, and I have observed it survive out of doors in borders. 
 In a wild state it seldom grows more than about eight or ten 
 inches high, but in rich light garden soil it reaches fifteen or 
 eighteen inches. It is very suitable for the embellishment of 
 rockwork among the taller plants, and may also be used in 
 the mixed border or the summer flower garden. On the rock- 
 work the best way to treat it would be to plant, it in light loam 
 mixed with brick rubbish, and in this it would grow compactly 
 and survive many years. On chalky or very dry warm banks 
 it would probably prove a hardy perennial. It flowers in 
 summer and early autumn, and is very easily multiphed by 
 division. When grown as a bedding plant, it is best kept over 
 the winter in frames ; and if the flowers are pinched off, it 
 forms a dense mass of elegantly cut and very silvery leaves, and 
 fbr this reason alone should prove very useful in the flower- 
 garden. 
 
 ACHILLEA OTuKSTENm.— White Alpine Yarrow. 
 
 A DWARF and distinct sort, covered with a very short, silky 
 down, which makes the plant almost of a silvery white. It 
 seldom rises above six inches, and the corymbs of flowers, which 
 appear in summer, are of a pure white ; but the plant will pro- 
 bably be as much grown for its very silvery foliage as for its 
 flowers. It hkes light peaty soil or free loam, and should have 
 a position on rockwork, where its white fohage and flowers 
 would contrast well with the alpine plants that flower at the 
 same season. Though cultivated nearly 200 years ago in the 
 Edinburgh Botanic Garden, it is now very seldom seen in our 
 gardens. A native of the Alps of Austria and Styria, increased 
 by careful division of the root, and also by seed, though seed of 
 it is not common. 
 
Part II. ACHILLEA— ACIS— ADONIS. 123 
 
 Another white-flowered Achillea {A. umbellatd) has lately 
 been introduced to gardeners ; it is smaller than the preceding, 
 and useful as a silvery edging plant, but the flowers are not 
 ornamental, and I am not certain of its hardiness. 
 
 ACHILLEA TOMENTOSA. — Downy Yarrow. 
 
 This is one of the little tufted plants that help to form the car- 
 pets of silver whereon large and handsome horned Violets and 
 Gentians display their charms on the Alps, itself sending up in 
 due time flat corymbs of bright yellow flowers. On elevated 
 situations it is very dwarf and downy, but in rich soil in gardens 
 it rises to six, nine, and twelve inches high. It is a good plant 
 for the front margins of mixed borders, and also for the rock- 
 work. A native of the European Alps, easily grown in ordinary 
 soil, and readily increased by division. 
 
 ACIS KOI^XSyDSKlSl^.— Autumnal A. 
 
 A VERY slender-leaved little bulb, with stems rising three or four 
 inches high, and bearing a couple of flowers, that may be de- 
 scribed as delicate pink snowdrops, drooping elegantly on short 
 reddish footstalks, of a deep-red colour round the seed-vessel, 
 and blooming in autumn before the leaves appear. It is a true 
 gem for the rockwork, where it should be planted in a warm 
 soil and sunny position, sheltered with a few stones, and on which 
 it would look very well springing from a carpet of delicate, feeble- 
 rooting Sedum or other dwarf plant. I have never seen it in 
 nurseries except about Edinburgh, and first met with it in the 
 late Mr. Borrer's garden in Sussex. Where the soil is of a fine 
 sandy nature, it will thrive as a border plant, but is as yet so 
 rare as to be worthy of the best position and care. A native 
 of Spain and Southern Europe. 
 
 ADONIS VEENALIS.— F^rwa/^. 
 
 This, as regards size of flower, is the queen of all the Buttercup 
 and Globeflower race. Early in May, its flowers, two to three 
 and even four inches across on strong plants, spring from 
 masses of light green finely cut leaves. Had Wordsworth 
 seen a healthy plant of this in fullblow, he would never have 
 supposed the little Celandine had sat for its portrait to the 
 
124 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 artist who painted the " Rising Sun." It is a first-rate border 
 plant, growing about a foot high, but it does very poorly in 
 cold stiff soil, flourishing to great perfection where the air is 
 somewhat moist and the soil light and good. Nothing can 
 be finer where it grows healthfully ; where it does not, it is not 
 worth cultivating in the border, but on rockwork it Tvill be easy to 
 give it deep and light soil. It is a native of warm, spots on the 
 higher European. Alps, flowering soon after the snow melts, 
 and in our gardens in early summer. There is a variety called 
 A. sibirica, which is said to have larger flowers, but is probably 
 not in cultivation. 
 
 The Pyrenean Adonis {Jl . pyrenaicd) is very like this plant, ■ 
 but has usually fewer, smaller, and more obtuse petals scarcely 
 denticulated at the top, grows somewhat taUer, and has 
 radical leaves with long stalks, whereas those of A . vernalis are 
 abortive or almost reduced to mere scales. It is not sufficiently 
 removed from A. vernalis to merit culture except in large 
 collections. 
 
 ^THIONEMA CO-RTDTEOlAXSyi.— Lebanon M. 
 
 A LITTLE glaucous half-shrubby jjant, with an abundance of 
 thin, wiry stems, bearing narrow grey leaves and a multitude of 
 pretty rosy flowers, arranged at first in a compact head, which 
 becomes elongated as the flowering season advances. This is 
 one of the sweetest alpine plants in existence, and so hardy and 
 free that it may be generally grown. I first met with it in M. 
 Vilmorin's garden, near Paris, growing in quantity in a long bed 
 of the sandy soil of the neighbourhood, the dense spray of leaves 
 and wiry stems, about six inches high, thickly dotted with the 
 delicate rose-coloured flowers. It had flourished in the same posi- 
 tion for several years. Plants raised from seeds I brought from 
 Paris have done quite as well in. the neighbourhood of London. 
 It succeeds perfectly wdl on the front margin of the mixed 
 border ; and though rockwork is not required for success with it, 
 its presence will certainly be a gain to every rockwork where 
 the highest beauty of alpine plants is sought. In consequence 
 of the prostrate spreading habit of the stems, a pleasing result 
 will be produced by plantiflg it in one or two positions where the 
 roots may descend into deep earth, and the stems fall over the 
 face of rocks at about, or somewhat above, the level of the eye. 
 
Part 11. AJUGA—ALYSSUM. 125 
 
 It is very readily raised from seed, is a native of Mount Lebanon, 
 and will enjoy the sunny side of the rockery, though hardy 
 enough for any position, if in a well-drained and sandy soil. 
 
 jE. saxatile, parviflorum, and membranaceum, are also in 
 cultivation, but I have observed none of them thrive so freely 
 or look so well as this. 
 
 AJUaA GENEVENSIS.— ^r^rf Bugle. 
 
 This has violet-blue flowers, springing thickly from the axil of 
 every leaf and leaf-like bract, the stem being literally a cone of 
 flowers for a length of four or five inches, or sometimes more. 
 As the stems are produced almost as thick as they can stand, 
 it is a very pleasing plant, and placed on the outer margins 
 of shrubbery and mixed borders grows into round spreading 
 tufts eight to ten inches high. It would also be suitable for 
 rockwork, but where there are alpine plants rarer and more 
 difficult of culture, it will hardly be wise to give it a place there, 
 except in the roughest parts. It is probably the best of its family, 
 and is easily increased by division. The true plant, widely 
 distributed on the continent, is not found in Britain, but the 
 variety with the floral leaves large and longer than the flowers, 
 and having a dense leafy spike {A. pyramidalii), is found in 
 Scotland, and is sometimes grown in gardens ; it is not so orna- 
 mental as the typical form. 
 
 The common British' Creeping Bugle {A. reptans) is grown in 
 gardens under various names for the sake of its dark browny- 
 purple leaves, and a variegated variety of it is sometimes grown 
 in the spring garden, and in collections of hardy variegated 
 plants. 
 
 ALTSSUM ALPBSTRE.— ^^z«« A. 
 
 A PRETTY and bright little species, partaking of the brilliant 
 colour and free-flowering properties of the well-known Rock 
 Alyssum, and the neatness of habit and dwarfness of the Spiny 
 or the Mountain A. It forms neat tufts of hoary entire leaves 
 on stems woody at the base, the whole plant being covered 
 with minute, shining, star-like hairs, and, so far as I have 
 ■observed, not growing more than three inches high. It has, 
 however, as yet been cultivated but very little in this country ; 
 and though recorded as in cultivation so long ago as 1777, 
 
126 ALPINE FLOWERS, Part II. 
 
 it was lost to our gardens till recently re-introduced. A 
 native of the Pyrenees and mountains of Switzerland, Italy, 
 and Greece, its home with us is in sunny spots on roctwork, 
 the soil to be of a light and poor, rather than of a rich, nature. 
 Flowers in early summer, and is readily increased by seed or 
 from cuttings. The Silvery A. {A. argenteum), a native of 
 Corsica, is closely related to this species, but is taller and more 
 robust, has small flowers, and is not so well worthy of culture. 
 
 ALYSStTM MONTANUM.— j^<7K«/az« A. 
 
 A CHARMING and distinct species, spreading into compact tufts 
 of slightly glaucous green, two or three inches high, and with 
 oblong or obovate leaves. In April the flowers commence to 
 open, and in May the plants are studded with yellow, alpine- 
 wallflower-like blooms, sweet-scented, and produced abundantly 
 on healthy specimens. The beautiful stellate hairs which are 
 produced so freely by this family are large enough on this kind to 
 be seen by the naked eye. It is a native of many mountainous 
 parts of Europe, on hills and low mountain ranges, chiefly in 
 sunny positions and on calcareous formations. I have grovm 
 it well on cold heavy soil, but it is almost certain to perish on 
 such during winter. To succeed perfectly with it, it is desirable 
 to place it on the rockwork in good sandy soil, or in some 
 slightly elevated position, and so situated it will prove a beau- 
 tiful ornament, especially when it grows into large cushions, 
 on one side perhaps falling over the edge of a rock ; readily 
 increased by division, cuttings, or seeds, though it does not often 
 seed freely with us. 
 
 ALYSStTM SAXATILE.— i?(?i:/5r A. 
 
 The most valuable of the yellow flowers of spring. It is 
 perfectly hardy in all parts of these islands, and the extreme 
 brilliancy and profusion of its masses of bloom, combined with 
 its capacity for growing in any soil or enduring any ill-treatment, 
 have made it one of the most popular of garden plants. It is 
 most frequently grown in half-shady places, under trees and 
 shrubs, and where it has little chance of becoming fairly de- 
 veloped or showing its full flush of bloom ; but it, like most 
 rock plants, should be fully exposed. It is well fitted for the 
 decoration of the garden of spring bedding plants, the mixed 
 
Part 11. ALYSSUM— ANDROMEDA. 127 
 
 border, and rockwork, and also for association with the evergreen 
 Candytufts, Aubrietias, &c., for fringing shrubberies, and for hke 
 purposes. On wet ground it is better to put a few plants in an 
 elevated position and in poor soil : that is, if it be not grown 
 sn rockwork, as I have seen it perish in winter in heavy, rich 
 clays, when on the level ground. Very easily raised from seed, 
 or by cuttings. Comes from Podolia in Southern Russia, and 
 flowers with us in April or May. There is a somewhat dwarfer 
 variety, distinguished by the name of A. saxatile compactum, 
 Jjut it differs very little from the old plant. 
 
 ALYSSXIM SPINOSUM.— ■y/z«J' A. 
 
 The flowers of this are small and in no sense ornamental, but 
 the plant forms such a distinct-looking, silvery, neat, and pretty 
 little bush on any kind of soil, that I think it has quite as good 
 a right to be named here as many others valued for their 
 flowers alone. Small plants quickly become Lilliputian silvery 
 bushes, three to six inches high ; when fully exposed, almost as 
 compact as moss. The leaves are covered with small stellate 
 hairs, and form interesting objects under the microscope. On 
 estabhshed plants the old branches become transformed into 
 spines : hence its specific name. It is entirely distinct in ap- 
 pearance from anything else in cultivation, and merits a 
 place on some not over-valued spot on rockwork. It may also 
 be used as a permanent edging plant, and should find a place in 
 all collections of silvery-leaved plants. It is readily increased 
 from cuttings, and comes from Southern Europe. 
 
 ANDROMEDA FASTIGIATA. — Himalayan A. 
 
 A REMARKABLY neat little shrub, with the branches closely over- 
 lapped along the stems, so as to make them square like those 
 oi A.ffetragona, but distinguished from that plant by the leaves 
 having a white, thin, chaffy margin terminating in a small point, 
 and also a deep and broad keel. It is also larger in all its parts. 
 The flowers, of a waxy white, produced at the top of each little 
 branchlet, are turned down bell-fashion ; the reddish - brown 
 calyx spreads half-way down the waxy flowers. This, one of the 
 most rare and beautiful plants that we have obtained from the 
 Himalayas, is, happily, not so difficult to grow as the mossy 
 Andromeda, though it requires care. It has been successfully 
 
128 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 grown by Dr. Moore, in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Dublin, 
 and should have a very sandy, moist peat soil. It is most 
 likely to thrive in moist and elevated districts ; but, safely 
 planted on rockwork in deep, moist, but well-drained soil, and 
 carefully guarded against drought during the warm season, it 
 may be grown without difficulty ; and doubtless, when it be- 
 comes sufficiently plentiful, it will be found, like the next 
 species, to thrive very well in the natural soil of some districts. 
 
 ANDROMEDA HYPNOIDES.— ^OJjy A. 
 
 A MINUTE, spreading, moss-like shrub, one to four inches high, 
 with wiry, much divided branches, densely clothed in all their 
 parts with minute bright green leaves, and bearing small, waxy, 
 white, five-cleft flowers, with reddish calyces. These flowers are 
 freely produced, and are borne singly and drooping on slender 
 reddish stems. It is one of the most interesting and beau- 
 tiful of all alpine plants, and one of the most difficult to 
 grow, being very rarely seen in a healthy state even in the 
 choicest collections. Drought is fatal to it. It is a native 
 both of Europe and America, either far north into the coldest 
 regions of these countries, or on the summits of high mountains. 
 It is such a delicate and fragile evergreen shrub that any im- 
 purity in the air is sure to injure it. In elevated and moist 
 parts of these islands, it will succeed in very sandy or gritty 
 moist but well-drained peat, freely exposed to the sun and air, 
 and placed quite apart from more vigorous plants on rockwork. 
 The chief difficulty would seem to be the procuring of healthy 
 plants to begin with ; once obtained, it would be desirable to 
 carefully peg down the slender main branches, and to place a 
 few stones round the neck of the plant, so as to prevent evapo- 
 ration. It is a subject which the most skilful cultivator might be 
 proud to succeed with, and worthy the best attention of those 
 who delight in conquering difficulties. * 
 
 ANDROMEDA 'SWY&KQiO^K.—Square-stemm.ed A. 
 
 One of the neatest and prettiest of all the diminutive shrubs 
 introduced to cultivation, seldom growing more than eight inches 
 high. When in good health, the deep green branches are 
 produced so densely that they form very compact and dressy 
 tufts, pleasing at all times. The flowers are produced singly, but 
 
Part II. ANDROSACE. 129 
 
 rather freely ; of a waxy white, five-cleft, contracted near the 
 mouth, and drooping. It is not likely to be confounded with 
 any other plant except the much rarer A. fastigiata, from 
 which it may be distinguished in a moment by the absence of 
 the thin chaffy margin of the leaf. It is a native of Northern 
 Europe and America, quite hardy, but requires a moist peat or 
 very fine sandy soil for its perfect development. I have not 
 elsewhere seen it so plentiful or so healthy as in the nurseries 
 near Edinburgh, where it flourishes in common soil. It is a 
 most fitting ornament for the rockwork, or for planting on the 
 margin of beds of choice dwarf shrubs, in fine sandy peat, 
 loves abundance of moisture in summer, and is easily increased 
 by division, wherever it grows vigorously. 
 
 ANDROSACE CARNEA. — Rose-coloured A. 
 
 One of the prettiest and most distinct of its exquisite family, 
 coming from the highest summits of the Alps and Pyrenees, 
 where it flowers in summer, when the snow has at last yielded 
 to the sun ; opening in our gardens also perhaps among 
 melting snow, but in early spring before any of its relatives. It 
 is immediately known from any of the other cultivated kinds by 
 its small pointed leaves, not, as in them, gathered in tiny rosettes, 
 but more regularly clothing a somewhat elongated stem, so as 
 to remind one distantly of a. small twig of juniper, or of the 
 juniper saxifrage. The flowers are of a lively pink or rose, with 
 a yellow eye. It is not difficult to cultivate in a mixture of sandy 
 loam and peat on rockwork — the spot to be exposed, and the 
 soil at least a foot deep, so that its roots may descend, and be 
 less liable to suffer from vicissitudes. Thorough watering should 
 be given during the dry season, particularly when the plant is 
 young, and before it has taken deep root. Treated thus it will 
 form healthy tufts, and prove one of the most beautiful plants in 
 the rock-garden in spring. Like most of the species, it may be 
 easily raised from seed, which should be carefully sown in pans 
 of sandy peat as soon as gathered, in the case of plants growing 
 in gardens ; but if gathered on the Alps late in summer, or early 
 in autumn, it would, unless in the hands of a skilful propagator, 
 be best kept over till early spring, when it ought, to be sown in 
 cold frames or pits. 
 
I30 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 ANDEOSACE CUiiM.MZhSM.-E,.— Rock Jasmine. 
 
 This does not nestle into close moss-like cushions, like the Hel- 
 vetian and other Androsaces, the foliage forming large rosettes 
 of fringed leaves. The blooms are borne on stout little stems 
 frequently not more than one inch high, but varying from that 
 to five, according to the vigour of the plants and the position in 
 which they grow. They are white at first, with . a yellow 
 eye, though this eventually changes to deep crimson, the 
 outer part becoming a delicate rose. These changes may not 
 be common to all the individuals of the species, but I "have 
 observed them in many specimens. When in good health, it 
 flowers abundantly, 'is one of the most worthy of culture of all 
 alpine plants, and one of the easiest to grow on an open spot on 
 rockwork, in deep and well-drained rich light loam, the surface 
 being nearly covered with small pieces of broken rock, to prevent 
 evaporation, and also to preserve the plant from injury. It 
 should get abundance of water in summer, be exposed to the 
 full sun, and be preserved from being overrun by weeds or 
 grazed down by slugs. A native of the Tyrolese and Swiss 
 Alps, where it flowers later than in our gardens. In England it 
 blooms in April, May, and June, earlier or later according to 
 the season, is propagated by division, and may be grown very 
 well in pots along with the rarer Saxifrages, &c., plunged in 
 sand or coal-ashes. 
 
 ANDEOSACE HELVETICA.— ^''ZJ/zjj A. 
 
 Forms dense cushions, about half an inch high, of diminutive 
 ciliated leaves, tightly packed in little rosettes. Each rosette 
 rests on the summit of a little column of old and dead, but 
 hidden half-dried and persistent leaves. A white flower, with 
 a yellowish eye, rises from every tiny rosette, each flower 
 being almost twice as large as the rosette of leaves from 
 which it has arisen, and resting immediately on the httle mass 
 of glaucous green, the effect being quite charming. Looked 
 at from the height of a man, the leaves are not distinctly 
 seen, the flowers quite so ; and thus the effect is somewhat as if 
 you were looking from a considerable height down on some 
 grey bush, with very large flowers and diminutive foliage almost 
 indistinguishable in consequence of the distance. Requires 
 
Part II. ANDkOSACE. 131 
 
 considerable care in cultivation, perfect exposure to sun, and a 
 thoroughly' well-drained position on a well-constructed rockwork. 
 It should be placed between and tightly pressed by stones about 
 the size of the fist, which will guard it against danger from 
 excessive moisture, and at the same time permit of the roots 
 passing into the good loam and -peat in the crevices of the 
 larger rocks. 
 
 ANDEOSACE IMBRICATA.— A/z'^ry A. 
 
 This interesting species differs from the Pyrenean and Swiss 
 Androsaces in having the rosettes of a beautiful silvery white 
 colour. The pretty white flowers are without stalks, and rest 
 so thickly on the rosettes as often to overlap each other. It 
 wiU grow freely in rich loamy soil in narrow well-drained 
 fissures of rockwork. A native of the Pyrenees, the Alps of 
 Dauphiny, Switzerland, and North Italy. Flowers . in summer, 
 and is propagated by seeds and division. = A. argentea. 
 
 ANDEOSACE LANUGINOSA— /fma/aya« A. 
 
 The European species of this diminutive family usually have 
 their leaves in tufts more compact than the very mosses and 
 lichens, and if they do in several instances throw out short run- 
 ners it is in an underground and very careful sort of way. This 
 kind is distinguished by its spreading and even sometimes, 
 when in vigorous health, long stems, branched, and bearing 
 umbels of flowers of a pleasing and delicate rose, with a small 
 yellow eye ; the leaves nearly an inch long, and covered with 
 silky hairs. When growing freely, it is a lovely plant, but it is 
 very rarely seen in good health. I have never seen it in such a 
 perfect state as with Mr. John Bain, in the College Botanic 
 Garden, at Dublin, where it grew on a narrow border, on the 
 sunny side of a glass-house in very sandy deep soil. There it 
 was perfectly' hardy, and grew into luxuriant silvery tufts 
 covered with flowers. It is very probable that many parts of 
 the country are 'too cold for this plant, and that the southern 
 and western counties, or warm and genial places near the sea, 
 are those in which it may be grown with most success. It is, 
 however, so distinct and pretty that in cold and dry places it 
 will be well to preserve it over the winter in dry pits or frames, 
 and plant it out in summer. The most suitable position for it 
 
 K 7. 
 
132 ALPINE FLOWERS.- Part II. 
 
 is on the rockwork, planted in sandy peat or very sandy light 
 loam, and so placed that its shoots may fall over thfe edge of a 
 low rock. Where the soil is very free, and not too wet in winter, 
 and the air moist and genial, it may be tried as a border plant. 
 It is best propagated by cuttings, and flowers in summer and 
 early autumn. A native of the Himalayas. 
 
 ANDEOSACE OBTVSlEOljXA.—Bluni-leaved A. 
 
 This is said to be allied to A. chamcejasme, but has rather larger 
 rosettes of leaves, lanceolate-oblong, somewhat spoon-shaped 
 and obtuse, with stems clothed with short down, from one to 
 four inches high, bearing sometimes one, but generally from 
 two to five white or rose-coloured flowers, with yellow eyes. It 
 seems to grow taller and more vigorously than A. chamajasme, 
 and in a native state is often gathered by handfuls, and placed 
 in vases, with gentians and other alpine'- flowers. Widely dis- 
 tributed over the European Alps, occurring in France, Ger- 
 many, and Switzerland, and usually flowering in midsummer ; 
 but in this country opening in spring. The treatment recom- 
 mended for A. chamajasme will be found equally suitable for 
 this plant. 
 
 ANDEOSACE PUBESCENS.— iJowwy A. 
 
 Allied to the Swi^s and Pyrenean Androsaces in its rather 
 large solitary white flowers, with pale yellow eyes, just rising 
 above the densely packed, slightly hoary leaves, the surface of 
 which is covered with stalked and star-like hairs. The unopened 
 blooms look like small pearls set firmly in a tiny five-cleft cup, 
 and are held on stems barely rising above the dwarf cushion 
 formed by the plant. It may be distinguished from its fellows 
 by a small sweUing on the flower-stem close to the flower, and 
 is an exquisite little plant, widely distributed over the Pyrenees, 
 Alps, and other European ranges, generally flowering in July 
 and August in its native state, and in our gardens in spring or 
 early summer. It seems to grow without difficulty on sunny 
 fissures in deep sandy and gritty peat. 
 
 ANDEOSACE CUSLh^K.— Fringed A. 
 
 Is by some considered a variety of the preceding, with the 
 flower-stems twice as long as the leaves, which are glabrous on 
 
Part II. ANDROSACE. 133 
 
 the surface and ciliated at the margin, the old leaves not forming 
 a column beneath each rosette. It is, however, sufficiently 
 distinct for garden purposes. Androsace cylindrica is another 
 variety with the stems rising to half an inch high, with persistent 
 leaves which form jcolumns on the stems. It is by some con- 
 sidered a species, bears pure white flowers in spring, and 
 should be treated like A. pubescens.- 
 
 ANDSOSACE PYEENAICA.— /^r^w^aw A. 
 
 This spreads out into such a very dwarf, compact, and cushioned 
 mass of tiny grey rosettes that one could almost use it for a pin- 
 cushion. It is something like the Swiss Androsace, but the 
 paper-white flowers with yellowish eyes are not quite so well 
 formed as those of that kind, and the flower, instead of being 
 seated or almost seated in the rosettes of leaves, rises on a 
 stem from a quarter to half an inch high. The leaves are 
 downy and have a keel at the back, and, like those of A. hel- 
 vetica, the old leaves are persistent, and remain in little columns 
 below the living rosette. This plant has been grown to great 
 perfection by Mr. James Backhouse, of York, in fissures between 
 large rocks, with, however, deep rifts of sandy peat and loam 
 in them. In such a position it is more likely to be safe from 
 the encroachments of rampant neighbours of the vegetable, or 
 creeping things of the animal, kingdom. It will also grow on 
 a level exposed spot, but in such a position should be sur- 
 rounded by half-buried stones. 
 
 ANDROSACE VILLOSA— 5/%(Zg0/ A. 
 
 A VERY pretty dwarf species, found on many parts of the Alps, 
 Pyrenees, and mountains of Dauphiny, with leaves aijd stems 
 thickly covered with soft white hair or down. The leaves are 
 mostly covered with the silky hairs on the under side, united in 
 a sub-globular rosette, and bear in umbels white or pale rosy 
 flowers with purplish or yellowish eyes, on stems from two to four 
 inches high. It is more inclined to spread than any of the nearly 
 allied sorts, as it throws out runners, and is therefore suitable 
 for planting so that one side of the specimen may fall down the 
 face of a rock. It should be planted in loam and a mixture of 
 peat, in a properly made fissure between limestone rocks or 
 large stones ; but it may also be grown on level spots on rock- 
 
134 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 work. In all cases it should have abundant moisture, is in- 
 creased by seeds, and in Britain flowers about the beginning 
 of May. 
 
 ANDEOSACE TlTiiajJJSK.— Yellow A. 
 
 Rarely grows above an inch high, and produces, scarcely above 
 the leaves, flowers large for so small a plant, and of the richest 
 and most pleasing yellow. On the Alps it reminded me of a Lilli- 
 putian furze-bush, looked at through the wrong end of a tele- 
 scope. It is lovely for association with the freer-growing Andro- 
 saces, dwarf Gentians, Primulas, &c. ; it may even be grown on a 
 border in a not too dry district where the soil iS' free and sandy. 
 A dry soil or a heavy one it does not like. On the rockwork it 
 should be kept abundantly supplied with water during the dry 
 months ; and when in suitable districts it is tried as a border 
 plant on the level ground, it should be surrounded by stones, 
 half plunged in the ground, to prevent evaporation, as well as 
 to protect it from being trampled upon. It is abundant on the 
 Alps in various parts of Europe, and is increased by careful 
 division or by seeds. It is also known by the names oi Andro- 
 sace lutea, Priviula Vitaliana, Aretia Vitaliana, and Gregoria 
 Vitaliana. 
 
 Androsace Heerii, Charpentieri, Wulfenii, and Hazissmannii, 
 which are among the finest kinds, are not, I believe, yet intro- 
 duced ; and one or two annual kinds in the country are not 
 worthy of cultivation out of botanic gardens. 
 
 ANEMONE KUS,K.— White Windflower. 
 
 This is best described as a dwarf and stout Anemone sylvestris, 
 and is a native of Dauria, Russian Asia, the Crimea, and, doubt- 
 less, the Caucasus. I have not met with it in cultivation in 
 England, but have seen^it flowering very well in the open borders 
 in the' Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. The leaves were only a few 
 inches, high, and the handsome white flowers, somewhat like 
 •those, of the fine large-flowered variety oi Clematis montana, rose 
 an inch or two above them. Till plentiful, it should be grown 
 in deep fibry loam on the rockwork. Flowers in summer ; four 
 to six inches high. Propagated by division and by seeds. The 
 figure of this in the 'Botanical Magazine,' 47, 2167, does not do 
 justice to the plant. 
 
Part II. ANEMONE. 13S 
 
 ANEMONE iJJSTSh-— Alpine Windflower. 
 
 This is almost too stately to be classed with the dwarf 
 plants that we usually term alpines. But high on nearly every 
 great mountain range in northern and temperate climes, it is 
 one of the most frequent and well-marked plants. Cross a 
 snowy range, and you will find it a few inches high and humbly 
 holding up its velvety cups ; in descending through the rich 
 green meadows to reach again the roofs of men, you will brush 
 against many of its stems nearly as tall as the knee, each bear- 
 ing a large, soft, round head of silken-bearded seeds. It may be 
 seen in every stage on the same day, and on the lower terraces 
 of the great mountains and in the green slopes of the valleys 
 it assumes somewhat about the same proportions as in our gar- 
 dens. It is entirely distinct from most of its cultivated brethren 
 in its large and much cut leaves, its size, and the very soft down 
 on the exterior of its flowers. The interior of the flower is white, 
 the outside being frequently tinted with pale purplish blue. . It 
 grows from four to eighteen inches and even two feet high. 
 Being of a strong rooting and vigorous character, it should, if 
 placed on rockwork, have a level spot with abundance of soil to 
 grow in, and being also tall, it would be the better of close asso- 
 ciation with neat shrubs, plants of the stature of the vernal 
 Adonis, Primula cortusoides, and the better kinds of Aquilegia. 
 They would afford each other protection. Where the soil is 
 good, it grows quite freely as a border plant. Flowers in its 
 native couijtry as the snow disappears, and in our gardens in 
 the end of April or beginning of May. When plants are well 
 established in good soil, they may be taken up and readily 
 divided with advantage to themselves ; it may also be raised 
 from seed. Visitors to the Alps might bring home quantities 
 of the seed, which ought to be sown as soon as possible after 
 being gathered. Sometimes the flowers are yellow, in which 
 state the plant is often known as A. sulphur ea. 
 
 ANEMONE ANGXJLOSA.— Cr^a;/ Hepatica. 
 
 Every one who knows the charmingly bright flowers of the 
 variously coloured varieties of the common Hepatica — the very 
 bravest of our early spring flowers — will welcome this species, 
 full twice the size of the common Hepatica in all its parts, with 
 
136 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 flowers of a fine sky-blue, as large as a crown piece, and dis- 
 tinguished from the common kind by its five-lobed and toothed 
 leaves. It is a native of Transylvania, and hardy everywhere 
 throughout these islands. Obviously the only thing to determine 
 about such a valuable addition is how to best grow and enjoy it. 
 It is naturally more an inhabitant of the elevated copse than the 
 crest of the Alps ; it is hot able to flourish when thoroughly 
 exposed to the fiercest blasts, like the little alpine plants that 
 cushion down their stout, if diminutive, leaves shorter than the 
 very moss, so that injury from the fiercest gale is out of the ques- 
 tion. I have seen it in sandy soil in a thin shrubbery attain a 
 height of more than a foot when not in flower, and the shelter 
 and slight shade received from surrounding objects is decidedly 
 favourable to its development. In all properly formed rockworks, 
 or in their immediate vicinity, it will be possible to give it a 
 suitable position ; while in spaces between American plants 
 and choice dwarf shrubs in beds it will succeed to perfection. 
 When plentiful enough, it may be used as an edging to beds 
 of choice spring-flowering shrubs, and for planting in wild open 
 spots in shrubberies, or in open, rather bare, aiid unmown spots 
 along the margins of wood walks. Let us hope that time will 
 see it sport into several colours like its relative, our common 
 Hepatica, one of the oldest, as well as brightest, inhabitants 
 of EngUsh gardens. 
 
 ANEMONE APENNINA. — Apennine Windflower. 
 
 Has erect flowers of a bright sky-blue— the blue of an Apennine, 
 not a British, sky. These star-like flowers are larger in size than 
 a half-crown piece, and are paler on the outside than within. 
 The plants grow in dense tufts, so that, though there is but one 
 flower to a stem, they are thickly scattered over the low cushion 
 of soft green leaves. Although figured in most of our works on 
 British plants, and naturalised at Wimbledon Park, CuUen in 
 Banffshire, Tonbridge Castle in Kent, and various other places, 
 it is not a true native of this island. But the hardiest of our 
 native plants take not more kindly to our clime ; and neither the 
 Bluebell, the Forget-me-not, nor the Speedwell, surpasses its 
 purity of colour. It is one of the sweetest of spring flowers, and 
 among the many lovely plants that gem the alpine or Apennine 
 pastures there is not one more worthy of being abundantly 
 
Part II. ANEMONE. 137 
 
 naturalised in the groves and shrubberies of all parts of these 
 islands. It is welcome in the garden and on the rockwork ; 
 but it will be only when we see it scattered amongst and 
 contrasting with the native Anemones in our woods, or making 
 glorious mixtures of gold and blue with the Buttercup-like Wind- 
 flower in open spots along shrubbery walks, or running wild 
 among any other dwarf plants with which the woods or pleasure- 
 grounds are graced, that we shzdl be able to realise the fact that 
 this Italian beauty can add a new charm to the British spring. 
 The Apennine Anemone flowers in March and April, is very 
 readily increased by division, and grows about four to six inches 
 in height. 
 
 ANEMONE BLAND A. — Winter Windflower. 
 
 This is a near relative of the Apennine Windflower, and a very 
 lovely plant, deserving to be cultivated in every garden in the 
 British Isles. It is of a fine deep sky-blue, like A. apennina, 
 and has larger and more finely rayed flowers, dwarfer, harder, 
 and smoother leaves, and blooms in the very dawn of earliest 
 spring, during mild open winters, and in warm parts showing 
 as early as Christmas, flowering continuously too, so that it 
 may be seen in flower late in spring with its relative, A. 
 apenniiia. It is perfectly hardy and vigorous, and, from the 
 harder and smoother texture of the leaves, can stand exposure 
 to cutting winds and sleets even better than the very hardy 
 Apennine A. In a word, it combines every good quality of a 
 hardy alpine plant ; should be grown on every rockwork, 
 planted on bare banks that catch the early sun in the pleasure- 
 ground ; should adorn the spring garden, and, when sufficiently 
 plentiful, might be naturalised in half-wild places along with 
 other free and hardy members of its charming family. It does 
 not grow more than four inches high, and is multiplied easily 
 by division. Botanically this is chiefly distinguished from A. 
 apennina by its carpels being topped with a black-pointed style, 
 and by the sepals being smooth on the outside. When 
 visiting the York collection in the spring of 1868, this in- 
 valuable plant struck me as being distinct from the Apennine A., 
 among batches of which, received from Greece, it was at first 
 inadvertently distributed by Messrs. Backhouse, and I soon 
 afterwards ascertained it to be ^ . blanda. 
 
138 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 ANEMONE CORONAEIA.— /'o/Zj' A. 
 
 A NATIVE of sub-humid pastures in the South of Europe, this 
 plant has been one of the most popular in our gardens from the 
 very earliest times. There are a great number of varieties, both 
 single and double, all worthy of cultivation, and great ornaments 
 of the spring garden. The single sorts may be readily grown 
 from seeds, and they should be thus raised by those wishing a 
 large stock of effective spring flowers. Infinitely varied as they 
 are in colour, and possessing most vigorous constitutions, they 
 deserve to be cultivated even more than many double varieties 
 annually offered by our seedsmen. The plantation of these 
 double varieties may be made in autumn or in spring, or at 
 intervals all through the year to secure a continuity of flowers ; 
 but the best bloom is secured by September or October planting. 
 The Poppy Anemone does best in a rich deep loam, but- is not 
 very fastidious.. The roots of the more select kinds may be 
 taken up when the leaves die down, but they are in few cases 
 worth this special attention, simply because many splendid 
 varieties may be grown as readily as any native herbaceous 
 plant, and we had better cultivate new and distinct species of 
 hardy plants rather than the numerous varieties of one kind. 
 If the seed be sown in June, and the plants pricked out in 
 autumn, they will flower very well the following spring, so that 
 this fine old plant may be said to be almost as easily raised 
 as an annual. Flowers in April and May, and often through 
 the winter, red, white, and purple in variety. Height, six to 
 nine inches. Propagated readily by seed or division. 
 
 ANEMONE FULG-ENS.— ^car/^/ Windflower. 
 
 The white Lily is not more conspfcuous for its purity among 
 the border flowers of summer than this plant for its fiery 
 brilliancy amidst the flowers of spring. It is perfectly hardy — 
 vigorous too — the large scarlet flowers being boldly supported 
 on stems about a foot high, springing from a dwarf mass of hard, 
 deeply lobed and toothed leaves. A native of Greece and 
 Southern Europe, it is by no means common in gardens, and is, 
 indeed, unknown to the majority even of those who grow and 
 care for spring flowers ; but it will ere long become popular, 
 being one of the noblest ornaments of spring, and, as a scarlet 
 
Part II. ANEMONE. 139 
 
 flower, almost unrivalled. It is admirably suited for culture as 
 a border plant, indispensable for the rockwork and spring gar- 
 den, and, when sufficiently abundant, may be tried amongst the 
 other Anemones scattered about in half wild places. Flowers 
 in April and May ; vivid scarlet. Height, one foot. Propagated 
 by division or by seeds. 
 
 ANEMONE 'E.'E'S A'SIGK.— Common Hepatica. 
 
 To add perfume to the Violet, paint the Lily, or gild the yellow 
 Crocus, would seem to be no more wasteful excess than to praise 
 this exquisite little flower. There is a cheerfulness and a 
 courage about it on warm sunny borders in spring which no 
 other flowers possess ; they are hardy everywhere, are not fas- 
 tidious as to soil, though they love a deep loam, and present a 
 charming diversity. The principal varieties are the single blue, 
 double blue, single white, single red, double red, single pink 
 (earned), single mauve purple {Barlowi), crimson isplendens), 
 and lilacina. Every variety of the common Hepatica is worthy 
 of care and culture. Is it possible to imagine a more beautiful 
 feature than we may produce by planting a mixed edging of the 
 various colours round say a bed of dwarf American plants, 
 occupying space that perhaps would otherwise be naked ? It is 
 but one of many ways in which we may tastefully use them. 
 The plant is a native of many hilly parts of Europe, usually 
 found in half shady positions, which will be found to suit it best 
 in a cultivated state also. It is readily increased by division or 
 by seeds, the double kinds by division only. 
 
 ANEMONE TS:^mO-RO^K. — Wood A, 
 
 This hardy beauty, which not only embellishes the woods of 
 these sea-girt isles in spring but also those of nearly all Europe 
 and Russian Asia, is so abundant in the British Isles that there 
 is little need to plead for its culture. It grows, or will grow, in 
 every wood or copse, dotting its handsome flowers all over the 
 ground, should other things not intetfere, and seeming to invite 
 us to plant other beautiful species of Anemone by its side. They 
 tell us in the books that it grows in or near woods ; and so it does 
 in profusion, but I once met with it blooming sweetly on some 
 of the very highest and almost inaccessible crags of Helvellyn, 
 just under some cliffs where a peregrine falcon had built her 
 
14° ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 nest, and very far away from either wood or copse. There are 
 double varieties, and the colour of the flower is occasionally 
 lilac, or reddish, or purplish. I have a single sky-blue variety, 
 which has flowered densely in a fully exposed position, and pro- 
 duced the most exquisite cushions of coerulean blue imaginable. 
 One day it may become a popular rock-plant. Flowers from 
 March to May ; white, and reddish outside. . Height, six inches. 
 Propagated by division. 
 
 ANEMONE PALMATA. — Cyclamen-leaved A. 
 
 A VERY distinct kind, with leathery, kidney-shaped, sUghtly 
 lobed leaves and large handsome flowers, of a glossy golden 
 yellow, only opening to meet the sun. A native of North Africa, 
 Spain, and other places on the shores of the Mediterranean, this 
 charming flower requires and deserves a little more attention 
 than most of its cultivated sisters. It is especially a rockwork 
 gem, and should be planted thereon in deep turfy peat or hght 
 fibrous loam with leaf-mould. It should not be placed in posi- 
 tions on the face of rocks suited for Saxifrages and many other 
 plants that are content with mere crevices, and drape the face of 
 the rocks with the shghtest encouragement, but rather on level 
 spots, where it could root deeply and spread into firm tufts. 
 Plants of very rapid growth or rambling habit should not be 
 placed near it, as they might overrun and injure it. There is a 
 double variety, A. palmata fl.pl., and a white one, A.palmata 
 alba, both now rare. Flowers in May and June ; six to eight 
 inches high, and is propagated by division or seeds. 
 
 ANEMONE PAVONINA.— /"^awf^ Windflower. 
 
 This kind is very rarely seen in our gardens ; though well 
 worthy of being largely grown. The flowers are smaller 
 than those of the common garden Anemone, but usually 
 very double, from the great number of narrow pointed petals 
 filling up the centre of each. These being of a gorgeous 
 cinnamon-red, the effect is peculiarly rich when the flower 
 opens well on fine days. Sometimes the central petals are green. 
 The plant is a native of the South of Europe, should have a 
 light warm well-drained soil, and is a charming ornament of 
 the rockwork or border. In France I have seen it used with 
 good effect as an edging plant for beds of spring and early 
 
Part II. ANEMONE. 141 
 
 summer flowers, but with us it is as yet too scarce to be em- 
 ployed thus. It is, however, rather abundantly grown in gardens 
 in the South of France, and may be readily obtained by our 
 nurserymen. Flowers in May and June ; rich red. Height, six 
 to eight inches. Propagated by division at the end of the 
 summer growth or very early in spring. 
 
 ANEMONE VVL.S&.T:XL1^A.— Pasqueflower. 
 
 Though sparsely distributed in Britain, this fine old border 
 plant is a true native, and when it does occur on a bleak chalk 
 down, it is generally freely dotted over the turf. The position is 
 usually such as to suggest the aptness of the name Wind- 
 flower for the family generally ; and there are few sights more 
 interesting to the lover of spring flowers than to see its purple 
 blooms just showing through the hard grass of the blast-swept 
 down on an early spring day. The plant is much smaller in 
 a wild than in a cultivated state, usually devoting itself to the 
 production of a solitary flower, which, while showing through 
 the grass, seems careful not to rise above it. In the garden it 
 forms rich healthy tufts, and flowers more abundantly and 
 vigorously, the contrasts between the wild and cultivated states 
 of the plant being very marked. There are several varieties, 
 including red, lilac, and white kinds, but these are now rare. 
 There is also a double variety. It prefers well-drained and 
 light but deep soil. Flowers in March, April, May ; purplish. 
 Height, three to twelve inches. Propagated by division or by 
 seeds. 
 
 ANEMONE RANUNCULOrOES. — Yellow Wood A. 
 
 Not unlike the Apennine and the common Wood Anemone in 
 habit, this species is so very distinct in its clear golden flowers 
 that it is well worthy of cultivation even by the side of the most 
 admired kinds. Indeed, we may consider it an Apennine or a 
 Wood Anemone done in gold ! It is a South European species, 
 and apparently is not so free on the generality of our soils as 
 the blue A., but when grown into well-established tufts on a 
 light or warm and well-drained soil, it displays qualities of which 
 those who have merely seen isolated plants or figures of the 
 plant can have no idea. I have not found it do well on clay 
 soil, but on chalky soil it seems to grow as freely as the common 
 
142 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 Crowfoot. It is quite charming for association with tufts of the 
 Apennine or the Wood Anemone, the Pasqueflower, any of 
 the varieties of Aiiemone Hepatica, the Aubrietias, and like 
 plants. It comes in among the naturalised group of British 
 plants, and grows in a semi-wild condition at Abbot's Langley 
 in Herts, near Worksop in Notts, and it is also reported to 
 occur in several other counties. It is one of the many beau- 
 tiful hardy plants that may be freely naturalised in our woods 
 and shrubberies. Flowers in the end of March and beginning 
 of April. Height, four to six inches. Propagated readily by 
 division,. and also by seeds. 
 
 ANEMONE STELLATA. — Starry Windflower. 
 
 This native of Southern Germany, France, Italy, and Greece, 
 if not so showy, is quite as beautiful, as the common garden 
 A. The star-like flowers, ruby, rosy purple, rosy, or whitish, 
 springing from the much dissected leaves, vary in a very 
 charming way, and usually have a large white eye at the 
 base, which contrasts agreeably with the gay or delicate color- 
 ation of the rest of the petals, and with the rich brownish 
 violet of the stamens and styles that occupy the centre of the 
 flower. It is not so vigorous in constitution as the Poppy 
 A., and requires a little more care than that does, but this 
 will only make it the more interesting to all who love variety 
 in their collections of hardy plants. It likes a sheltered yet 
 warm position, a hght, sandy, weU-drained soil, and seems to 
 make little or no progress on heavy clay soils. It is suitable for 
 association with the choicer kinds of Anemone on the rockwork, 
 the mixed border, and the choice spring garden, and shoiild 
 be grown in every garden where spring ilowers are appreciated. 
 Flowers in May. Height, ten inches. Propagated by diVrsion 
 or by seeds. = A. hortensis. 
 
 ANEMONE SYt.Y^QUBJS.—Snowdrop Windflower. 
 
 A FREE-GROWING and handsome species, partaking some- 
 what of the size and vigour of the alpine or Japanese Anemone, 
 and the neatness of habit and densely-blooming qualities of 
 the dwarfer kinds. It grows vigorously on almost any soil ; 
 the handsome, pure white flowers, as large as a crown piece, 
 being freely produced over a mass of fresh green leaves. A 
 
Part II. ANEMONE. 143 
 
 native of Siberia, North Italy, Germany, and France, it is per- 
 fectly at home in this country, should be grown wherever 
 first-rate border flowers are appreciated, will associate well 
 with the alpine Windflower, and plants of like size, about the 
 lower and flatter parts of the rockwork, and, being naturally a 
 native of the grove, will he found perfectly at home along our 
 wood walks and half wild spots, in shrubberies, &c. The aspect 
 of the drooping unopened buds has suggested its English name 
 — the Snowdrop Anemone. Flowers in April and May ; pure 
 white. Height, one foot to fifteen inches. Propagated readily 
 by division of root. 
 
 ANEMONE 'SBJEOISUl.— Three-leaved Wood A. 
 
 This is an interesting little species, much like the Wood A., 
 but not so widely distributed. Although found in a wild 
 state in pleasant groves on the woody hillsides of Piedmont or 
 the Tyrol, it does perfectly well in our climate, and should t 
 grown everywhere for variety's sake. It may be readily known 
 from its relative, the Wood A., by its neatly toothed tri- 
 foliate leaves, and it seems to be a little smaller and dwarfer 
 in habit. I have, however, never seen them under exactly 
 like conditions. It is well suited for naturalisation along with 
 A. apennina and others of the family, and is of course suitable 
 for rockwork or borders. Flowers in April and May ; white. 
 Height, four to six inches. Propagated by division and by 
 seeds. 
 
 ANEMONE VERNALIS. — Shaggy Pasqueflower. 
 
 One of the Pasqueflower division of the Anemone family, but 
 vei-y dwarf. The flowers are very large and shaggy, and covered 
 with brownish silky hairs. It is a rare plant, and should be 
 grown in some select spot on the rockwork, giving it good 
 drainage and deep soil. A native of Norway, Sweden, and ex- 
 treme northern countries, and also of very elevated positions on 
 the Alps and Pyrenees, and is rarely seen in good condition 
 in our gardens. It should as a rule be grown on a level spot on 
 rockwork, in deep free soil, and be abundantly supplied with 
 water in summer. Flowers early in spring ; whitish inside.- 
 Height, four to eight inches. Propagated by division and by 
 seeds. 
 
144 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 Apart from the large and fine Anemone japonica and its 
 varieties, the white one of which, knowfl as Honorine Jobert, is 
 the best, there are a few dwarf Anemones in the country 
 unworthy of cultivation, insufficiently distinct, or difficult to 
 obtain, and of the last class probably A. Halleri, A. patens, 
 and A. baldensis are the best. But it is believed that the 
 cream of the obtainable species is included in the foregoing. 
 
 ANTENNARIA HIOICA^— Mountain Catsfoot. 
 
 A LITTLE creeping perennial with leaves of a silvery grey tone, 
 flower-stems from two to four or five inches high, bearing four to 
 six flower-heads close together at the apex of the shoot. The 
 flowers are usually whitish with pink florets in the centre, but 
 in the variety best worth growing the flower-heads throughout 
 are of a pleasing subdued rose or dull crimson colour. No alpine 
 plant is more worthy of cultivation, whether for rockwork, pots, 
 the front margin of the mixed border, or as an edging plant 
 to nursery beds of bulbs or alpine flowers. In the last-named 
 position or on rockwork it forms neat close-spreading tufls, 
 dotted, over with singularly pretty everlasting flowers in May, 
 and seems to thrive in the low open border on good soil near 
 London, as well as in more elevated and favourable parts. It is 
 perfectly hardy, and may be increased to any extent by division. 
 It is widely distributed over elevated and northern regions, and 
 is abundant in many parts of Britain. A. dioica minima is a 
 name given to a very small variety of the preceding ; it is ad- 
 mirable for culture in pans, on open spots on rockwork, or in 
 spreading. tufts on the margin of the select mixed border, the 
 contrast between the warmly toned flowers and the little carpet 
 of grey leaves being very pleasing. A. hyperborea is a variety 
 of A. dioica, with, both sides of the leaves woolly. From this 
 cause it is better adapted for edgings than A. dioica, but as we 
 have better silvery edgings than either of them, it is not likely 
 to be much employed except for variety's sake. 
 
 ANTENNARIA TOMENTOSA.— AVw^j Catsfoot. 
 This is the best of all dwarf silvery-leaved plants for gardening 
 •purposes. It is very dwarf and spreading, scarcely rising above 
 the ground, but forms a dense carpet of Uttle flat spreading silvery 
 leaves, and will prove a gem for those who wish for novelty and 
 
Part II. ANTHYLLIS. 145 
 
 refinement in bedding out. It may be said to carpet the 
 ground with silver ; and, as it is barely an inch high, it requires 
 to be cut off from coarser plants by a line of some subject of 
 moderate size, or by a bare space, and to be planted in a 
 rather wide belt. It is somewhat like our own little mountain 
 Antennarias in size and aspect, but whiter and brighter. I had 
 it from Mr. Niven, of the Botanic Gardens, Hull, about five 
 years ago, and have found it easy of propagation. For the 
 following note with respect to its origin I am indebted to 
 Mr. Niven : — " It is a native of the Rocky Mountains, from 
 which it was sent along with another very pretty silvery-leaved 
 species — even dwarfer, if that be possible — about the year 
 1848. We never had a specific name for either of them, and I 
 find, on referring to my notes, that I could not identify either 
 species with any described in De CandoUe. So I was obliged 
 to christen it myself." The flowers of this plant are not at- 
 tractive, and whether on rockwork or in neat bijou arrangements 
 in the flower-garden, it will be grown for the sake of its sheets 
 of leaves ; it is best to remove the flowers when they appear. 
 It is hardy on soils of ordinary warmth, but on low heavy 
 clay ground I have noticed it perish in winter ; where grown 
 for summer gardening, annual division and replanting will be 
 desirable. On flat parts of rockwork exquisite effects might 
 be produced by using it as a carpet, and then placing singly 
 or in groups upon it plants with some length of stem, say, for 
 example, the dwarf scarlet Lily, some graceful bulb like the 
 autumnal Acis or the Atamasco Lily. Like combinations may 
 be made in the flower-garden. One of the illustrations in 
 Part I. shows how it has been used to give the effect of distant 
 snow on the tops of miniature hills. 
 
 ANTHYLLIS MON'SKHrUQ.— Mountain Kidney Vetch. 
 
 A NEAR ally of our common Kidney Vetch or Lady's Fingers, 
 this is a plant seldom seen in our gardens, but few hardy flowers 
 are more worthy of general cultivation. It is very dwarf, about 
 six inches high, the leaves being pinnate, and nearly white with 
 down. On good light soils it grows larger. The pinkish flowers 
 are produced in dense heads, rising little above the foliage, and 
 forming with the hoary leaves pretty little tufts. There is a 
 white variety, but I have not met with it in cultivation. The 
 species is a most desirable one for every kind of rockwork, bu^ 
 
 L 
 
146 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 chiefly valuable for its power of thriving on stiff, cold, and bad 
 soils. I have never seen any dwarf alpine flower thrive better 
 on the stiff clay of North London, which proves that the plant 
 may be grown anywhere. Resisting any cold or moisture, it is 
 peculiarly fitted for a position among the dwarf plants in the 
 front rank of the mixed border, while it is of the first order of 
 merit as a rockwork plant. A native of the Alps of Europe, 
 propagated by division and by seeds. 
 
 ANTIRRHINUM MAJUS. — Snapdragon. 
 
 Like the Wallflower, this claims a place from the facility with 
 which it may be grown on old walls and ruins, or even on the 
 tops of walls far from old. Had we but the common variety, -it 
 would be well worthy of our attention from this habit, but when 
 it is considered how many beautiful striped, and self-coloured, 
 and flaked, and mottled, and delicately dotted kinds are now 
 aburidant in gardens, and raised from seed as easily as grass, 
 few will doubt the desirability of naturalising them where- 
 ever there is an opportunity so to do. I speak of their merits 
 apart altogether from ordinary garden culture, for which also 
 they are so well adapted. In all but the rougher kind of rock- 
 gardens, they would be out of place, though some very dwarf 
 sorts recently raised, and now obtainable in nurseries, are small 
 enough for association with subjects growing about half a foot 
 high, or a little more. 
 
 AQUILEGIA AXSTNA-.-'-Alpine Columbine. 
 
 This plant, widely distributed over the higher parts of the 
 Alps of Europe, is indispensable to the choice collection of 
 alpines. The stems rise from less than one to more than two 
 feet high, bearing showy blue flowers, and leaves deeply 
 divided into hnear lobes. There is a loySy variety with a 
 white centre to the flower, which, in consequence of its exqui- 
 site tones of colour, is certain to be preferred, and many will 
 say they have not got the " true " plant if they possess only 
 the variety with blue flowers. It does not require any very 
 particular care in culture, but should have a place among the 
 taller ornaments of the rockwork, and be planted in a rather 
 moist and sheltered but not shady spot in deep sandy loam or 
 peat. It may be increased by seed or division. In moist 
 
Part II. AQUILEGIA. 147 
 
 districts, and in good free soil, it will prove a first-class border 
 plant. Distinguished from A. vulgaris by the stamens being 
 longer than the petals, and by its larger flowers. 
 
 AQUILEGIA O^RTJLEA. — Rocky Mountain Columbine. 
 
 This native of the Rocky Mountains is as beautiful as it is 
 distinct ; and that it has the latter quality will be apparent 
 when I state that the spurs of the flower are almost as slender 
 as a thread, a couple' of inches long, with a tendency to twist 
 round each other, and with green tips. But it is in the blue and 
 white erect flower that the beauty lies, the effect being even 
 better than in the blue and white form of the alpine Columbine. 
 It is a hardy herbaceous perennial, flowers rather early in sum- 
 mer, continuing a long time in flower. I have seen it flowering 
 freely on very sandy soil In an exposed spot in Suifolk so late as 
 September. It grows about from nine inches to fifteen inches 
 high, and is worthy of the choicest position on the rockwork ; 
 is easier of culture than any of the other rare kinds, and is 
 therefore suitable for the front margin of the choice mixed 
 border, where the soil is sandy and deep, and not too wet in 
 winter. Increased freely from seeds, and also by division. It 
 was long lost to cultivation, but was reintroduced a few years 
 since by Mr. Wm. Thompson, of Ipswich, whom we have to 
 thank for distributing some of our most beautiful hardy plants. 
 
 AQUILEGrIA GLANDTJLOSA. — Glandular Columbine. 
 
 A VERY beautiful species, with handsome blue and white flowers, 
 and a tufted habit. Flowers in early summer — a fine blue, with 
 the tips of the petals creamy-white, the spur curved backwards 
 towards the stalk, the sepals dark blue, large, and nearly oval, 
 with a long footstalk. Leaves much divided, the upper part of 
 the stem covered with glandular hairs. A native of the Altai 
 Mountains, and one of the most desirable kinds for the rock- 
 garden, or the select border, in well-drained deep sandy soil. 
 Increased by seed and by very careful division of the fleshy 
 roots, when the plant is in full leaf. Mr. Wm. Jennings informs 
 me that, if divided when it is at rest, the roots are almost 
 certain to perish, at least on cold soils. 
 
 A.pyrenaica, much dwarfer than the preceding, and therefore 
 suitable for rockwork, but not so attractive in point of colour ; 
 
 L 2 
 
148 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II.. 
 
 the fine, but very tall A. eximia {californicd), the gaily coloured 
 A. canadensis, A. Skinneri, and some of the more beautiful 
 varieties of the common Columbine, are all worthy of culture, 
 but for the most part too tall for the rock-garden. 
 
 ARABIS MSIDIi..— White Rock Cress. 
 
 Through long years of neglect of all sorts of dwarf hardy plants 
 this, the " white Arabis " of our gardens, has held its own, and 
 is now seen in almost every garden in these islands, and in the 
 barrow of every London flower-hawker in the spring. A native 
 of the mountains of Greece, Southern Russia, and of many 
 elevated parts in adjacent regions, it is as much at home in 
 Britain as is the daisy, and will 'grow in any soil or situation, 
 flourishing far into our cities as well as in the open country, 
 where its profuse sheets of snowy bloom may expand un- 
 blemished under the earliest suns of spring. By seed, or divi- 
 sion, or cuttings, it is as easily increased as a native weed, and 
 is a valuable ornament of the mixed border, the spring garden, 
 the rockwork, and for naturalisation in wild and bare rocky 
 spots. On the rockwork it is peculiarly fitted for falling over 
 the ledges of rocks ; it may also be used as an edging to clumps 
 of shrubs, though it is in better taste to associate it in such 
 positions with groups of plants like the Aubrietias, the rock 
 Alyssum, and other easily grown alpine .flowers that bloom 
 early in the year. A. albida is closely allied to the Alpine Rock 
 Cress {A. alpind), so .widely distributed on the Alps, and by some 
 would be considered a. sub-species of that plant, but it is suffi- 
 ciently distinct, and by far the best kind. There is a variegated 
 variety in cultivation, known by the name of Arabis albida 
 variegata, which is useful as an edging-plant both in spring 
 and summer flower-gardens. It is the dwarfest and whitest of 
 the variegated rock cresses that are grown under the names 
 of ^. albida variegata. The yellower and stronger variety, fre- 
 quently called A. albida variegata, and which is the best for 
 general purposes, is a form of Arabis crispata, of which the 
 ordinary green form is not worthy of cultivation. 
 
 ARABIS BLEPHAROPHYLLA.— 7?0jy Rock Cress. 
 This is not unlike the white Arabis in its habit, size, and leaves, 
 but the flowers are of a deep rosy purple, and consequently 
 
Part II. ARAB IS. 149 
 
 make the plant very distinct from any flower of the same order 
 in cultivation. It varies a'''good deal, but there is no difficulty 
 in selecting a strain of the deepest and brightest rose. ■ It is 
 impossible to have anything more effective than healthy tufts of 
 this plant in the month of April. Whether it prove sufficiently 
 hardy to be a generally useful plant for the open air or not, it is 
 certain to prove a very useful frame plant. It is best raised 
 every year from seed, which, like most cruciferous plants, it 
 yields freely. In all mild districts, and on light soils, plants 
 should be tried out every winter, for there is no out-door flower 
 which surpasses it in pleasing brilliancy during the month of 
 April. The brighter forms are remarkably effective a consider- 
 able distance off, and therefore some plants should be placed in 
 positions on the rockwork where they may strike the eye from 
 afar. A native of North America, easily increased by seed. 
 
 Among other kinds of Arabis, A.procurrens a dwarf spreading 
 kind, with shining leaves and small whitish flowers,' is often 
 grown, but is not worthy of culture, There is, however, a 
 brilliantly variegated form of it {A. ' ■procurrens variegatd) 
 which is worthy of a place in a collection of silvery and 
 variegated hardy plants. The prettiest of the variegated 
 Rock Cresses is A. lucida variegata. It forms vefy neat 
 and effective edgings in winter, spring, and summer flower 
 gardens, from its striking and distinct character is effective 
 on rockwork, and thrives best and is easiest to increase by 
 division in open, sandy, and yet moist soil. .The best time 
 to divide it is early in autumn, April, or very early in May. It 
 need scarcely be added that the flowers should be removed 
 when they appear. I have grown the green form of the plant, 
 but it is in no sense ornamental. A. purpurea, an interesting 
 species for botanical, large, or curious collections, and bearing 
 pale bluish and lilac flowers, is not worthy of general culti- 
 vation while we possess such brilliant plants as the purple 
 Aubrietias. A. arenosa, from the South of Europe, is a pretty 
 annual kind that may prove useful in the spring garden, and 
 which might be naturalised on old ruins or dry bare banks. 
 A. petrcea (Northern Rock Cress) is a neat, sturdy little 
 plant, with pure white flowers, a native of some of the higher 
 Scotch mountains, and very rarely seen in cultivation, but when 
 well developed on a moist yet well-exposed spot on rockwork is 
 very pretty. There is a form of it with a purple tinge on the 
 
ISO ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 flowers. Other species are in cultivation which are unworthy 
 of a position in any but a botanical collection, and there are 
 various names erroneously applied to several of the Icinds above 
 enumerated. 
 
 ARCTOSTAPHYLOS TS^h.-'UBS,\.—Bearberry. 
 
 A SMALL and prostrate but neatly creeping mountain shrub, 
 somewhat resembling the Cowberry in aspect, but with the 
 leaves more leathery, and their under side beautifully netted 
 with prominent veins, and with the sepals at the base and not 
 at the crown of the berry. The flowers are of a delicate rose- 
 colour in clusters at the apex of the branches ; the berries of a 
 brilliant red, somewhat smaller than a currant. It is a native of 
 rather dry heaths and barren places in hilly countries, and is 
 much easier to cultivate than almost any other small mountain 
 or bog shrub, thriving well in common garden soil, though it 
 prefers a moist peaty one. I have noticed two forms in cultiva- 
 tion, one making compact tufts, the other much more rambling 
 and somewhat larger and looser in all its parts. It is a useful 
 plant in the large rock-garden, when it's shining evergreen 
 masses, of leaves fall over the face of rocks, and also on the 
 margins of beds of shrubs and on borders. 
 
 The Black Bearberry {^A. alpind), a plant very rarely seen in 
 cultivation, a native of high alpine or arctic regions, and of 
 the northern Highlands of Scotland, distinguished from the 
 preceding by its thin toothed leaves, which, unlike those of its 
 relative, are not evergreen, but wither away at the end of the 
 season, and by its bluish-black berries, is not so ornamental as 
 the preceding, though it is a welcome plant in botanic gardens, 
 or with cultivators of rare British species. 
 
 AEENARIA "ZtJ^S^KSUGK.— Balearic Sandwort. 
 
 This coats the face of rocks and stones with the dwarfest 
 thyme-like verdure — clothes them with living beauty as the 
 Ivy does the mouldering tower, and then scatters over the 
 green mantle countless httle starry flowers on slender stalks a 
 little more than an inch long. I write this sitting on a rock 
 to which its tiny carpet clings closer than the dwarfest moss. 
 Beneath some rocks fall to the water ; it has crept over the edge 
 of these, and dropped its little mantle of green down to within 
 
Part II. ARENARIA. 151 
 
 eighteen inches of the water, but all the flowers look up from 
 the shade to the light. Right and left there are boulders in all 
 sorts of positions, on every face of which it may be seen, as 
 every tiny joint roots against the face of the rocks, and the 
 minute mat of leaves is so dense that enough of moisture is 
 preserved to sustain the plant. To establish it on the stones, 
 plant firmly in any common soil near the stones or rocks you 
 wish it to cover, and it will soon approach and begin to clothe 
 them. Flowers in spring and continuously, and is readily 
 increased by division or seeds, and quite easy to grow on most 
 soils. On cold ones it sometimes perishes in winter, but its 
 true home is on the rockwork. It is easily known at any season 
 by its dense tufted cushions of veiy small leaves. A native 
 of Corsica. 
 
 ARENARIA 'M.O'NT AN A.-^Motmtaift Sandwort. 
 
 A LITTLE grown but very ornamental plant, having the habit 
 of a Cerastium, and fine pure white and large flowers — of suf- 
 ficient substance to look waxy. It has slightly downy leaves, 
 very narrow and ciliated, diffuse wiry stems, long, but, when 
 well-grown, forming flat spreading tufts, on which the flowers 
 appear so thickly in early summer as to obscure the foliage. 
 It is the most ornamental of the Sandworts, and should be in 
 every collection of herbaceous or alpine plants. On rock- 
 work it would be well to plant it where its branches might fall 
 over the face of a rock, giving if any kind of light soil. I have 
 seen it thrive healthfully in borders in good sandy loam, and 
 it is one of the most attractive early summer flowering plants 
 for the front edge, succeeding the white, evergreen Candytufts 
 and like flowers. Found wild in many parts of France, and is 
 easily raised from seed. 
 
 ARENARIA PURPTJRASCENS. — Pzirplish Sandwort. 
 
 Distinguished from other cultivated kinds by its purplish 
 flowers, produced in abundance on a dwarf densely tufted 
 mass of smooth narrow-oval pointed leaves. It grows plen- 
 tifully over all the Pyrenean chain, is perfectly hardy, and, 
 like the other kinds, increased by seed or division. It should 
 be associated on the rockwork with the smallest of its brethren, 
 or with dwarf Saxifrages and other plants which, though very 
 dwarf, are not slow growers. 
 
152 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 ARENAEIA TETEAQUETRA. — Square-stemmed A, 
 
 This is not in cultivation in Britain ; but I saw strong tufts of 
 it in M. Boissier's garden, in Switzerland, in 1868, and, as there is 
 abundance of it in various parts of France, there can be no diffi- 
 culty in procuring it. It forms very compact and singular- 
 looking tufts in consequence of the leaves, each with a white 
 cartilage along the margin, being disposed in four rows. The 
 sepals are also margined — and these characters distinguish it at 
 a glance from the others. I have not seen it in flower, but it is 
 worth a place where the other small Sandworts are grown, if 
 only for the peculiarity of its habit, and it is best fitted for the 
 rockwork, on which it thrives without any particular attention. 
 
 ARENAEIA VERNA.— Vernal Sandwort. 
 
 Grows in dwarf grassy prostrate tufts, covered in April and 
 May with multitudes of starry white flowers with green centres. 
 It is useful for parts of rockwork where a very dwarf kind of 
 vegetation is desired, but scarcely worth growing as a specimen 
 alpine. In consequence of the prostrate habit of both shoots 
 and flowers, the plant is seen to much greater advantage when 
 placed on some little bank above the eye. The prettiest I have 
 ever seen growing was on a little ledge about ten feet high, and 
 receding about as much backwards, while tufts of the same plant 
 at my feet looked coriaparatively insignificant. It is widely dis- 
 tributed over Europe, Asia, and America, is a native of the 
 more northerly and elevated parts of Great Britain and Ireland, 
 and is readily increased by seed or division. 
 
 Of other Arenarias in cultivation, the best and most interest- 
 ing are A. ciliata, a rare British plant; A. triflora, a neat 
 species in cultivation in some of our botanic gardens and 
 curious collections ; A. laricifolia, sndA. graminifolia. These, 
 however, are scarcely worth growing except in botanical col- 
 lections. 
 
 ARMEEIA CEPHALOTES.— Gr^iz/ Thrift. 
 
 This, compared to our British Thrift, is somewhat as the full- 
 blown life-guardsman to his humble congener in the miljtie. 
 From a dense mass of crowded leaves, four inches to six 
 inches long, spring numerous stems fifteen inches to twenty 
 
Part II. ARMERIA—ARUM. 153 
 
 inches high, each bearing a large, roundish, closely packed head 
 of handsome satiny deep rose-coloured flowers. It is one of the 
 finest and most distinct perennials in cultivation, and should be 
 in every select mixed border, and on every rockwork among the 
 taller and stronger plants. It comes from North Africa and 
 Southern Europe, and, though hardy on free and well-drained 
 soils, occasionally perishes during a very severe winter, espe- 
 cially on cold soils ; it should therefore be placed in a warm 
 position on rockwork, and in very well-drained, deep, and good 
 sandy loam. It is known under various names — Armeriafor- 
 mosa, A. latifolia, A. mauritanica, A. pseudo-armeria, Statice 
 lusitanica, and Statice pseudo-arnieria. It is, fortunately, easily 
 raised from seed ; and, as it is not easily increased by division, 
 it is a good plan to sow a little of it every year. Varies a little 
 when raised from seed ; but all the forms I have seen are worthy 
 of cultivation. 
 
 ARMEEIA VULGARIS.— Co»2»Z(?« Thrift. 
 
 This inhabitant of our sea-shores, and also of the tops of the 
 Scotch mountains and the Alps of Europe, is very pretty with its 
 soft lilac or white flowers springing from dense cushions of grass- 
 like leaves ; but it is the deep rosy form of it, which is rarely seen 
 wild, that deserves universal cultivation in gardens. It is like 
 the common Thrift in all respects but the colour of the flowers, 
 which are of a deep and showy rose, and produced like those 
 of the common form, in profusion. It is useful for the spring 
 garden, for covering bare banks or borders in shrubberies, for 
 making most attractive edgings, and for the rockwork. Easily 
 propagated by division, and, as old and large plants do not 
 bloom so long or so continuously as younger ones, occasional 
 division (say every two or three years) and replanting are de- 
 sirable. 
 
 ABUM 1TAIA0X5M..— Italian Cuckoo Pint. 
 
 A HANDSOME hardy plant, with shining green leaves, decidedly 
 veined, and sometimes spotted, with white, which, beginning to 
 push up in October when other plants are going to rest, are in 
 perfection in mid-winter and early spring. When these die 
 down in early summer, the attractions of the plant are not gone, 
 for the brilliant scarlet fruits, packed in oblong masses at the 
 
T54 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 head of erect stems about fifteen inches high, are among the 
 most conspicuous objects in the garden in autumn ; and just as the 
 fruit is past its best, the new leaves begin to show. Like the com- 
 mon Cuclcoo Pint, the whole plant is intensely acrid. Although 
 perfectly hardy and free on soils of ordinary quahty and warmth, 
 ' it is desirable to place the Italian Cuckoo Pint in sheltered posi- 
 tions along the sunny fronts of shrubberies, amidst low-spread- 
 ing evergreens, and in cosy spots about the flanks of rockworks 
 and ferneries, to prevent its handsome foliage from being dis- 
 figured by cold wintry storms. It is a useful plant wherever 
 winter or autumnal attractions are desired in the garden, and 
 has been found wild in the Isle of Wight, but the form that 
 occurs there is not so handsomely veined as the ItaUan one. 
 It is one of those plants which, though unsuitable for the rock- 
 work proper, or for intimate association with true alpine flowers, 
 may yet be used with good effect in their immediate neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 ASPERULA ODORATA.— ^a/«^# Woodruff. 
 
 This little wood plant, abundant in Britain, is worthy of some 
 attention in the garden and shrubbery, especially in localities 
 where it does not occur wild. Many would like to cut and 
 preserve its stems and leaves for the sake of the fragrant 
 hay-like odour they give off when dried; and in May the 
 pure white small flowers, profusely dotted over the tufts of 
 whorled leaves, look very pretty. It may be seen covering the 
 ground with its carpet of green frosted over with white, in 
 some of the college gardens at Oxford, and it is one of the many 
 plants that may be allowed to cover the earth in a shrubbery 
 where the barbarous practice of annually digging and rooting 
 up the borders is not resorted to. I have lately seen it used as 
 edgings to the beds in cottage gardens, the odour filUng the 
 air. It is, however, as a wood or shrubbery plant— as a 
 companion to the Wood Hyacinth, and the Wood Anemone— 
 that it will be found most valuable. Readily increased by seed, 
 or by division. 
 
 ASTER ALPINUS.— /?///«« A. 
 
 This might be called the blue Daisy of the Alps, so diminutive 
 is it when met with high up or even in rich green sub-alpine 
 
partII. astragalus. 155 
 
 meadows. In a wild state it does not form the sturdy tufts 
 which it does in gardens, but like the wild orange Lily is 
 more beautiful when isolated in the grass. The flower is of 
 a pleasing pale blue, with a tint of violet, and an orange- 
 yellow eye, two inches across on plants cultivated in gar- 
 dens, usually somewhat smaller in a wild state. It forms 
 neat tufts eight to ten inches high, and is well suited for 
 rockwork or border decoration. The leaves are roughish .. 
 tJiree-nerved — slightly downy and sometimes velvety ; it is, how - 
 ever, quite distinct from any other plant in cultivation. There 
 is a white variety grown occasionally, like the ordinary one, in 
 continental flower-gardens. Easily multiplied by division, thrives 
 well in any sandy soil, and begins to flower in early summer. 
 
 Of the very large Aster or Michaelmas Daisy family, there are 
 few dwarf enough to be associated with the preceding. The 
 most ornamental of the dwarf species is that known as bicolor 
 or versicolor, which, as it is somewhat prostrate, might be 
 planted with very good effect on the lower parts of rough rock 
 or root work. A. altaicus is also a dwarf species, with mauve- 
 coloured flowers two inches across, and A. Reeiiesii is a dwarf 
 neat species, occasionally seen, though not common. Where 
 the embellishment of rough rocky ground is desired, some of the 
 handsomest of the large-growing kinds might be used with 
 good effect, the Pyrenean Aster, A.pyrenaus, for example. 
 
 ASTRAGALUS HYPOGLOTTIS.— /'zi:;'//^ Milk Vetch. 
 
 A VERY dwarf, hairy perennial, with prostrate stems, and, for 
 the size of the plant, large heads of bluish-purple flowers. In 
 Britain it is found chiefly on the eastern side of the island from 
 Essex and Herts to Aberdeen, and on dry, gravelly, and chalky 
 pastures ; in Ireland it is only found on the island of Arran, in 
 Galway Bay. It forms a pretty object on level spots on the 
 rockwork, and should always be associated with very dwarf 
 subjects ; and though" it is not particular as to soil, it will be 
 found to thrive best in open well-drained sandy loam, or in 
 chalky soil. Astragalus hypoglottis albus is a very desirable 
 variety — the paper-white heads of flowers sitting close upon 
 the very dwarf carpet formed by the diminutive leaves. It looks 
 showy for such a dwarf white plant, and, when closely examined, 
 the flowers look singular from contrast with the short sooty or 
 
IS5 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 black hairs and points of the calyx. It well deserves a place 
 on rockwork, and it is a good plan to plant it in company with 
 several individuals of the usual purplish colour. It is so distinct 
 from any other cultivated alpine plant in flower about the same 
 period that it would be wise to form a little carpet of five or six 
 plants of it in some level spot on the rockwork. It is not at all 
 difficult to grow, and from its minuteness should always have a 
 place on rockwork on a level part amidst very dwarf vegetation. 
 
 ASTRAGALUS MONSPESSULANUS.— jl/o«//«//zVr ^4. ' 
 
 A FINE vigorous species, with leaves a span long, the leaflets 
 smooth on the upper surface, and with short whitish hairs thinly 
 but almost quite regularly scattered over their under sides. The 
 flowers are borne on stalks from six inches to a foot long, the 
 racemes of bloom being from two to five inches long according to 
 the strength of the plant. The closely set and unopened flowers at 
 the head of the raceme are usually of a deep crimson, but as they 
 open, they become of a pale rosy lilac, with bars of white on the 
 standard or upper petals. The flowers, like those of the alpine 
 Clover, are sometimes dull in colour. It is a valuable plant 
 for the fronts of borders or the rougher portions of rockwork. 
 The shoots, though vigorous,- are prostrate, which causes it to be 
 seen to greater advantage when drooping down the edge of rocks. 
 It seems to grow well in any soil, and though it does not flourish 
 so vigorously when in very gravelly or poor soil, yet in the very 
 poor soil it will appear more floriferous in consequence of the 
 small development of leaves. A native of the South of France, 
 easily raised from seed. There are several varieties. 
 
 ASTRAGALUS ONOBRTCHIS.— ^fl;/«//"(7?«-/2/6« Milk Vetch. 
 
 A VERY handsome species, in some varieties spreading, and in 
 others growing about eighteen inches high, with pinnate leaves 
 about four inches long, the leaflets smooth ; handsome racemes 
 of purplish-crimson flowers, supported on footstalks an inch 
 or more longer than the leaves. As the individual flowers; 
 when fully open, are a shade more than five-eighths of an 
 inch long, and borne in clusters of from six to sixteen on 
 each raceme, it is an attractive plant even among the many 
 fine hardy flowers in this large family. It is a perfectly hardy, 
 herbaceous perennial, will thrive well on any good loam, and is 
 
Part II. ASTRAGALUS— AUBRIETIA. 157 
 
 a capital subject for the mixed border, in the second rank from 
 the front, and a suitable ornament for rockwork, on which it will 
 want nothing but a sufficient depth of soil to root into. A 
 native of various parts of Continental Europe and of Siberia, 
 and flowers in June. There are several varieties enumerated, 
 three of which, alpinus, violdavicus, and microphyllus, are 
 prostrate in habit, and, if introduced, would probably prove 
 valuable for rockwork, and one, major, which grows erect. The 
 plant is particularly suited for the rougher parts of rockwork, 
 and for positions where a rich effect rather than rare and 
 minute beauty is sought. There are white form? of all the 
 varieties. 
 
 ASTRAGALUS PANNOSUS.— ^S^^a^^j/ Milk Vetch. 
 
 A SINGULAR and attractive kind, from its very silvery and 
 woolly pinnate leaves, which, growing in compact and luxuriant 
 tufts about a span high, give the plant somewhat the appear- 
 ance of a silvery fern. Attracted by this appearance, when I 
 saw the plant in cultivation in Switzerland, I brought home 
 some seeds, from which plants have been raised by Mr. J. 
 Backhouse and Mr. W. Bull. I have not yet seen it in flower, 
 nor do I know whence it comes, but from the beauty of its leaves 
 alone it is likely to prove an excellent rock-garden plant, and 
 probably a valuable bedding and edging one. It is easily in- 
 creased by seeds. 
 
 AXJBRIETIA TyS.TJSOTD^K— Purple A. 
 
 A LITTLE alpine that will succeed on any soil, and never 
 fails to flower abundantly, even should the cutting winds 
 of spring shear all the verdure of the budding Weeping Willow. 
 There is hardly a position selected for a rock-plant that 
 may not be graced by this. Rockworks, ruins, stony places, 
 sloping banks, and rootwork, will suit it perfectly ; and no plant 
 is so easily established in such places, nor will any other alpine 
 plant so quickly clothe them with the desired kind of vegetation. 
 It makes a neat edging, and may be used as such with good 
 taste in any style of garden, geometrical or natural ; though, as 
 its chief period of flowering is the spring, it is not likely to be 
 used as an edging in the summer garden, except around beds or 
 clumps of neat shrubs, in which positions it would be highly 
 
158 _ ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 appropriate. Growing in common soil, in the open border, or 
 on any exposed spot, it thrives as luxuriantly as on the best- 
 made rockwork, forming round spreading tufts ; and on fine 
 days in spring the blue flowers come out on these in such crowds 
 as to completely hide the leaves, making, in fact, hillocks of 
 colour. For covering bare ground beneath roses and shrubs, 
 it might also be tastefully employed. It is quite easy to 
 naturahse it in bare rocky places. London smut falls upon 
 it without affecting its health in the least. It is easily pro- 
 pagated by seeds, cuttings, or division — the last mode the most 
 facile. There are several so-called species very nearly allied to 
 this plant, but I group them all under this name, believing them 
 to be nothing more than marked varieties of the same species. 
 Grown together, their affinity is clearly seen, and in these days 
 of doubts about species few things may be more safely united 
 under one specific name than the Aubrietias at present in culti- 
 vation. 
 
 Among the several varieties, A. deltoidea grandiflora and 
 A. Campbelli axe the most ornamental : A. graca is simply 
 a variety. Aubrietias vary a good deal from seed, but their 
 little differences make them all the more valuable as garden 
 plants, and they all agree in carpeting the earth with dense 
 cushions of compact rosettes of leaves, profusely clothed with 
 beautiful purplish-blue flowers in spring, and, in the case of 
 young plants in moist and rich soils, almost throughout the 
 year. There are one or two pretty variegated varieties. 
 
 BEGONIA VEITCHII.— F^zM'j B. 
 
 Dr. Hooker states this, to be, " of all the species of Begonia 
 known, the finest." This is surely a sufficient guarantee of its 
 great beauty ; but I doubt if any description can give an idea 
 of what it presents to one who sees it for the first time in the 
 open air on rockwork or border in the fuU gloss of its fine dark- 
 green foliage, and brilliancy of its large vivid flowers. That any 
 species of Begonia should flourish in the open air as this does, is 
 interesting enough ; but that the most magnificent of the genus 
 that we know should do so, is surely welcome news tq lovers of 
 beautiful hardy plants. The foliage is of a rich, glossy green, and 
 the flowers, which are considerably larger than a five-shiUing piece, 
 are of such a glorious colour, a " vivid vermilion cinnabar red," 
 that the plant cannot be dispensed with in any collection of hardy 
 
Part II. B ELLIS. 159 
 
 or flower-garden subjects. It was gathered at an elevation of up- 
 wards of twelve thousand feet, near Cuzco, in Peru, by Messrs. 
 Veitch's collector, and the plants grown in this country have 
 aheady given proof of their hardiness by withstanding seven 
 degrees of frost without the least injury. As to its position in 
 the garden, a well-made rockwork' with sunny exposure will cer- 
 tainly prove one of the best ; and it may also be used with good 
 effect in the more open parts of the hardy fernery. It is 
 hardy in the South of England and Ireland, and may prove so 
 everywhere in this country. 
 
 BELLIS PERENNIS.— i^az'-y. 
 
 Did we only find the Daisy in company with Androsaces on 
 the high Alps, or even as far out of our way as the lowest 
 Gentian, we would of course be enraptured with its neatness 
 of habit, and delicate purity of tone ; but the fact that it shows 
 not a trace of the coarse raggedness of the great composite 
 order to which it belongs, and combines the beauty of the 
 plants of the glaciers with the constitution of' lowland weeds, 
 would not cause me to mention it here were it not for its varie- 
 ties. The common Daisy is everywhere under our feet ; its 
 handsome double-flowered varieties are among the most effec- 
 tive and easily managed subjects in the system of spring garden- 
 ing which has of late become so popular. Nobody would 
 believe them capable of what they are, without seeing them 
 tastefully arranged in such a garden as Cliveden, and in rough 
 rockwork and borders they are quite as useful. There are 
 various varieties, from the quilled white and the double red to 
 the singular aucuba-leaved Daisy, with its leaves so richly stained 
 and veined with yellow, and the quaint hen-and-chicken Daisy. 
 A dozen or more varieties are in cultivation, and easily obtained, 
 and all bloom gloriously from early spring to the end of May. 
 The named and finer varieties may be increased very rapidly by 
 dividing them into very small pieces early in April, and replanting 
 them in rich ground, repeating the process several times during 
 the summer, if the object be to increase any of the scarce varie- 
 ties for the purpose of using them in quantity in the spring 
 garden. They are also frequently raised from seed, in which 
 way, moreover, a variety of colours are obtained. When grown 
 for the spring garden, they are removed to nursery beds in early 
 summer, and again planted in the flower-garden in autumn. I 
 
i6o ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 probably should not' have got thus far unless aided by the Latin 
 name. 
 
 The Belliums, or "small Daisies," are nearly allied to the 
 common Daisy. Three kinds are in cultivation : B. bellidioides, 
 crassifolium, and tninutum, none of which are so beautiful as 
 the common Daisy, nor so hardy, and therefore scarcely worthy 
 of cultivation, except in large and curious collections. Where 
 grown without protection in winter, they should be planted in 
 sandy warm soil, and in sunny spots on rockwork, on which I 
 should certainly not be anxious to give them a place, considering 
 the numbers of brilliant plants more fitted for the embellishment 
 of the rock-garden. 
 
 BRYANTHTJS 'ESI&G'STi^.— Hybrid B. 
 
 A DWARF evergreen bush, from eight inches to a foot high, 
 bearing pretty pinkish flowers. It is said to be a hybrid, and is 
 in appearance somewhat intermediate between Rhododendron 
 Chamacistus and Kalmia glauca. In very fine sandy soil or in 
 that usually prepared for American plants, it grows well, and is 
 worthy of a place on rockwork or in collections of very dwarf 
 alpine shrubs, whether planted in the rock-garden or in neat 
 beds. 
 
 BULBOCODITJM TER^TSys..— Spring Meadow Saffron. 
 
 Grown in our gardens for generations, this very early bulb 
 is generally seen in a state of single blessedness, probably in a' 
 pot in a musty old frame ; but if several tufts of it are put in 
 good sandy soil on the rockwork or choice spring garden, it will 
 prove one of the best as well as earhest of spring bulbs, sending 
 up its fine large rosy-purple flower buds, distinct in colour from 
 any other spring flower, earher than Crocus Susiantis— in fact, 
 they often show for several weeks ere the snow takes leave of 
 us. The flowers are tubular, nearly four inches long, and 
 usually most ornamental when in the bud state, the colour 
 being a sweet violet purple, the large buds appearing before 
 the concave leaves, which attain vigorous proportions after 
 the flowers are past. Associated with very early flowering 
 plants like the Snowflake, Snowdrop, and Anemone blanda, 
 it is very welcome indeed in the rock-garden, or in warm sunny 
 borders. A native of the Alps of Europe, easily increased by 
 
Part II. CALANDRINIA—CALLA. l6i 
 
 dividing the bulbs, in July or August, replanting them at dis- 
 tances of four or six inches apart. 
 
 CALANDEINIA XSMBElSLA-tA..— Brilliant C. 
 
 A NATIVE of Chili, with reddish, much branched, little stems, 
 half-shrubby at the base, and rarely growing more than three or 
 four inches high. For vivid beauty and brilliancy of colour 
 there is nothing to equal it in cultivation, the flowers being of a 
 dazzling magenta crimson, attaining to an almost inconceivable 
 glow, yet soft and refined. In the evenings and in cloudy 
 weather it shuts up, and nothing is then seen but the tips of the 
 flowers. It does very well in any fine sandy, peaty, or other 
 open earth, is a hardy perennial on dry soils and in well-drained 
 rockwork, and looks best in small beds, but may be used with 
 advantage as a broad edging to large ones, and seems to live 
 longest in chinks in well-made rockwork. It is as readily 
 raised from seed as the common Wallflower, either in the 
 open air in fine sandy soil, or in pots. As it does not like 
 transplantation, except when done very carefully, the best way 
 for those who wish to use it for very neat and bright beds in the 
 summer flower-garden is to sow a few grains in each small pot in 
 autumn, keep them in dry sunny pits or frames during the winter, 
 and then turn the plants out without much disturbance into the 
 beds in the end of April or beginning of May. As its beauty is 
 concealed during dull or rainy weather, this may prove a dravy- 
 back to its use in the flower-garden, but by employing it as a 
 ' groundwork for some of the handsome Echeverias, and other neat 
 succulents now beginning to be so extensively employed in good 
 flower-gardens, this defect may not be so noticeable. When the 
 plants are raised every year, they flower more continuously than 
 old established- specimens. It may also be treated as an annual, 
 sown in fi-ames very early in spring, but should in every case be 
 associated with diminutive plants like itself. 
 
 CALIA PALUSTEIS.— ^(7^ Arutn. ' 
 
 More beauty than any native bog-plant affords results from 
 planting in boggy places this small trailing Arad, which has pretty 
 little spathes of the colour of those of its relative, the Ethiopian 
 Lily. It is thoroughly hardy, and though often grown in water, 
 likes a moist bog much better. In a bog, or muddy place, shaded 
 by trees to some extent, it will grow larger in flower and .leaf, 
 
 M 
 
l62 ALPINE PLOTTERS. Part II. 
 
 though it is quite at home even when fully exposed. In a bog car- 
 peted with the dwarf dark-green leaves of this plant, the effect is 
 very pleasing, as its white flowers crop up here and there along 
 each rhizome, just raised above the leaves. Those having 
 natural bogs, &c. would find it a very interesting plant to intro- 
 duce to them, while for moist spongy spots near the rock- 
 garden, or by the side of a rill, it is one of the best things that 
 can be used. A native of the North of Europe, and also abun- 
 dant in cold bogs in North America, flowering in summer, and 
 increasing continuously and rapidly by its running stem. 
 
 CAMPANULA iJJST^h..— Alpine Harebell. 
 
 Covered with stiff down, which gives it a slightly grey appear- 
 ance, with longish leaves and erect, not spreading, habit, 
 like the Garganica group, and with flowers of a fine dark blue, 
 scattered in a pyramidal manner along the stems. It is a native 
 of Tratisylvania and the Carpathian Mountains, hardier than 
 the dwarf Italian Campanulas, and therefore valuable for the 
 front margins of the mixed border, as well as for the rockwork.' 
 In cultivation it grows from five to ten inches high, and may 
 be readily increased by division or seeds. 
 
 CAMPANULA BAEBATA.—^^ar^«(!? i%zr^^^//. 
 
 One of the sweet blue Harebells that abound in the rich green 
 meadows of Alpine France, Switzerland, North Italy, and 
 Austria, and readily known by the long beard at the mouth of 
 its pretty pale sky-blue flowers, nearly an inch and a quarter 
 long, nodding gracefully from the stems, which usually bear two 
 to five or more flowers. Its rough, shaggy, lanceolate-oblong 
 leaves distinguish it when not in flower. In. elevated places in 
 its native habitats, it sometimes grows no more than from four to 
 ten inches high, but I have met with it nearly twice as high in the 
 lower parts of the valleys in Piedmont. It is suitable for rock- 
 work, or the front margin of the mixed border, though not a 
 showy plant, is easily increased by seeds and also by division, 
 and flowers in summer. There is a small few-flowered variety, 
 and a white-flowered form, these, like the type, being well 
 worthy of culture, and thriving freely in rather moist well- 
 drained loam. . 
 
Part II. CAMPANULA. 163 
 
 CAMPANULA OlS&'SVSO^h..— Tufted Harebell. 
 
 One of the most beautiful little gems in the alpine flora, abun- 
 dantly distributed over the high ranges in the warmer and 
 central parts of Europe, and thriving as well in all parts of the 
 British Isles as in the pure cool air of its highland home. It 
 grows qnly a few inches high, rivals the evergreen -Candytufts 
 in hardiness, and looks the same fresh, purely tinted, ever 
 spreading, and bravely flowering little plant in margining a bed of 
 roses in a British garden, as it does when seen mantling round 
 the stones and crevices of rocks on the Simplon and other passes. 
 There is a pure white variety as pretty and clear in ,tone as the 
 blue, and both are admirable for the rockwork or mixed border 
 and also as edging plants. They thrive best in rather moist 
 peaty soil, and, when the plants are not too old, continue flowering 
 from May till August, especially, in moist ground, though they 
 thrive in any soil. It is most easily increased by division and 
 also by seed, but as a few tufts may be divided into small pieces, 
 and quickly form a stock large enougli for any garden, it is 
 scarcely worth while raising it from seed, except where plants 
 cannot be got. It is usually known as C. piimila in gardens, 
 and under that name it was figured in the ' Botanical, .Magazine.' 
 It is also known as C. pzisilla, from which, however, it is distinct. 
 
 CAMPANULA GKSSK'n.Q,^.— Carpathian Harebell. 
 
 This, while bearing splendid cup-shaped flowers as large as 
 those of the tall and vigorous peach-leaved Harebell, has the 
 dwarf neat habit of the true alpine kinds, and is happily, now 
 spreading so rapidly in popular esteem that I need not plead for 
 its culture. A native of the Carpathian Mountains and other 
 parts of the same region, and fortunately easy of culture in all 
 parts of these islands, growing from six inches to over a foot in 
 height, according to the depth, warmth, and richness of the soil. 
 It begins to flower in early summer, and often continues to bloom 
 for a long time, especially if the plants are young, and the seed- 
 vessels be picked off. There is a white variety, C. c. albaj a pale 
 blue one, pallida; and a delicately toned white and blue kind, 
 bicolor — names for the most noticeable variations raised from 
 seed. It is quite easily raised in this way, or increased by divi- 
 sion, and is a most valuable bedding and edging as well as rock 
 
 M 2 
 
1 64 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 and border plant. The white and white-and-blue varieties being 
 somewhat slower in growth than the common one, are most 
 worthy of a position on the rockwork. 
 
 CAMPANULA OBNISIA.— Afo^/ Cenis Harebell. 
 
 An alpine plant growing at very high elevations. I have found 
 it abundantly among the fine Saxifraga biflora, at the sides of 
 glaciers on the high Alps, scarcely ever making much show 
 above the ground, but, like the Gooseberry bush in Australia, 
 very vigorous below, sending a great number of runners under 
 the soil. Here and there they send up a compact rosette of 
 light-green leaves. The flowers are solitary, blue, somewhat 
 funnel-shaped, but open, and cut nearly to the base into five 
 lobes. I have little experience of its culture in the open air in 
 this country, and cannot say that it is so showy as some of the 
 other species, but it is sufficiently interesting to merit a place on 
 the rockwork. It should have a sandy or gritty and moist soil, 
 and be somewhere near the eye if the rockwork be on a large 
 scale. Easily increased by division, and perfectly hardy. A 
 native of various pkrts of the Alps of DaUphiny, Provence, 
 Savoy, and other Alps, as well as the particular mountain after 
 which it is named. 
 
 CAMPANULA 'F'RKGIX.IS.— Brittle Harebell. 
 
 Those who have increased this by division will probably bear 
 witness to the unusual aptness of the specific name, as, in handling 
 it, the leaves and stems break off almost as freely as if made of 
 the slenderest ice. It is a desirable and useful kind, the root- 
 leaves on long stalks heart-shaped in outline, and bluntly and 
 shortly lobed j those of the stem more lance-shaped, the rather large 
 pale blue open flowers somewhat bell-shaped, profusely borne 
 on half prostrate stems, and making a pleasing show in summer. 
 The whole plattt rarely reaches six inches in height,,and is per- 
 fectly smooth and rather fleshy. A native of the South of Italy ; 
 it is valuable for the rockwork in well-drained chinks into which 
 it can root deeply without being too wet in winter. Probably on 
 li^ht soils it would not require this precaution. C. fragilis 
 hirsuta is a variety quite covered with hair or stiff down in all its 
 parts, so much so as to look almost woolly. It is of about equal 
 value with the normal smooth form. 
 
Part II. CAMPANULA. 165 
 
 CAMPANULA GARGANICA.— G^'zr^fl^o Harebell. 
 
 A FINE showy species, with somewhat of the habit of the Car- 
 pathian Harebell, but smaller ; the leaves that spring from the 
 root are kidney-shaped, those from the stem heart-shaped, all 
 toothed and downy. In summer the whole plant becomes a 
 mass of brilliant bluish-purple starry flowers with white centres. 
 It does not grow more than from three to six inclies high, and is 
 of a free prostrate habit, so that it is seen to great advantage 
 when placed in, interstices on the most vertical parts of rock- 
 work, in warm and well-drained spots. The better and deeper 
 the soil the finer and more prolonged the bloom will be. ^ It is a 
 native of Italy, flowers in summer, and is qasily increased by 
 cuttings, division, or seeds. ,/ 
 
 CAMPANULA HEDEEACEA.— /zy C. 
 
 This is not mentioned for its stature, being a weakly creeping 
 thing, with almost thread-like branches bearing small delicate 
 leaves, roundish or heart-shaped, with a fe* teeth ; nor for the 
 showinessof its flowers, which are of a faint bluish purple, less 
 than half an inch long and drooping in the bud. However, 
 as in the case of many other diminutive and delicate crea- 
 tures, there is an interest and peculiar grace about it that 
 we do not find in more robust members of the same family : 
 besides it is a native of Britain, that creeps over bare spots by 
 the sides of rills and on moist banks, and wherever there is a 
 moist boggy spot near the rockwork, or by the side of a stream- 
 let or in an artificial bog, it will be found worthy of a place as 
 an interesting native. It occurs chiefly in Ireland and Western 
 England, and less abundantly in the east. Increaised by division. 
 
 CAMPANULA T&OVJCrL.JuA..—Ligurian Harebell. 
 
 This is a very ornamental and profusely flowering Italian 
 species, long known, but only recently introduced to cultivation 
 by Mr. Traherne Moggridge, The leaves are roundish or heart- 
 shaped, deeply toothed, and nearly all about the same size, and 
 the flowers of a pale but very bright blue with whitish centre 
 and protruding styles. It will make a charming ornament for 
 every sort of rockwork, and should be placed in sunny positions 
 in well-drained, rather dry fissures in sandy loam, and then it 
 
1 66 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 will repay the cultivator by a dense and brilliant bloom. It is one 
 of many kinds of Campanula that might with great advantage be 
 naturahsed in rocky spots, the sunny walls of old quarries, chalk 
 pits, arid like places. 
 
 CAMPANULA PULLA.— Violet Harebell. 
 
 This is somewhat like the tufted Harebell in stature and ap- 
 pearance, but the stems only bear one flower, and that is of a 
 fine deep bluish violet, larger than that of C. caspitosa. It is 
 also much rarer in consequence of being more delicate, and 
 growing and increasing much less rapidly. It is, indeed, at pre- 
 sent considered a rarity in botanic gardens, and those who wish 
 to increase it should keep it in pots in a cold frame or pit, 
 dividing it every spring till a sufficient stock is obtained. On 
 the rockwork it should be placed on a level spot, free from other 
 Harebells or rampant plants of any kind, and in sandy peat. It 
 has a tendency to spread, underground, and send up shoots in 
 a scattered manner round the place where jt is planted. It is 
 in consequence better to give it an isolated spot, four or fiv€ 
 inches, across, and cover the surface with small bits of broken 
 stones,: say about the size of walnuts, which would serve to prevent 
 weeds or other plants taking root, and allow this violet Harebell 
 to send up its shoots at will. A native of the Tyrol and of other 
 mountains in Central and Southern Europe ; is increased by 
 division or by seeds, and thrives very well in pans or pots. 
 
 CAMPANULA EAINEBI.— ifaz«^r'j Harebell. 
 I DO not believe this, species is in cultivation in England, but 
 having seen it in M. Boissier's garden, Lausanne, in the summer 
 of 1868, I depart from my usual rule of omitting species not in our 
 gardens, as there. can be no difficulty in some of our nursery- 
 men obtaining it. It is one of the most beautiful, quite dwarf 
 in habit, and distinct. The plants I saw had stems not more 
 than three inches long (though it is said to reach twice that 
 height), and, though small, were quite sturdy and firm; they 
 were branched, and each little branch bore a large solitary 
 somewhat funnel-shaped erect flower of a fine dark blue. They 
 seemed of a vigorous nature, more so than several of the other 
 dwarf Italian Harebells, and, when introduced, will no doubt 
 form a valuable addition to choice collections of alpine plants. 
 A native of high mountains in the North of Italy. 
 
Part II. CAMPANULA— CARDAMINE. 167 
 
 CAMPAHULA TVRBINATA.— -Vase Hareie/i. 
 
 This combines the dwarfness of C. cenisia and the sturdiness of 
 C. nitida with the large flowers of the Peach-leaved, and more 
 than the neatness of habit of the Carpathian, Harebell. The 
 leaves, rigid, of a greyish green, toothed, and pointed, with heart- 
 shaped bases, form stiff tufts from two to three inches high, and 
 an inch or so above them rise the cup-shaped flowers, of a deep 
 purple, and nearly two inches across — an extraordinary size for 
 such a very dwarf plant. It comes from the mountains of Tran- 
 sylvania, is perfectly hardy in this country, is not fastidious as 
 to soil, and is one of the most valuable- gems we possess for the 
 embellishment of rockwork and also for the mixed border, on 
 which, in deep light soil, the flowers sometimes reach a height 
 of six or eight inches. As the great size of the individual flowers 
 is the most pleasing character of this species, it is well in plant- 
 ing it to place it where they may be seen to advantage, in vertical 
 spots on parts of rockwork that come near the eye. 
 
 Of other Harebells most likely to be attractive for the rock- 
 garden, the following are among the best : — C. muralis, nitida, 
 modesta, and Barrelieri. 
 
 CARDAMINE 'EBXYOIAA.— Trefoil Ladies' Smock. 
 
 "This small plant," says John Parkinson, "hath divers hard, 
 dark round green leaves, somewhat uneven about the edges, 
 always three set together on a blackish small footstalke, among 
 which rise up small round blackish stalkes ; half a foot high, 
 with three small leaves at the joynts, where they branch forth ; 
 at the tops whereof stand many flowers, consisting of four leaves 
 a piece, of a whitish or blush colour very pale : after which come 
 up small, thick and long pods, wherein is contained small round 
 seed : the root is composed of many white threds, from the 
 heads whereof run out small strings, of a dark purple colour, 
 whereby it encreaseth. It was sent me by my especiaU good 
 friend John Tradescante, who brought it among other dainty 
 plants from beyond the Seas, and imparted thereof a root to me." 
 It is a hardy dwarf plant, a native of Northern Europe, not 
 very ornamental as regards the flowers, but, being neat and 
 compact in habit, and easily grown, merits a place in the full 
 collection, and is suited for the rougher parts of rockwork, or 
 for the margin of the mixed border. 
 
1 68 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 CENTAUREA UNIFLOEA. — One-flowered Knapweed. 
 
 The flower-heads of this, previous to opening, look like withered 
 balls, in consequence of each of the scales being terminated by 
 a dark-brown feather-like point ; and as these become developed, 
 they lie down close upon the head, appearing to enclose it in a 
 net. The stems rise six to fifteen inches high, each bearing a 
 solitary flower two inches or more across, of a lilac rose. It is a 
 distinct, curious, and rather ornamental kind, grows freely in 
 well-drained and sandy soil, and merits a place on the rock- 
 work or borders. The undivided leaves are irregular in form, 
 sometimes lance-shaped in outline, and without a single tooth, 
 sometimes sparsely and unequally toothed, and sometimes with 
 one or two ears or short lobes at the base, and they have a 
 silvery look from being covered with a cobweb-like close-lying 
 down. I have met with the plant in a wild state amidst meadow 
 grass on high mountains in North Italy, and expect it will prove 
 more ornamental in cultivation. 
 
 OEEASTITJM KiS9TSiVM..—Shaggy C. 
 
 An interesting British plant, found on Scotch mountains, and 
 also more sparsely on those of England and Wales. Dwarf, 
 tyifted, and prostrate, spreading about rather freely, but seldom 
 rising more than a couple of inches high, with leaves broad 
 compared to those of any of the common weedy species, and 
 densely clothed with a dewy-looking silky down, which gives 
 the plant a singularly shaggy appearance. From these spring 
 rather large white flowers in early summer. It is at all times 
 a pretty and distinct-looking object on those parts of rock- 
 work that come near the eye, and, being British, will be all the 
 more interesting to the cultivator. It is not, hke the common 
 garden species, a plant fitted for forming edgings. Messrs. 
 Backhouse say that it flourishes best under ledges that prevent 
 the rain and snow falling on the foliage, but I have found it 
 stand all sorts of weather, and winters in the open border in 
 London. Readily increased by division, by cuttings, or seeds. 
 
 OERASTIUM BIEBEESTEINII.— 5zVi5,frjte';2'j C. 
 
 A VERY silvery species, closely aUied to the common C. tomento- 
 mm, from which, however, it is distinguished by its larger leaves, 
 
Part II. CERASTIUM. 169 
 
 flowers, and fruit. Useful for the same purposes, and propa- 
 gated and cultivated with the same facility, as C. tomentosum. 
 It was once expected that it would surpass in utility the common 
 kind, but this it has failed to do. A very good plant for borders 
 or rough rock or root work, and, being seldomer seen than the 
 common one, deserves a little more attention, and a better posi- 
 tion in the mixed border or the lower and rougher parts of 
 rockwork. A native of the higher mountains of Tauria, flower- 
 ing with us in early summer. 
 
 CERASTIUM G-RiNDIFLORTTM.— Zar^^-^<7W^r^rf C. 
 
 Allied to C. tomentosum, but less downy and silvery. It is 
 readily known from either C. tomentosuTn or C. Biebersteinii by 
 having narrower and more acute leaves, and being less hoary, 
 and it usually grows somewhat larger than either of the two very 
 silvery kinds, rapidly forming strong tufts, and producing pure 
 white flowers in great abundance. A fine plant for the front 
 margin of the mixed border, or for the rougher parts of rock- 
 work, but only iii association with other strong and fast-growing 
 things, as it spreads about so quickly that it would overrun and 
 injure deUcate and tiny plants if placed near them. It is not so 
 likely to be appreciated for edgings as other kinds, though there 
 is no reason why it should not be used for variety's sake as a 
 bordering on a small scale. Like the other cultivated species, 
 it is readily propagated by division or by cuttings inserted in the 
 rudest way in the open ground, and is a native of Hungary and 
 neighbouring countries, on dry hills and mountains. Flowers 
 with us in early summer. 
 
 CERA.STITJM TOMENTOSUM. — Common Woolly C. 
 
 This is now used in almost every garden for forming compact 
 silvery edgings to flower-beds and borders. Its hardiness, power 
 of bearing clipping and mutilation, and great facihty of propaga- 
 tion, make it worthy of all the attention it receives. No plant 
 has proved more useful in our great public gardens. It is also 
 very useful as a border-plant, and for rootwork or rough rock- 
 work, but is too common to be permitted a place on small or 
 choice rockwork that might be devoted to some of the many 
 rarely seen and beautiful alpine plants. A native of mountains 
 in the South of Europe, flowering freely with us in early summer. 
 
170 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 The preceding include all the kinds that are worth growing, 
 except in botanical and unusually extensive collections. The 
 other kinds enumerated in catalogues are : — C. incanum, lanu- 
 ginosum, ovalifolium, ovatum, tenuifoUum, Wildenovii, and 
 trigynnm. 
 
 CHEIRA.NTHUS CHEIBI.— Wallflower. 
 
 In a book advocating the culture of alpine plants on walls, we 
 must not ignore the claims of the sweet old flower that has 
 so long dwelt on walls and old ruins, hallowing their mouldering 
 remains. It loves a wall.better than any garden ; while it grows 
 coarsely in garden soil, it forms a dwarf enduring bush on an 
 old wall, and grows even on walls that are quite new, planted 
 in mortar. There is no variety of tlie Wallflower yet seen that 
 is not worthy of cultivation ; but the choice old double kinds — 
 the double yellow, double purple, double orange, dark, &c. — are 
 plants worthy of a place beside the finest rock-shrubs or border- 
 plants, ornamental in a high degree, and endeared to us by many 
 associations. These are the varieties most worthy of a place on 
 dry stony banks near the rockwork, and also on old ruins, on 
 which the common kind is likely to find a home for itself. The 
 fine mixed " German " kinds, that are so easily raised from seed, 
 would also be worthy of introduction to ruins and stony places. 
 A packet of the seed strewn in such places would be all that is 
 necessary. Writing of these to the ' Field,' Mr. Henry Kingsley 
 says : — 
 
 "A dim haze of colour. Not gaudy, bright, vulgar, positive 
 colour, but a nearly innumerable number of half-tints, ranging 
 from dull yellow, through brown, into purples ; worth, to an ■ 
 educated eye, all the fantastic barbarisms made out of bad 
 scarlet, bad yellow, and (of all colours in heaven and earth) 
 bright blue (lobelia). There is not more contrast between gaudy 
 yellow and red beds and one of wallflowers (or stocks later on) 
 than there is between Miss Braddon and George Elliot. Some 
 like one, some another. I confess, on my own part, that I like 
 the tint of George Elliot best ; he never allows you to lose one 
 colour until you have found another. On the other hand. Miss 
 Braddon beds out rather too gaudily. I should say that ' Silas 
 Marner ' was very like a bed of wallflowers myself— that is to say, 
 to an eye educated to colour, one of the most beautiful things 
 ever seen," 
 
Part 11. CHIMAPHILA—CONVALLARIA. 171 
 
 CHIMAPHILA MAGULATA— 5/o//«rf Wintergreen. 
 
 A LOW wood plant of Nortli America, having leathery, shining, 
 shghtly toothed leaves, the upper surface of which is pleasingly 
 variegated with white, and bearing whitish umbellate flowers — 
 one to five — on rather long stems. The plant attains a height of 
 only from three to six inches, and is a very suitable subject for 
 a half shady and mossy, but not wet, place in the rock-garden, 
 associating well with such plants as the dwarf Andromedas and 
 the Pyrolas, and succeeding best in very sandy decomposed 
 leaf-soil. 
 
 C. umbellata, with glossy unspotted leaves, and somewhat 
 larger reddish flowers, is suited for like positions. Both are 
 rare in cultivation and very seldom seen well grown. They 
 flower in summer, and are increased by careful division. 
 
 COLGHICTJM 'VhS.TE.GrA.'S-UM.—Chegua-ed Meadow Saffron. 
 
 This is the prettiest of the easily procured Colchicujns, and is 
 often grown under the name of, and mixed with, 'the common 
 meadow Saffron, C. autumnale, but is distinguished by its rosy 
 flowers being distinctly and regularly mottled over with purple 
 spots, and being more open, and its leaves undulated. Like the 
 common species, it flowers abundantly in autumn, grows well in 
 oi-dinary soil, and may be tastefully associated with the autumn- 
 flowering Crocuses on rockwork, borders, or edgings to beds of 
 dwarf shrubs, &c. There are several varieties, both double and 
 single, of the common meadow Saffron worthy of cultivation. 
 
 The large-leaved C. byzantinum and the small C. alpinutn are 
 also worthy of a place. Most of the species grow so readily in 
 almost any soil that they are excellent subjects for naturalisation 
 in grassy places in the pleasure-ground and woodland glades. 
 
 OONTALLARIA M.hZKlJZ.~Lily-of-the-valley. 
 
 So long have we been accustomed to this in our gardens that 
 we can scarcely think of it as an alpine plant. But as the traveller 
 ascends the flanks of many a great alp, he sees it sweetly bloom- 
 ing low among the Hazels and other mountain shrubs ; and it is 
 widely distributed over Europe and Russian Asia, from the Medi- 
 terranean to the Arctic Circle. It is needless to say anything of 
 
172 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 its appearance or culture, but it would be seen to much greater 
 advantage if people would transplant a few tufts of it from 
 the matted and often exhausted beds in which it is usually 
 grown in the kitchen-garden to half shady and half wild spots 
 near their gardens, alongside of wood walks, where it would 
 become naturalised among low shrubs on the fringes of the 
 rock-garden or hardy fernery. It might also, be planted in tufts 
 among American plants or other choice shrubs, as in any of 
 these positions its graceful beauty will be more appreciated 
 than when it is seen in a formal mass, grown as prosaically as 
 kitchen Thyme or Spearmint, while ■ its delicious odour will be 
 spread over the place. Of course, planting it in this way need 
 not prevent its being grown in quantity for cutting, though, if 
 sufficiently plentiful in the positions mentioned, there would be 
 little occasion to grow it in any other way. Of late it has been 
 deservedly much forced in hothouses in early spring. There is 
 a variety with double flowers, one with single rose flowers, one 
 with double rose flowers, one with the leaves margined with a 
 silvery white, and one richly striped with yellow — all of which 
 are worthy ef cultivation. Although growing in almost any 
 soil, it prefers a deep sandy loam enriched with leaf-mould, and 
 loves a partial shade, notwithstanding that it thrives well in the 
 full sun. 
 
 CONVOLVULUS JSCS.S^K'iTSQ.— Dwarf Silvery Bindweed. 
 
 This, so far from having any of the free-climbing tendencies of 
 our common wild Convolvulus, is quite a pigmy compared to 
 the dwarf and popular C. minor — the whole plant often showing 
 nothing but a tuft of small silky rather narrow and pointed 
 leaves above the ground. Among these appear in summer 
 delicate flesh-coloured flowers more than an inch across, 
 and in fuU perfection at less than three inches high, though 
 in warmer soils and districts than those on which t have 
 observed the plant it sometimes grows an inch or two higher. 
 Few subjects are hardier or more suitable for embellishing 
 some arid part of the rockwork near, and somewhat under, the 
 eye, as its beauty is not of a telhng, though of a high, order. A 
 native of the Mediterranean region ; easily increased by dividing 
 the root. 
 
Part II. CON VOL VUL US— CORNUS. 1 7 3 
 
 CONVOLVULTJS MAUEITANICUS.— 5/«^ Rock Bindweed. 
 
 A BEAUTIFULLY coloured and graceful plant, without the 
 rampant tendencies of many of its race, but withal throwing 
 up a number of elegant shoots, which bear numbers of clear light- 
 blue flowers, about one inch across, and with a white centre. It 
 is quite distinct from any other Convolvulus in cultivation, and, 
 happily, is hardy in sunny chinks of rockwork, and also on 
 raised borders. It is seen to the best advantage in a somewhat 
 raised position, so that its free-flowering shoots may fall freely 
 down, though it may also be used with good effect on the level 
 ground in the flower-garden, or as a vase plant. A native of the 
 North of Africa ; readily increased by cuttings. 
 
 CONVOLVULUS SOLDANELLA.— i'lJa Bindweed. 
 
 This is at once recognised from its fellows by its leathery, round, 
 or kidney-shaped leaves, and by its stems being short, heavy, 
 and without the twining tendency so common in the family. 
 The flowers are large, handsome, of a light pink colour, and 
 freely produced. I have observed it thrive and flower freely in 
 ordinary soil far away from the seaside, and therefore recommend 
 it with confidence as worthy of a place among the trailers of the 
 rock-garden. A native of maritime sands, in many parts of the 
 world ; not uncommon on our own coasts, and flowering in 
 summer. 
 
 COENUS CANADENSIS.— i?Wflr/" Cornel. 
 
 A VERY pretty but neglected miniature shrub, of which each 
 little shoot is tipped with white bracts, pointed with a tint of rose. 
 I know nothing prettier than this Cornus when well established, 
 and it is not at all fastidious, but, being very dwarf, rarely comes 
 in for a proper situation. It is lost among coarse herbaceous 
 plants, and totally obscured by ordinary shrubs, and should 
 therefore be planted among alpines on a rockwork, or round or 
 near the edge of a bed of very dwarf Heaths or American plants. 
 Many know and appreciate the singular beauty of the Musscenda 
 frondosa of the hothouse, with its white bracts tipping the clear 
 green leaves ; this little Cornus may be described to those who 
 do not know it as a diminutive hardy plant of equal beauty. It 
 grows about the size of the Partridge Berry, or somewhat larger. 
 
174 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II; 
 
 Wherever placed, rather damp sandy soil will be found to suit it 
 best. A native of North America, in damp cold woods. 
 
 Growers of British plants may like to possess Cornus suecica, 
 but I have not seen it either well grown under cultivation, nor is 
 it so ornamental as the preceding. 
 
 COEONILLA MINIMA.— Z'war/^j/ C. 
 
 A DIMINUTIVE evergreen, generally prostrate, rarely rising more 
 than a few inches above the ground, and of a glaucous green. 
 The small rich yellow flowers are freely produced, six to twelv? 
 in each crown, in April and May. It is a plant of easy culture, 
 and well worthy of a warm spot on rockwork, where its tiny 
 shoots may lap over the stones. A native of France and 
 Southern Europe ; not particular as to soil, and readily increased 
 by seeds or division. Deep light soil in sunny fissures will suit 
 it best, and in such places its diffuse little stems will be seen to 
 greatest advantage. 
 
 COKONILLA ■^kBlK.—Rosy C. 
 
 A VERY handsome, free, and graceful plant, with a profusion of 
 pretty rose-coloured flowers, widely distributed on the Continent, 
 and found on many of the railway banks in France and Northern 
 Italy. It forms low dense tufts, sheeted with rosy pink, which 
 attract the traveller's eye, their beauty and dressy appearance 
 marking them among the weeds which inhabit such places. It 
 ought to be grown in every garden as a border-flower, or for natu- 
 ralising in semi-wild spots. Perhaps, however, the most graceful 
 use that could be made of it would be to plant it on some tall bare 
 rock, and allow its vigorous shoots and bright little coronets to 
 teem over and form a lovely curtain down the face of the stone. 
 It is also admirable for chalky banks, or for running about among 
 low trailing shrubs like the common Cotoneaster. When in good 
 soil, the shoots grow as much as five feet long, and it thrives on 
 almost any sort of soil. It is readily increased by seeds, which are 
 frequently offered in our seed catalogues. I have seen a fine deep 
 rose-coloured variety of this in the Jardin des Plantes which 
 would be well worthy of culture. It may occur in other col- 
 lections, and when the plant is much raised from seed, highly 
 coloured varieties may be selected. 
 
 Coronilla montana, somewhat larger than the preceding 
 
Part II. CORTUSA—CORYDALIS. 175 
 
 species, attaining a height of fifteen to eighteen inches, and 
 bearing numerous yellow flowers, is somewhat too large for 
 association with small alpine plants, but, being an ornamental 
 species, is excellent for the rougher parts of the rock-garden or 
 for the mixed border. 
 
 CORTtrSA MATTHIOLI.— ^//z«« Sanicle. 
 
 Somewhat like the tender Primula mollis, with large seven- or 
 nine-lobed leaves, the leaf-stalks thickly and the leaves sparsely 
 covered with colourless short hairs. A wiry thread of vascular 
 matter runs through the stem leaves, and may be drawn through 
 the blades as well as footstalk of the leaves without breaking. 
 The flowers, borne on stems about flfteen inches high, very downy 
 on the lower half and smooth above, are pendulous, and of a 
 peculiarly rich and deep purplish crimson, with a white ring 
 at the base of the cup, six to twelve being borne on a stem. It 
 does well on rockwork, especially in the angle formed by two 
 rocks where its leaves cannot be torn with the wind. Flowers in 
 early summer, and comes from the Alps of Piedmont and Ger- 
 many ; increased by careful division of the root, or more abun- 
 dantly by seed sown as soon as possible after being gathered. 
 
 COEYDALIS LUTEA.— y«//i3W Fumitory. 
 
 This well-known plant is not so much esteemed as it deserves, 
 for not only are its graceful masses of much cut, delicate pale- 
 green leaves profusely dotted over with spurred yellow flowers, 
 very pleasing in borders, but it grows to perfection on walls, 
 which renders it doubly valuable. I have seen it in the most 
 unlikely spots on walls in hot as well as in cold and moist 
 countries, and know nothing to surpass it for garnishing ruins, 
 walls, stony places, and poor bare banks, the tufts often looking 
 as full of flower and vigorous when emerging from some old 
 chink where a drop of rain never falls upon them, as when 
 planted in fertile soil. It also makes a handsome border-plant, 
 and is well suited for the rougher kind of rock and root work. 
 A naturalised plant in England, and widely spread over Conti- 
 nental Europe. Readily increased by division or by seeds ; in 
 any stony position it spreads about with weed-like rapidity. 
 
176 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 CORYDAIilS THOBTUiS,.— Noble Fumitory. 
 
 A WELL-NAMED plant, for it is truly ornamental, compared to the 
 other members of the genus that are known and cultivated. The 
 leaves are much divided, and the plant strong and neat, growing, 
 when in flower, ten inches or a foot high ; the flower-stems are 
 stout and leafy to the top, and bear a massive head of flowers, 
 composed of many individual blooms in various stages. They 
 are arranged in a short and close spiral whorl, the unopened 
 ones at the apex of the flower forming a light green rosette, and 
 contrasting pleasingly with the fully opened flowers lower down. 
 The open flowers are of a rich golden yellow, with a small pro- 
 tuberance in the centre of each, of a reddish chocolate colour ; 
 and the effect of this, with the yellow and the green rosette when 
 the bloom is youngj makes the plant very ornamental. It is quite 
 easy of culture in borders, but is rather slow of increase, and, 
 where it does not thrive as a border-plant, should be planted in 
 deep light and rich soil on the lower flanks of rockwork, associ- 
 ated with plants of the vigour and stature of the Vernal Adonis, 
 the American Cowslip, and the Rocky Mountain Columbine. A 
 native of Siberia ; increased by division, and flowering in early 
 summer. 
 
 CORYDAIilS SOLIDA. — Bulbous Fumitory. 
 
 A COMPACT tuberous-rooted species, from four to six or seven 
 inches in height, and freely producing dull purplish flowers. 
 It has a solid bulbous root, is quite hardy, and of easy culture 
 in almost any soil. A pretty little plant for borders and the 
 rougher portion of rockwork, for naturalising in open spots in 
 woods, and also for use in the spring garden. It is naturalised 
 in several parts of England, but is not a true native, its home 
 being the warmer parts of Europe ;' easily increased by division, 
 flowers in April, and is often known as Fumaria bulbosa or 
 F. solida. 
 
 CROCUS IXyVEUQ.— Yellow C. 
 
 One of the commonest and most vigorous of all our garden 
 Crocuses, a native of Eastern Europe, and, it need hardly be 
 added, at home everywhere in Britain. " It is observable that 
 all the wild specimens of this species seem to have grown 
 
Part II. CROCUS. 177 
 
 with the bulbs five inches or more under ground. Depth is 
 very necessary to their preservation, for mice, which I have 
 found usually to meddle with no other species, will scratch very 
 deep in quest of them. The fine common large yellow Crocus 
 luteus of the gardens differs sufficiently from the varieties to 
 make it pretty evident that it is a natural local variation of the 
 species, and not a garden variety ; but we know not whence it 
 was derived. All the varieties of this species seem to prefer a 
 very light soil upon a clay subsoil." — Herbert, in 'Trans. Hort. 
 Soc' Grown in nearly every garden, it is needless to speak of 
 the positions for which it is most fitting, but it might be natu- 
 ralised with great advantage in the rougher parts of the 
 pleasure-ground, or in open sunny spots or banks along wood- 
 walks. 
 
 CROCUS NUDIPLOEirS.— /'a/^ Purple Autumn C. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL pale bright purple Crocus, flowering in autumn 
 after the leaves of the year are withered, thriving freely in any 
 sandy or light soil, and naturalised abundantly in meadows about 
 Nottingham, Derby, Halifax, and Warrington. The corm flowers 
 when about the size of a pea, sending out stolons in spring, the 
 thickened apices of which afterwards form new corms. The 
 leaves appear in very early spring, and are very slender, with 
 a narrow white line in the centre. Flower with the tube from 
 three inches to ten inches, and the segments one inch and a 
 half to two inches long ; stigmas reddish-orange, cut into an 
 elegant fringe. A native of South- Western Europe, and well 
 worthy of general cultivation as a rockwork or border plant ; 
 particularly suitable for forming edgings or clumps round beds 
 of autumn flowers. It somewhat resembles the Meadow Saffron 
 at first sight, but is easily distinguished from it by having three, 
 not six, stamens. 
 
 CROCUS OSSnKSXDI&.—Orphanides' C. 
 
 A LOVELY Crocus, with soft lilac-blue flowers, having yellow 
 throats, two inches and a half in diameter, and opening in 
 autumn. The bulbs are unusually large, nearly two inches long, 
 "closely covered with a bright chestnut-brown tissue." The 
 leaves appear with the flowers, exceeding them in length, and 
 getting much longer afterwards^ This has recently been sent to 
 
 N 
 
178 ALPINE FLOWERS. PART 11. 
 
 the Royal Gardens at Kew by Professor Orphanides, of Athens, 
 and named after him by Dr. Hooker, who describes it as most 
 lovely, and very distinct. A native of Greece, and, till plen- 
 tiful, should be exclusively planted on warm slopes of the rock- 
 garden. 
 
 CROCUS EETICtTLATUS.— C"/(7//4 of Gold C. 
 
 This is the little rich golden Crocus with the exterior of its 
 flowers of a brownish black. It is the earliest of the commonly 
 cultivated spring Crocuses, and a native of the Crimea and 
 South-Eastern Europe. There are several varieties, and among 
 them a lilac and a white, but these I have never seen in cultiva- 
 tion. Suitable for association with the earliest and dwarfest 
 flowers of the dawn of spring, thriving in ordinary soil. It is 
 generally known as C. susianus. 
 
 CROCUS %KTrrU&.— Saffron C. 
 
 This species was formerly cultivated in England for the produc- 
 tion of saffron, which is made from the fringed and rich orange 
 style. Its native oountiy is not known with certainty, but it is pro- 
 bably from the shores of the Mediterranean. It blooms in autumn 
 from the end of September to the beginning of November accord- 
 ing to position and soil. The flowers are of a pale violet, with 
 deeper-coloured veins, the tube of the flower long ; the erect 
 anthers nearly three quarters of an inch long, of a rich clear yellow, 
 on small pale lilac filaments ; the stigmas of a rich orange red, 
 divided into three branches, each about an inch and a quarter 
 long, becoming thicker towards the apex,hollow, and so heavy that 
 they droop out of the flower — contrasting singularly with the erect 
 yellow anthers. The flowers have a sweet and deUcate odour. 
 The sharp-pointed, very narrow, leaves appear about the same 
 time as the blooms, remain in rigid bundles throughout the 
 winter, and acquire their full development in spring. The bulbs 
 of the Saffron Crocus should be planted from four to six inches 
 under the surface, and it loves a deep good sandy loam and 
 a sunny warm position. Where permanently planted, six inches 
 apart wiU be near enough to place the bulbs, and in soils where 
 the plant thrives, it will be necessary every second or third year 
 to raise and divide them. Where the natural soil is too cold 
 for the. full development of this plant, it will be easy to give 
 
Part II. CROCUS. 179 
 
 it a suitable position on sunny parts of the roclcwork, on which, 
 or on sunny borders, it may be associated with the Meadow 
 Saffron or other autumn Crocuses. 
 
 CEOOTJS SIEBERI.— i'zVfe^^J C. 
 
 A SMALL species, from the mountains of Greece, which has 
 only been introduced within the past few years, as if to remind 
 us that, though in its native country little now remains of the 
 race of heroes that once populated it but " the rifled urn, the 
 violated mound," nature there is fresh and fair as when the 
 " isles that crown the ^Egean deep " saw their happiest and most 
 glorious days. 
 
 " Eternal summer gilds them yet, 
 But all except their sun is set ! " 
 
 We have Crocuses that flower in spring, and Crocuses that flower 
 in autumn ; but this hardy mountaineer flowers in winter and 
 earliest spring, anticipating all the others. Very dwarf, with 
 pale violet flowers ; is not at all difficult to cultivate, and should 
 be placed on some little sunny ledge on rockwork, or other spot 
 where it may be safe from being overrun or forgotten. 
 
 CROCUS SPECIOSUS.— ^'.^oze/j Autumn C. 
 
 This is the finest of the autumn-flowering Crocuses, and comes 
 into beautiful bloom when the wet gusts begin to play with the 
 fallen leaves, at the end of September or beginning of October ; 
 the flowers bluish violet, striped internally with deep purple lines, 
 smooth at the throat, the divisions most deeply veined near their 
 base ; the stigmas, of a fine orange colour, cut so as to appear as 
 if fringed ; the leaves appearing about the same time as the 
 flowers, but not attaining their full development till the following 
 spring. It is particularly suitable for forming edgings and tufts 
 near beds or groups of autumn flowers, and also for rockwork or 
 borders. It is not particular as to soils ; but, being scarce, it 
 would be much better to encourage it in good light loam or 
 peaty soil, in which it thrives to perfection. As the leaves grow 
 vigorously in summer, unaccompanied by flowers, it may be 
 necessary to caution workmen against the barbarous practice of 
 cutting them off, as is frequently done with the common kinds. 
 It seeds freely in this country, and may be readily increased in 
 
 N 2 
 
ALPINE FLO WERS. Part II. 
 
 that way, and also by division. In a wild state it is said to prefer 
 dry -rich soil on table-land near trees. A native of East Tran- 
 sylvania, the Crimea, and neighbouring regions. 
 
 CROCUS VEENUS.—Pwr//^ C. 
 
 The parent of most of the blue, white, and striped kinds gene- 
 rally cultivated in our gardens. It has sported into a great 
 number of varieties- under cultivation, every one of them beau- 
 tiful and worthy of culture, and is naturalised abundantly in 
 meadows near Nottingham, at Hornsey, and some other places. 
 " It is one of the most widely extended Croci, and of the easiest 
 culture, producing seeds abundantly, which, as neither the birds 
 nor the mice seem to eat them, become almost a nuisance, from 
 the multitude of self-sown seedlings which come up spontane- 
 ously. It is the Crocus of the Alps, but its flower is small there, 
 promiscuously purple and white or whitish, generally with the 
 throat purple on the outside, but always white and hairy within. 
 It reaches Cevennes ; and I am told it is to be found, though rare, 
 on the Pyrenees. It extends, with white acute flowers, into Ca- 
 rinthia, and is found white, with very blunt obovate flowers, on the 
 Bavarian Alps, sometimes assuming a blush of purple. I believe 
 it is found only in particular spots on the Pyrenees, affecting the 
 oolite or Jurassic limestone. On the Alps it reaches above 5000 feet 
 of altitude. I have seen it both white and purple from the Tyrol. 
 The finer Neapohtan variety inhabits the loftiest mountains of 
 Carinthia and Lucania, not descending lower than 5000 feet. 
 On the Wengern Alp its flowers actually pierce the remaining 
 snow in June. The Odessa variety, which grows on part of the 
 Steppes, is much finer, and from that stock the finest garden 
 varieties seem to be derived. The segments of the flower are so 
 rounded and concave that the half expanded flower is nearly 
 spherical. They are white, sometimes beautifully striped in the 
 inside, or deep purple."— Herbert, in ' Trans. Roy. Hort. Soc' 
 
 CROCUS VERSICOLOE.-3'/rz>«rf C. 
 
 This is a pretty and distinct spring-flowering kind, which has 
 spread into a good many varieties, and is abundantly grown in 
 Holland. The ground colour of the flower is white, but richly 
 striped with purple, the throat sometimes white, sometimes 
 yellow, the inside being smooth, by which it can be readily dis- 
 
Part II. CYCLAMEN. i8i 
 
 tinguished from Crocus vernus, which has the inside of the 
 throat hairy. Dean Herbert says this " hkes to have its corm 
 deep in the ground. If its seed is sown in a three-inch pot 
 plunged in a sand-bed, and left there, by the time the seed- 
 lings are two or three years old, the bulbs will be found crowded 
 , and flattened against the bottom of the pot ; and, if the hole in 
 the pot is large enough to allow their escape, some of them will 
 be found growing in the sand -under the pot." It, however, thrives 
 in any ordinary garden soil. 
 
 In addition to the preceding, for the most part easily obtained 
 and very distinct, C. Boryanus, Imperati, medius, biflorus, and 
 several others, are mentioned in catalogues, and are for the most 
 part scarce, except the last, commonly known as the Scotch 
 Crocus. 
 
 CYCLAMEN COTJIUL.— Round-leaved C. 
 
 Tuber round, depressed, smooth, fibres issuing from one point 
 on under side only. Leaves of a plain dark green, cordate, 
 slightly indented ; these, with the flowers, 'generally spring from 
 a short stem rising from the centre of the tuber. Corolla short, 
 constricted at the mouth ; reddish purple, darker at the mouth, 
 where there is a white circle ; inside striped red. Flowers from 
 December to March, and is a native of the Greek Archipelago. 
 This, with the others of the same section — viz. vernum of Sweet 
 (coum, zonale), iberiatm, Atkinsii, and the numerous hybrids 
 from it — though perfectly hardy, and frequently in bloom in the 
 open ground before the Snowdrop, yet, to preserve the flowers 
 from the effects of unfavourable weather, will be the better for 
 slight protection, or a pit or frame devoted to them in which to 
 plant them out. I grow many in this way, and during the early 
 spring, from January to the middle of March, they are one sheet 
 of bloom. When so cultivated, it is best to take out the soil, say 
 One foot and a half to two feet deep, place a layer of rough stones 
 nine to twelve inches deep at the bottom, covering them with in- 
 verted turf to keep the soil from washing down and injuring the 
 drainage ; then fill up with soil composed of about one-third of 
 good free loam, one-third of well-decayed leaf-mould, and one- 
 third of thoroughly decomposed cow manure. Plant one inch and 
 a- half to two inches deep, and every year, soon after the leaves 
 die down, take off the surface as far as the top of the tubers, and 
 
102 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 fresh surface them with the same compost, or in alternate years 
 they may only have a dressing on the surface of well-decayed 
 leaves or cow manure. During summer, or indeed after April, 
 the glass is removed, and they are shghtly shaded with larch-fir 
 boughs (cut before the leaves expand) laid over thenij to shelter 
 from the extreme heat of the sun. As soon as they begin to 
 appear in the autumn, gradually take these off, and do not use 
 the glass until severe weather sets in — at all times, both day and 
 night, admitting air at both back and front, and in fine weather 
 draw the lights off, remembering that the plants are perfectly 
 hardy, and soon injured if kept too close. They do not like fre- 
 quent removal. C. coum album is a variety raised by Mr. Atkins, 
 of Painswick, which received a first-class certificate from the 
 Royal Hort. Soc. i868. It has the dark plain foliage of coum, 
 with flowers white, and dark mouth ; hardy ; same treatment as 
 coum. It is a very distinct and interesting variety, well worthy 
 of culture. C. Atkinsii, a hybrid of the coum section, raised 
 by Mr. Atkins, has larger flowers, white, with dark mouth, and 
 nearly round or ovoid leaves, variously marked. 
 
 C. "vertium of Sweet is considered by many as only a variety 
 of coum, and for it I would suggest the name of C. coum, var. 
 zonule (from its marked foliage). I was for a long time un- 
 willing to give it up as a distinct species, but now doubt there 
 being sufficient permanent specific distinction to warrant its 
 being retained as such, especially after seeing the many forms 
 and hues the leaves of other species of this genus assume. 
 Though this, as well as C. coum, retains its peculiarities as to 
 markings very correctly from seed, so do some undoubted varie- 
 ties of other species of Cyclamen. In Loddiges' 'Bot. Cab.' 
 t. 108, some years previous to Sweet's pubhcation, it is well 
 figured as C. coum. There are specimens in various herbariums 
 of this form under the nalme of C. vernum (Sweet), mostly from 
 Iberia and Tiflis. 
 
 CYCLAMEN IBERICTJM.— /^^rza« C. 
 
 This also belongs to the coum section. I fear the original type 
 of the species as first imported into this country is lost ; the 
 greater portion now sold as such are hybrids of the Atkinsii 
 group. There is some obscurity respecting the authority for 
 this, species and its native country ; but there are specimens 
 
Part II. CYCLAMEN. 183 
 
 of it in the Kew and Oxford Herbariums marked " ex Iberia." 
 Leaves very various. Flowers : corolla rather longer than in 
 count; mouth constricted, not toothed ; colour various, from 
 deep red-purple to rose, lilac, and white, with intensely dark 
 mouth ; produced more abundantly than by conm. 
 
 CYCLAMEN EURGPiEIJM.— ^KW^gaw C. 
 
 Tuber of medium size and very irregular form, sometimes 
 roundish or depressed and knotted, at other times elongated. 
 The rind is thin, smooth, yellowish, sometimes " scabby." The 
 underground stem or rhizome is often of considerable length and 
 size, sometimes even more than a foot in length; The leaves 
 and flowers originate from stalks or branches, which emerge 
 from all parts of the tuber. The root fibrils spring from the 
 lower surface of the tuber as freely as from the upper, but are 
 never so numerous as in C. hedercefolium; and there are usually 
 two or three stems springing from different parts, and growing 
 in different directions, from which the leaves and flowers arise. 
 When these stems are much elongated and irregular, the plant 
 becomes the C. radice-anemone, or C. anemonoides of some old 
 authors. The leaves in this, as well as in most of the other 
 species, vary much in outline as well as extent of the markings 
 on the upper surface and colour beneath. Those from the more 
 northern habitats are coarser and more decidedly dentate than 
 those from some localities south of the Alps, where they assume 
 in a measure the finer texture, rounder form, and more delicate 
 maifkings, of C. persicum. The leaves appear before and with 
 the flowers, and remain during the greater part of the year. 
 Flowers from June to November, or, with slight protection, until 
 the end of the year. The petals rather short, stiff, and of a 
 reddish-purple colour, The base or mouth of the corolla pen^ 
 tagonal, not dentate. Some of the southern varieties, by atten- 
 tion to cultivation under glass, may even assume a perpetual 
 flowering character. The varieties Clusii, littorale, and Peake- 
 anum are of this section. In these varieties the flowers become 
 much longer, of a more delicate colour, often approaching peach 
 colour, and are almost the size of those of C. persicum. Pure 
 white are rare, but pale ones are not uncommon. They are 
 very fragrant. Thrives freely in various parts of the country in 
 light loamy well-drained soil, as a choice border and rockwork 
 
1 84 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 plant.. Where it does not do well in the ordinary soil, it should 
 be tried in a deep bed of light loam, mingled with pieces of 
 broken stone. In all cases it is best to cover the ground with 
 cocoa-fibre. It is a very desirable species, on account of its de- 
 lightful fragrance and long succession of flowers. I have often 
 seen them luxuriate in the ddbris of old walls, and on the mountain- 
 side, with a very sparing quantity of vegetable earth to grow in. 
 
 CYCLAMEN ■SEnERm-EOISmiL— Ivy-leaved C. 
 
 A NATIVE of Switzerland, South Europe, Italy, Greece and its 
 isles, and the north coast of Africa. Tuber not unfrequently a 
 foot in diameter when full-grown ; its shape somewhat spheroidal, 
 depressed on the upper surface, rounded beneath. It is covered 
 with a brownish rough rind, which cracks irregularly, so as 
 to form little scales. The root fibres emerge from the whole of 
 the upper surface of the tuber, but principally from the rim ; few 
 or none issue from the lower surface. The leaves and flowers 
 generally spring direct from the tuber without the intervention 
 of any stem (a small stem, however, is sometimes produced, 
 especially if the tuber be planted deep) ; at first they spread 
 horizontally, but ultimately become erect. The leaves are 
 variously marked,, and the greater portion of them appear after 
 the flowers, continuing in great beauty the whole winter and 
 early spring, when they are one of the greatest ornaments of 
 our borders and rockeries, if well grown. I have had them 
 as much as six inches long, five inches and a half in diameter, 
 and loo to 150 leaves springing from one tuber. They are 
 admirably adapted for table decoration during winter. The 
 flowers begin to appear at the end of August, continuing until 
 October. Mouth or base of the corolla ten-toothed, pentagonal, 
 purphsh red, frequently with a stripe of lighter colour, or white, 
 down each segment of the corolla. There is a pure white variety, 
 and also a white one with pink base or mouth of corolla, which 
 reproduce themselves tolerably true from seeds. Strong tubers 
 will produce from 200 to 300 flowers each. I have had as 
 many as 150 from one plant blooming at the same time. The 
 varieties from Corfu and other Greek isles are very distinct and 
 valuable additions ; there do not appear to be sufficient permanent 
 characters for specific distinction. They generally flower later, 
 and continue longer in bloom. Their leaves rise with or before 
 
Part II. CYCLAMEN. 185 
 
 the majority of the flowers, both being stronger and larger than 
 the ordinary type, with more decided difference of outline and 
 markings on the upper surface of the leaves, the under surface 
 being frequently of a beautiful purple. Texture thick, shining, 
 and wax-like. Some of them are delightfully fragrant. They 
 are quite hardy, but are worthy of a little protection to preserve 
 the late blooms, which often continue to spring up till the end of 
 the year. 
 
 'This species is so perfectly hardy as to make it very desir- 
 able not only for the rock, but also for the open borders. It 
 will grow in almost any soil and situation, though best (and it 
 well deserves it) in a well-drained rich border or rockery. It 
 does not like frequent removal. It has been naturalised success- 
 fully on the mossy floor of a thin wood, on a very sandy, poor 
 soil, and it maybe naturalised with perfect success almost every- 
 where in these islands. It would be peculiarly attractive when 
 seen in a semi-wild state in pleasure-grounds and by wood walks. 
 It is very frequently sent out by English nurseries and bulb 
 dealers as C. europceum, though perfectly distinct from that spe- 
 cies. It is well figured in Baxter's ' British Flowering Plants,' 
 p. 505, and is 'the so-called British species ; but it is doubtful 
 whether it is a true native plant. 
 
 C. grcECum is a very near ally, if more than a variety, of C. he- 
 dercefolium J it requires the same treatment. The foliage is 
 more after the C. persicum, or the southern var. of C. europaum, 
 type than most of the hedercEfolium section ; the shape of corolla 
 and toothing of the mouth the same. C. africanum {algeriense 
 macrophylluni), much larger in all its parts than C. hedera- 
 folium, otherwise very nearly allied, is hardy in warm sheltered 
 situations. 
 
 CYCLAMEN YERNUM.— 5/rz«^ C. 
 
 Tuber round, depressed, somewhat rough or russety on outer 
 surface ; fibres issue from one point on the under side only ; under 
 cultivation it has httle or no stem, but leaves and flowers proceed 
 direct from the upper centre of the tuber, bending under the sur- 
 face of the soil horizontally before rising to the surface. Corolla 
 long, segments somewhat twisted, mouth round, not toothed ; 
 colour from a delicate peach to deep red purple, very seldom 
 white ; deliciously fragrant. Flowers from April to end of May. 
 
i86 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 Native of South Italy, the Mediterranean and Greek isles, and 
 about Capouladoux, near MontpeUier, Leaves rise before the 
 flowers in the spring ; they are generally marked more or less 
 with white on upper surface, and often of a purplish cast 
 beneath ; fleshy ; semi-transparent whilst young. For many 
 years I believed this species to vary in the outline and colouring 
 of the fohage less than any other, but I have now received im- 
 ported tubers from Greece, with much variety in both particulars, 
 some of the leaves quite plain and dark green, others dashed all 
 over with spots of white, others with an irregular circle of white 
 varying much in outline. Among these every intermediate form 
 occurs, up to that figured and described by Sibthorp and Sweet. 
 The latter variety is the one more generally met with, and is 
 reproduced from seed very true and unvarying. This, though 
 one of the most interesting species and perfectly hardy, is seldom 
 met with cultivated successfully in the open borders or rockery ; 
 it is very impatient of wet standing about the tubers, and likes a 
 light soil, in a nook rather shady and well sheltered from winds, its 
 tender fleshy leaves being soon injured. The tubers should also 
 be planted deep, say not less than two inches to two inches and a 
 half beneath the surface. I have grown them for many years in 
 a border and on rocks without any other protection than a few 
 larch-fir boughs lightly placed over them, to break the force of 
 the wind and afford a slight shelter from the scorching sun. Some 
 authorities give C. repandum as a distinct species, but I consider 
 them identical, the only difference being in the shape and mark- 
 ings of the leaves, which are very variable. It is generally culti- 
 vated in England under the name of repandum, but most of the 
 best continental botanists adopt the name of vernum for it, and 
 it is, no doubt, the original C. vernum. of L'Obel. 
 
 General Culture. — Perfect drainage at the roots is indis- 
 pensable for the successful culture of all Cyclamens, growing 
 as they often do in their native habitats amongst stones, rock, 
 and debris of the mountains, mixed with an accumulation of 
 vegetable soil — the tubers being thereby often covered to a 
 considerable depth, and not exposed to the action of the 
 atmosphere, as is too often the case under culture by placing 
 them on the surface of the soil. This practice is in most 
 instances very injurious, drying up and destroying the in- 
 cipient young leaf and flower buds when the tubers are 
 apparently at rest ; for I find in most species that, though 
 
Part II. CYCLAMEN. 187 
 
 leafless, the fibres and young buds for the ensuing year are still 
 making slow but healthy progress under favourable circum- 
 stances. Collectors from abroad should be specially careful in 
 this particular. We seldom find tubers of some of the species 
 that have been much dried or exposed to the air vegetate freely, 
 or sometimes at all. I have now by me some roots imported 
 nearly six years since (I believe from the Greek isles), that were 
 thus exposed, and though the tubers have remained sound and 
 sent out tolerably healthy fibres, they have not until this season 
 produced healthy leaves. They have made two or three abortive 
 attempts before, but always failed. Now, having recovered 
 vigour of foliage, I fully expect them to bloom next autumn. In 
 C. hedercefolium and its varieties the greater portion of their 
 fibres issue from the upper surface and sides of the tuber, indi- 
 cating without doubt the necessity of their being beneath the soil. 
 The habit in C. coum, C. vernuni, and their allies, of the leaf and 
 flower stalks, when in a vigorous state, running beneath the soil, 
 often to a considerable distance from the tuber, before rising to 
 the surface, points in the same direction. Though Cyclamens 
 require perfect drainage at the root, they like plenty of moisture 
 above when in full vigour of growth. 
 
 Cyclamens generally like a rich soil, composed of good friable 
 loam, well-decayed vegetable matter, and cow manure, reduced 
 to the state' of mould, and rendered sweet by exposure to the 
 atmosphere before use. C. hedercBfoliuvi and its varieties require 
 a stiffer loam and stronger manure than the others. They are 
 all admirably adapted for rockwork ; they enjoy warm nooks, 
 partial shade from mid-day sun, and shelter from the effects of 
 drying, cutting winds. Neither of these can they bear with im- 
 punity. An eastern or south-eastern aspect is best, screened from 
 cutting winds, as affording the requisite protection against heat ; 
 but a northern one will do well. They love an open yet sheltered 
 spot ; pure air is their delight. I have a northward piece of 
 rockwork covered with them, which from the end of August, 
 when they begin to bloom, up to the end of March, when the 
 leaves begin to die down, is much admired both for the flowers 
 and also for the beauty of the wax-like foliage. During the dead 
 period of winter it is in full perfection ; and few things are more 
 ornamental. 
 
 Cyclamens are best propagated by seed sown as soon as it is 
 ripe, in well-drained pots of light soil. I generally cover the 
 
l88 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 surface of the soil after sowing with a little moss, to ensure 
 uniform dampness, and place them in a sheltered spot out 
 of doors. As soon as the plants begin to appear, which may be 
 in a month or six weeks, the moss should be gradually removed. 
 As soon as the first leaf is tolerably developed, they should 
 be transplanted about an inch apart in seed pans of rich light 
 earth, and encouraged to grow as long as possible, being sheltered 
 in a cold frame, with abundance of air at all times. When the 
 leaves have perished the following summer, the tubers may be 
 planted out or potted, according to their strength. 
 
 From the earliest times there appears to have been great 
 difficulty felt by our best botanists in clearly defining the species 
 of Cyclamen, from the great variation in shape and colouring of 
 the leaves both above and below. Too much dependence on 
 these characters has been the cause of much confusion and an 
 undue multiplication of species. Some of the varieties of this 
 genus become so fixed, and reproduce themselves so truly from 
 seed, as to be regarded as species by some cultivators. 
 The following are some of the more important synonyms — asti- 
 vum. (europceum); anemonoides or radice-anemone (europ(2um)j 
 autumnaU (hederafolium) j Clusii (europceum) ; hyemale 
 (coum)j- littorale (europcsum) ; neapolitanutn (hederafolium) j 
 odoratum (europczum)j Peakeanum (europ(Eum)j. Poll (kede- 
 rmfolium) J repandum (vernuni); •vernum of Sweet ( count, var. 
 zonale)j zonale (vernum of Sweet^. Anemonoides, Clusii, and 
 littorale, are southern varieties of C. europceum, quite distinct 
 from the northern type. 
 
 CYPEIPEDIUM ACAULE.— /foj)/ Ladfs Slipper. 
 A VERY handsome and perfectly hardy dwarf orchid, with a fine 
 large purplish-rose flower, nearly two inches long, with a deep 
 fissure in front which immediately distinguishes it from the other 
 cultivated kinds. It is very common in North America, usually 
 growing in woods under evergreens, and the best position for it 
 in cultivation is in some nicely sheltered and half shaded spot on 
 the lower flanks of rockwork, or among shrubs planted near it in 
 sandy loam, with an abundance of leaf-mould. It also succeeds 
 in sheltered and somewhat shaded and well-drained spots on 
 rockwork, and, being so highly ornamental and distinct, deserves 
 universal cultivation. It is occasionally found with pale and, 
 more rarely, with white flowers. Flowers in summer, and may 
 
Part 11. CYPRIPEDIUM. 189 
 
 be propagated by division, but the plants in the country, at pre- 
 sent, are too small and puny to bear this. 
 
 CyPEIPEDIUM QKLSys^OXXS^.— English Lady's Slipper. 
 
 The largest, and, when well grown, the handsomest of our 
 native orchids, and therefore an object of much interest to culti- 
 vators of hardy plants, as well as to botanists. When grown 
 under tolerably favourable conditions, the stem rises to a height 
 of from sixteen to twenty inches, with large pointed leaves, and 
 bearing large flowers ; the lip yellow, variegated with purple ; 
 the long sepals and petals of a brownish purple. Although 
 reputed to be extinct in Britain, it is known to exist yet in a 
 wild state with us, but in very few places, and let us hope 
 the last remaining plants may long remain undisturbed ; it 
 is abundantly distributed over Continental Europe, and should 
 not be difficult to obtain. I have never seen this fine plant 
 nearly so well grown as by Mr. James Backhouse, of York. 
 He plants it on an eastern shaded aspect of his rockwork, in 
 rich, deep, fibrous loam, in narrow, well-drained fissures, between 
 limestone rocks. The condition in which this and other orchises 
 are obtained has a great influence on their well-being. The 
 roots are often dried up, and nearly or quite dead when obtained ; 
 and in this condition they would have but a poor chance of 
 surviving, even if planted in the' wilds most favourable to their 
 natural development. Given good sound roots, there will 
 not be the least difficulty in establishing plants in deep loam, 
 in any well-drained, half shady spot, with some shelter afforded 
 by low bushes and plants to prevent the leafy growth of the 
 plant from being destroyed or injured by wind. It is propagated 
 by division of the root, but should not be disturbed for that 
 purpose till the plants are well established, and have begun to 
 spread about. 
 
 CYPRIPEDIUM SPECTABILE.— 7V(7^/^ C. 
 
 A NOBLE hardy orchid ; a native of meadows and peat bogs, in 
 the Northern, and on mountains in the Southern, United States, 
 and easily known from all its fellows by its large, much inflated, 
 rosy lip. When well developed in the open air, I know of no 
 hardy plant to surpass this in boldness of chiselling, and delicate 
 purity of colour. The plant is as hardy as the common Rhubarb. 
 It is a strong deep-rooting thing when in a congenial soil and 
 
190 ALPINE FLOWERS, Part II. 
 
 position, and therefore to attempt its culture in shallow pans, 
 orchid fashion, as I have seen some do, is quite useless. 
 Doubtless a few good plants may be highly desir3.ble in pots, if 
 these are tolerably large and deep, and afford good room for root 
 development ; but the truest and most satisfactory way is to 
 establish it as a free-growing hardy perennial in the open garden. 
 Good strong roots should be procured ; hardy orchids are often 
 dried to death, or just prepared for rotting when put into the 
 ground. I have grown the plant very well in free sandy soil 
 mulched with cocoa-fibre, and in a partially shaded spot ; but it 
 does not usually thrive near London if not accommodated 
 with a shady nook and deep moist soil. Doubtless in the 
 north and west, and in most moist neighbourhoods, it will 
 be found to succeed with pretty full exposure, or in fact as a 
 border-plant ; but to grow it well I would not recommend that 
 course for gardeners generally. There are few gardens that do 
 not afford some shady nook near the houses, where a deep hole 
 might be dug, and filled with rich peat or spongy free loam, mixed 
 with plenty of decayed vegetable matter. In such a position it 
 would luxuriate, and also in any shady place where a deep and 
 somewhat unctuous soil exists. The best plants I have ever seen 
 were at Glasnevin, behind one of the ranges of plant-houses there, 
 planted close against the wall in deep rich soil — a mixture of 
 free, rich, very moist loam and peat. Wherever there is any kind 
 of a bold or diversified rockwork, there should be no difficulty in 
 succeeding with this fine plant. It should be placed on the lower 
 flanks, and in different positions and aspects, mostly sheltered 
 ones ; and if it does not in all cases at'tain the stature of the 
 Glasnevin plants, it will command admiration as the finest of 
 hardy orchids. 
 
 C. pubescens is also in cultivation, but rare in this country. It 
 is, however, not sufficiently distinct in aspect from the English 
 Lady's Slipper to be of much interest for the garden. There are 
 other hardy kinds, but none of the obtainable ones equal to 
 the foregoing kinds. 
 
 DAPHNE CN-EQ-RnM.— Gar /atici-Jlower. 
 A LITTLE trailing but compact shrub, growing from six to ten 
 inches high, and bearing a muhitude of rosy-lilac flowers, the 
 unopened buds being crimson. The flowers, like the plant, are 
 very compact, arranged in neat terminal umbels, and so deli- 
 
Part II. DIANTHUS. 191 
 
 ciously sweet that, where it is much grown, the air often seems 
 charged with its fragrance. It is a native of most of the great 
 mountain chains of Europe, and is one of the most suitable of all 
 plants for rockwork. It is also a beautiful object in the front 
 margin of the mixed border, or for forming edges round beds of 
 choice low shrubs. Where it thrives, the margins of the shrub- 
 beries should here and there be finished off at the grass-line by- 
 its round low-spreading tufts. It seems to delight in peat and 
 very free, moist, sandy soils, but in some very dry and stiff soils 
 usually proves a failure. Wherever the soil is favourable, it 
 should be much used, and is usually increased by layers, but 
 it is hardly worth while to propagate it thus, as it is very easily 
 procured in most of our great nurseries. 
 
 DIANTHUS KlSSTSm^.— Alpine Pink. 
 
 A RARE, beautiful, and distinct plant, recognised at a glance 
 from any other cultivated Pink by its dense, shining green, 
 oblong, and obtuse leaves, not pointed or ascending like those of 
 most of the other species. Each stem bears a solitary flower, of 
 a circular form, deep rose spotted with crimson, and, when the 
 plant is in good health, so freely produced as to hide the leaves. 
 In poor, moist, and very sandy loam on rockwork, it thrives, 
 and forms a dwarf carpet, though the flower-stems may rise 
 little more than an inch in height : both leaves and stems are 
 much taller and more vigorous in deep, moist, peaty soil. 
 The finest specimens I have seen of it were at Glasnevin, where 
 it grew in peat soil on the level ground. Wireworms, rather 
 than unsuitable soil, often cause its death. It should be placed 
 in an exposed position, and carefully guarded against drought, 
 especially when recently planted ; comes true from seed, and is 
 not difficult to increase in that way, or by division where it grows 
 freely. A native of the Alps of Austria, -flowering in summer. 
 
 DIANTHUS BARBATUS.— 6'?£/^«/ William. 
 
 For ages deservedly one of the most admired of our border- 
 flowers, and though not so popular now-a-days in " great " gar- 
 dens, happily still very much so in cottage gardens. It is 
 to be hoped that no excuse is needed for introducing it here. 
 More than two hundred years ago there were various varieties of 
 it cultivated in English gardens, and in the present day many 
 
192 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 beautiful kinds, both single and double, are easily raised from 
 seed. Many of .these are valuable for borders and the rougher 
 parts of rockwork. The plant often perishes in winter in cold 
 soils, and although a true perennial in a wild state, and on dry and 
 raised soils, it is one of those plants of which seedlings should 
 be raised every year. A native of gravelly or mountain fields, in 
 various parts of Central and Southern Europe ; the flowers white 
 or rose with white dots. Parkinson, alluding to the varieties 
 of Sweet Williams, says : " We have them in our gardens, where 
 they are cherished for their beautiful variety ; " and speaks of 
 a pretty " speckled kinde, termed by our English gentlemen, for 
 the most part, London Pride." 
 
 DIANTHtrS Cm^TC^.— Cheddar Pink. 
 
 One of the neatest and most attractive of the dwarf Pinks with 
 which rocks and rocky places are studded over so great a portion 
 of the northern and temperate regions of the earth. The short 
 leaves are very glaucous, and the large, fragrant, rosy flowers 
 supported on stems six inches in height^ and sometimes a few 
 inches more if the plant be grown in rich soil. It requires 
 peculiar treatment, as in winter it perishes in the ordinary 
 border, but flourishes freely and flowers abundantly on an old 
 wall. I have seen many dwarf compact cushions of it on walls 
 at Oxford, and should advise anybody who wants to succeed 
 perfectly with it to try-it in a like position. It is a native plant, 
 and grows on the rocks at Cheddar, in Somersetshire, but is 
 found in many parts of Europe besides. To estabhsh it on the 
 top or any part of an old wall, the best way would be to sow 
 the seeds on the wall in a little cushion of moss, if such existed, 
 or, if not, to place a httle earth with the seed in a chink. It 
 may also be grown upon a rockwork in firm, calcareous, sandy, 
 or gritty earth, and, if possible, placed in a chink between 
 two small rocks. Flowers in May and June, and is readily 
 propagated by seeds. 
 
 DIANTHUS CARTOPHYLLtrS.— Car«a/zff«. 
 
 The parent of all the races of Carnations, Picotees, and Clove 
 Pinks, so variously and beautifully coloured and laced, so deli- 
 ciously fragrant, neat in habit, and profuse in flower, as to make 
 them, perhaps, on the whole, the most valuable of our hardy 
 
Part II. DIANTHUS. 193 
 
 "border-flowers. The plant occurs in a wild state on old castles 
 and city walls in various parts of England, and more abundantly 
 in similar places in the West of France, the flowers of the wild 
 form being usually purple or white. Cultivated from time 
 immemorial, it has given rise to the various races above named, 
 and to innumerable varieties of these, of almost every colour, 
 blue excepted. The varieties of Carnations alone numbered 
 as many as 400 more than 150 years ago, and numbers have 
 been raised since in this country, where it is not, and never 
 was, so popular as in Italy and Germany. The Carnation is 
 divided by florists into classes, according to the markings of the. 
 flower. Thus we have scarlet, crimson, pink, and purple bizarres 
 when the flowers are irregularly marked with two colours- on a 
 white ground, one colour, however, predominating ; purple, scar- 
 let, and rose flakes, striped distinctly and largely with one colour 
 on a white ground ; and Picotees, with serrated edges, and 
 usually a beautiful margin of colour. The fine old Clove Carna- 
 tion is more deliciously sweet than any of the others, and it 
 should be in every garden, as should the white Clove, of which 
 there are now several varieties. 
 
 The Carnation and Picotee are best propagated by layers in 
 the month of August. The florists do not consider two-year-old 
 plants good enough to furnish what are called exhibition blooms, 
 but for ornamental purposes they are better than young plants ; 
 and even old tufts in a suitable spot on rockwork, &c. will 
 furnish good flowers for years. But, • generally speaking, it is 
 when the plants are about two years of age that they are most 
 valuable for general garden decoration. The masses of flowers 
 they then furnish are most pleasing to look at, and very useful 
 for cutting from. In fact, wherever many flowers are required 
 for in-door decoration, the various kinds of Pinks are worth 
 growing to a considerable extent, merely for the sake of cutting 
 their flowers, even if they are not desired as flower-garden orna- 
 ments. The special beds where the florists' kinds may receive 
 attention should be in the kitchen-garden or some by-spot, but 
 the miscellaneous kinds may be judiciously planted in the mixed 
 border, and will there prove highly ornamental. From the 
 borders, when they, get a little scraggy, as they are wont to 
 do when a few years old, they must be removed, and the stock 
 kept up with young plants. Therefore it is desirable to propa- 
 gate a few score Pinks and Carnations every year. Almost every 
 
 O 
 
194 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 kind is worth growing, from the common white Pink, so much 
 sold in London in early summer, to Anna Boleyn, so greatly 
 prized in some gardens in the olden days, and still grown 
 extensively in many places, being, now as worthy of it as ever, 
 and the grand old Clove Carnation. They are generally left in 
 the hands of a few enthusiastic florists, whereas they ought to be 
 in every garden, smal\ or great. 
 
 In specially cultivating the better kinds in beds, it is usual to 
 cover the surface with an inch or more of fine rotten manure 
 that has been passed through a sieve, and plenty of water is also 
 given in dry weather ; but as many will not care about paying 
 more attention than is necessary, I may state that neither water 
 nor top-dressing is usually required in ordinarily good garden 
 soil, and the result will be quite as valuable from an ornamental 
 point of view. But when grown in special little beds, as before 
 suggested, in some warm border in the kitchen-garden, a top- 
 dressing, composed of one barrow of mould to three of decayed 
 manure, could be given in a very short time, and if the weather 
 or soil were very dry, an occasional heavy watering would of 
 course improve matters. To this it is only necessary to add 
 that Picotees enjoy a stronger soil than Carnations, the latter 
 having a tendency to " run," or lose their admired regularity of 
 colouring under such conditions. 
 
 DIANTHirS ■DY.IXOTnE,^.— Maiden Pink. 
 
 This true native of Britain differs from its cultivated neighbours 
 in its close spreading tufts of smooth, green, pointless leaves, and 
 bright pink-spotted or white flowers, rather freely produced on 
 stems from six to twelve inches long. Although the flower is 
 little more than half aa inch across, there is a bright and cheerful 
 look about it which makes it indispensable to the collection of 
 dwarf hardy flowers. It has a good constitution, and will grow 
 almost anywhere, on border or on rockwork, not appearing to 
 sufter from wireworm, as most other Pinks do. It is rather 
 abundant in some parts of Britain, but wanting in many 
 counties. It frequently flowers several times during the summer, 
 may be readily raised from seed, or easily increased by division. 
 A native of many parts of Europe and Asia, as well as Britain, 
 but not of Ireland. 
 
pARTir. DIANTHUS. 19s 
 
 DIANTHUS ViFXiTlO'SUQ.— Toothed Pink. 
 
 A DISTINCT and singularly pretty species ; dwarf, with violet- 
 lilac flowers, more than an inch across, the margins toothed at 
 the edge, the base of each petal having a regular dark-violet 
 spot, which produces a dark eye nearly half an inch across in 
 the centre of the flower. I first saw this plant in cultivation in 
 Madame Vilmorin's garden, near Paris, and was much struck 
 with its beauty, the large, glaucous leaves spreading into 
 broad tufts, and being quite covered with flowers, on stems not 
 more than five or six inches high, and not unlike a purplish 
 form of the alpine Pink. It comes readily from seed, is a 
 native of Southern Russia, flowering in May and June, con- 
 tinuing till autumn, and thriving well in sandy soil, in borders, 
 or on rockwork. 
 
 DIANTHUS NEGLECTUS.— G/ai;zVr Pink. 
 
 It is impossible to exaggerate the beauty of this plant. It forms, 
 very close to the ground, tufts resembling short wiry grass, of 
 slightly glaucous leaves, concave, pointed, and, except in vigorous 
 specimens, from half an inch to an inch long, the lower leaves 
 on the stems being longer, the flowers on stems from one inch 
 to three inches high, according to the vigour of the plants. The 
 petals are quite level and firm-looking, with the outer margins 
 slightly notched, and the flower about an inch across, in vigorous 
 specimens an inch and a quarter ; the colour is of the purest, 
 deepest, and most brilliant rose. It is so dwarf in habit, and 
 has flowers so large, that tufts of it might at first sight be taken 
 for the alpine Pink ; but it is immediately distinguished from 
 that by its short, narrow, pointed, grass-like leaves. In a wild 
 state, and in poor earth on rockwork, specimens of it may be 
 seen in perfect bloom at one inch and a half high, and even 
 less ; but when cultivated in rich, deep, sandy loams, it attains 
 greater dimensions, at some slight loss of neatness and compact- 
 ness. It is surpassed by no alpine plant in purity or vividness 
 of colouring, and is, happily, very easily grown, not a.ppearing 
 to have any of the fastidiousness characteristic of D. alpinus 
 or D. ccEsius in some soils and positions. It grows with free- 
 dom in very sandy loam, either in pots or on rockwork, rooting 
 through the bottoms of the pots into the sand as freely as any 
 weed, and is perfectly hardy and easily grown in all parts of 
 
196 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 these islands. A native of the highest summits of the Alps of 
 Dauphiny, and the Pyrenees, Switzerland, and North of Italy ; 
 easily increased by division, and also from seed. Sometimes 
 known as D. glacialis. 
 
 DIANTHUS PETRiEUS.— i?^fy^ Pink. 
 
 A, CHARMING species, with very short sharp-pointed leaves, form- 
 ing hard tufts an inch or two high, from which spring nunierous 
 flower-stems, each bearing a solitary fine rose-coloured flower. 
 I once grew a group of about fifty plants of this, which formed a 
 sort of turf, and flowered so freely as to be conspicuous at a 
 great distance. It grew along with other species, and nearly all 
 the plants raised from seed varied, so that it ought to be increased 
 by division. It seemed to escape the attacks of wireworm when 
 nearly every other species was destroyed. A native of Hungary, 
 flowers in summer, and is well worthy of a position on rockwork, 
 where it ought to be planted in very sandy and rather poor moist 
 loam. 
 
 DIANTHUS PLUMARITTS.— Pzw/^. 
 
 This plant is considered the parent from which our numerous 
 varieties of Pinks have sprung, and, as the progenitor of such a 
 stock, is entitled to some consideration, even if it does not come 
 up to the popular standard so well as many of its race. It has 
 single purple flowers, rather deeply cut at the margin, and is 
 naturalised on old walls in various parts of England, though not 
 a true native. It is rather handsome when grown into healthy 
 tufts, but on the level ground it is apt to perish or get shabby, 
 which points to the desirability of establishing it on old walls. 
 But the almost innumerable beautiful and fragrant double varie- 
 ties command the highest admiration, and there is no reason 
 whatever why these should not be. cultivated as rock-plants, par- 
 ticularly as they live much longer and thrive better on such 
 elevations. They are such prettily shaped flowers, so compact, 
 hardy, and fragrant, that one would think a few words in praise 
 of them quite unnecessary ; but the fact is, with many other 
 charming plants, they have been driven into comparative ob- 
 scurity by the widely-spread taste' for common bedding plants. 
 They have for many years been amongst the most favourite 
 " florists' " flowers in European countries. ' In cultivating the 
 
Part II. DIANTfiUS. 197 
 
 finer florists' varieties, it is desirable to give them a special little 
 bed in some convenient part of the garden — one of the beds in 
 a neat little nursery border in the kitchen-garden would do best ; 
 and if the natural soil be not a good sandy loam, it should be 
 made so by additions from a neighbouring pasture, and well 
 rotted manure should be added in any case. The bed should 
 be slightly raised above the alleys, say from six to ten inches, 
 according to the soil ; of course, the wetter and stiffer it is, the 
 more acceptable will a slight elevation prove, while the beds 
 should, generally speaking, be made in a dry and warm part of 
 . the garden, the spot to be well drained and the soil deep. The 
 ,best growers usually plant out about the end of September, 
 but, like most hardy evergreen or herbaceous herbs, they may 
 be safely transplanted at any time, either in spring or autumn. 
 The propagating of the Pink is always very much easier of 
 accomplishment in the beginning, middle, or end of June, say 
 about the 20th, than at any other time. It is effected by 
 pipings — ^another word for cuttings, the difference consisting in 
 the way they are made — pulled off from the shoot, the little 
 stem parting readily, and coming out from its embracing leaves 
 with a slender shank. There is no necessity for doing it thus ; 
 on the contrary, the better way is to cut off some of the side 
 shoots, trim them up a little way with a sharp knife, as you 
 do most cuttings, and place them firmly in pots or in a gentle 
 hotbed, where they will soon root, and should then be hardened 
 off. If put in pots, they should be placed in a gently heated 
 frame till struck, but the best plan is to put four or five inches of 
 sandy soil over a shallow, gentle hotbed, surface the soil with 
 a httle fine sand, and then put in your cuttings, covering them 
 with common, hand-lights, which must of course be shaded at 
 first ; then the lights may be taken off 'gradually as the plants 
 become rooted, and finally removed altogether. Thus treated, 
 the young plants will be in nice condition for planting out in 
 autumn. 
 
 It is not desirable to enumerate what are considered the finest 
 kinds in a book of this character, inasmuch as they are liable to 
 continual change ; tastes vary, and occasionally varieties with 
 no names at all are superior to the florists' kinds for general garden 
 use. It should be generally known that a race of perpetual-flower- 
 ing Pinks, the result of a cross between that old favourite Anna 
 Boleyn and some of the florists' varieties, is now in existence, 
 
igS ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 and well worthy of culture. Garibaldi, Most Welcome, and 
 Tennison Pink are among the best of these. They are for the 
 most part of a fine rosy-crimson tone. 
 
 It is to be regretted that good single as well as double varie- 
 ties are not sought after ; they flower so very profusely, are more 
 showy, and have better constitutions. One of the best I know 
 of is the D. plumarius annulatus, a very fragrant variety with 
 a large dark ring in the centre, and it would not be difficult to 
 select other finely coloured single varieties valuable as rock, 
 border, or bedding plants. 
 
 DIANTHUS SIJV-ZBSXSB.— Fringed Pink. 
 
 A HANDSOME and very fragrant species, easily known by its 
 petals being cut into lines or strips for more than half their 
 length, which gives the plant a singular and not ungraceful ap- 
 pearance, quite different to that of any other kind in cultivatioh. 
 It inhabits many parts of Europe from the shores of Norway to 
 the Pyrenees, and is a true perennial, though it perishes so often 
 in our gardens, when very young, that many regard it as a bien- 
 nial. It is more apt to perish in winter on rich and moist soil 
 than on that which is somewhat poor, light, and well-drained, 
 and it should be planted in fibry loam, well mixed with sand or 
 grit, where it is desired to estalDUsh it as a perennial. It is, how- 
 ever, very free to grow on nearly every description of soil ; and 
 by raising it every year from seed an abundant stock may be 
 kept up even where it perishes in winter. Unhke some of the 
 other kinds, it comes quite true from seed, generally grows more 
 than a foot high, flowers in summer or early autumn, and is 
 perhaps more suited for mixed beds and borders than for the 
 rockwork. On this it should not get a choice position, as it is 
 one of the easiest kinds to grow ; besides, . it is somewhat too 
 large for association with the jewel-Uke flowers which form the 
 true ornaments of the rock-garden. 
 
 DIAPENSIA LAPPONIOA.— Z«//a«^i?. 
 
 A STURDY and very dwarf Uttle evergreen alpine shrub, very 
 rarely seen even in botanic gardens, and usually considered im- 
 possible to cultivate, but which may be grown very well on fully 
 exposed rockwork in deep sandy and stony peat, kept well 
 moistened during the warm season. It grows in very dense 
 
Part II. DIELYTRA. 199 
 
 rounded tufts, with narrow closely packed spoon-shaped leaves, 
 and solitary white flowers with yellow stamens, about half an 
 inch across, the whole plant being often under two inches high. 
 A native of Northern Europe and North America, on high moun- 
 tains or in arctic latitudes, flowering in summer, and probably 
 most easily increased from seed, though as yet the plant has 
 been so little grown that much cannot be said on this subject. 
 
 DIELYTEA EXIMIA.— /"/z^wzy D. 
 
 An elegant plant, much longer in cultivation than D. spectabilis, 
 but far less popular, though well deserving of extensive culti- 
 vation ; its leaves, much divided into oblong strips, form grace- 
 ful, somewhat fern-like tufts, in good soil, usually a foot or more 
 high. It freely bears pretty reddish-purple flowers in racemes 
 in early summer, and continuously if the soil be generous, and, 
 like Thalictruin minus, it may be used in borders or on rock- 
 works with a similar object to that we have in view when placing 
 fine-foliaged plants in a conservatory, or a spray of Maidenhair 
 fern in a bouquet. A native of North America, quite hardy, and 
 easily increased by careful division. 
 
 Dielytra formosa, also of North America, is said to differ in 
 being smaller, with the lobes of the flower longer ; but, while 
 many forms of a species, which botanists would not even dignify 
 with the name of varieties, are, in appearance and for garden 
 purposes, really distinct, these two, or the plants which pass for 
 them in this country, present no such differences, and the cul- 
 tivator who possesses D. eximia will not find a new beauty in 
 D.formpsa. 
 
 DIELYTEA ^'S'^CSKSOJIS.— Mountain D. 
 
 Now too well known to need description or recommendation, 
 nearly every garden in the country being embellished with its 
 singularly beautiful flowers, opening in early summer, gracefully 
 suspended in strings of a dozen or more on slender stalks, and 
 resembling rosy-crimson hearts. It is a native of China and 
 Siberia, is perfectly hardy, and unquestionably one of the hand- 
 somest and most useful plants ever introduced into this country. 
 It usually grows too large for association with the subjects to 
 which this book is devoted, but it is of such remarkable beauty 
 and grace that it may be used with the best effect near the lower 
 
200 ALPIN£ FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 flanks of, or in bushy places near, rockwork, or on low parts 
 where the stone or "rock" is suggested rather than exposed. 
 It need hardly be added that it is well worthy of naturahsation 
 by wood walks, &c., especially on light rich soils. There is 
 a " white" variety, by no means so ornamental as the common 
 one, though worth growing for variety's sake. 
 
 DIOTIS M.ASniM.iL.—Sea Cottonweed. 
 
 A VERY distinct-looking plant, found native on the sea-shore 
 sands of the southern half of Great Britain, and also recorded 
 from Ireland, but most abundant in St. Owen's Bay, Jersey. It 
 is readily known by both sides of its oblong leaves being densely 
 covered with a very white cottony-looking felt. The yellow 
 flower-heads are not ornamental, and except in the botanic 
 garden, the plant is most likely to be grown for the singular 
 appearance of its stems and leaves. It forms a suitable, orna- 
 ment on rockwork, and I have also seen it employed with some 
 effect as an edging plant in the flovyer-garden, though it is apt 
 to grow rather straggling, and should be kept neatly pegged 
 down and cut in well to prevent this tendency, and should have' 
 a very sandy and deep soil. Increased by cuttings, as it seldom 
 seeds in gardens. There is only one species of the genus. 
 
 DODECATHEON yTEKDlA..— American Cowslip. 
 
 The American Cowslip, bright, graceful, and perfectly hardy, 
 is second to none of our old border-flowers. Its blooms should 
 be seen in early summer in every spot worthy of the name of 
 a garden. They are supported in umbels on straight slender 
 stems from ten to sixteen inches high, each flower drooping 
 elegantly, the purplish petals springing up vertically from the 
 poiiited centre of the flower, much as those of the common 
 greenhouse Cyclamen do, and this gives the bloom such a gay 
 and singular appearance that one can understand the natives 
 of the Western United States calling it, as they do, " Shooting 
 Star." It inhabits rich woods in North America, from Maryland 
 and Pennsylvania, in the North, to North Carolina and Ten- 
 nessee, in the South, and far westward, loves a rich light loam, 
 and is one of the most suitable plants for the rock-garden or 
 well-arranged mixed borders, the fringes of beds of American 
 plants,. &c. In many deep light loams, the plant flourishes 
 
Part II. DODECATHEON. 
 
 without any preparation, but where a place is prepared for it, 
 as is often necessary, it is very desirable to add plenty of leaf- 
 mould. In a somewhat shaded arid sheltered position, it attains 
 its greatest size and beauty, though it often thrives in exposed 
 borders, and is best, increased by division when the plants die 
 down in autumn ; when seed is sown, it should be soon after 
 being gathered. 
 
 There are several varieties of the American Cowslip : " alburn^' 
 " elegans," " splendidu7n," " giganteum," " Ulacinum^' &c., which 
 occur in the catalogues. These are beautiful, and well worthy of 
 cultivation, though there are more names than distinct varieties. 
 Some consider the three kinds here described as varieties of one 
 species, but they are sufficiently distinct for gardening purposes. 
 
 DODECATHEON INTEGRIFOLITJM. — Small American C. 
 
 A LOVELY and gaily-coloured flower, deep rosy crimson, the base 
 of each petal white, springing from a yellow and dark orange 
 cup, and appearing in May on stems from four to six inches 
 high. The leaves are much smaller than those of D. Meadia, 
 oval, and quite entire. A native of the Rocky Mountains, a gem 
 for the rock-garden, planted in sandy peat or sandy loam with 
 leaf-mould, and increased by careful division of the root and by 
 seed, which it ripens freely in this country. It is easily grown 
 in pots, plunged, in the open air, in some sheltered and half 
 shady spot during summer, and kept in shallow cold frames 
 during winter. Where alpine plants are grown in pots for 
 exhibition, it should not be omitted. 
 
 DODECATHEON JEFFEEYANITM.— Gr«a/ American C. 
 
 A NOBLE kind, which I have grown as high as two feet in very 
 favourable circumstances, and have known to grow much larger 
 even in London gardens than the old American Cowslip. It 
 has much larger and thicker leaves, of a darker green, and with 
 very strong and conspicuous reddish midribs, the flower being 
 like that of the old kind, except that it is somewhat larger and 
 darker in colour. It is a thoroughly hardy and first-class plant, 
 flourishing freely in light rich and deep loam, and thriving best 
 in a warm and sheltered spot, where its great leaves may not 
 be broken by high winds. Spots suited for the handsome 
 Cypripedium. spectabile, in the hollows and in the fringes of the 
 
202 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 rock-garden, will suit it to perfection, and, when sufficiently 
 plentiful, it will no doubt prove one of our most valuable border- 
 flowers. A native of North America. 
 
 DEABA tJZ.OT.'D'E&.—Seagreen Whitlow-Grass. 
 
 This may be taken as the typical species of the Golden 
 Drabas ; it is indigenous to Britain, but only found in one 
 locality in South Wales, where, let us hope, its inaccessible po- 
 sition in many instances will protect it from the hand of the 
 destroyer. In growth it does not exceed three inches in height, 
 and when planted on the slope of a sunny border, in sandy soil, 
 which it loves, it forms a dense golden carpet in the early part 
 of March. It does not ripen seed so freely as the following 
 kind, but increases readily by division, and in these two respects 
 we have a very marked and tangible distinction from the follow- 
 ing otherwise closely allied species. A very neat plant for 
 rockwork, and also an attractive subject for naturalising on 
 moist old walls, mossy ruins, &c. 
 
 DRABA KLZOOTH.— Evergreen Whitlow-Grass. 
 
 A NATIVE of the mountains of Carinthia, closely allied to the 
 previous species, but a much more vigorous grower ; the leaves 
 are broader and of a darker green, and arranged so as to form 
 a most complete rosette, not unlike the Sempervivums. From 
 the centre of this rosette it sends up a stem five or six inches 
 long, bearing numbers of bright-yellow flowers, and ripens its 
 seeds freely. Draba boeotica I am disposed to consider a narrow- 
 leaved form of the above. In the cultivation of both it must be 
 borne in mind that, unlike D. aizoides, the old stems will never 
 throw out roots, consequently they cannot be classed as spreads 
 ing plants. They increase freely from seed, some of which it 
 would be interesting to sow on old walls and ruins, with a view 
 to naturahsing them in these positions. They are most effective 
 when grown in small pots, in which they might, for early spring 
 use, be plunged in a close line, say round the margin of a raised 
 " pin-cushion " bed, with admirable effect. 
 
 DRABA KLSINK.— Alpine Whitlow-Grass. 
 An arctic plant, with dark-green, smooth, somewhat ovate leaves, 
 growing about two inches high, and producing bright golden 
 
Part II. DRABA. 203 
 
 flowers. It is rather a delicate subject, and best adapted for pot 
 culture, or well-drained chinks in rockwork. The true species is 
 somewhat scarce in cultivation. It, like D. trident'ata, is liable 
 to suffer from slugs, and both should be carefully guarded 
 against their attacks, especially during the winter months. 
 Allied to this is Draba aurea, a Danish plant, with flowers 
 produced in a dense corymb, on a leafy stem some eight or nine 
 inches high ; the habit is not neat, otherwise it is a very distinct, 
 well-defined species. 
 
 DRABA CINEREA. — Grey Whitlow-Grass. 
 
 This native of Siberia, frequently called D. borealis, is in my 
 opinion the most effective of the white-flowering Drabas. Of 
 dwarf habit, producing an abundance of clear white flowers in 
 the earliest spring, well relieved by the dark-green leaves, and 
 of a free-growing and permanent character. It should be in 
 every collection. Seeds abundantly, and by tjiat means, as well 
 as by root division, it may readily be increased. 
 
 DRABA CVSPIDAHIA..— Pointed Whitlow-Grass. 
 
 A NATIVE of the highest mountains in Spain, closely allied 
 to D. ciliaris. They both possess many of the characteristics 
 of D. Aizoon, but are more compact in growth, as well as more 
 diminutive. D. cuspidata has the points of each of the ciliated 
 leaves, of which the dense little rosettes are formed, somewhat 
 incurved, and for close examination it is the gem of the yellow 
 Drabas, forming a comparatively thick woody stem. It is only 
 to be increased by means of seed, which it produces but 
 sparingly. My experience in raising the seeds of this plant 
 leads to the conclusion, from the varied forms produced in the 
 offspring, that ciliaris is only a sUght variety of cuspidata, or 
 vice versa. I have, however, not yet succeeded in getting seed 
 from D. ciliaris. 
 
 Draba lapponica, a native, as the name indicates, of the 
 arctic regions, though bearing the aspect of D. rupestris, is 
 dwarfer in habit, and devoid of the ciliated hairs on the leaves ; 
 it forms dense tufts, and flowers freely in early spring, producing 
 an almost equally abundant bloom in the autumn ; it also seeds 
 freely. 
 
 Draba rupestris, frigida, and Chamcejasme, are three very 
 
304 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 dwarf, compact-growing plants, closely allied, in fact so much so 
 that they may be considered as mere varieties of the typical 
 species, D. rupestris. The flowers in each case are small, but 
 are produced abundantly. Considering the neat habit of the 
 plants, every collection should possess at least one of them. 
 
 Draba nivalis, a native of the Swiss Alps, is the most diminu- 
 tive of the genus. The leaves are of a whitish green, owing to 
 the presence of minute stellate hairs. The plant, when in flower, 
 is not over two inches high, of nice compact habit, but rather a 
 shy grower, and consequently is rarely met with in cultivation. 
 
 DRABA IBJ.DENTATA.—Tkree-tooi/iea Whitlow-G. 
 
 Though classed amongst the yellow Drabas, this is quite a 
 distinct plant from the preceding species — in fact, in general 
 contour it is unallied to any other species that we know ; it is 
 a native of the mountains of Southern Russia, and forms a 
 dark-green, branching plant about four inches high, with a very- 
 delicate root stock ; the leaves being tolerably broad, and, as 
 the • name indicates, tridentate in character. The flowers are 
 produced abundantly, and are of a most intense golden yellow. 
 It seeds pretty freely, and ought to be planted on a rockwork, so 
 that the seeds may vegetate at once round the parent plant, 
 which, by the w:ay, must be looked upon as little better than 
 a biennial. 
 
 Amongst the spring-flowering alpines, the genus Draba must 
 always take an important position. In addition to the brilhant 
 golden colour of the flowers of one section of the genus, the 
 plants are characterised by a dwarf compact habit, and by much 
 neatness in the arrangement of the bristly ciliated hairs, which 
 not unfrequently become bifurcate ; thus the attractive appear- 
 ance in the matter of colour is enhanced on a closer inspection 
 by the beauty of form and detail. In another section, we find 
 white to be the predominant colour, and though in many cases 
 the flowers are small, still, in the mass, fiUing up a nook or 
 crevice in a rockwork, and contrasted with the dark-green leaves, 
 they become very effective. They should be placed in the sun- 
 niest aspect on a rockery ; the more effectually the plants are 
 matured by the autumn sun the more freely will they return 
 these favours by an abundant bloom in early spring. The 
 
Part II. DRACOCEPHALUM. 205 
 
 third section, which includes plants of a purple and violet 
 tint of colour, is chiefly, if not altogether, confined to the re- 
 presentatives of the genus that grow abundantly in the high 
 mountain lands of South America. Of these we have but one in 
 cultivation, Draba violacea, and of so recent introduction that it 
 may be considered rash to pass any opinion on it beyond the 
 fact that it is a remarkably beautiful plant, of doubtful hardiness. 
 We may here observe that the sections 1 have adopted must be 
 considered as more strictly chromatic than botanical. 
 
 DEACOCEPHALTJM AtrSTRIACTJM.— .^KJi'rza^ D. 
 
 A SHOWY species, with blue flowers more than an inch and a 
 half long, in whorled spikes, the plant of rather a woody texture, 
 spreading into masses about a foot high, the floral leaves velvety, 
 trifid, and with long fine spines, the leaves three- or five-cleft, 
 with narrow segments. A native of nearly all the great moun- 
 tain chains of Europe, flourishing on rockwork in light soil, 
 and increased by seed or division. Quite free to grow in most 
 ordinary garden soils, but, like many other mountain plants, 
 only attaining perfect ripeness of texture on rockwork, unless in 
 very weU-drained, warm, and sandy soils. 
 
 DRACOCEPHALUM GRANDIFLORUM:.— ^^/<5«y-/^fflw^ D. 
 
 A PLANT rarely seen in our gardens, distinct in appearance from 
 its relatives, not diffuse or procumbent, but in habit more like a 
 dwarf Betony ; the flowers, however, are handsome, blue, in 
 whorled oblong spikes two to three inches long ; the leaves 
 oblong, obtuse, heart-shaped at the base, and crenated ; the whole 
 plant little more than half a foot high, though it varies from two 
 inches to a foot high. A native of Siberia, frequent in the 
 Altaic Alps, and thriving best on somewhat elevated sandy 
 borders, or low spots on rockwork in good sandy and thoroughly 
 drained loam. It should be guarded as far as possible agaiiist 
 slugs, which are fond of it, and may quickly destroy young and 
 small plants. Flowers in early summer, and is increased by 
 division. 
 
 DRACOCEPHALUM RUYSCHIANUM.— i?zyjf/%V D. 
 
 Has flowers smaller than those of D. austriacum, produced 
 in rather close spikes at the summit of the stem ; the leaves 
 
2o6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 smooth, narrow, entire, and opposite ; the floral leaves or bracts 
 also entire. A pleasing border or rock perennial, flowering 
 rather late in the summer, and thriving best on slightly elevated 
 rockwork, for which it is also well fitted by its spreading, some- 
 what prostrate habit, forming tufts about a foot high. Increased 
 by division or seed. 
 
 DRYAS OCTOPETALA. — Mountain Avens. 
 
 Few have travelled in alpine or arctic regions without seeing 
 how abundantly the mountains are clothed with the creeping 
 stems and large creamy-white yellow-stamened flowers of this 
 plant. The leaves are shining above and white and downy 
 beneath, and the fruit has a feathery appendage above an inch 
 long. It is an evergreen, and, being neat in habit as well as 
 handsome in bloom, ought to be grown in every collection of 
 rock-plants. Widely distributed through the mountain region 
 of Europe, Asia, and North America, and very abundant in 
 Scotland. It is easy of culture in moist peat soil, in which it 
 grows so freely about Edinburgh that I have observed it form- 
 ing dressy edgings to beds in some of the nurseries there. Pro- 
 pagated from seed, or by cuttings and division where it grows 
 freely. 
 
 Dryas Drummondi, a species very like the preceding, but 
 with yellow flowers, is also in cultivation, but far from common. 
 It would probably succeed under the conditions that suit the 
 other, but I have not seen it out of frames. 
 
 ECHEVERIA SEOtTNDA.— i'z'/wr)/ E. 
 
 A Mexican plant, with somewhat of the appearance of a large 
 European Houseleek, but forming more open rosettes, from three 
 to six inches in diameter, and of a very pleasing silvery glaucous 
 tone. The flowers are reddish, freely produced in long racemes 
 drooping at the top, making an attractive object in the green- 
 house. It is, however, chiefly grown for the effect of its rosettes 
 in the open garden, for which purpose it is kept over the winter 
 in frames or greenhouses, and put out in early summer ; but it 
 is hardy enough to survive the winter in some situations, and in 
 dry places on rockwork may be tried in the open air. It is almost 
 indispensable for association with dwarf succulents in geometrical 
 
Part II. EPIGMA—ERANTHJS. 207 
 
 arrangements, and is valuable also for the rockwork. Easily 
 increased by offsets, which root readily. 
 
 The large-leaved Echeveria metallica, almost like a " foliage- 
 plant " from the aspect of its great rosettes of metalUc-looking 
 leaves, is most valuable for producing a striking effect among 
 dwarf bedding and edging plants. It should always be placed 
 singly, forming centres to masses or rings of its dwarf relative 
 E. secunda, or Sedums, Sempervivums, and Saxifrages. In- 
 creased by seeds or by the leaves ; both those of the flower-stem 
 and of the rosette soon strike root in a temperate house. It re- 
 ■ quires a warm greenhouse in winter, and is only mentioned 
 among " alpine flowers " in consequence of being occasionally 
 associated with them in flower-gardens. 
 
 EPIGr^A EEPENS. — Ground Laurel. 
 
 A PROSTRATE, trailing evergreen found in sandy or rocky soil 
 especially in the shade of pines, common in many parts of 
 North America, and remarkable for its delicate rose-coloured 
 flowers in small clusters, exhaling a rich aromatic odour, and 
 appearing in early spring. The leaves are rounded-heart-shaped, 
 covered with russety hairs. It is a plant very seldom met with 
 in good health in this country, though occasionally seen flourish- 
 ing in heath soil. In planting it, it would be well to bear in mind 
 that its natural habitat is under trees, and plant a few specimens 
 in the shade of pines or shrubs. J have seen it thrive planted 
 out in a shady cold frame in leaf-mould and peat. In New 
 England it is known as the Mayflower. 
 
 ERANTHIS HYEMALIS.— W/«/^r Aconite. 
 
 A SMALL plant, with yellow flowers, surrounded by a whorl of 
 shining-green divided leaves, with a short, blackish, underground 
 stem resembling a tuber ; the flowers, an inch or more across, 
 being thrown up on stems from three to eight inches high. It is 
 naturalised in woods and copses in various parts of the country, 
 but has probably escaped from cultivation, and is not considered 
 a native, its true home being shady and humid places on southern 
 continental mountains. It is pretty well known, being frequently 
 sold by our bulb merchants, and is too common a plant for the 
 
2o8 ■ ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 choice rock-garden. I only introduce it hei-e to say that its best 
 use is for naturalisation in shady spots under trees and shrubs. 
 Where the branches of specimen trees are allowed to rest on 
 the turf of lawn or pleasure-ground, a few roots of these scattered 
 over the surface will soon form a dense carpet, glowing into 
 sheets of yellow in the very dawn of spring. It will also cover 
 any bare place under trees, and thus we may enjoy it without 
 giving it positions suited for rarer and more fastidious plants, or 
 taking any trouble whatever about it. 
 
 ERICA CKB.TH'F.h..— Spring Heath. 
 
 One of the most valuable plants of the spring Flora of our gar- 
 dens, forming dense, neat, dwarf tufts of shoots ; these, in the very 
 .dawn of spring, become covered with rosy-red ilowers, which, in 
 the bud state throughout the winter, seem to await the coming of 
 the first fine and sunny days to fully blush into masses of colour. 
 It thrives best in peat, but often also in ordinary garden soil. 
 It is becoming very popular, and is much grown with American 
 shrubs in nurseries, and often used as an edging to beds of these 
 plants. It should be grown in every garden, either in isolated 
 tufts, in borders, or around shrubberies. On rockwork masses 
 of it cushioning over the edges of rocks on the sunny side look 
 charming in spring. A native of the Alps, and nearly allied 
 to E. mediterranea. Indeed," some consider them varieties of 
 the same species, but for garden purposes they are sufficiently 
 distinct, as I have seen the last attain a height of five feet, in 
 gardens where E. carnea spread about dwarfer than the com- 
 mon Thyme. It is also much hardier and more ornamental. 
 The plant found in Ireland \E. hibernica — Syme), and which is 
 sometimes united with E. carnea, is also very distinct, being 
 much larger, less hardy, and not an early-flowering species. 
 
 The varieties of our common British Heaths afford exquisite 
 beauty of colour. There are a number of forms of the common 
 Ling {Calluna vulgaris), v^xy pretty and dwarf; then there 
 is the showy and beautiful Scotch Heather {Erica cinered), 
 always attractive in a wild state, but particularly so in its variety 
 coccinea; and there are the following varieties in cultivation — 
 alba, atropurpurea, coccinea, rosea, and rubra. Erica Tetralix, 
 the large-flowered E. ciliaris, the white variety of the Irish 
 
Part II. ERIGERON—ERINUS. 209 
 
 Heath, E. hibernica alba (mediierranea alba), and Mackie's 
 Heath, E. Mackieana, are well suited for the rougher parts of 
 the rock-garden. 
 
 ERIGERON -RXmSEi..—Royle's E. 
 
 A VERY rigid plant, two to four inches high when in bloom, the 
 centre of the flower almost black when young, but changing to a 
 mixture of gold and black when fully open, as if gold dust were 
 sprinlded over black velvet. The flower is two inches across, 
 sometimes more, and the rays of a dark lavender-blue are barely 
 one-third the width of those of Aster alpinus, to which the plant 
 bears at first sight some resemblance. It is, however, easily 
 distinguished from the alpine Aster by the narrow, sharply 
 pointed, and violet-brown scales of its flower-head, whereas those 
 of A. alpihus are blunt, green, and recurved. A native of the 
 Himalayas. It is sometimes known as Erigeron speciosus, but 
 is quite distinct from Stenactis {Erigeron) speciosa, a handsome 
 plant with yellow flowers and long, pale-purple rays, very de- 
 sirable as a border-plant, often attaining a height of nearly two 
 feet, and therefore too tall for intimate association with the 
 gems of the rock-garden. 
 
 EEINUS KlSBTmj^.— Wall E. 
 
 A NEAT and distinct little plant, with violet-purple flowers in 
 short pubescent racemes, abundantly produced over very dwarf 
 tufts of downy, oblong, and toothed leaves, obtuse at the apex. 
 A native of the Alps of Switzerland, the Tyrol, and the Pyre- 
 nees, perishing in winter on the level ground in most gardens, 
 but quite permanent and producing- masses of flowers when 
 allowed to run wild on old walls or ruins. I have seen brick 
 garden walls with every chink between the bricks filled with 
 this plant, so as to look at a distance as if covered with moss 
 in winter, and in summer becoming covered with masses of 
 lovely colour. It is easily established on old ruins or walls by 
 sowing the seeds in mossy or earthy chinks, and is of course 
 well suited for rockwork, growing thereon in any position, often 
 flowering bravely on earthless mossy rocks and stones. E. 
 hirsutus is a variety covered with long and whitish pubescence. 
 A pure white variety was raised by Mr. Atkins, of Painswick, 
 and it is a very desirable addition. 
 
 p 
 
2IO ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 EEODIUM ■ULtJSB.tjyENXTm..— Spotted Heronsbill. 
 
 Allied to the rock Heron's Bill, but immediately distinguished 
 from it by the two upper petals being marked with a large 
 blackish spot, the lower petals being larger and of a delicate 
 flesh-colour, veined with purplish rose, two to six flowers being 
 borne on stalks from two to six inches high. The leaves are 
 twice divided, and form graceful little tufts. The flowers are 
 very beautiful, and the entire plant has a peculiar and agreeably 
 aromatic fragrance. It comes from the Pyrenees, and is easily 
 grown in chinks and thoroughly drained spots on the sunny 
 side of rockwork, in dry and warm rather than rich soil, and 
 is increased with the greatest facility from seeds, and also by 
 division. 
 
 ERODIUM MANESCAVI.— iVb*/« Heronsbill. 
 
 A' VIGOROUS and showy species, with numerous long, much- 
 divided leaves, from which spring many stout flower-stems, each 
 bearing an umbel of from five to fifteen purplish flowers, each 
 more than an inch across and very handsome. It is quite dis- 
 tinct from any other kind, and deserves a place in every col- 
 lection, flourishing healthfully on the level ground as well as on 
 rockwork, on which, being a vigorous grower, it should be asso- 
 ciated with the strongest plants only. A native of the Pyrenees, 
 flowering in summer, and, when the plants are young and in 
 rich soil, for a long time in succession. Easily raised from seed, 
 and in cultivation grows from ten inches to two feet and a half 
 high. 
 
 ERODIXJM V^TRMUU.— Rock Heronsbill. 
 
 A NEAT species, with much divided, usually somewhat velvety 
 leaves, and rather large, lively rose, or white-and-veined, but not 
 spotted, flowers, attaining a height of from three to six inches, 
 and well suited for the embellishment of warm and dry chinks 
 or nooks on the sunny sides of rockwork. It and its ally, E. 
 macradenium, are just the plants to try on old walls or ruins ; on 
 the level ground, or in moist spots on rockwork, they are not 
 so attractive, as the leaves become developed at the expense of 
 the flowers, and the softness of tissue resulting from the same 
 cause predisposes them to perish in winter. There is a smooth 
 variety, E. lucidum, and one with more curled and downy leaves, 
 
Part II. ERODIUM. 
 
 E. crispum; all are natives of dry rocky places in the Pyrenees 
 and Southern Europe, and are increased by seed or division. 
 The two last-mentioned varieties are probably not in cultivation. 
 
 ERODIUM V:EVSSJi&Tyi..—Reichard's Heronsbill. 
 
 A TUFTED stemless plant, a native of Majorca, and so minute 
 as to seem fitted for nestling under the deep snow with the 
 Androsaces, and with the highest traces of vegetable life on 
 the Alps. The heart-shaped little leaves rest upon the ground, 
 and the flower-stems attain a height of two or three inches, 
 each bearing a soUtary white flower, faintly veined with pink. 
 It flowers pretty freely, and usually from spring or early sum- 
 mer till autumn ; is quite easy of culture in moist sandy peat 
 or loam, and is worthy of a position on every rockwork, either 
 on flat bare exposed spots or in chinks. Where alpine plants 
 are grown in pots or pans, its neatness of habit and dwarf- 
 ness, added to the fact that it is so easily grown, make it worthy 
 of a place. 
 
 ERODIUM ROMANUM.— i?o»2ij:» Heronsbill. 
 
 A PRETTY ■species, with gracefully cut leaves like those of the 
 British Erodium cicutarium, to which it is allied ; but it differs 
 in having larger flowers, with equal-sized petals, in being stem- 
 less and a perennial. The flowers are purplish, and freely pro- 
 duced in the end of March or beginning of April. It is easily 
 grown, and comes up thickly from self-sown seeds, at least in 
 light and chalky soils ; would thrive on old wajls and ruins, and 
 is a suitable ornament for the less important spots on rockwork. 
 It was cultivated in this country as far back as one hundred 
 and fifty years ago, but was probably long lost till reintroduced 
 by the Rev. Harper Crewe, in whose interesting garden at 
 Drayton-Beauchamp I . first saw it. A native of France and 
 Italy. 
 
 It is probable that we are as yet but imperfectly acquainted 
 with the species of Erodium most worthy of culture. Among 
 those I have not as yet observed in cultivation in this country 
 is E. trichomanefolium, the Maidenhair Cranesbill from the 
 East, with leaves so deeply cut as to appear, as the name in- 
 
 p 2 
 
212 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 dicates, like a finely-cut fern. I saw it in the botanic garden 
 at Geneva, and believe it would prove hardy on rockwork in our 
 gardens, and well suited for the positions recommended for the 
 Rock and Spotted Heronsbills. 
 
 EEPETION EENIFOEME.— iWa/ Holland Violet. 
 
 This mantles the ground with a mass of small, kidney-shaped 
 leaves, has numerous slender, creeping, and rooting stems, and 
 bears blue and white flowers of exquisite beauty, rising not more 
 than a couple of inches from the ground, and produced con- 
 tinuously throughout the summer. A violet it is indeed, but a 
 violet of the southern hemisphere, one at home under a Port 
 Jackson sun, but without the vigour and depth of colour of our 
 northern sweet Violet, which braves and bestows its sweets on the 
 " hard, hard, hard north-eastern breeze that breeds hard English- 
 men," yet having a simple loveliness that prevents its omission 
 here, even though it is not hardy enough to stand our winters. It 
 is peculiarly fitted for planting out over the surface of a bed of 
 peat or very light earth, in which some handsome plants would 
 be put out during the summer in a scattered or isolated manner, 
 and the little herb allowed to crawl rapidly over the surface. 
 For example, that handsome succulent, Echeveria metallica, has 
 been found to grow admirably in the open air in England for 
 several summers past, and in consequence of its bold habit it is 
 necessary to place it, say, a couple of feet from plant to plant. 
 Our little Australian friend is one of the very best things to fill 
 up the surface ; and, as the practice of placing plants of some 
 character in flower beds is likely in due time to get the pre- 
 ference which it deserves over the massing system pure and 
 simple, dwarf plants to form a carpet around and beneath the 
 taller ones will be requisite. This should form one for the 
 choicest positions. Being very small and delicate as well as 
 pretty, it should not be used under or around cparse subjects. It 
 must of course be treated like an ordinary tender bedding plant^ 
 taken up or propagated in autumn, and put out in May or June. 
 In every place where alpine plants are grown in pots, it should 
 find a home ; and in mild parts of these islands, say the south 
 and west coast, it would probably maintain its ground in sunny 
 spots without perishing during winter. 
 
Part II. ERYSIMUM. 213 
 
 ERYSIMUM OCHBOLEXJCUM.— ^^z«« Wallflower. 
 
 This handsome and distinct plant forms, when under cultiva- 
 tion, very neat, rich green tufts, six to tvi^elve inches high, and 
 is in spring covered with a dense profusion of beautiful sulphur- 
 coloured flowers. Rockwork will be found to offer the most 
 congenial home for it ; it does very weU on good level ground, 
 but is apt to get somewhat naked about the base, and will per- 
 haps perish on heavy soils during an unusually severe winter. I 
 have found it thrive best when rather frequently divided. It is 
 propagated by division and by cuttings. Most probably this plant 
 would find the conditions that best suit it on old walls, ruins, 
 &c. ; but I have never tried it in such positions. It is capital as 
 a dwarf border-plant on hght soils, the flowers bear some re- 
 semblance to those of Vesicaria utriculata, and in spring, tufts 
 of it may be seen, covered with clear yellow bloom, in the bar- 
 rows of the London costermongers. A native of the Alps and 
 Pyrenees, flowering in spring and early summer. There are 
 several varieties. It is readily known from the following species 
 by its much greater size. = Cheiranthus alpinus. 
 
 ERYSIMUM 'SXm.Th'UM..— Lilliputian Wallflower. 
 
 A REMARKABLE- little plant, very rare in cultivation, resembling 
 in the size and colour of its flowers the alpine Wallflower, but 
 without the vigorous and rich green foliage of that species ; 
 producing flowers very large for the size of the plant, often 
 only an inch high, above a few narrow, sparsely toothed, leaves 
 barely rising above the ground. I have seen specimens of 
 it in full bloom with the flowers nearly as large as those on 
 healthy tufts of the alpine Wallflower, and yet the whole plant, 
 flowers and all, could be almost covered by a thimble. In richer 
 soil and less exposed spots it is larger ; but the specimens above 
 alluded to were grown in England. A native of high and bare 
 places in the Alps and Pyrenees, requiring to be grown on rock- 
 work in an exposed spot in very sandy or gritty loam, sur- 
 rounded by a few small stones to guard it from excessive drought 
 and accident, and associated with the choicest and most minute 
 alpine plants. It is very nearly related to the alpine Wall- 
 flower, E. ochroleucum, but is at once separated from that plant 
 by its minuteness and the dull greyish-green colour of its leaves. 
 
214 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part IT. 
 
 ERYTHRONIUM DENS CliXnB.— Dog's-tooth Violet. 
 
 One of the loveliest of all our old garden-flowers, now seldom 
 seen, though it should be in every place where spring flowers 
 are welcome — its handsome oval leaves, rounded below and 
 pointed above, being so marked with patches of reddish brown 
 as to make it worthy of being grown as a diminutive foliage- 
 plant, even if its fine flowers never appeared. These are borne 
 singly on stems four to six inches high, drooping gracefully, 
 and are cut into six rosy purple or lilac divisions. There is a 
 -variety with white, one with rose-coloured, and one with flesh- 
 coloured flowers. The plant is said to like shade, but I have 
 seen it attain its highest beauty in moist, sandy, peaty soil, in 
 positions fully exposed to the sun. It is one of the most valu- 
 able subjects for the spring or rock garden, or border of choice 
 hardy bulbs, and, where sufficiently plentiful, for edgings to 
 American plants in peat soil. The bulbs are white and oblong-; 
 hence its common name ; and it is increased by dividing them 
 every two or three years, replanting rather deeply. A native of 
 the great continental mountain-chains. 
 
 FICARIA GRANDIPLORA.— Zflir^^ Pilewort. 
 
 A LARGE-FLOWERED kind, a near relative of our very common 
 Pilewort or lesser Celandine, F. ranunculoides, but about twice 
 as large in all its parts, the flower being nearly or quite two 
 inches across ; the bases of the leaves meet, whereas they are 
 divergent in the common one. I have little experience of this 
 plant in cultivation, and it is as yet very rare. I brought a few 
 plants from France in 1868, and hope soon to see it generally 
 grown ; it will no doubt prove a desirable addition. It is a 
 native of Southern Europe and Northern Africa, and I believe 
 it to be well worthy of a place on the rockwork in sandy loam, 
 in a warm and well-drained spot. When plentiful, it may be 
 tried as a border-plant. 
 
 Our British and very common Ficaria ranunculoides, or lesser 
 Celandine, would be well deserving of culture were it not so very 
 plentiful. Its white and double varieties, F. ranunculoides alba, 
 and F. r. fi. pi., may, however, have better claims to a place in 
 a collection. 
 
Part II. GALANTHUS—GAULTHERIA. 215 
 
 GALANTHUS ISOyrhXSB.— Snowdrop. 
 
 Our old friend, the Snowdrop, has long asserted its claim to be 
 included among our most favourite " alpine flowers," by doing 
 annually in our gardens what many plants do on the high Alps — 
 piercing the snow with its flowers. It is almost needless to 
 describe its appearance or speak of its culture, as it grows as 
 freely as any weed, and is happily yet to be seen in many 
 gardens, though the neglect of hardy plants in favour of mixed 
 borders had much reduced its numbers before the recent taste 
 for spring gardening had commenced. In only one point need 
 a remark be made concerning its uses — it is seen to much greater 
 advantage dotted over the grass in pleasure-grounds than in 
 borders or as edgings. The leaves perform their functions so 
 early in the year that it riiay be planted in grass that is re- 
 peatedly mown, as well as on banks in pleasure-ground or half 
 wild places. The bulbs may be inserted a couple of inches into 
 the turf, and the spot afterwards made firm and level, especially 
 if it be on a trimly kept lawn. 
 
 The as yet comparatively scarce Crimean Snowdrop, Galan- 
 thus plicatus, much larger in fohage than the preceding (the 
 leaves being sometimes an inch wide), and also distinguished by 
 a longitudinal fold on both sides of the leaf near the margin, is 
 a fitting subject for sandy soil among the rare bulbs in the 
 rock-garden till sufficiently plentiful to be spared for the fringes 
 of shrubberies and the sides of shady walks, associated with 
 other early spring flowers. 
 
 GAULTHEEIA PEOCUMBENS. — Creeping Wintergreen. 
 
 This plant barely rises above the ground, on which it forms dense 
 tufts of shining oval leaves, with small drooping white flowers in 
 June, which are succeeded by a multitude of bright-red berries 
 about the size of peas, formed by the fleshy calyx of the flower. 
 The neat little shrub is of itself pretty, but the berries give it 
 quite a charm through the autumn" and winter months, when 
 it is, or rather ought to be, one of the most attractive objects on 
 every well-made rockwork. A native of North America, in sandy 
 places and cool damp woods, often in the shade of evergreens, 
 from Canada to Virginia ; and as the leaves, when properly 
 
2i6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 dried, make an excellent tea, it is also known by the name of 
 the " mountain tea." Loudon says it is difficult to keep alive, 
 except in a peat soil kept moist ; but I have never seen it prettier 
 or so full of berries as on clayey loam. The plant v\ras thoroughly 
 exposed, and the only advantage it had corresponding to those 
 usually mentioned as necessary was that the soil was moist. It 
 does well in moist peat, and forms capital edgings to beds in 
 some places where the natural soil is of that quality, or a very 
 light loam. Easily increased by division or by seeds, and 
 suitable for the rockwork, the front margins of borders, and 
 occasionally as an edging to beds of choice and dwarf American 
 plants. 
 
 G-ENISTA SAGITTALIS.— fTz^^^^a 
 
 A VERY handsome and singular plant, known at once and 
 at all times by its branchlets being winged (by the stem ex- 
 panding into two or three green membranes), more like those 
 of a miniature Epiphyllum than a Genista, and producing an 
 abundance of rich yellow flowers in summer ; the shoots are 
 usually prostrate, and the plant is rarely more than six inches 
 high. It is met with growing abundantly in the grass in the 
 mountain pastures of many parts of Europe. In cultivation it is 
 a valuable plant, hardy and vigorous in the wettest and coldest 
 soil, forming neat profusely-flowering tufts when fully exposed, 
 and excellent for either rockwork or borders. Easily raised 
 from seed. 
 
 GENISTA TINCTORIA.— Z'j^r'j- G. 
 
 A NEAT native shrub, with numerous slender branches, usually 
 forming compact tufts from a foot to a foot and a half high, and 
 becoming quite a mass of pretty yellow flowers in early summer, 
 over the usually smooth and shining stalkless leaves. The 
 flowers are in dense racemes, each bloom springing from the 
 axil of a small leaf or bract. There is, however, no fear of con- 
 founding the plant with any other. It is grown in many of 
 our nurseries, and merits a place among rock-shrubs on the 
 rougher parts of rockwork, or on the margin of shrubberies. 
 There is a double variety rather common in cultivation. Not 
 unfrequent in many parts of England, but rare in Scotland and 
 Ireland. 
 
Part II. GENTIANA. 217 
 
 GENTIANA k.ChMJA%.—GenHanella. 
 
 A WELL-KNOWN old inhabitant of our gardens — sometimes erro- 
 neously called G. vernd, than which it is a very much larger 
 and stronger plant in all its parts. Its large solitary flowers, two 
 inches long, of the deepest and most lustrous blue, with dotted 
 throat, barely elevated above the low earth-mantling spread 
 of dense leathery leaves, quite distinguish it from any other 
 species worthy of general cultivation. Sometimes the flowers 
 are so abundantly produced that, when fully opened to the sun, 
 they cover the whole plant. The form with the points of the 
 corolla distinctly tipped with white is a very lovely one. The 
 plant is too well known to require further description, and hap- 
 pily, while among the most beautiful of the Gentians, it is very 
 easily cultivated, except on very dry soils. In some places 
 edgings are made of it, and where the plant does well, it should 
 be used in every garden to some extent, as, when in flower, 
 edgings of it are of the most exquisite beauty, and when out of 
 bloom, the masses of little leaves, gathered into compact rosettes, 
 form a very dwarf and firm edging, peculiarly appropriate for 
 margining beds, or a small garden devoted to interesting or rare 
 alpine or herbaceous plants. It is at home on a rockwork, 
 where there are good masses of moist loam into which it can 
 root, and it is particularly well suited for those spots of de-„ 
 pressed rockwork where the stone is suggested here and there 
 rather than exposed. It may be successfully grown in pots, and 
 that would be worth the trouble where the plant would not grow 
 in the open air from a very dry soil or any other cause.' It is 
 sometimes sold in Covent Garden in pots when in flower in 
 spring, and is readily propagated by division, and also by seeds ; 
 but these are so small and so slow in germination that attempt- 
 ing its propagation in this way is never worth the attention of 
 amateurs. It is abundant in many parts of the Alps and Py- 
 renees. With us the flowers open in April and May, but in its 
 native region their opening is regulated by position, somewhat 
 like those of the vernal Gentian. . The traveller leaving England 
 in early June, who has seen the Gentianella in flower in British 
 gardens in April, may meet with it not yet open in descend- 
 ing one of the mountains of Savoy, though lower down he will 
 find it passed out of flower and in fruit. No garden should 
 be without such an easily grown plant, so attractive from its 
 associations as well as its greai beauty. 
 
2l8 . ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 G. alpina is a marked variety of the preceding plant, with 
 very small broaS leaves, and there are several other varieties. 
 
 GENTIANA ANDREWSII. — Closed Gentian. 
 
 The kinds of Gentian which attract so much attention for their 
 beauty on European mountains open their flowers wide when 
 the sun shines. This does not do so, but forms apparently closed 
 tubes about an inch long, in clusters, and of a deep dark blue. 
 Then, instead of spreading low and mantling the ground with 
 rosettes of leaves like G. verna and G. acaulis, the shoots grow 
 erect and a foot or more high. It is handsome, seems to grow 
 perfectly freely in a sandy loam, but has been hitherto so little 
 grown that experiences of its likes and dislikes are not yet 
 obtainable. It is, so far as I have observed, far more beautiful 
 and worthy of culture than the Soapwort Gentian (C saponarid), 
 a perennial more frequently met with in our gardens. The 
 flowers are closely set in clusters near the tops of the shoots, 
 the leaves ovate, lanceolate, acute, narrowed at the base. A 
 native of moist rich soil in North America, flowering in autumn, 
 and increased by division and by seed. Suited for association 
 with the larger alpine plants in moist deep soil in the rock- 
 garden. 
 
 GENTIANA A.BCIj'EBlK'D'E&..—AscleJ>ias-like Gentian. 
 
 A TRUE herbaceous plant — i. e. dying down every year, and 
 thus keeping out of danger in winter time. This, of course, 
 helps to explain the fact that it is easily cultivated in almost 
 any soil. It grows erect, with shoots almost willow-like in 
 their freedom, and from fifteen inches to two feet high, accord- 
 ing to the nature of the soil ; bearing numerous large purplish- 
 blue flowers, arranged in handsome spikes. Little need be said 
 of its culture, as it is not fastidious, but in a deep sandy loam 
 or peat it will grow twice as large as in a stiff clay, and as in 
 a wild state it likes sheltered valleys, a little shelter in the garden 
 will save its long shoots from being injured by winds, which 
 could not affect the dwarf evergreen Gentians, no matter how 
 much exposed. In consequence of its tall habit, this species is 
 best adapted for the lower parts of rockwork, or in the borders 
 near at hand. A native of European mountains, and readily 
 propagated by division of the root. 
 
Part II. GENTIANA. 219 
 
 GENTIANA BAVARICA. — Bavarian Gentian. 
 
 In size and flower this species resembles the vernal Gentian, but 
 is very readily known from that by its smaller box-like leaves of 
 a yellowish-green tone, and by all its tiny stems being thickly 
 clothed with foliage, forming close, dense little tufts, from which 
 spring flowers of the deepest and most brilliant blue, which, as 
 the observer gazes at it in admiration, seems occasionally flushed 
 with a slight tinge of deep, rich, purplish crimson ; but he can- 
 not define the hue — it is too subtle for description. The 
 flower is even a shade more lovely than that of G. verna. 
 The plant is a native of the high Alps of Europe, and in 1868 
 r saw it in great abundance near the monastery of the Simplon. 
 G. verna occurs in the same place abundantly ; but, while it is 
 found on dry ground, or ground not overflowed by water, G. ba- 
 varica is seen in perfection in spongy boggy spots, where some 
 diminutive rill has left its course and spread out over the grass, 
 not covering it, but saturating it so that, when you walk upon 
 it, the water bubbles up around. There can be no doubt 
 that we must imitate these conditions as far as possible if we 
 desire to succeed with the plant in England. The best thing to 
 do with it is to plant it near the margin of a rill that falls from 
 a rockwork, taking care to let no Carices, Couch-grass, Cotton- 
 grass, or other strong-growing subjects get near the spot, or they 
 would soon cover and destroy the plant. It may also be grown 
 in pots, plunged in coal ashes or sand during the summer ; 
 sandy loam to be the soil used ; the plants to have repeated and 
 abundant waterings from early spring till the heavy autumnal 
 rains set in, or to be placed standing half plunged in water. In 
 all cases it. must have free exposure to light. To try to esta- 
 blish it in such positions as it is found in naturally will prove 
 an interesting experiment for those having opportunities of 
 doing so. 
 
 GENTIANA PNEUMONANTHE.— .^arjA Gentian. 
 
 A British perennial, scarcely less beautiful than any alpine 
 Gentian, with tubular flowers, an inch and a half or more long, 
 of a beautiful blue within, with five greenish belts without, the 
 lobes of the mouth short and spreading ; the flowers arranged 
 in opposite pairs in the axils of the upper leaves, and on stems 
 
220 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 six inches to a foot high ; the upper leaves nearly linear, the 
 lower ones shorter and broader, aU obtuse and rather thick. A 
 native of boggy heaths and moist pastures, and in cultivation 
 requiring moist peat or boggy soil. It is not recorded from 
 Scotland or Ireland, though not difficult to obtain in some parts 
 of England. Few plants are more worthy of a place on the 
 rockwork or in the artificial bog. Increased by careful division. 
 
 GENTIANA PYRENAIOA. — Pyrenean Gentian. 
 
 Somewhat like the vernal Gentian in stature and size, but with 
 imbricated narrow and sharp-pointed leaves and dark-violet 
 almost stalkless flowers, the flat portion or limb of the flower 
 being formed of five oval lobes, with a triangular appendage 
 between each nearly as long as the lobes. It requires much 
 the same treatment as G. vernaj flowers in early summer. It 
 is well worthy of a place in the choice rock-garden, though not 
 of quite such a vivid hue as G. bavarica or G. verna. 
 
 GENTIANA SEPTEMFIDA.— Cr«jferf Gentian. 
 
 A LOVELY plant, bearing on stems six to twelve inches high 
 flowers in clusters, cylindrical, widening towards the mouth, of a 
 beautiful blue and white inside, greenish brown outside, having 
 between each of the larger segments of the flowers one smaller 
 and finely cut. A native of the Caucasus, and one of the most 
 desirable species for cultivation on the rockwork, thriving best 
 in moist sandy peat, and increased by division. 
 
 GENTIANA VERNA.— F^r^^a/ Gentian. 
 
 Very rarely seen in good health in gardens, but known to many 
 as the type of all that is beautiful in alpine vegetation. It covers 
 the ground with rosettes of small leathery leaves, often spreading 
 into tufts from three to five inches in diameter, and producing in 
 spring flowers that even the botanist calls " beautiful bright blue," 
 though botanical books are usually above taking any notice of 
 colour at all. Sometimes the blooms barely rise above the leaves, 
 and at other times are borne on stems two or three inches high. 
 A few things are essential to success in its cultivation, and far 
 from difficult to secure. They are good, deep, sandy loam on a 
 level spot on rockwork, perfect .drainage, abundance of water 
 
Part IT. GERANIUM. 
 
 during the warm and dry months, and perfect exposure to the 
 sun. Grit or broken Hmestone may be advantageously mingled 
 with the soil, but if there be plenty of sand, they are not essential ; 
 a few pieces half buried on the surface of the ground will tend 
 to prevent evaporation and guard the plant till it has taken root 
 and begun to spread about. It is so dwarf that, if weeds be 
 allowed to grow around, they soon injure it. In moist districts, 
 where there is a good deep sandy loam, it may be grown on the 
 front edge of a border carefully surrounded by half plunged stones. 
 It may also be grown in pots of loam with plenty of rough 
 sand, well drained and plunged in beds of coal ashes or sand, 
 thoroughly exposed to the sun, and well watered from the first 
 dry days of March onwards till the moist autumn days return. 
 In all cases good well-rooted specimens should be secured to 
 begin with, as failure often occurs from imperfectly rooted, half- 
 dead plants that would have little chance of surviving even if 
 favoured with the air of their native wilds. In a wild state this 
 plant is abundantly distributed over mountain pastures on the 
 Alps of Southern and Central Europe, and those of like latitudes 
 in Asia. 
 
 In addition to the preceding kinds, there are various other 
 Gentians in cultivation : G. caucasica, adscendens, gelida, cru- 
 ciata, Fortunei, lutea, punctata, and purpurea. Of these, the 
 four first mentioned are those most likely to be attractive, 
 especially G. gelida. Some of the last are scarcely worthy of 
 cultivation, and certainly not in choice collections. Most of 
 the Gentians may be raised from seed, but it is a very slow 
 process, and, except in the hands of careful propagators, a very 
 uncertain one. 
 
 GERANIUM ARGENTEUM.— A'/wry Cranesbill. 
 
 A LOVELY alpine Geranium, with leaves of a silvery white, and 
 large pale rose-coloured flowers, on stems seldom more than 
 two inches high, and usually nearly prostrate. It is nearly allied 
 to the grey Cranesbill [G. cinereuni), but is known from that 
 plant at first sight by its more silvery, somewhat more deeply 
 divided, leaves, and it is of smaller stature. It comes from the 
 Alps of Dauphiny and the Pyrenees, is perfectly hardy, flowers 
 in early summer, and is a gem for association with the choicest 
 
222 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 plants on rockwork. It loves a firm, sandy, and well-drained 
 soil, and should, as a rule, be placed near and somewhat below, 
 the eye, if the rockwork be an extensive one, as, though the 
 plant is of a high, it is not of a conspicuous, order of beauty. 
 Increased freely by seeds. 
 
 GEKANIUM CINEEETJM.— G;'?)' Cranesbill. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL dwarf plant, with five- or seven-parted leaves, 
 clothed with a shghtly glaucous pubescence, and bearing very 
 large and handsome pale pinkish flowers, veined with red. A 
 . native of the Pyrenees, two to five or six inches high, grows 
 freely on rockwork, and is easily propagated by seeds ; but it 
 is as yet comparatively rare in our gardens. Grown into strong 
 tufts on good sandy soils, it forms a very attractive ornament 
 for the front of the mixed border. On rockwork it is pecuharly 
 at home, and is fitted for association with the choicest kinds. 
 Where alpine plants are grown for exhibition, it and the Silvery 
 Geranium are among the best plants that can be used, both 
 growing freely in pots or pans. It flowers and seeds abundantly, 
 and may be easily raised from seed. 
 
 GERANIUM -iSAC-BJOSSaZXnB..— Long-rooted G. 
 
 A DWARF and distinct species, with large thick stems, and leaves 
 in five divisions, each being deeply and irregularly lobed. The 
 surface of the leaves is sparsely clothed with very short colour- 
 less hairs, and the margins on both sides are of a reddish- 
 brown colour ; calyx of a dull red and almost round ; the 
 flowers of a bright purple, freely produced when the plant is 
 grown on light soil. It is suitable as a border-plant on light 
 soil, seldom grows more than a foot high, is easily increased 
 by seeds or division, flowers from May to July, and comes 
 from Italy and Southern Europe. As it flowers very freely 
 when in warm, rather poor, and very sandy soil, it is worthy 
 of a place among the stronger and more robust plants on the 
 lower and rougher flanks of rockwork. 
 
 GERANIUM SANaxnNEJnsS.~£loocly Cranesbill. 
 
 A NATIVE species, forming very neat and somewhat spreading 
 close tufts, from one to two feet high, the leaves cut into five or 
 
Part II. GERANIUM. 223 
 
 seven segments, which are again cut into narrow lobes. The 
 flowers are large, nearly or quite one inch and a half across, of 
 a deep crimson purple, produced singly, and very profusely when 
 the plant is grown on very sandy soil. Its close firmly-seated 
 habit instantly distinguishes this plant from any other cultivated 
 species, and the flowers being ihore showy and beautiful than 
 those of any other, it deserves to have a place in every garden 
 border, and also among the larger and more easily grown plants 
 on rockwork. It grows on any soil, is readily propagated by 
 division or seeds, and occurs in a wild state in some parts of 
 Britain, though not a generally distributed or common plant. 
 
 There are two forms or varieties of the Blood Geranium. One, 
 the common or " true " species, with ascending stems matting into 
 vigorous but compact tufts ; the other more hairy, less vigorous 
 in its growth, and usually prostrate in habit. This last form 
 usually occurs on sandy sea-shores. A form of this variety, with 
 pale pink flowers veined with red, was found at Walney Island, 
 in Lancashire, and has been distinguished as a species under 
 the name of G. lancastriense, but it has no right to rank as such, 
 merely differing in colour from the sea-shore variety. Both these 
 forms, being smaller and less vigorous than the common one, 
 are more adapted for rockwork, though where they dq well, they 
 make suitable ornaments for the front margins of the mixed 
 border. I have noticed that in the heavy clay to the north of 
 London, where G. sanguineum thrives vigorously, the pale- 
 flowered sea-shore form was with great difficulty cultivated. 
 
 GEEANITTM STRIATUM.^^/rz})£i? Cranesbill. 
 
 A VERY old and charming border-plant, still to be seen in many 
 cottage gardens, and worthy of a place in every collection. 
 " This beautiful Cranes-bill," says Parkinson, writing nearly 250 
 years ago, "hath many broad yellowish green leaves arising 
 from the root, divided into five or six parts, but not unto the 
 middle as the first kinds are : each of these leaves hath a 
 blackish spot at the bottom corners of the divisions : from 
 among these leaves spring up sundry stalks a foot high and 
 better, joynted and knobbed here and there, bearing at the tops 
 two or three small white flowers, consisting of five leaves apeece, 
 so thickly and variably striped with fine small red veins that no 
 green leafe that is of that bigness can show so many veins in it, 
 
324 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 nor so thick running as every leaf of this flower doth." It is a 
 native of Southern Europe, growing very freely in warm sandy 
 soils, and is easily increased by seed or division. Being of a 
 low spreading habit, it is suitable for the rougher parts of rock- 
 work as well as for borders. 
 
 GLOBXJLABIA TSKSA.— Dwarf G. 
 
 A MOST dense traiUng shrub, forming a firm mass of thyme-hke 
 verdure, about half an inch high, and dotted over with compact 
 heads of bluish-white flowers, with stamens of a deeper blue or 
 mauve. The flower heads are not half an inch across, and 
 barely rise above the foliage. It should be placed on rockwork 
 in very sandy or gritty soil, and so that it may crawl some little 
 way over the face of the surrounding rocks or stones, and in a 
 very open sunny spot in such a position it will not be so liable 
 to be overrun by coarse plants. A native of the Pyrenees, and 
 increased by division or seeds. 
 
 There are several other Globularias in cultivation : G. nudi- 
 caulis, trichosantha, and cordifolia, but these are somewhat over- 
 rated and scarcely worthy of culture except in large collections. 
 The most desirable of them for the rockwork is the neat G, 
 cordifolia, which is a little prostrate traiUng shrub, with bluish 
 flowers. 
 
 G-YPSOPHILA VSiO^'YSiK'Sh..— Spreading G. 
 
 Not a brilliant plant, but valuable from its dwarf spreading 
 habit, its multitudes of pink or white flowers, veined with rose, 
 on thread-like stems, and its adaptability for rockwork or stony 
 ground. The leaves are glaucous and spread into dwarf tufts, 
 and the plant is well suited for old walls, dry banks, or any poor 
 stony soil, growing, however, in the best as well as in the worst 
 of soils, though scarcely worthy of a position where there is only 
 a small extent of rockwork. It is sometimes grown as G. repens, 
 and is a native of the Pyrenees and Alps, flowering in summer, 
 and growing six or eight inches high. 
 
 I am by no means certain that the preceding is the best 
 worth growing of the perennial kinds. Some of the annual kinds, 
 G. muralis, of France, and G. elegans, from the Caucasus, for 
 example, are even more beautiful and profuse in bloom, and 
 well merit being naturalised on old ruins and bare rocky places. 
 
Part II. HEDYSARUM—HELIANTHEMUM. 225 
 
 particularly the former, which is very dwarf and compact in 
 habit, and produces myriads of pale rosy flowers. G. faniculata 
 is a fine large kind for borders, banks, &c. All the kinds are 
 easily grown in any soil. 
 
 HEDYSARtTM QS&CXi-BXiSilL.— Creeping-rooted H. 
 
 A HANDSOME, creeping, vetch-like plant, with beautiful large 
 purplish-violet flowers in long spikes, and leaves composed of 
 seven to nine pairs of leaflets, the stipules united and opposite 
 the leaves. From six to twelve inches high and sometimes 
 more in rich soil. Readily increased by division or seeds, grows 
 freely in ordinary garden soil on level ground, and is a valuable 
 rock or border plant. A native of the Alps of Dauphiny and 
 the Tyrol. Cultivated in our gardens more than two hundred 
 years ago, but now rarely seen there, though not difficult to 
 obtain. 
 
 HELIANTHEMUM 'FO'BM.OS'U'iS..— Beautiful Sufirose. 
 
 A SHRUBBY kind, but sufficiently dwarf for cultivation on the 
 warmer and rougher slopes of rockwork, with downy and hoary 
 leaves and shoots, and large handsome yellow flowers with a 
 dark spot in the lower part of each petal, produced in summer. 
 It is somewhat tender if planted in wet ground, but will flourish 
 in calcareous or dry soil in thoroughly drained fissures in dry 
 and sheltered parts of rockwork, where its distinct, abundant, 
 and beautiful inflorescence will well repay the tasteful planter. 
 A native of Portugal ; increased by seed or cuttings. = Cistus 
 formosus. 
 
 HELIANTHEMUM OCYMOIDES.— .5^z7-/z/J« Sunrose. 
 
 A NATIVE of dry rocky hills- in Spain and Portugal, with bright 
 yeUow purple-eyed flowers nearly an inch and a half across, and 
 hoary opposite leaves an inch to an inch and a half long, narrow, 
 and pointed. Like H.formosum, this will be found very useful 
 on the warmer and drier parts of rockwork, among the stronger 
 alpine shrubs and choice herbaceous plants. Increased by seed 
 or cuttings. = Cistus algarvensis. 
 
2 26 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 HELIANTHEMUM TUBER ARIA.— rrK#« Sunrose, 
 
 A DISTINCT and beautiful rock-plant, from the shores of the 
 Mediterranean, bearing flowers like those of a single yellow rose, 
 two inches across, and with dark centres, drooping when in bud, 
 and on stems about nine inches^ high. It is quite removed from 
 all the other cultivated Sunroses iii riot producing woody stems, 
 but sending up large hairy leaves, somewhat like plantain-leaves, 
 from the root, and scarcely looking like a Sunrose at all, It 
 flowers in summer, and continuously if in gpod, health and in 
 good soil. It. is said to grow abundantly where truffles abound, 
 and is well worthy of a position in a well-drained spot, or dry 
 fissure on the sunny side of rockwork. 
 
 HELIANTHEMUM VULGAEE.— Ctf»zw2(7« Sunrose. 
 
 A WELL-KNOWN British under-shrub, growing in dry pastures 
 and heaths, and producing an abundance of bright yellow flowers 
 on stems from a few inches to nearly a foot long. In a culti- 
 vated state this plant varies a good deal in colour, and nume- 
 rous plants passing under different names in our gardens are 
 really forms of this species. Some of the most attractively 
 coloured are well worthy of cultivation. While thriving in 
 almost any soil, they attain ripest health, and flower most 
 profusely, on chalky and warm ones, and on soils of this de- 
 scription they may be used with good effect on the margins of 
 shrubberies, especially the copper-coloured and red varieties. 
 They are only suited for the rougher parts of rockwork, except 
 where less common and more beautiful plants cannot be obtained. 
 The best way to obtain varieties of different colours is by seed, 
 which is offered in most of the catalogues. Many beautiful 
 members of this family are lost to cultivation, or have not yet 
 been introduced, and not a few passing as species in some 
 of our botanical collections are mere varieties, but often very 
 showy, and useful in gardens. 
 
 The pretty annual spotted Sunrose {H. guttatum), found in 
 the Channel Islands, on the Holyhead Mountain, in Anglesea, 
 and widely distributed on the Continent, deserves a place in the 
 curious collection, and indeed has beauty enough to recommend 
 it to the general cultivator. It is quite easily grown, but is 
 
Part II. HELICHRYSUM—HELLEBORUS. 227 
 
 best raised in pots in spring, and then planted out in May. 
 Once established, it sows itself annually. The hoary Sunrose, 
 H, canum, a native of limestone rocks in Britain, but somewhat 
 rare, is much dwarfer than the common kind, and produces in 
 great abundance very small pale yellow flowers. The whole 
 plant does not grow more than three inches high, and is likely 
 to possess attractions for cultivators of interesting British plants, 
 
 HELICHEYSUM KECESK&IXSM..— Yellow Everlasting. 
 
 This is the beautiful little plant which affords the " everlasting 
 flowers " so much used for Immortelles and ornaments. The 
 grey leaves are closely covered with long down, and the flower- 
 stems, ascending from four to ten inches, are clothed all the way 
 up with narrow hoary leaves, having their edges turned back- 
 wards, and support a number of flowers, of a bright, glistening, 
 golden yellow. To.preserve the flowers, they should be gathered 
 when fresh and newly blown, as, if allowed to become matured, 
 they are apt to fall away. A native of sandy and sunny places 
 in Central and Southern Europe, and only succeeding perfectly 
 in this country on warm, sandy, and thoroughly drained soils. 
 Increased by division, and worthy of a place in every rock- 
 garden. 
 
 HELLEBORUS NIGEE. — Christmas Rase.. 
 
 Although this hardy and famihar old plant is too vigorous for 
 association with the often minute and briUiant gems to which 
 this book is chiefly devoted, yet its fine evergreen foliage and 
 handsome large flowers form ornaments in the rougher parts of 
 rockwork, or banks near it, or in the hardy fernery. Although 
 hardy enough to grow almost anywhere, yet, as it flowers at the 
 dreariest season, when low ground is often saturated with cold 
 rain, it always repays for being planted in slightly elevated 
 positions, and where it may enjoy as often as possible the faint 
 wintry sun, by producing clearer and larger flowers, and finer 
 foliage. H, n. maximus, the very large and noble variety grown 
 about Aberdeen and other places in Scotland, is the best, and 
 flowers a month or so earlier than the common kind ; and H. n. 
 minor, a smaller and much scarcer variety, is well suited for 
 rockwork and bare banks. 
 
228 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 Besides the Christmas Rose, there are other species of Helle- 
 borus well worthy of cultivation ; and among the best is H. 
 atrorubens, with JBowers of a dark purple. The colour, though 
 somewhat dull, by turning up the usually pendent flower, is seen 
 to greater advantage, being then contrasted with the yellow 
 stamens. It has the quahty of throwing its flowers well above 
 ground to a height of nine to twelve inches, and is a free grower, 
 but rather scarce, requiring, as all the Hellebores do, a con- 
 siderable time to estabUsh itself after being disturbed. H. olym- 
 picus, with large rose-coloured flowers, and good habit, is very 
 similar, if not identical, with one grown as H. aichasicus, though 
 the true plant is really quite distinct from it. H. argutifolius is 
 remarkable in the genus for its beautiful, whitish, trifoliate leaves, 
 each secondary vein being terminated by a well-defined point. Its 
 flowers are a fresh lively green, and produced about the month 
 of March. 
 
 The small HelUborus trifolius of LinnEus, now generally 
 known as Coptis trifolia, is a very diminutive and interesting 
 kind, with white flowers. It is quite easy of culture, but in many 
 gardens flowers seldom or sparsely ; in others abundantly, espe- 
 cially when on rockwork in moist peat soil. It is is also very 
 desirable for planting- on the margins of beds of Rliododendrons 
 and hardy Azaleas, in peat soil, associated with Rhoxia vir- 
 ginica and other dwarf plants. 
 
 HIPPOCBEPIS COMa^K.— Horseshoe Vetch. 
 A SMALL prostrate British plant, with pretty little deep-yellow 
 flowers, in coronilla-like crowns, the upper petal faintly veined 
 with brown, the pinnate leaves small, and leaflets smooth. It is 
 a capital little plant for the upper ledges of rocks in dry posi- 
 ■ tions, as in such places the shoots will fall down some eighteen 
 or twenty inches ; easily raised from seed ; partial to chalky 
 soils ; rather common in the South of England, but not a native 
 of Ireland or Scotland. 
 
 HOTEIA ZhSO^dGX.— Japanese H. 
 This fine plant is quite distinct in appearance, and readily 
 known by its much divided leaves ; the leaflets are oval, toothed, 
 and ciliated, of a fine shining green, and the whoje plant not 
 unlike a fern in aspect. From g,midst these rich masses of 
 shining leaves springs the sweet and abundant inflorescence ; the 
 
Part II. HOTTONIA—HOUSTONIA. 229 
 
 flowers are small, but very freely produced in graceful panicles, 
 of which the bracts, little flower-stems, and all the ramifications 
 are, like the flowers, white. Although now so much grown in 
 pots, it is perfectly hardy, and very suitable for borders and the 
 margins of clumps, or for association with the larger classes of 
 alpine plants, on or near rockwork. In the open air it flowers, 
 according to climate and position, from May to July and August, 
 and it is particularly fond of a sandy peat or very sandy loam, a 
 sheltered position, and moist soil. It is, however, probable that 
 a somewhat warmer climate than ours is necessary for its perfect 
 development, for it certainly looks a handsomer plant when 
 forced than when grown in the open ground. It is very easily 
 forced, and it has latterly been so much admired that quantities 
 of it are prepared and sold for forcing. Some years ago, a few 
 fine plants of it were exhibited at our spring shows, if I mistake 
 not, by Messrs. Veitch in the first instance, and since then it has 
 been gradually making way. Previous to that time, however, it 
 was popular in Paris, where many persons cultivate it in windows, 
 and where it is often used with good effect in room decorations. . 
 
 HOTTONIA PALTJSTRIS.— fFa/^r Violet. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL British water-plant, which I include here in con- 
 sequence of having seen it thrive better on soft mud banks than 
 when submerged. The deeply-cut leaves formed quite a 
 deep green an* dwarf turf over the mud, and from these arose 
 stems bearing at intervals whorls of handsome pale-lilac or pink 
 flowers. It might perhaps be more justly called the Water 
 Primrose, as it is nearly allied to the Primulas. As water and 
 bog may with the best taste be associated with rockwork, this 
 plant might with advantage be grown either in the water or on 
 a bank of soft thoroughly wet soil at its margin. It grows 
 from nine inches to two feet high, flowers in early summer, and 
 may be found in abundance near London on the banks of the 
 Lea River, and probably in many other places, and is pretty 
 freely distributed over England, though scarce in the Western 
 Counties, and only found in the County of Down in Ireland. 
 
 HOUSTONIA GMKUU&K.— Bluets. 
 
 A DELICATE American herb, producing a profusion of pale sky- 
 blue flowers, fading to white, and with yellowish eyes, crowding 
 
230 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 on thread-like stems to a height of one inch to two inches and a 
 half, from close low cushions of leaves shorter than many mosses, 
 less than half an inch high when fully exposed. It is usually 
 considered somewhat difficult to grow, but this arises chiefly 
 from its minuteness ; in level exposed spots it does very well in 
 mt)ist peaty soil, the chief care required being to keep it quite clear 
 of weeds or coarse-growing neighbours. It is said by some to be 
 a biennial, but in cultivation does not seem to be so, increasing 
 to any extent by careful division. It grows freely in pots or pans, 
 in cold frames, pits, or houses kept near the glass, and in such 
 positions is likely to ripen its seeds. Suitable for association 
 with the smallest and choicest mountain-plants. I have grown 
 this plant well in the open air in London ; it withstood the evil 
 influences of abundant showers of smut, and should therefore 
 not be difficult to keep under more favourable circumstances. 
 
 HUTCHINSIA ALPINA.— yi/^m^^. 
 
 A VERY neat little plant, from moist and very elevated parts of 
 nearly all the great mountain-chains of Central and Southern 
 Europe, with shining leaves, deeply cut into narrow lobes, so 
 as to resemble pinnate leaves, and pure white flowers, produced 
 in clusters and abundantly, on stems about one inch high. Quite 
 free in sandy soil, and easily increased by division or by seeds. 
 Planted in an open spot, either on rockwork or in good free bor- 
 der soil, it becomes a compact dense mass of purtSKvhite flowers. 
 Its proper home is on the select rockwork, though where borders 
 of dwarf and choice hardy plants are established and carefuUy 
 attended to, it may be grown in them with perfect success. 
 
 HYACINTHUS AMETHYSTINUS.— ^»2e%rf Hyacinth. 
 
 Beautiful deep sky-blue bells, five to fifteen, rather loosely a'nd 
 gracefully disposed on stems from eight inches to a foot high, 
 ascending in numbers when the plant is grown in very light rich 
 soil, in a not too cold or exposed position. It is quite hardy, 
 a native of the Pyrenees and Southern Europe, flowering in early 
 summer, and is in stature and general appearance somewhat like 
 a graceful Scilla, but at once distinguished by its pretty bells 
 not being divided into segments as they are in Scilla. It is 
 worthy of association with the choicest hardy bulbs and inhabi- 
 tants of the rock-garden. 
 
Part II. IBERIDELLA—IBERIS. 231 
 
 IBERIDELLA ■RO'SXi^'DTEO-iSLK.— Round-leaved I. 
 
 A DISTINCT spreading plant, rarely more than a few inches 
 high, and producing pretty, rosy-lilac, sweet-scented flowers in 
 abundance in April, May, and June. The leayes, are thick, 
 smooth, leathery, and of a glaucous olive-green, aiid the flowers 
 are produced in short racemes or corymbs, and usually attain 
 a height of from three to six inches. Flowering , with the 
 vernal Gentian, the Bird's Eye and Scotch Primroses, the alpine 
 Silene, and the little yellow Aretia, it is admirable for association 
 with such plants. It grows naturally very high on the Alps, but 
 thrives in loamy soil on rockwork, does not seem difficult to 
 cultivate, and is easily raised fron> seed. A native of the Alps 
 of Switzerland, Savoy, and Austria. It is occasionally found 
 with white flowers in a wild state. Dr. Hooker has recently 
 figured this plant in the ' Botanical Magazine ' from specimens 
 received from Zurich. This would seem to be a distinct variety 
 from that which I have seen elsewhere, having numerous pale- 
 lilac flowers, with yellow eyes, borne in stout crowded racemes, 
 whereas those of the form introduced by Mr. Jas. Backhouse have 
 the flowers somewhat larger, but in lax few-flowered heads. 
 = Thlaspi rotundifolia. 
 < 
 IBERIS CORIFOLIA. — Coris-leaved Candytuft. 
 
 A VERY dwar^ kind, about half the size of Iberis sempervirens, 
 attaining a height of only three or four inches when in flower, 
 and perfectly covered with small white blooms early in May. 
 Few- alpine plants are more worthy of geneiral culture, either on 
 rockwork or in the mixed border, for the front rank of which it 
 is admirably suited. It is probably a small variety of the Ever- 
 green Candytuft, but for garden purposes it is distinct enough. 
 A native of Sicily, and probably of other parts of Southern 
 Europe, easily propagated by seeds, cuttings, or divisioii, and 
 thriving in any soil. 
 
 IBERIS COB.B.'EMFOliXA.—Correa-teaved Candytuft. 
 
 This plant is now becoming very popular in London gardens, 
 and generally goes by the name of /. gibraltarica, from which 
 it is quite distinct. It is readily known from any other cul- 
 tivated species by its entire and rather large leaves, by its 
 compact head of large very white flowers, and by flowering later 
 
232 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 than the other common white kinds. Both the individual flowers 
 and the corymb are larger than in the other species, and the 
 blooms stand forth more boldly and distinctly from the smooth 
 dark-green leaves. It is an invaluable hafdy plant, and par- 
 ticularly useful in consequence of coming into full beauty about 
 the end of May or beginning of June, when the other kinds are 
 fading away. It is indispensable for rockwork, the mixed 
 border, the spring garden, and may also be naturalised with 
 good effect in bare rocky places. It is particularly well suited 
 for planting on the margin of choice shrubberies, bringing them 
 neatly down to the grass line, and may also be used as an 
 edging to beds. Of its native country we know nothing ; but 
 nly friend Mr. Jennings, now of the Wellington Nurseries, in- 
 formed me that it was raised in, and first sent out from, the 
 botanic garden at Bury St. Edmunds, and it is probably a 
 hybrid. Mr. J. G. Baker considers it to come nearest to /. 
 Pruiti, of the Nebrode Mountains, in Sicily. Its native country, 
 like its name, is not certainly known. Readily increased by 
 cuttings, and also by seeds. 
 
 IBEEIS CilSRhUZABlGK.— Gibraltar Candytuft. 
 
 This kind has hitherto been but very rarely cultivated ; indeed, 
 it was lost to our gardens tiU recently sent from Guernsey by 
 Mr. Wolsey, who found it in some cottage garden there. It is 
 larger in all its parts than the other cultivated kinds, has oblong 
 spoon-shaped leaves, nearly two inches long by half an inch or 
 more wide, and distinctly toothed; the large flowers, often reddish 
 lilac, being arranged in low close heads, and appearing in 
 spring and early summer. It is an ornamental species, but will 
 never rival the well-known white border kinds. I am doubt- 
 ful of its hardiness, and should advise its being wintered in pits 
 or frames till sufficiently abundant to be tried in the open air, 
 but am informed that it has stood without injury this last, severe, 
 winter at York. It should be planted on sunny spots on rock- 
 work or banks. A native of the South of Spain ; increased by 
 seeds and cuttings. 
 
 IBEEIS TENOEEANA.— r^«(jr«'j Candytuft. 
 A NEAT species, with toothed leaves, which, with the stems, are 
 hairy, and a profusion of white flowers changing to purple. As 
 
Part II. IBERIS. 233 
 
 the commonly cultivated kinds are pure white, this one will be 
 the more valuable from its purplish tone, added to its neat habit. 
 It, however, has not the perfect hardiness and fine constitution 
 of the white kinds, and, so far as my experience goes, is very apt 
 to perish on heavy soils in winter; but on light sandy soils it 
 will prove a gem, and also for well-drained positions on rock- 
 work. Where rockwork does not exist, it should be placed on 
 raised beds or banks. A native of Naples, and easily raised 
 from seed. 
 
 IBEEIS SEMPEKVIRENS. — Evergreen Candytuft. 
 
 This is the common rock or perennial Candytuft of our gardens, 
 as popular as the yellow Alyssum and the white Arabis. 
 Half shrubby, dwarf, spreading, evergreen, and perfectly hardy, 
 it escaped destruction where many herbaceous plants were de- 
 stroyed ; and as in April and May its neat tufts of dark green 
 are transformed into masses of snowy white, its presence has 
 been tolerated longer than many other fine old plants. Occa- 
 sionally, even in gardens entirely devoted to a few "bedding 
 plants," it may be seen on the margin of a shrubbery border or 
 in some neglected spot. No hardy flower is more worthy of 
 being universally grown in gardens, from that of the cottage to 
 the largest in the land. It is one of the very best plants in the 
 country for growing on the margins of the mixed border or 
 properly-finished-off shrubbery, the rockwork, rootwork, and 
 also for naturalisation in bare rocky places. Where a very dwarf 
 evergreen edging is desired for a shrubbery, or for beds of 
 shrubs, it is one of the most suitable plants known, as on any 
 kind of soil it quickly forms a spreading band almost as low as 
 the lawn-grass, finishing off the plantation very neatly at all 
 times, and changing into dense wreaths of snowy-white flowers 
 around the borders in spring and early summer. When in 
 tolerably good soil, and fully exposed, it forms spreading tufts 
 often more than a foot high, and they last for many years. 
 Like all its relatives, it should be exposed to the full sun rather 
 than shaded, if the best result is sought. A native of Greece, 
 Asia Minor, Italy, Southern France, and Dalmatia, and readily 
 increased by seeds, cuttings, or division. 
 
 /. Garrexiana is a variety of the Evergreen Iberis, not suffi- 
 ciently distinct to be worthy of cultivation ; in fact, it and several 
 
234 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 other Iberises prove to be mere varieties, and very slight 
 ones, of /. sempervirens when grown side by side. 
 
 lONOPSIDION AOAULE.— Fzia/^/ Cress. 
 
 This, being an annual plant, is only introduced here in conse- 
 quence of its peculiar beauty and suitableness for adorning bare 
 spots on rockwork devoted to very minute and delicate alpine 
 plants. As it sows itself, the cultivator will have no more 
 trouble with it than with a hardy perennial. It frequently 
 flowers at one inch high, and rarely exceeds two inches, the 
 small flowers being of a pale violet tinge, and the leaves roundish 
 and compactly arranged. From the neatness of its habit, it has 
 been called the Carpet-plant. It is too minute for borders, 
 though it will grow freely in them, but will be found most at 
 home on the shady side of the rockwork, and in spots where a 
 coarse vegetation will not prevent its growth. It does Very well 
 in pots, and those who are fond of window-gardening may grow 
 it well outside their windows in pans or small pots. It will 
 flower a couple of months after being sown ; and when sown in 
 spring in the open ground, the self-sown seeds of the summer 
 flowers soon start into growth, and the second crop flowers 
 in autumn, and far into winter. A native of Portugal and 
 Morocco. 
 
 IRIS C-B.\WSh.11K.— Crested I. 
 
 A VERY diminutive and charming species, usually running 
 about with its creeping and rooting stems exposed on the 
 surface, not rising above the ground more than a few inches, 
 having flowers, however, as large as many of the tall and coarser 
 species. Notwithstanding this, it has never become popular, 
 and was indeed, till recently, scarcely to be found. It flowers 
 in May ; blue, with spots of a deeper hue on the outer petals, 
 and a stripe of orange and yellow variegation down the centre 
 of each. The plant is readily distinguished, at any season, from 
 any other dwarf species by the creeping stems (rhizomes) grow- 
 ing well above the ground. This feature, indeed, is so marked 
 as to suggest the desirability of frequently replanting it, and 
 even young tufts push so boldly out of the ground that a top- 
 dressing of an inch of fine soil placed around them cannot fail 
 to help the roots to descend more freely. It loves, and flourishes 
 
Part II. iris. 235 
 
 luxuriantly on, rich but free and light soil, in a warm position. 
 I have never seen it do so well as in the Glasnevin Botanic 
 Gardens, which points to the fact that somewhat moist districts 
 will suit it, but I have seen it thrive both to the north and south 
 of London. Charming for association with the dwarf Crimean 
 Iris, the alpine Catchfly, and any other dwarf gems among the 
 later spring flowers of the choice mixed border. On rockwork 
 it thrives best on level earthy spots, and where it does well and 
 increases freely in rich light moist soil, it will form a pretty 
 edging for beds of dwarf shrubs or American plants. A native 
 of mountainous regions in North America, with all the gem-like 
 loveliness of the choicest Swiss alpine flowers ; was introduced 
 by Mr. Peter CoUinson, so long ago as 1756, and figured in 
 Sir James Smith's 'Rare Plants ' in 1792. 
 
 IRIS 1>S-n-DlCi&.TJU.S.— Naked-stemmed I. 
 
 This species, at present scarcely grown in this country, I first 
 observed in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. It is one of the 
 most attractive of all Irises, about the same height as the 
 Dwarf Iris, but with larger blooms and stouter habit; the leaves 
 are lance-shaped and bent, those of the stem somewhat spoon- 
 shaped ; flowers of bluish violet, external divisions spoon-shaped, 
 not, or but very slightly, wavy, the internal ones oval and 
 longer, the central blades violet ; appearing in May. It 
 flourishes in ordinary garden soil, is valuable for the spring 
 or rock garden or the mixed border, and comes from Southern 
 Europe. A vigorous grower, and easily increased by division. 
 
 IRIS FUMTLIi..— Dwarf Crimean I. 
 
 Often flowering at four inches, the dwarf Iris, even in favourable 
 soils, rarely exceeds ten in height ; the stems usually bear one 
 or two deep-violet flowers, of which the external divisions are 
 large and oblong, the internal ones dilated, broad at the top, 
 narrow at the base, and wavy at the edge ; the flowers very 
 large and beautiful. Blooms in April and May, and is use- 
 ful in a variety of ways, as for edgings of one or of several 
 colours ; for beds of distinct or alternated colours in the 
 spring garden ; for a place among the choicest and lowest 
 plants of the mixed border, on lower and flatter parts of 
 the rockwork in wide-spreading tufts, on old ruins, on walls, and 
 
236 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 even on the tops of thatched houses — a position which it may 
 be seen sometimes embellishing on the Continent. It thrives in 
 ordinary garden soil, the lighter and deeper the better ; the finest 
 specimens I have ever seen were in a deep sandy peat, and 
 they were twice the ordinary size. There are several varieties : 
 yellow, white, light blue, and deep dark violet, respectively known 
 under the names of I.pumila lutea, alba, ccerulea, and atro- 
 carulea. Each of the varieties is worthy of cultivation, and 
 easily increased by division of the rhizomes. 
 
 IRIS RETICULATA.— ^ar/y Bulbous I. 
 
 Distinct from all other Irises, and perhaps the most valuable 
 of all, considering its early bloom, delicious violet scent, and 
 rich and brilliant colour. The root is a tuber ; leaves four-angled 
 and rather tall when fully developed ; and the flowers, borne on 
 stems three to six inches high, are of the deepest and most bril- 
 liant purple, each of the lower segments marked with a deep 
 orange stain, contrasting richly with the other parts of the flower. 
 It blooms in early spring, long before any other Iris shows itself, 
 and loves a deep sandy soil, and a warm well-drained. position. 
 There is no more beautiful plant for a sunny bank on the lower 
 slopes of the rock-garden, and it will be found desirable in 
 other positions when sufficiently plentiful. A native of Southern 
 Europe, Syria, Asia Minor, and adjacent countries. In- 
 creased by division of the tubers. Where seed is produced, it 
 should be saved and sown, as the plant is, at present, com- 
 paratively rare. 
 
 ISOPYRXJM TlTUJSlO'^-B.Onmi.—Meadow-rue I. 
 
 A GRACEFUL little plant allied to the Meadow-rues, but with 
 white flowers prettier than tbose of the Thalictrums. It is, how- 
 ever, chiefly valuable for its maidenhair-fern-hke foliage, and is 
 worthy of culture in the flower-garden for this alone. When it 
 is grown for the sake of its dwarf elegant leaves only, the flower- 
 stems should be pinched out. It will prove attractive as a fern- 
 like edging for the little beds of very dwarf succulents that are 
 now deservedly becoming popular. It is also well suited for 
 rockwork, and particularly so for the front edge of the mixed 
 border, is hardy, and easy to grow on any soil. Comes from the 
 Pyrenees and mountainous parts of Greece, Italy, and Car- 
 
Part II. JASiONE—LEIOPHYLLUM. 237 
 
 niola, is easily propagated by division or by seed, and produces 
 its flowers white, with a faint green tinge, in early summer. The 
 leaves rarely rise more than a few inches high, the flower-stems 
 from ten to fourteen inches. 
 
 JASIONE -BXmxm^.—DwarfJ. 
 
 Not a showy but an interesting and pretty little plant, suited for 
 the select rockwork. The leaves are in rosettes, very slightly 
 toothed, stem-leaves larger, waved, and with sharp teeth ; all the 
 leaves ciliate at the base. The heads of light-blue flowers borne 
 on stems from one to two or three inches high, are from half 
 an inch to three-fourths of an inch across. A native of the 
 Pyrenees ; increased by division. This plant is related to 
 Jasione perennis, but is more ornamental. 
 
 JEFFERSONIA TSXS'SITUhK.—T'winleaf. 
 
 A PLANT very little known in England, and, where grown, usually 
 regarded as merely a botanical curiosity ; but when planted in 
 very sandy peat associated with subjects like the Epimediums, 
 Rhexia virginica, and Spigelia marilandica, it becomes a pretty 
 spring flower, as well as interesting from its curiously paired 
 leaves. The flowers are white, with yellow stamens, about 
 an inch across, and freely produced when the plant is in vigorous 
 health. A good plant for peaty and somewhat shady spots 
 on rockwork, and in a minor degree for the margins of beds of 
 dwarf American plants, planted in sandy peat, and flowers some- 
 what about the same time as the Bloodroot, in early spring. 
 A native of rich shady woods in North America. If seeds 
 are saved, they ought to be sown a few days after they are 
 gathered ; but generally careful division of the root, in winter, 
 must be resorted to where it is desired to increase the plant. 
 
 LEIOPHYLLITM BUXIFOLIUM.— .S"a»rf Myrtle. 
 
 A NEAT and pretty tiny shrub, forming compact bushes from 
 four to six inches high, and dens'ely covered with pinkish-white 
 flowers in May, the unopened buds being of a delicate pink hue. 
 It is particularly suited for grouping with diminutive shrubs, 
 such as the Partridge Berry, the sweet Daphne Cneorum, the 
 tiny Andromedas, and Willows like S. reticulata and serpyllifolia, 
 
238 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 that rise little more than an inch or two above the ground. 
 Requires peat, and, if planted on fockwork, should have a bed 
 of that material beneath it. A native of sandy "pine barrens" 
 in New Jersey, and easily to be had in our nurseries under the 
 name of Ledum thymifolium. There is probably more than one 
 variety in cultivation. 
 
 LEONTOPODITJM AlSTSMblL.—Lionsfoot. 
 
 A NATIVE of high sloping pastures on many parts of the great 
 continental mountain ranges ; a very popular plant with the 
 peasantry in many parts, and often sold in little bouquets in 
 Germany, where it is called " Edelweiss," which, translated, means 
 nobly white. The flowers are small, yellowish, and not orna- 
 mental ; the leaves covered with white down, like those of many 
 mountain composite plants, but it is at once distinguished by 
 that to which it owes its popularity — a beautiful whorl of oblong 
 leaves, springing star-like from beneath the closely set and some- 
 what inconspicuous flowers, and almost covered with pure white, 
 dense, short down. It is a perfectly hardy perennial, grow- 
 ing from four to eight inches high, and thriving in firm, sandy, 
 or gritty and well-drained, soil in thoroughly exposed parts of 
 the rockwork, and is one of the most interesting and desirable 
 inhabitants of the rock-garden. 
 
 LETJCANTHEMUM KLSTSTJ-Mi.— Alpine Feverfew. 
 
 A VERY dwarf plant, with smaJl fleshy leaves, deeply cut, and 
 hoary, and not rising more than half an inch above the sur- 
 face. It bears pure white flowers more than an inch across, and 
 with yellow centres, produced in abundance, and supported 
 on hoary little stems, from one to three inches long. It is a 
 rather, quaint and pretty plant, and well deserves cultivation on 
 rockwork, in bare level places on poor, sandy or gravelly, soil. 
 Sometimes known as Chrysanthemum alpinum and Pyrethrum 
 alpinum. A native of the Alps of Europe. Readily increased by 
 division or by seed. 
 
 LETJOOJUM MSrVfTJiS..— Summer Snowflake. 
 
 A RELATIVE of the Snowdrop, but not venturing above ground 
 nearly so soon ; though, as it flowers around London early in 
 April, even during cold seasons, there seems little reason why it 
 
Part II. LEUCOJUM. 239 
 
 should be called the Summer Snowflake. From a dense crowd 
 of daffodil-like leaves, more than a, foot long, the flower-stems, 
 from a foot to eighteen inches high, spring, bearing at the apex 
 a cluster of snowdrop-like, slightly drooping, blooms. The flower 
 is of pure sparkling white, springing from a very dark smooth 
 green seed-vessel, and the tip of each petal being of a pleasing 
 soft green, both inside and out, the effect is very pretty. It is 
 a meadow plant, a native of some parts of England, and seems 
 to be at home in every kind of garden soil. It is particularly 
 weU suited for naturalisation in spots where the Daffodil thrives, 
 and by the sides of wood walks, where mowing is not resorted 
 to, and is well worthy of a place in the mixed border, or on 
 the margins of shrubberies. Though it occurs in the British 
 Flora, it is found in only a few places in England. Readily 
 propagated by division. 
 
 Mr. Syme says in ' English Botany ' : " Z. astivum, in its 
 typical form, is less often met with in cultivation than its sub- 
 species, L. Hernandezii, a native of Southern Europe, which 
 often does duty for L. astivum in botanic gardens, and is sold 
 by seedsmen under the name of L. pulchellum. This form 
 flowers from three weeks to a month earlier than L. astivum, 
 and has the flowers smaller, little more than half an inch long, 
 the perianth segments more incurved, so that the perianth is 
 somewhat ovoid, and after flowering urceolate." 
 
 LEUCOJUM Vl^nwaM.— Spring Snowflake. 
 
 A DWARF, stout, broad-leaved plant, like a Galanthus, but with 
 larger and handsomer flowers, and appearing about a month 
 later than the Snowdrop ; dehciously fragrant ; the segments 
 white, an inch long, and each distinctly marked with a green or 
 yellowish spot near the point, drooping and usually produced 
 singly on stems from four to six inches high. It is certainly 
 more worthy of cultivation than the Snowdrop, and that is as 
 high praise as we can give to any dwarf spring-flowering plant. 
 It has long been known as a continental plant, and was valued 
 and grown in our gardens when hardy flowers were more esteemed 
 than they are at present ; but, singularly enough, its existence, as 
 a true native, was not known, with certainty, tiU a year or two 
 ago, when it was found, in abundance, on the " Greenstone 
 heights, in the neighbourhood of Britford." It is not by any 
 
240 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 means a common plant, and those who have it would do well to 
 place it in positions where it is likely to thrive and increase — in 
 light, rich, weU-drained soil on rockwork, or in borders, and 
 as, after the plant has flowered, the leaves attain the length of 
 nearly a foot, and are nearly or quite three quarters of an inch 
 across, a sheltered position, where they may not be torn by winds, 
 will be desirable. There is no more fitting ornament for rock- 
 work, and every lover of spring flowers or alpine plants should 
 try to increase and popularise it. 
 
 LILIXTM TENTJIFOLIUM.— 5/«fl:// Scarlet Lily. 
 
 Although the Lilies generally grow too tall for association 
 with the plants included in this book, this is such a tiny and 
 exquisite kind that it must not be omitted from any choice col- 
 lection of alpine plants. It will do for our puny artificial rock- 
 works what the Orange Lily does for the huge rocks of the 
 Piedmontese valleys. The stem is often scarcely six inches 
 high, but sometimes twice that height, bearing one, two, or more 
 flowers of a deep orange scarlet, the petals recurved so that- 
 they nearly touch their bases. The fiery, slightly pendulous, 
 flowers seem very large for such weak stems, clothed with leaves 
 not one-twelfth of an inch in diameter. The bulb is pear-shaped, 
 about the size of a walnut, and with white scales, by means of 
 which, like all Lilies, it may be propagated. A native of the 
 Caucasus, and in this country requiring a sandy peat, or very 
 free loamy soil, in a well-drained and warm position. It will 
 associate with the choicest summer-flowering alpine plants on 
 level spots on rockwork. When planted in borders, it should be 
 in some spot not likely to be dug or disturbed by persons not 
 aware of its value. I am inclined to think that there are several 
 different plants going under this name ; one dwarf but very 
 sturdy kind, which I obtained from Holland under this name, 
 is certainly distinct. Mr. Wm. Thompson, of Ipswich, states 
 that the seeds of this brilliant plant vegetate with as much cer- 
 tainty as those of any ordinary annual, and this should induce 
 us to raise it in that way. 
 
 LINAEIA hlSBVSK.— Alpine Toadflax. 
 
 A TRUE alpine plant, from the Alps and Pyrenees, found on 
 moraines and debris of the mountains ; allied to the Snapdragon 
 
Part II. LINNMA. 241 
 
 and the Ivy-leaved Linaria, but quite different in aspect, forming 
 dense, dwarf, smooth and silvery tufts, covered with bluish-violet 
 flowers, with two bosses of intense orange in the centre of the 
 lower division of each. Its habit is spreading, but neat and 
 very dwarf, rarely rising more than a few inches high. On the 
 Alps I have seen it flowering profusely at one inch high, the 
 leaves, which attain a length of three quarters of an inch in our 
 gardens, being almost rudimentary and scarcely perceptible 
 beneath the flowers, which quite obscure stem and leaves, 
 being larger proportionately than on the cultivated plant. It 
 is usually a biennial ; but in favourable spots, both in a wild 
 and cultivated state, becomes perennial. Its duration, how- 
 ever, is not of so much consequence, as it sows itself freely, and 
 is one of the most charming subjects that we can allow to " go 
 wild" in sandy, gritty, and rather moist earth, or in chinks 
 of rockwork. In moist districts it will sometimes even establish 
 itself in the gravel walks. It is readily increased from seed, 
 which should be sown in cold frames, in early spring, or in 
 the places it is destined to embellish out of doors. 
 
 No other cultivated Linaria approaches the preceding in 
 beauty or character, but L. origanifofia is pretty and worthy 
 of a place in large collections ; and our common wild Ivy-leaved 
 Linaria, L. Cymbalaria, that drapes over so many walls so grace- 
 fully, has a white and a pretty variegated variety. The old plant 
 itself would be • fully described here were it not that it usually 
 takes possession of old walls and other places suitable for its 
 growth. The singular and handsome Peloria variety of our 
 common L. vulgaris, with five spurs and a regular five-lobed 
 mouth, is also well worthy of a place, being remarkably curious 
 as well as ornamental. 
 
 LINN.S1A 'E.O'BS.KUiB.—Twinflower. 
 
 An interesting traiUng evergreen, with opposite, round-oval 
 leaves, slightly toothed at the top, and bearing delicate, fragrant, 
 and gracefully drooping pale pink flowers, which are produced in 
 pairs. This plant is named after the great Linnaeus, with whom 
 it was an especial favourite, as it generally is with cultivators of 
 alpine or rock plants. A native of moist mossy woods, in 
 
 R 
 
242 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 Northern Europe, Asia, and America, and sometimes of cold 
 bogs or rocky elevated situations in Britain, occurring in fir woods 
 in a few places in Scotland and Northern England. It loves a 
 sandy peat and moist soil, and may be grown on the rockwork as 
 a trailer, the shoots being allowed to fall down over the faces of 
 the rocks, or in mossy rocky ground among bushes, on the fringes 
 of the artificial bog, or in some half-shady position in the hardy 
 fernery. It usually enjoys a somewhat shady position, but, if in 
 proper soil, will bear the sun. Where there is not a place for it 
 in the, rock-garden, it may be grown in large pots of moist peaty 
 earth, .allowed to stand in water in the open air during the summer 
 months. On a northern window-sill it will do very well, placed in 
 a cold" frame in winter, and it may be tastefully used in the indoor, 
 as well as in the hardy, fernery. Readily increased by division, 
 
 LINUM tJSS\^S^31lL.— Alpine Flax. 
 
 A DWARF and quite smooth Flax, growing only from three to 
 eight inches high, and bearing very large dark-blue flowers in 
 summer. It is' most readily distinguished by its external sepals 
 being acuminately pointed, and the internal ones obtusely pointed. 
 A charming rock-plant, native of the Alps, Pyrenees, and many 
 hilly parts of Europe, thriving well in warm well-drained spots 
 on rockwork, in a mixture of sandy loam and peat. There 
 are several varieties — alpicola, collinum, and crystallinwrnj L, 
 anstriacum is intimately related to it, and scarcely sufficiently 
 distinct from a horticultural point of view. 
 
 LINUM A'RBO'RETJM.—£verg-rem Flax. 
 
 This is the neat, glaucous-leaved, dwarf, spreading shrub, with 
 a profusion of clear handsome large yellow flowers, an inch and 
 a half across, sometimes seen in our gardens under the name of 
 L. flavum. Although said to be tender in the colder and drier 
 parts of the country, it thrives well in others in the open air, 
 even as a border-plant, and in all is well worthy of a position on 
 rockwork. A native of hilly parts of South-Eastern Europe, 
 Asia Minor, and North Africa ; usually propagated by cut- 
 tings. It is sometimes grown as a frame and greenhouse plant, 
 but should be tried everywhere in warm spots on dry border?, 
 banks, or rockworks. It begins to bloom in early summer, and 
 I h?.ve, seen it flowering for months at a time. 
 
Part II. LINUM. 243 
 
 LINUM CAMPANUIiATUM.— F«//(PK/ Herbaceous Flax. 
 
 An herbaceous plant, with golden-yellow flowers in corymbs on 
 stems from twelve to eighteen inches high, distinct from any- 
 thing else in cultivation, and well worthy of a place in collec- 
 tions of alpine and herbaceous plants. A native of the South of 
 Europe, flowering in summer and flourishing freely in dry soil 
 on the warm sides of banks or rockwork, and propagated by 
 seeds. Linum flavum is said to be different from this by 
 its shorter sepals, and several minor characters ; but Messrs. 
 Grenier and Godron found these very inconstant, and differing 
 very much, in the French plant. = L. flavum., 
 
 LINUM NAEBONNENSE. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL and distinct sort, bearing during the summer 
 months a profusion of large, light sky-blue flowers, with violet- 
 blue veins. A fine ornament for borders, the flower-garden, or 
 the lower flanks of rockwork, on rich light soils, forming lovely 
 masses of blue from fifteen to twenty inches high. A native of 
 Southern Europe, distinguished from its relatives by its sepals 
 tapering to a long point, its anthers being three times as long as 
 broad, its long thread-like stigmas, and its large flowers. 
 
 LINXJM V'ESMSi'S^.— Perennial Flax. 
 
 A PLANT found in some parts of Britain, particularly in the 
 Eastern counties, but very rare. Usually grows in dense tufts 
 from twelve to eighteen inches high, with bright cobalt-blue 
 flowers more than an inch in diameter, the stamens in some 
 being longer than the styles, in others shorter, the petals over- 
 lapping each other at the edges. Mr. Syme considers it probable 
 that L. alpinum and L. Leonii are forms that may be included 
 under L.perenne. L. perenne album is also an ornamental plant, 
 and there is also a variety with blue flowers variegated with 
 white, known in gardens as L. Lewisii variegatum, but this 
 marking is not very conspicuous or constant. A pale-rose va- 
 riety is also announced in some of the catalogues. L. sibiri- 
 cum and L. provinciale are also included under perenne. Of 
 very easy culture in common garden soil, it is a useful border- 
 plant, and may also be used, in rough rocky places. 
 
244 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 LITHOSPEEMUM '£'E,'T:'KMUM..—Rock Gromwell. 
 
 A NEAT and dressy dwarf shrub, somewhat like a LiUiputian 
 'Lavender-bush, with leaves from half to three quarters of an 
 inch long, rarely more than one-eighth of an inch broad, and of 
 a greyish tone, like those of Lavender. Late in May or early in 
 June all the little grey shoots of the dwarf bush begin to exhibit 
 a profusion of small, oblong, purplish heads, and early in July 
 the plant is in full blossom, the full-blown flowers being of a 
 beautiful violet blue, with protruded anthers of a deep orange 
 red, the buds of a reddish lilac. The flowers are barely more 
 than a quarter of an inch long, and tubular, not at all open, 
 like those of the valuable Lithospermum prostratum, but as every 
 shoot is crested by a densely-packed head of flowers, the effect 
 is very pretty and distinct. The best position for this plant is 
 on the rockwork, somewhere near or on a level with the eye, on 
 a well-drained, deep, but rather dryish sandy soil on the sunny 
 side. A native of dry rocky places in Dalmatia and Southern 
 Europe ; propagated by cuttings, or seeds if they can be ob- 
 tained. 
 
 LITHOSPEEMUM VROS.'S'R&.'SXm..— Gentian-blue Gromwell. 
 
 A PERFECTLY hardy little evergreen spreading plant, having 
 rich and lovely blue flowers, with faint reddish-violet stripes, 
 about half an inch across, produced in great profusion where 
 it is well grown. A native of Spain and the South of France, 
 easily propagated by cuttings, very hardy, and peculiarly valu- 
 able as a rock-plant from its prostrate habit, and the fine 
 blue of its flowers — a blue scarcely surpassed by that of the 
 Gentians. It may be planted so as to let its prostrate shoots 
 fall down the sunny face of a rocky nook, or allowed to spread 
 into fiat tufts on level parts of the rockwork. On dry and sandy 
 soils it forms an excellent border-plant, and where the soil 
 is deep and good, as well as dry and sandy, it becomes a 
 round spreading mass, a foot or more high. It is in such soils 
 suited for the margins of beds of choice and dwarf shrubs, either 
 as an edging or as a single plant, or in groups. In heavy or 
 wet soil it should be elevated on rockwork or banks, and planted 
 in sandy earth. It is sometimes grown as Z. fruticosum, but 
 the true L. fruticosum is a httle bush, whereas our plant is 
 
Part II. LOISELEVRIA— LOTUS— LYCHNIS. 245 
 
 prostrate. It flowers in early summer, often continuing a long 
 time ; the leaves are nearly oblong in outline, and covered with 
 short bristle-like hairs. 
 
 Lithospermumpurpureo-caruleum, a British plant, L. Gastoni, 
 and L. canescens, are also worthy of culture in large collections. 
 
 LOISELEURIA PEOCUMBENS. 
 
 In a wild state on the Alps, or on mountain moors, this is a 
 wiry trailing shrub, growing quite close to the ground, the 
 plants occasionally forming a rather dense tuft, bearing small 
 reddish flowers in spring, when the snow melts. Being found 
 in the Scotch Highlands, it is usually a highly esteemed variety 
 with lovers of alpine plants, though it is not very attractive at 
 any time, so far as the bloom goes. It is very rarely seen in a 
 thriving state under cultivation, and most of the plants trans- 
 ferred from the mountains to gardens usually perish. This 
 sometimes occurs from the strongest-rooted and finest speci- 
 mens being selected for transplantation, instead of the younger 
 ones. I never saw it in such perfect health in a garden as in 
 that of the late Mr. Borrer, in Sussex, where it flourished in 
 compact masses thrice its usual size, in deep sandy peat. Its 
 true garden home is the rockwork, and it will seem well worthy 
 of a place to most lovers of rare British plants. = Azalea 
 procumbens. 
 
 LOTUS CORNICULATXJS.— ^zy^j/"^(7/ Trefoil'. 
 
 A WELL-KNOWN native plant, occurring in almost every lawn, 
 meadow, or pasture, forming tufts of bright yellow flowers, the 
 upper part often red on the. outside. Although such a very 
 common British plant^common also in many and distant parts 
 of the world — I do not hesitate to introduce it here, believing 
 that in many rock-gardens a place may be spared for it where 
 its fuU beauty may be seen. It is best planted so that its shoots 
 may fall in long and dense tufts over the face of rocks or stumps. 
 It varies a good deal, but the commoh, low-tufted, spreading form, 
 abundant in pastures and on sunny banks everywhere in Britain, 
 is the most ornamental. 
 
 LYCHNIS ALPIN A.— ^/^z««Z. 
 
 A DIMINUTIVE form of Lychnis viscaria, but in a wild state, 
 seldom rising more than a few inches high, and not viscid. In 
 
246 Alpine flowers. eart ii. 
 
 Britain, says Mr. 3entliam, " it is only known on the summit of 
 Little Kilrannock, a mountain in Forfarshire," but in 1866, under 
 the safe guidance of Mr. James Backhouse, I had the pleasure 
 of seeing it abundantly in Cumberland in very lonely and high 
 mountain gorges. We found it on the face of a dry crumMing 
 crag quite 500 feet, long and of great height, and generally in 
 such positions that extermination is impossible, at least until 
 such times as travelling botanists are provided with wings. In 
 some places where the rocks overhung, it was in full health, 
 where a drop of rain could scarcely ever fall upon it ; but many 
 plants which had sprung from seeds fallen from these cliffs were 
 growing freely in moist shattered rock. The form seemed to be 
 somewhat larger than that usually grown as L. alpina. In 
 cultivation it is a pretty and interesting, if not a brilliant, plant, 
 and may be grown without difficulty on rockwork or in rather 
 moist sandy soil. 
 
 LYCHNIS -L,k.GhS,QlS,.—Rosy L. 
 
 A LOVELY dwarf alpine plant, with a profusion of bright rose- 
 coloured* flowers, with white centres when young, each about 
 three quarters of an inch across, and quite obscuring the small 
 and slightly glaucous leaves. In consequence of its exceeding 
 brilliancy of colour, and slightly spreading, though firm, habit, it 
 is peculiarly well suited, for adorning fissures on the exposed 
 faces of rocks, the colour telling a long way off, while it is also 
 a gem for association with the smallest alpine flowers, being 
 beautiful when closely examined, as well as attractive at some 
 distance. It is a native of the sub-alpine region of the North- 
 Western Pyrenees, and was introduced two or three years ago 
 by Mr. J. C. Niven, of the Hull Botanic Garden, in whose 
 collection I first had the pleasure of seeing it grown in pots, 
 in whif h it seems as easy of culture as on rockwork in any free 
 sandy or gritty soil. A thoroughly exposed position in the open 
 air, however, should always be preferred, as the plant is so free 
 to grow, as well as neat and hardy. The figure in the ' Botanical 
 Magazine ' gives no idea of the brightness of colour of tufts of 
 this, plant grown in fully exposed positions. It is distinct from, 
 and more beautiful than, any other alpine or dwarf Lychnis. 
 The pale-flowered L. pyrenaica, which comes nearest to it, is 
 not, since the introduction of the present subject, worthy of a 
 
Part II. LYCHNIS— LYCOPODIUM. 247 
 
 place in any but a botanical or a very full collection. Flowers 
 in early summer, and, when not drawn and weakened from 
 shade, or by being placed in frames, is in perfect condition at 
 about three inches high, and is most readily increased by seeds. 
 = Petrocoptis Lagasca. 
 
 LYCHNIS ■m&GKSCLK.— German Catchfly. 
 
 A British plant, found chiefly in Wales and about Edinburgh, 
 but widely distributed in Europe and Asia in dryish places. It 
 has long grass-like leaves, and very showy panicles of rosy-red 
 flowers, on stems from ten to nearly eighteen inches high, and 
 abundantly produced in June. The variety called splendens is 
 the most worthy of garden cultivation, being of a brighter colour. 
 L. V. alba is a charming white variety, also worthy of a place, 
 and L. v. /lore plena, the double Catchfly, is a fine variety, with 
 more rocket-like blooms. They are excellent plants for the 
 rougher parts of rockwork, and as border-plants on dry soils. 
 I have seen the double variety used with good effect as an 
 edging-plant about Paris. Any of the kinds are worthy of being 
 naturalised on dryish slopes or rather open banks, on which they 
 seem to form the largest, healthiest, and most enduring tufts. 
 Easily propagated by seed or division. 
 
 Lychnis Haageana, with shaggy stems and bracts, and flowers 
 of a splendid scarlet, two inches across ; L. flos-Jovis, a downy 
 plant, with rich purplish flowers ; L. Coronaria, the popular and 
 handsome Rose Campion ; Z. yi^/f^/zj, with vermilion-coloured 
 flowers, from Siberia ; and the double varieties of L. diurna and 
 vespertina, although for the most part handsome plants, are too 
 large for association with any but the coarsest rock-plants. 
 
 LYCOPODIUM DENDEOIDEUM.— Gr(?K»(/ Pi7U. 
 
 A CLUB-MOSS, in habit like a Lilliputian Pine-tree, and of all 
 its family by far the most worthy of a place in the rock-garden. 
 The little stems, ascending to a height of six to nine inches, from 
 a creeping root, are much branched, and clothed with small, 
 bright, shining green leaves ; fruit-cones yellow, long, cylindrical 
 and, like the stems, erect. A native of moist woods in North 
 America and high mountains of the Southern United States. 
 
248 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 I have never seen this plant perfectly grown except in. Mr. 
 Peek's garden, at Wimbledon, where it flourishes as freely as in 
 its native woods, in a bed of deep sandy peat fully exposed to 
 the sun. Few plants are more worthy of being established in a 
 deep bed of moist peat in some part of the rock-garden, where 
 its distinct habit will prove attractive at all seasons. It is 
 apparently difficult to increase, and as yet exceedingly rare in 
 this country. In attempting its culture the chief point is the 
 selection of sound well-rooted plants to begin with ; small speci- 
 mens may retain their verdure after the root has perished, 
 and thus often deceive. Should fresh spores be obtained, it 
 would be a good plan to sow them in some moist spot in a half- 
 shady position, the soil being made level and firm, and surfaced 
 with a little silver sand. 
 
 LYSIMAOHIA. NTTMMULARIA.— Cr«^/z«^ Jenny. 
 
 Were I deterred from including plants here by reason' of their 
 commonness, this would not be mentioned, but as the Daisy has 
 a place, Creeping Jenny, which gracefully suspends its drooping 
 shoots with bright yellow flowers, as thickly strung as beads, 
 from the little window gardens of thousands of poor city dwellers, 
 must not be omitted. Were it a new plant, and not one found 
 mantling over the ditch side in various parts of England, we 
 should probably think it not too dear at half a guinea a root, as 
 there is no hardy flower more suitable for any position in which 
 long-drooping flower-laden shoots are desired, whether on points 
 of the rockwork, or rootwork, or in rustic vases, or rapidly sloping 
 banks. Creepers and trailers we have in abundance, but few 
 which. flower so profusely as this. Grows in any soil ; in that 
 which is moist and deep, the shoots will attain a length of nearly 
 three feet, flowering the whole of their extent. Rarely or never 
 seeds, but is as easily increased by division as the common 
 Twitch, flowering in early summer and often throughout the 
 season, especially in the case of young plants. There is a pretty 
 variety with variegated leaves. 
 
 MAZUS -£-Ul&-aSLO.— Dwarf M. 
 
 A DISTINCT little New Zealander, vigorous in habit and creep- 
 ing underground, so as rapidly to form wide and dense tufts, 
 yet rarely reaching more than half an inch in height. The 
 
Part II. MECONOPSIS—MELITTIS. 249 
 
 flowers, produced on very short stems, so as barely to show above 
 the leaves, are pale violet, with white centres ; the leaves nearly 
 entire, or lobulate and obtuse, with a striking tendency to lie flat 
 on or embrace the surface of the soil. It thrives in pots, cold 
 frames, or in the open air, and is best placed in firm, open, bare 
 spots on rockwork in free sandy soil in warm positions. It is 
 not a showy but an interesting plant, easily increased by division. 
 Flowers in early summer. 
 
 MEOONOPSIS ACULEATA.— /'W/^/y Poppy. 
 
 This is the only one of the splendid Indian species of this 
 family that I have seen in flower, and that but once in the 
 Royal Gardens at Kew. It is a singularly beautiful plant with 
 purple petals like shot silk, which contrast charmingly with the 
 numerous yellow stamens ; the flowers two inches across, on 
 stems about two feet high ; the leaves heart-shaped in outline, 
 somewhat five-lobed, but variable, and covered with rigid hair- 
 like prickles. It is found at elevations of 11,000 to 14,000 feet 
 on the Himalayas, and is probably hardy, though we have as 
 yet but a slight knowledge of it. A warm well-drained position 
 on the sunny side of rockwork is most likely to agree with it. 
 Flowers in summer, and may be raised from seed. 
 
 MEOONOPSIS CAMBRICA.— rr^/j^ Po/Zj/. 
 
 A HANDSOME poppy-like plant, forming large pale-green tufts 
 of slightly hairy divided leaves, with handsome large pale- 
 yellow flowers, known immediately from those of Poppies by 
 the stigmas being supported on a short but distinct style. A 
 native of rocky woods and shady places, in some of the Western 
 Counties, and also found in Wales and Ireland. In the Lake 
 Country it may be seen gathered in crowds round the gate-lodges, 
 and running along by boundary walls, making quite an attractive 
 show of bloom. It is well worthy of being introduced in semi- 
 wild places, and is also suited for an extensive rock-garden. 
 Flowers in early summer, and is increased from seed with 
 facility. 
 
 MELITTIS MELISSOPHYLLUM.— 5fl/wz M. 
 
 A DISTINCT-LOOKING plant of the Salvia order, with slightly 
 hair)' ovate leaves, about two inches long, clothing the stem to 
 
25° ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 its apex, and from one to three flowers arranged in the axils of 
 the opposite leaves. The flowers are usually nearly or quite an 
 inch and a half long, and opening at the mouth to a little more 
 than an inch deep. The lower lip is the largest, and is usually 
 stained with a deep purplish rose, except a narrow margin, 
 which is a creamy white. The peculiarly handsome lip reminds 
 one of the flowers of some of our handsome exotic orchids 
 rather than those of a labiate plant. It varies a good deal in 
 colour ; sometimes the hp has not the handsome stain above 
 alluded to, and sometimes the whole flower is of a reddish- 
 purple hue. M. grandiflora of Smith is merely a slight variety 
 differing in colour from the normal form. The plant is entirely 
 distinct from any other in cultivation, and is well worthy of a 
 position by shady wood and pleasure-ground walks. It naturally 
 inhabits woods, and even when one finds it on the lower flanks 
 of some great alp, it is seen nestling among the shrubs and 
 low hazel-trees ; woody spots near a fernery or rockwork would 
 suit it to perfection, and it grows very readily among shrubs, 
 and also in the mixed border. Found in a few localities in 
 Southern England, and widely distributed over Europe and Asia. 
 Readily increased by seed or division, and flowers in May about 
 London. 
 
 MENZIESIA QMBXSU&K.— Yew-leaved M. 
 
 A NATIVE of the northern and arctic parts of Europe, Asia, and 
 America, and in Scotland found on the Sow of AthoU, in Perth- 
 shire. Grows from four to six inches high, with' pinkish- 
 lilac flowers in small umbellate clusters. The leaves are strap- 
 shaped and obtuse, crowded, and very finely notched ; the 
 flower-stems and segments of the calyx hairy. It is not so beau- 
 tiful or brilliant in colour as M. empetriformis, but merits a place 
 in full collections and those in which rare and interesting British 
 plants are esteemed. Flowers rather late in summer and in 
 autumn. 
 
 MENZIESIA 'EMS-^llUTSO-BMX^.—Empetrum-like M, 
 
 A TINY shrub, neat in habit and of exquisite beauty, producing 
 numbers of rosy-purple bells in clusters on a dwarf heath-like 
 bush, seldom more than six inches high, the small closely placed 
 leaves having toothed margins. This plant, very rarely seen 
 
Part II. MENZIESIA—MERTENSIA. 251 
 
 in gardens, is one of the brightest of gems for the rock- 
 garden, thriving best in a rather moist sandy peat soil in fully 
 exposed positions. I have seen it cultivated with most success 
 in nurseries in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. It ilowers in 
 summer, and is sometimes known as Phyllodoce empetriformis. 
 This, unlike the rather tall and spreading M. polifolia, may be 
 associated with the dwarfest alpine plants. A native of North 
 America. 
 
 MENZIESIA POLIFOLIA.— 5A Dabeoc's Heath. 
 
 A SPREADING heath-like shrub, attaining a height of from twelve 
 to twenty inches ; the leaves narrow when young, and with 
 their margins rolled back, but becoming broader when old, all 
 green on the upper and white on the under sides ; the numerous 
 erect flowering-stems bearing beautiful crimson-purple blooms 
 in graceful, one-sided, drooping racemes. This plant is found 
 rather abundantly in Connemara, in Ireland, and is also a native 
 of South-Western France and Spain, but not of England or 
 Scotland. It is often grown in collections of American shrubs, 
 and is admirably suited for the extensive rock-garden, loving 
 a moist peat soil. There is a pure white variety much less 
 common and no less beautiful than the typical form, also a 
 charming plant for the rock-garden Or collection of dwarf shrubs.' 
 They flower in summer, and may be obtained from most nursery- 
 men. The white variety is sometimes sold under the name of 
 M. globosa. 
 
 MERTENSIA VIRGINICA.— Vir^im'an Cowslip. 
 
 This is readily distinguished from allied plants by the smooth- 
 ness of all its parts, by its slightly glaucous hue, and large leaves, 
 the lower ones being four to six inches long. The flowering 
 stems grow to a height of from ten to eighteen inches, sus- 
 pending blooms of a peculiarly beautiful purple blue, trumpet- 
 shaped, and about an inch long. Flowers from the beginning of 
 April to May or early June, and loves a soil cool and light, and a 
 half-shady position. Suitable for the mixed border or rockwork, 
 the margins of beds of dwarf shrubs, the fringes of plantations 
 of American plants in peat soil, or even for naturahsation in 
 half-shady spots in wood or copse. However, it is so uncommon 
 at present that it can hardly be spared_ for the last purpose. 
 
.252 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 Known in old gardens as Pulmonaria virginica, which name is 
 also often erroneously applied to one of the forms of the much 
 dwarfer and very different Pulmonaria officinalis of our woods 
 and gardens. In its native country it is occasionally found with 
 white flowers, but I have not seen a white-flowered form in 
 cultivation. 
 
 MESEMBEYANTHEM0M ACINACIFORME.— Wall M. 
 
 An Ice-plant from the Cape of Good Hope, with purple flowers 
 of extraordinary beauty, four to five inches across, and abun- 
 dantly produced. Stem prostrate, young shoots compressed and 
 angular ; leaves two to three inches long, sometimes margined 
 with a red line. The peculiar interest that this plant .offers 
 to lovers of alpine and rock plants is that it may be grown 
 successfully on ojd walls and on warm parts of rockwork in 
 dry soil, and in warm and sunny spots in old quarries, chalk 
 pits, and like places. Doubtless many will be as proud of 
 succeeding with this African plant as with those that bloom 
 where the icicles drip. 
 
 MUSOAEI BOTRYOIDES.— Gm/^ Hyacinth. 
 
 Among spring bulbs few exceed this in loveliness ; it is quite as 
 valuable as the Siberian Squill, and should be in every garden. 
 At one time it was much grown, but latterly it has been far from 
 common. The flower-stems, from six inches to a foot long, 
 spring from among the channeled leaves, bearing in March and 
 April little racemes of blossoms tinted with one of the sweetest 
 tones of deep skyblue that ever stained a spring flower. The 
 tiny mouth of each almost globose bloom has six teeth or 
 diminutive segments, which, being white, give each individual 
 pip, as well as the whole spike, a. peculiarly dressy character. 
 There is a white variety also well worthy of cultivation. There 
 is scarcely a position in a garden that may not be embeUished 
 by this plant, but its most appropriate place is here and there 
 along the shrubbery borders, where, being hardy and free, it 
 will thrive without attention, care being taken, however, to pre- 
 vent its disturbance or destruction by digging in winter. A 
 native of Southern and Middle Europe, readily increased by 
 division, and will be the better for being raised and divided 
 occasionally, say every third or fourth year. 
 
Part II. MUSCARI. 253 
 
 MUSCARI MOSCHATUM.— Af«J,J Hyacinth. 
 
 This is so deliciously sweet-scented and withal so decidedly- 
 ugly that it ought long ago to have been a favourite with authors 
 of books on the " Language of Flowers," so suggestive is it of 
 merit under the plainest of exteriors. When it comes in flower 
 in March or April, according to warmth of season or position, 
 the flowers, larger than those of the blue kind, are of such an 
 indescribably unattractive tone of livid greenish yellow that 
 many persons do not notice them lying among the leaves, and 
 wasting their sweetness on the winter-beateri earth. For its 
 fragrance it deserves general culture, and Should be valued for 
 imparting to bouquets the sweetness in which many brilliant 
 flowers are deficient, and also for scenting the air in the open 
 garden in spring. The most suitable position for it is on bare, 
 open spots by wood walks where it would not be disturbed, or 
 along the low margins of shrubberies, or in any position where 
 its want of brilliancy may not lead to its destruction. There are 
 several varieties of this plant — one, M. luteum, being of a clear 
 waxy sulphur colour, and almost as handsome in tone as it is 
 deliciously sweet. A native of South Europe. 
 
 MUSCARI EACEMOSUM. — Common Grapeflower. 
 
 This, the " dark blue grape-flower " of Parkinson, is a very old 
 inhabitant of our gardens, and is also a native plant, or one that 
 has escaped from cultivation. The dull green, channeled, weakly 
 leaves attain a length of from twelve to eighteen inches, the 
 flower-stem growing from nine inches to a foot high, the flowers 
 being arranged on it in a dense terminal raceme. The flowers, 
 very dark purple, and slightly covered with what grape-growers 
 call bloom, almost remind one of berries. They smell " like unto 
 starch when it is new made and hot." It is a vigorous grower, 
 and will, as our interesting old friend, John Parkinson, remarks, 
 " quickly choak a ground, if it be suffered long in it. For which 
 cause most men do cast it into some by-corner if they mean to 
 preserve it, or cast it out of the garden quite." 
 
 M. pallens, coniosum m.onstrosum, commutatum, neglectum, 
 and Heldreichii, are also in cultivation, the last, which is as yet 
 very rare, being the best. 
 
254 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 MYOSOTIS AIiPESTEIS. — Alpine Forget-me-not. 
 
 A British alpine plant, found in one or two places in Scotland 
 and Northern England, and inferior to no gem of the high Alps 
 in vivid colour and beauty. It forms close tufts of dark-green 
 hairy leaves, rather narrow and pointed, healthy plants rising to 
 a height of only about two inches. About the end of April a few 
 flowers of a beautiful blue, with a very small yellowish eye, begin 
 to appear among the leaves, and as the weather gets warmer, the 
 little flower-stems gradually rise, and soon the plants become 
 ,pompact masses of blue, remaining in perfection all through the 
 early summer. Fortunately, it is very easily raised, and comes 
 quite true from seed. It loves to be pinched in between lumps of 
 millstone grit, whether in pots or on rockwork, and sometimes 
 grows freely in more ordinary circumstances, but is apt to perish 
 in winter if allowed to grow too grossly. It is quite distinct 
 fxora, and much finer than, the dwarf mountain form of the Wood 
 Forget-me-not, often met with on the Alps, the leaves always 
 being in very dense tufts close to the earth, while the smallest 
 specimens of M. sylvatica seen on the mountains do not branch 
 below the surface, but are rather slender and erect in habit. It 
 is also a true perennial, while the Wood Forget-me-not usually 
 perishes after blooming. The garden home of the Alpine Forget- 
 me-not is on the most select spots in the rock-garden — where it 
 grows finest, perhaps, on ledges with a northern aspect, though 
 it thrives perfectly in open sunny spots ; the soil to be moist 
 throughout the warm season. = M. rupicola. 
 
 MYOSOTIS AZOBICA. — Azorean Forget-me-not. 
 
 This is at once recognised among other Forgetrme-nots by 
 the flowers being of a rich indigo-blue throughout, and rich 
 purple when they first open. It was first brought home by Mr. 
 H. G. Watson, author of the ' Cybele Britannica,' who found 
 it near cascades and on wet rocks with a north-eastern aspect, 
 in the Westerly Azores. It is a little tender, but so beautiful 
 and distinct from our European blue and yellow-eyed Forget- 
 me-nots that it is worthy of being annually raised, in case old 
 plants should perish during winter. Easily increased by seed. 
 It is best raised in autumn, and kept through the winter in dry 
 frames, pits, or a greenhouse, or in very early spring in a gentle 
 
Part II. MYOSOTIS. 255 
 
 heat, and planted out about the beginning of May in a some- 
 what shaded or sheltered position, in light but deep and moist 
 soil, in which it will form round spreading tufts. Peculiarly- 
 well adapted for half-shady quiet spots in the rock-garden, or 
 among low shrubs near it, and also for the mixed border. 
 
 MYOSOTIS 'DlBSlTie'LORK.— Early Forget-me-not. 
 
 This beautiful plant has now been some years in cultivation, 
 and there can be no doubt that, when it is better known to cul- 
 tivators, it will be more grown than any other species of Forget- 
 me-not. It bears more resemblance to the Wood Forget-me-not 
 than to any other ; but is much earlier in flower, blooming in 
 January and February, and lasting till early summer. It is less 
 hirsute, has the ribs on the stem much less strongly marked, and 
 the leaves more gradually pointed. The pedicels are much more 
 distant from each other, and, after the flower falls, lengthen con- 
 siderably, and become twisted to one side, with a tendency to 
 approach and embrace the stem. Early in the season, and in 
 poor ground, it sometimes opens with pink flowers ; but where 
 the plants are healthy and the ground suitable, it soon expands 
 into tufts of the loveliest deep skyblue. In dry ground it is apt 
 to go off with the droughts of spring or early summer ; but when 
 placed in some moist cranny in a rockwork, it continues in flower 
 for a long time, and accompanies the Wood Forget-me-not in 
 its beauty, though it begins to show much earlier. It is a 
 biennial plant, and in districts where the air is pure and some- 
 what moist, it flourishes to great perfection without any trouble, 
 sowing itself on rockwork or on borders. I have grown it to 
 great perfection in a moist bed of peat in a well exposed posi- 
 tion, the ground being regularly watered in summer ; there it 
 continued a mass of beautiful blue till the end of June, growing 
 continuously all the time, and sending up successive crops of 
 flowers throughout the spring and early summer. This or a 
 like plan is the one to adopt where the soil or climate are too 
 dry for it. I can imagine no more valuable subject for natu- 
 ralisation in rocky spots or in copses. For this treasure to our 
 gardens we are indebted to Mr. J. Atkins, of Painswick, who 
 found it on the Alps near the Vogelberg, and grew it for several 
 years in his garden beforp it was in cultivation elsewhere. From, 
 him I obtained it, and soon afterwards it passed into general 
 cultivation unde- the name oi M. moiitana. 
 
2S6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II- 
 
 MYOSOTIS PALUSTEIS. — Water Forget-me-not. 
 
 To remind even those who are least observant of our wild flowers 
 of the beauty of the Water Forget-me-not by our streams, canals, 
 &c. would be wasting words ; but I may advocate its cultivation 
 as a garden-plant. It may be grown easily anywhere by the side 
 of a stream, or pond, or moist place, where it does not already exist 
 in a wild state, by merely pricking in bits of the shoots and after- 
 wards leaving them to nature ; and perhaps this is the best way in 
 most places, particularly where the ordinary soil is warm and dry. 
 But in many districts the climate and soil are moist and con- 
 genial enough to grow it well away from the water, and in such 
 it is often desirable to have a httle bed or two of a plant so great 
 a favourite with all, and so useful for minghng with more showy 
 flowers indoors. I have never seen the flowers so large as 
 among Rhododendrons growing in beds of moist peat, the moist 
 peat and shade just suiting it. It thrives, however, in ordinary 
 soil in many gardens, as at Trentham, where it is used as an 
 edging round the children's gardens. Grows as far north as the 
 "Arctic Circle, and is a native of North America aS well as of 
 Europe and Asia. 
 
 MYOSOTIS SYLVATICA.— Wood Forgk-me-nof. 
 
 A NATIVE of woods, mountain pastures, and shady situations in 
 the North of Europe and Asia, and in the great central chain 
 from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus, and also a British plant, 
 though rare, limited to Scotland and the North of England. 
 Met with in the woods in early summer, a mass of blue, it is one 
 of the most charming sights afforded by any plant. It has been 
 extensively grown in spring flower gardens during the past few 
 years, and is the best blue flower vised therein. In a wild state 
 it is said to be perennial, but in gardens usually proves a bien- 
 nial, and should be sown every year in early summer, putting the 
 plants into the beds in autumn as soon as the summer flowers are 
 gone. A few years ago it was generally grown and known as 
 M. arvensis, a worthless weed, and may yet be known by that 
 name in gardens. A good plan with this plant is to scatter some 
 of the seeds in the woods and half wild places, or even to put out 
 young plants in the autumn. There is a white variety, which is 
 not so pretty as the blue, but which is yet worth growing where 
 much variety is sought. 
 
Part II. NARCISSUS. 257 
 
 NARCISSUS ■BVL.-BOCOTHUM..— Hoop-petticoat Daffodil. 
 
 A DISTINCTLY beautiful kind, with its rich golden-yellow cup 
 usually erect, gradually and regularly widening from the base to 
 the margin and longer than the divisions, ascending, one on each 
 stem, to a height of four to ten inches, from tufts of half-rounded, 
 dark green, and somewhat rushy-looking, erect leaves. A native 
 of Southern France and Spain, requiring in our gardens a' little 
 more attention than is necessary with Daffodils generally, but so 
 handsome when well grown that it fully repays for it. It attains 
 the greatest perfection in very light and deep sandy loam, in 
 sunny sheltered positions, where its leaves may not suffer from 
 cutting winds. In many sheltered gardens it may thrive on level 
 ground in light earth, but in all it would be improved by being 
 placed on low warm sheltered banks in the rock-garden, where 
 few things are more attractive in early spring. 
 
 NARCISSUS STJTifCrPOlATJS.— Rush-leaved Daffodil. 
 
 A SVS^EET-SCENTED, very dwarf, and pretty species, from the Py- 
 renees ; bulbs about half an inch through ; leaves three or four 
 in a bundle, round and rush-like, four to six inches long, scarcely 
 so long as the flbwer-stems. Flowers solitary, or in gardens 
 occasionally two or three on a stem, both crown and cup of 
 golden yellow, which is a distinct feature in the plant ; appearing 
 in early spring with the Primulas and Gentians in our gardens, 
 in April and May in its native habitats. One of the smallest and 
 most beautiful Daffodils known, and one of the most valuable 
 for rockwork, thriving ■ freely in gritty or sandy earth, and per- 
 fectly hardy ; but as it flowers at a cold season, it is better 
 planted on warm and slightly sheltered slopes on banks. In- 
 creased by division. 
 
 NARCISSUS MINO-R.— Least Daffodil. 
 
 This is Parkinson's "least Spanish yellow bastard" Daffodil. 
 " The leaves seldom exceeding the length of three inches, and 
 very narrow withal, of a grayish green colour : every flower stand- 
 ing upon a small and short footstalk, scarce rising above the 
 ground ; so that his nose, for the most part, doth lie on or touch 
 the ground." The bulb is small, of a darkish brown, often flower- 
 ing at three inches high, and rarely attaining six inches under 
 
 S 
 
258 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 favourable conditions ; the cup or crown of the flower much de- 
 veloped, much cut or fringed at the summit, of an orange yellow, ; 
 and longer than the pale sulphur-coloured divisions. Flowers 
 in March and April, is perfectly hardy, and thrives freely in fine 
 sandy soil, but, being small and delicate in its parts, repays for a 
 little care. It should be associated with very dwarf spring-flower- 
 ring plants, and in sunny but fully exposed positions, where it may 
 enjoy the full sun without having its leaves and flowers destroyed 
 by violent winds. If the patch of earth in which it is planted be 
 surfaced with some very minute verdant plant like the Spergula, 
 the flowers will not be so likely to be disfigured by having their 
 " noses " so very near the ground, and the effect will be much 
 improved. A native of Southern Europe ; increased by careful 
 division of established tufts. 
 
 NAECISSUS PULOHELLUS.— P^^^/Zj/ Daffodil. 
 
 A DRESSY and very elegant dwarf Daffodil, with slender rounded 
 leaves and flowers borne upon stems six to nine inches high, 
 each bearing three or four flowers, the cup scarcely half an inch 
 in diameter, of a pale lemon tint, the divisions of the flower 
 of a clear yellow and boldly recurved, or held back like those 
 of a Cyclamen. It is deliciously scented, flowers in April and 
 May, and deserves a place in every rock-garden, associated with 
 other choice dwarf and spring-flowering bulbs and alpine plants, 
 and thriving best in rich sandy loam. It is no doubt a variety of 
 Narcissus triandrus. I have only seen it in cultivation in the 
 Botanic Garden at Chelsea. 
 
 I have given only a few of the best of the dwarfest Daffodils ; 
 but there are many lovely kinds, somewhat larger, which, if too 
 large for the select rock-garden, are indispensable in collections 
 of spring flowers, and may be planted with the best effect in tufts 
 among herbaceous plants and low shrubs in the fringes of the 
 rock-garden, or by the sides of woods near at hand ; among the 
 finest kinds may be named N. odorus, bicolor, major, Jonquilla, 
 the Poet's Narcissus (N. poeticus) and its varieties, also sundry 
 fine hybrids and seedling varieties. 
 
PAK^^ II. NERTERA—NIEREMBERGIA. 259 
 
 NERTERA iyE,YBM%%h^— Fruiting Duckweed. 
 
 The flowers of this diminutive plant are very inconspicuous, 
 but when in fruit, it is best compared to a small Duckweed 
 growing on firm earth, and bearing numbers of little oranges ! 
 They not only occur on the surface of the tufts, but by pushing 
 the fingers between the small dense leaves the bright berries are 
 found in profusion hidden among them. It is quite distinct 
 in aspect from any other plant in cultivation, and, though no 
 more ornamental in flower than a Duckweed, deserves culture 
 for the pretty fruit. Should be associated with the dwarfest 
 alpines on open parts of the rockwork, in firm, free, and moist 
 soil. A native of New Zealand and the Andes of South America. 
 Easily increased by division. 
 
 NIEREICBER&IA RIVXJLARIS.— »^a/«^ TV. 
 
 Of quite a different type to the other members of its family seen 
 in our gardens, the stems and foliage of this trail along the 
 ground as dwarfly as those of the New Holland Violet, while 
 from amongst them spring erect, open, cup-like flowers of a 
 creamy-white tint, just barely pushed above the foliage. Some- 
 times the blossoms are faintly tinged with rose, are usually 
 nearly two inches across, with yellow centres, and continue 
 blooming during the summer and autumn months. Their dis- 
 tant effect, suggesting Snowdrops at first, is very pleasing, and 
 they are no less pretty when you come near and stand over 
 them. It is said to abound by the side of the Plate River, but 
 only within high-tide mark, its flowers rising so high among the 
 very dwarf grass that the plant is discerned from a great dis- 
 tance. No collection of rock or herbaceous plants can be 
 complete without it, while the tasteful flower-gardener may well 
 use it in his smaller designs. Why not add it to the charms 
 df our best form of spring garden — those parts of a country 
 place planted with beautiful spring bulbs, flowers hardy enough 
 to take care of themselves, and lovely as things in a really 
 wild state, peeping througii the young grass in spring or early 
 summer, without the usual gardenesque accompaniments of 
 naked muddy earth and prim surroundings ? Rooting much at 
 the base, it is easily increased by division. 
 
 S 2 
 
'26o ALPItfE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 CENOTHERA MARGINATA.— Za;*^^ Evening Primrose. 
 
 AXTHOUGH a humble plant — even when vigorous not more than 
 six to twelve inches high — this blooms as nobly as any luxuriant 
 native of the tropics, the individual flowers being four to five 
 inches across, of the purest white, changing, as the flower 
 becomes older, to a very delicate rose, the blooms coming well 
 above the toothed or jagged leaves as the evening approaches, 
 and remaining in all their glory during the night, emitting a de- 
 licious magnolia-like odour. This plant, tastefully arranged in 
 the rock-garden or in some quiet border, should prove one of 
 the greatest charms of the garden in every northern and tem- 
 perate clime — as welcome among the night bloomers as the 
 nightingale among night singers. It is perennial, quite hardy, 
 increased by suckers from the root, which are freely produced. 
 Cuttings also root readily. " Begins to flower in May, continuing 
 till the weather gets hot about July, when it seems to like a rest, 
 and again blooms in September and October." Young vigorous 
 specimens in rich ground would probably flower continuously 
 throughout this period. Mr. Robert Stark, of Edinburgh, a well- 
 known lover and cultivator of rare hardy plants, obtained roots 
 of this, when in Canada, from a botanist in the Western States 
 of America, and it is to him we are indebted for its introduction 
 to our gardens. 
 
 CENOTHERA MISS0TJRIENSIS.—Af/«y«rz£''Z/««z«g-/'r/»2^flJi;. 
 
 A NOBLE, yellow, herbaceous plant from North America, with 
 prostrate, rather downy stems, entire leaves, their margins and 
 nerves covered with silky down, and with rich clear golden-yellow 
 flowers, from four to nearly five inches in diameter, so freely 
 produced that the plant may be' said to cover the ground with 
 tufts of gold. There is no more valuable border-flower, and 
 well placed on rockwork it is a glorious ornament, especially 
 when the luxuriant shoots are allowed to hang down. As the 
 seed is but rarely perfected, it is better increased by careful 
 division, or by cuttings made in April. When used as a border- 
 plant, it does nor make such a free growth in cold clayey soils 
 as it does in warm light ones. The blooms open best in the 
 evenings. = CE. macrocarpa. 
 
Part II. CENOTHERA. 261 
 
 CE3NOTHEEA SPEOIOSA.— 5'^(?wj' Evening Primrose. 
 
 A VERY handsome plant, with an abundance of large white 
 flowers, which afterwards change to a delicate rose, in these 
 respects somewhat resembling CE. taraxacifolia, but the plant 
 is erect, with almost shrubby stems. It forms neat tufts, usually 
 from fourteen to eighteen inches high, is a true perennial, and 
 exceedingly valuable for borders, or the lower and rougher parts 
 of rockwork. A native of North America ; increased by division, 
 cuttings, or seeds, but not seeding freely in this country, and 
 flourishing vigorously in well-drained rich loam. Plants of this 
 type, somewhat above the size we require for the choice rock- 
 garden, may be very tastefully used near it on banks rocky 
 or otherwise. About Paris it is used a good deal for bedding, 
 replanted every year, and is very effective for this purpose, 
 as the bloom continues from midsummer till October. 
 
 CBNOTHEEA 'SK&KSA.CTffOJAK.— Dandelion-leaved CE. 
 
 One of the most popular and beautiful of all our dwarf hardy 
 plants, with rather stout stems, that freely trail over the ground 
 like any humble weed in this cold climate of ours, but bearing 
 a profusion of flowers, large and delicately tinted as those of a 
 tropical Dipladenia., which can only be grown in this country at 
 considerable and constant expense of time and money. The 
 leaves are deeply cut, somewhat like those of the Dandelion, but 
 of a greyish tone ; the flowers several inches across, white, 
 changing to pale delicate rose as they become older. The 
 plant is quite hardy and perennial, but on some very cold soils 
 perishes in winter. Where it does so, and where the plant is much 
 admired, it should be raised annually from seed. It will thrive 
 in almost any garden soil, but best in one rich and deep, and 
 may be used with the best result as a drooping plant in the rock- 
 garden border. Plants raised in early spring and pricked over 
 bare surfaces of rose-beds, &c. embellish them finely, flowering 
 profusely the first year. A native of Chili, flowering all the sum- 
 mer and autumn, and seldom rising more than six inches above 
 the ground. 
 
 CEnothera acaulis differs from this fine plant chiefly in having 
 much smaller flowers ; it is, therefore, barely worthy of a place 
 except in botanical collections. 
 
262 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 OMPHALODES TJUCUAM^.—LuciHa's O, 
 
 A seldom seen and very charming sister of the sweet little Om- 
 phalodes verna, but with a dwarf crop of very glaucous smooth 
 leaves, in tone resembling those of the Oyster-plant, and with 
 flowers of a beautiful light skyblue, with a faint stain of some- 
 thing akin to the palest lilac. A native of Mount Taurus. It 
 will probably one day become one of the most admired plants 
 on our rockeries, as it is the very type of sweet modest beauty. 
 I have not observed enough of the plant to speak more fully of 
 its wants or habits, having only seen it on the rockwork in the 
 botanic garden at Geneva, but have little doubt that it will be 
 found to thrive on sunny flanks of rockwork in perfectly well 
 drained iissures of hght soil. It deserves careful treatment till 
 sufficiently abundant to be tried in various positions. 
 
 OMPHALODES VERNA.^ — Creeping Forget-me-not. 
 
 A NEAR relative of our Forget-me-nots, quite as beautiful as 
 and on the whole more useful than any of them in consequence 
 of the facihty with which it creeps about in shady places. Its 
 handsome deep and clear blue flowers with white throats, pro- 
 duced in early spring, iiiimediately remind one of the finest 
 Forget-me-nots, but are larger and of a more intense blue, 
 and immediately distinguished by the stems' sending out run- 
 ners from their base, apart from other characteristics. A native 
 of mountain woods on several of the great continental chains, 
 and indispensable for every rock and spring garden. I know 
 of no plant more worthy of naturalisation in half-wild places 
 under trees or shrubs, or even beneath Rhododendrons and the 
 like. In elevated woods I have seen it run about as vigorously 
 as any native plant, but it will thrive well by almost every wood- 
 walk, and prove one of the brightest ornaments of spring in any 
 position in which it grows. Easily increased by division. Tufts 
 of it taken up and forced in midwinter form beautiful objects in 
 pots or baskets in the conservatory. 
 
 ONONIS AEVENSIS.— H^z/^ Liquorice. 
 
 One of the prettiest of our wild plants, and well worthy of culti- 
 vation on banks and rough rockwork. It is a somewhat variable 
 plant, usually forming dense spreading tufts, clammy to the touch 
 
Part II. ONONIS— OPHRYS. 263 
 
 from being thinly overspread with glutinous hairs, and becoming 
 covered with racemes of pink flowers in summer. There is a 
 white variety even more valuable for cultivation, and worthy of a 
 better position and soil than the common form, which grows in 
 any soil. No plants can be more readily increased from seed or 
 by division. This plant is distinct from the spiny- Ononis cam- 
 pestris, which forms stems nearly two feet high, sometimes even 
 more. 
 
 ONONIS EOTUNDIFOLIA. — Round-leaved Rest-harrow. 
 
 This species is easily known by its roundish trifoliate leaves, 
 margined with triangular teeth, and thickly furnished with gland- 
 . tipped, slightly viscid hairs, and large and handsome rose- 
 coloured flowers, with the upper petal or standard veined with 
 crimson, usually in pairs on one petiole springing from the axil 
 of almost every leaf of the upper portion of the stem. A distinct 
 and pretty plant, hardy, and easily cultivated, flowering in May 
 and June and through the summer. It attains a height of 
 from twelve to twenty inches, according to soil and position, 
 increasing in height as the season advances. Suitable for the 
 mixed border, or rougher parts of rockwork ; comes from the 
 Pyrenees and Alps of Europe, and is easily propagated by seeds 
 or division. 
 
 OPHRYS APIFERA.— ^£« Orchis. 
 
 One of the most singularly beautiful of our native plants, very 
 rarely seen in gardens ; it varies from six inches to more 
 than a foot in height, with a few glaucous leaves near the 
 ground ; the lip of the flower being convex, of a rich velvety 
 brown with yellow markings, so that it bears a fanciful resem- 
 blance to a bee. Found abundantly in various parts of England 
 and Ireland, though far from common or generally distributed, 
 and met with generally on chalky hills or banks, or on a lime- 
 stone, and occasionally on a clayey or sandy, soil. It is usually 
 considered very difficult to grow, but this is by no means the 
 case, and it may be grown easily in rather warm and dry banks 
 in the rock-garden, planting it in a deep little bed of calcareous 
 •soil, if that be convenient ; if not, using loam mixed with broken 
 limestone. It will be found to thrive best if the surface of the 
 
264 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 soil in which it grows be carpeted with the Lawn Pearlwort or 
 some other very dwarf plant, and failing these, with an inch 
 or so of cocoa-fibre and sand, to keep the soil somewhat moist 
 and compact about the plants. Flowers in early summer. I am 
 not aware that it has yet been increased in gardens. 
 
 ORCHIS MA.CTJLti.'^K.— Spotted O. 
 
 This is the handsomest British Orchis. Usually prettily tinted 
 in the poorest and driest soils, but a very different object in a 
 rich Buckinghamshire meadow (where I have seen it sometimes 
 so thick that the spikes were as plentiful as those of the grass 
 flowers) to what it appears on a starved Surrey heath. If well 
 grown in moist and rather stiff garden loam, it will surprise and . 
 please even those who know it well in a wild state. Obtain it 
 at any season, and plant twelve or twenty tubers in a patch, 
 taking them up as tenderly as possible, and plant them carCr. 
 fully in a half-shady and sheltered position in moist deep soil. 
 When the plants form dense patches two or three years after- 
 wards, they will prove more beautiful than many orchids from 
 warmer climes. Flowers in summer, and may be associated 
 with the Cypf ipediums, or planted in tufts in borders, or on the 
 margins of shrubberies. 
 
 Orchis foliosa, latifolid, and laxiflora, are also worthy of a 
 place ; the two last thrive best in moist boggy soil, and should 
 be placed in the artificial bog. 
 
 OROBUS OYANEtrS.— .S/z<^ Bitter Vetch. 
 
 A DWARF vetch-like plant, with large, handsome, bluish flowers 
 among masses of light green leaves, with two or three pairs of 
 leaflets, flowering in spring, the plant growing little more than 
 six inches high. I have only observed this plant growing on 
 very cold stiff ground scarcely acceptable to coarse weeds, and 
 there it was quite hardy and flowered regularly, so that it is 
 probable it would do much better on light good soils. Propa- 
 gated by seeds or division ; comes from the Caucasian moun- 
 tains, and is best suited for warm, sheltered, sunny spots on 
 rockwork. It is sometimes met with under the name of Platy- 
 stylis cyaneus, under which name it was figured by Sweet. 
 
Part II. OROBUS. 265 
 
 OROBXJS ^KSXE,Grh.V\i^.— Variegated Bitter Vetch. 
 
 A COMPACT plant, with two firm and opposite keels on its wiry 
 stems, which ascend in a zigzag manner to about a foot in height, 
 bearing leaves with two or three pairs of leaflets, and rather 
 closely arranged racemes of flowers supported on a footstalk a 
 couple of inches long. The flowers, though small, are beautifully 
 variegated, the upper petal being a fine rose-colour with a net- 
 work of full purplish-crimson veins, the points of the wings being 
 blue. It is a very hardy, easily grown plant, suited for the front 
 margin of the mixed border or the rockwork, and may be in- 
 creased by seeds or division. A native of Southern Italy and 
 Corsica ; not unlike Orobus vernus in habit, but at once distin- 
 guished by its much smaller flowers in shorter, densely packed, 
 racemes. 
 
 OROBUS TE&'Si\l%.—Spring Bitter Vetch. 
 
 This is one of the most charming border-flowers that begin to 
 open in that sweet season, the end of April and beginning of 
 May. From black roots spring rich healthy tufts of leaves with 
 two or three -pairs of shining leaflets, the flower buds showing 
 soon after the leaves, and eventually almost covering the plants 
 with beautiful blooms, purple and blue, with red veins, the keel 
 of the flower tinted with green, and the whole changing to blue. 
 It is no fastidious alpine beauty, that, when carried to our gar- 
 dens in the cultivated plains, sickens and dies for want of the 
 pure cool mountain air and moisture, but a vigorous native of 
 Southern and Central Europe, well able to make the most of 
 our warm deep sandy loams, growing in almost any soil, and 
 perfectly hardy everywhere. It is one of the best ornaments 
 of the mixed border in cultivation, useful for those parts of 
 the rockwork where a bold and vigorous vegetation is desired, 
 and also a noble subject for those who wish to naturalise fine 
 hardy plants in open spots along their wood or shrubbery walks. 
 It may be seen in great abundance in the Royal Botanic Gar- 
 dens -at Edinburgh, where Mr. M'Nab arranges it in lines and 
 various other ways, in which we are not accustomed to see it. 
 It varies a good deal — all the better, of course — the niost marked 
 of the known varieties or sub-species being ruscifolius undjiac- 
 cidus. Flowers in April and May ; grows from ten inches to 
 
266 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II, 
 
 eighteen inches high ; is propagated very readily from seed, and 
 also by division of the root, and attains its greatest development 
 in deep warm soils in sunny, sheltered positions. 
 
 Some other species of Orobus useful for borders and rockwork 
 are in cultivation : 0. pubescens, O. canescens, O. varius, and 
 O. Fischeri being among the best. All are of easy culture in 
 ordinary garden soil, and are increased by seeds or division of 
 the root. 
 
 OTHONNA CHEIEIPOLIA..— ^ar^ary Ragwort. 
 
 A PLANT of very distinct character ; the leaves and shoots quite 
 smooth and glaucous, and the habit neat and spreading. Forms 
 whitish-green and rather ornamental tufts from eight inches to 
 a foot high, or perhaps more on very rich soils, and flowers 
 sparsely on heavy and cold soil, but on light soils it blooms 
 often somewhat freely in May, the blooms of a rich yellow, about 
 an inch and a half across, but not ornamental. Chiefly useful 
 for its distinct type of leaf and aspect on the rough rockwork or 
 mixed border. A native of Barbary ; propagated by cuttings. 
 
 OXAlilS BOWIEI.— ^ozyzVj Wood Sorrel. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL Wood Sorrel from the Cape of Good Hope, often 
 grown in pots in our greenhouses and frames, but quite hardy, and 
 never seen in its true beauty except when growing on very sandy 
 or warm soil in the open air. It grows all round the wall of one 
 of the stoves in the Botanic Garden at Chelsea on a very sandy 
 soil, and flowers most profusely, as it does in various other places 
 in Southern England, and would do in most places on dry soil if 
 commonly planted. Few dwarf plants are more attractive when 
 jts large and handsome rose-red flowers, six to ten on stems 
 usually reaching from eight inches to a foot high, are open. It 
 should be on every rockwork, and is best planted on sunny 
 slopes in well-drained sandy loam, and, if convenient, against 
 rocks or stones. Where walls rise directly from gravel walks, 
 a pleasing line of the plant may be established, and, if the 
 bottom be dry, it will flower charmingly every year. In cold 
 soils I have observed it grow freely enough, but not flower well. 
 It is very easily increased by division, and flowers in autumn. 
 
Part II. OXALIS—OXYTROPIS—PACHYPHYTUM, 267 
 
 OXALIS 'E'L,QiSl'£,\rSi'DK.— Many-flowered Wood Sorrel. 
 
 A FREE-FLOWERING kind of Wood Sorrel, apparently quite 
 hardy in all soils, and producing numbers of rose-coloured 
 flowers with dark veins, for months in succession. The leaflets, 
 three in number, are jroundish-egg-shaped, concave at the apex, 
 and hairy. There is a white-flowered variety as free to flower 
 and in every way as valuable as the rose-coloured form. Both 
 are very useful for rockwork, for the margins of borders, and are 
 easily increased by division. This appears to be the commonest 
 kind of Oxalis in cultivation. A native of South America, and 
 hardy enough to encourage one to attempt to naturalise it on 
 any rocky place or about ruins. 
 
 There are other species of Wood Sorrel obtainable, and worthy 
 of a place, especially on very dry sandy soils, and among them, 
 O. lobata, a yellow, and O. speciosa, a rose-coloured kind, are 
 perhaps the best. The elegant O. rosea is an easily grown 
 annual kind, suitable for grouping with choice rock-plants. 
 
 OXYTROPIS PYRENAICA. — Pyrenean Oxytrope. 
 
 A \5ERY dwarf species, with pinnate leaves, composed of from 
 fifteen to twenty pairs of leaflets, each about a quarter of an inch 
 long, slightly concave, and clothed with a short silky down. 
 These barely rise above the ground, as the short stems are 
 nearly prostrate, and seldom exceed a few inches in height ; the 
 flowers, borne in heads of from four to fifteen, are of a purplish 
 lilac — the upper petal or standard barred with white in the centre. 
 Not a showy but withal a desirable little plant for those parts of 
 rockwork devoted to very dwarf subjects. A native of the Pyre- 
 nees, rare in gardens, increased by seed or division, and should 
 be planted on well-exposed and bare parts of rockworks, in firm, 
 sandy, or gravelly soil. Flowers in early summer. 
 
 PAOHYPHYTUM BEACTEOSUM.— ^z/w^r^rac/J. 
 
 I SHOULD not have mentioned this plant here had it not been 
 used with a singularly good effect of late associated in several 
 instances with dwarf hardy succulents. It is a fleshy succulent 
 plant, a native of Mexico, belonging to the Crassula order, with 
 leaves about half an inch thick, somewhat spoon-shaped, but 
 narrowing very gradually from the wide apex to the thick base, 
 
268 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 with a large, flat, and thick point, rounded on the under side, 
 slightly concave above ; the whole plant has a whitened tone, 
 being densely coated with minute powdery matter, except on the 
 old and weather-beaten leaves, the young leaves and those towards 
 the centre of the rosette being faintly but sweetly suffused with 
 pink. The stout little stems, bearing their columns of fat leaves, 
 usually attain a height of from three to eight inches, this depend- 
 ing a, good dekl on the size they are when placed in the open air ; 
 the strongest of them sending up stems from twelve to sixteen 
 inches long, weighed down at the top with a quaint but singularly 
 pretty inflorescence. The line of flowers springs from the upper 
 part of the stem, but immediately from beneath the footstalk of 
 each blqom a neatly carved leaf (bract), a little more than half 
 an inch, is given off; and, as these all grow in a downward 
 direction, there is a line of small silvery leaves on the under 
 side of the arching inflorescence. The flowers themselves are 
 well enclosed in a calyx with sepals of a bluish-silvery tone, fleshy 
 like those of the bracts. The freshly opened flowers are usually 
 in the drooping portion of the raceme, so that they are not seen 
 till slightly raised up, or the plant, if in a pot, placed on nearly a 
 level with the eye ; but when they are seen, they afford a pleasing 
 surprise, being of a deep crimson with yellow stamens. The 
 unopened part of the inflorescence is composed of the over- 
 lapped small leaves of the calyx and bracts, somewhat resem- 
 bling a hop fruit in outline, but, like all the rest, of a pecuharly 
 attractive hue. 
 
 This plant, first seen about London in the tiny collections of 
 succulents grown for the market in small pots, is now found to 
 be a most valuable addition to the flower-garden in summer, and 
 also merits a place in every greenhouse, and in every collection 
 of window-plants. It has survived out of doors one or two 
 winters about London, but for flower-garden purposes it is best 
 kept over the winter in dry frames, pits, or on a shelf in the 
 greenhouse. On the rockwork, planted out in sunny nooks in 
 light s6il, it may be ventured out all the winter. It is seen to 
 great advantage on glistening carpets of the dwarf mossy Saxi- 
 frages, or diminutive plants of like habit. Readily propagated 
 by merely pulling off the leaves, inserting them in pans or boxes, 
 and placing them in a dry warm pit or frame, or any like place 
 that may be to spare. A httle plant soon appears at the base 
 of each leaf. If it be desired to advance the young plants 
 
Part II. PAPA VER—PARADISIA. 269 
 
 rapidly, it may be done by keeping them in a brisk dry heat near 
 the glass. In the open air it is usually grown for the effect of its 
 leaves, and does not often flower except in the greenhouse. 
 
 PAPAVER KUSTXi'Xi-m.— Alpine Poppy. 
 
 This has large and beautiful white flowers, with yellow centres, 
 and with smooth, or hairy, dissected leaves, cut into fine acute 
 lobes, A native of the higher Alps of Europe, this plant may 
 sometimes be seen in good condition in our gardens, but it is liable 
 to perish as if not a true perennial. It varies a good deal as to 
 colour, there being white, scarlet, and yellow forms in cultivation. 
 The variety albiflorum of botanists has white flowers, spotted at 
 the base, while the •^axieiy jflaviflorutn has showy orange flowers, 
 grows three or four inches high, and is hairy. This last variety 
 is also known as P. pyrenaicum. 
 
 PAPAVER NUDICATJLE. — Iceland Poppy ■ 
 
 A FINE dwarf kind, with deeply lobed and cut leaves, and large 
 rich yellow flowers on naked stems, reaching from twelve to 
 fifteen inches high. A native of Siberia and the northern parts 
 of America, and a handsome plant for borders or rockwork, 
 easily raised from seed, and forming ri(5h masses of cup-like 
 flowers, but, like other dwarf Poppies, does not seem to be 
 permanent, and should be raised annually. There are several 
 varieties. 
 
 PARADISIA LILIASTRUM.— ^/. Bruno's Lily. 
 
 When the traveller first crawls down from the cold and snowy 
 heights of' an alp into the grateful warmth and English-meadow- 
 like freshness of a Piedmontese valley, most likely the first flower 
 he notices in the long and pleasant grass of the lower flanks of 
 the valley is a lily-like blossom, standing about level with the 
 tops of the blades of Grass and Orchises. The blooms, about 
 two inches long, s6 clearly and delicately white that they might 
 well pS.ss for emblems of purity, have each division faintly tipped 
 with pale green, and from two to five flowers occur on each 
 stem. It does not grow in close tufts as in our borders, but one 
 or perhaps two stems spring up here and there all over the mea- 
 dows, and the effect of the half-pendent " Lilies " is then fasci.-- 
 
27o ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 nating. If it were an English flower, it would be called the 
 Lady of the Meadows. It is easy of culture on light deep 
 warm soil, and should be in every collection. Slight shelter 
 would prove beneficial, and that may readily be afforded by 
 planting it among dwarf shrubs and the rather tall subjects on 
 the flanks and lower parts of rockwork. It is also a beautiful 
 ornament for the mixed border, and would prove worthy of 
 naturalisation in open spots in semi-wild places and in unmown 
 parts of the large pleasure-ground. It will be found to flourish 
 in British as well as in alpine grass, and is easily propagated by 
 division or by seeds. = Czackia Liliastrum. 
 
 PABNASSIA CAROLINIANA.— Caro/zVza P. 
 
 A NATIVE of North America, chiefly in mountainous places, on 
 wet banks, and in damp soil. Much larger than the British 
 Parnassia, the stem reaching from one to nearly two feet high, 
 the flowers from an inch to an inch and a half across, the leaves 
 thick, leathery, and roundish-heart-shaped, one usually occurring 
 on the atalk low down, and clasping the stem ; the sterile stamens 
 three in each set, instead of nine to fifteen, as in P.falustris. It 
 is a very desirable plant for artificial bogs, succeeding in deep 
 moist soil, and flowering in autumn. Increased by seed or divi- 
 sion ; at present rare in gardens. 
 
 P. asarifolia, a native of high mountains in Virginia and North 
 Carolina, does not differ much from the preceding, but has the 
 leaves rounded and kidney-shaped, with larger flowers, and re- 
 quires much the same treatment. 
 
 PAENASSIA PALTJSTRIS.— G^rfljj of Parnassus. 
 
 A WELL-KNOWN and admired native mountain plant, with hand,- 
 some white flowers an inch or more in diameter, and with very 
 distinctly marked veins, smooth, rather pale-green leaves, heart- 
 shaped at the base, from less than an inch to an inch and 
 a h&lf long, the flower-stems wiry, angular, and from four inches 
 to about a foot high. An interesting hative as well as orna- 
 mental plant, growing naturally in bogs, moist heaths, and high 
 wet pastures. A very desirable addition to the artificial bog, or 
 to very moist spots in or near the rock-garden, and may also be 
 ^rown in pots placed halfway in any fountain or other basin 
 'devoted to aquatic plants. Plants or seeds may be easily ob- 
 
Part II. PELARGONIUM— PENTSTEMON. 271 
 
 tained in its wild habitats, and the seed should be sown, in 
 moist spots, as soon as gathered. 
 
 PELAEGONITJM ENDLICHERIANUM.— £«(//zV/%^r'j- P. 
 
 This is interesting as the only species of Pelargonium that 
 comes so far north as Asia Minor, and from being a hardy 
 plant. But it is also a remarkably showy and handsome 
 one, with deep rose-coloured flowers, boldly upheld on stems 
 about eighteen inches high, the two upper petals being very 
 large. The leaves are roundish, and form rather close tufts on the 
 surface. I first saw it in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, where 
 it had remained several very severe winters in the open air, 
 thus proving perfectly hardy. A sunny nook on a rockwork 
 would suit it well, or a position on a warm dry bank, sheltered 
 from the north, but it will probably be found to thrive without 
 these attentions. Readily increased by seed or division. 
 
 PENTSTEMON Gr'L.KSE&.—Smooth P. 
 
 Of dwarf habit, mostly quite decumbent, but occasionally more 
 or less erect, with lance-shaped, entire, smooth leaves, and termi- 
 nal racemes of bright-blue flowers, the throat being usually of a 
 pinkish lilac, but the flowers vary in hue. Perfectly hardy, and 
 succeeds in any friable soil. A native of the plains adjacent to 
 the Rocky Mountains. The better known P. speciosus is now 
 regarded as a variety only of this plant, growing taller and erect, 
 but the forms run into each other ; and P. cyananthus is only 
 another form. Flowers in early summer, and may be easily 
 raised from seed, the seedlings blooming the second year. Being 
 of a prostrate habit, it is well suited for warm and well-drained 
 slopes and ledges in the rock-garden. 
 
 PENTSTEMON PROCERUS.— Tk/Z^^/ P. 
 
 Perhaps the most suitable of any easily-obtained Pentstemon 
 for the margins of borders or for planting on rockwork, spreading 
 into wide evergreen tufts not more than a couple of inches high 
 in any kind of soil, and sending up in early summer numerous 
 spikes of flowers, not large or showy individually, but freely 
 produced, and of a veined purple, in little racemes, but standing 
 sp close to the stem that they seem in whorls. The stems. 
 
272 ALPINE FLOWERS. • Part 11. 
 
 at least those of the variety cultivated about London, rarely rise 
 more than a foot high ; leaves lance-shaped and quite entire, 
 the lower ones with a stalk, the upper stalkless. Few plants 
 are more easily increased by division of the root. Flowers in 
 early summer. A native of North- West America and the Rocky 
 Mountains. 
 
 PENTSTEMON ^COVlSE&l.—Scouler's P. 
 
 A SHRUBBY species, with a somewhat spreading compact habit, 
 narrow sharply notched leaves, the upper ones entire, and with 
 large, pale Ulac-purple flowers. It is very hardy, grows freely in 
 ordinary soil, and flowers in summer. It is said to attain a 
 height of between two and three feet, but I have not seen it 
 nearly so tall. Propagated by seeds or cuttings, and well suited 
 for extensive rockworks associated with small shrubs and .the 
 finest types of herbaceous vegetation. 
 
 In addition to the preceding, there are various large Pent- 
 stemons more fitted for borders than rockwork, but also useful 
 in this way where there are very large rock-gardens, especially 
 the . fine and somewhat tender Pentstemon Jeffreyanus, with 
 gentian-blue flowers, the free-flowering lilac-rose Pentstemon 
 diffusus, the white and the red varieties of P. Hartwegi (= P. 
 gentianoides), and its other innumerable and beautiful forms. 
 
 PETROCALLIS PYEENAICA.— ^^aw/y of the Rocks. 
 
 Truly a " rock beauty ! " as everybody must confess who 
 sees its fresh light-green tufts, not more than an inch 
 high, and cushioned snugly amidst the broken rocks. From 
 these stains of light green spring in April peculiarly innocent- 
 looking flowers, reminding one of Lilliputian " Ladies' Smocks,'' 
 and supported on stems that rise little more than half an inch 
 pver the thrice-divided leaves, except where the plant is in a 
 shady position, when they push up a httle taller, and are more 
 attenuated. When well grown, its faintly-veined pale-Ulac 
 flowers seem to form a little cushion, so cold and deUcate- 
 looking that I have known people to grow and admire it for 
 years without ever suspecting it to be capable of emitting an 
 odour of any kind ; but it breathes a delicious, if faint and 
 dehcate, sweetness. Only suited for careful culture on the 
 well-made rockwork, being of a fragile nature, though perfectly 
 
Part II. PHLOX. 273 
 
 hardy. It should be planted in sandy fibry loam, in rather 
 level. warm spots on rockwork, where it could root freely into 
 the moist soil, and yet be near the congenial influences of the 
 broken rocks and stones, down the buried sides of which it 
 can send its roots. It should always have a sunny position. 
 I have seen it grown as a border-plant in a moist part of 
 Ireland, but in the hands of a very careful cultivator, who grew 
 it in very fine soil on a select border, and took up, divided, and 
 carefully replanted the tufts every autumn. It may also be 
 grown in pots plunged in sand in the open air, and in frames in 
 winter ; but I have always noticed that it becomes drawn and 
 delicate under glass protection of any kind. Easily increased by 
 careful division, and may also be raised from seed. A native of 
 Northern Italy, the Tyrol, and various other elevated parts of 
 Southern Europe, as well as the Pyrenees. 
 
 PHLOX ViVJ hSUC&.'lt^—Spreadijig P. 
 
 Larger than the Creeping Phlox or Moss Pink, attaining a 
 height of about one foot, and bearing large lilac-purple blossoms ; 
 the leaves are rounded at the base, oblong-egg-shaped or oblong- 
 lance-shaped in outhne. The plant thrives very well on rock- 
 work in good garden soil, and flowers in summer. A native of 
 North America, and increased by division. 
 
 PHLOX "KEPTKi^fS.— Creeping Pink. 
 
 With the large flowers and richness of colour of the taller 
 Phloxes, this mantles over borders and rockworks with a healthy 
 soft green about an inch or two high, and sends up numbers of 
 stems from four to six inches high at the end of April or beginning 
 of May, each producing from five to eight deep purplish-rose 
 flowers. It is by no means fastidious as to soil or situation, but 
 will be found to thrive best in peat or light rich soils. As 
 it creeps along the ground, and gives off numbers of httle rootlets 
 from the joints, it is propagated with the greatest ease and 
 facility. A person with the slightest experience in propagation 
 may convert a tuft of it into a thousand plants in a very short 
 time. It is almost indispensable for the rock-garden, makes 
 very pretty edgings round the margins of beds, and also capital 
 tufts on the front edge of the mixed border. It may also be used 
 in the spring garden and for vase decoration, and is a native of 
 
274 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 North America, inhabiting damp woods. It is, perhaps, better 
 known in gardens as P. stolonifera and P. verna than by its 
 proper name. 
 
 PHLOX STJBU'LATA.— i^foJJ Pink. 
 
 A MOSS-LIKE little evergreen with stems from four inches to 
 a foot long, but always prostrate, so that the dense matted tufts 
 are seldom more than six inches high except in very favourable 
 rich and moist, but sandy and well-drained, soil, where, when the 
 plant is fully exposed, the tufts attain a diameter of several feet, 
 and a- height of one foot or more. The leaves are awl-shaped 
 or pointed, and very numerous ; the flowers of pinkish purple or 
 rose colour, with a dark centre, so densely produced that the 
 plants are completely hidden by them during the blooming 
 season. It occurs in a wild state on rocky hills and sandy 
 banks in North America, and there are few more valuable 
 plants for the decoration of the spring garden borders or rock- 
 work, being at once hardy, dwarf, neat in habit, profuse in bloom, 
 forming gay cushions on the level ground, or pendent sheets 
 from the tops of crags or from chinks on rockwork. It is easily 
 increased by division, forming roots freely at the base of the 
 little stems, and usually thrives in ordinary garden soil, particu- 
 larly in deep sandy loam. Excessive drought seems to injure it, 
 but it is less likely to suffer when rooted beneath the stones on 
 rockwork. There is a white variety {P. subulata alba), known in 
 many gardens as P. Nelsoni, which is also a beautiful plant. 
 
 PINGUICULA GRANDIFLOEA.— /rzjA Butterwort. 
 
 Leaves in rosettes, light green, fleshy, and glistening, oval-oblong 
 and obtuse, broadest in the middle ; flowers handsome, two- 
 lipped, spurred like the Horned Violet, more than an inch long, 
 nearly or quite an inch across in well-grown specimens, of a 
 fine violet blue. Mr. Bentham unites this with the much less 
 beautiful P. -vulgaris, but Mr. Syme says : " I cannot conceive 
 how anyone who has seen the plants alive can consider them 
 as the same species ; " and as P. grandifl'ora has flowers twice 
 as large as vulgaris, and is a much handsomer plant, it is cer- 
 tainly distinct, and the kind by far best worthy of cultivation. 
 It inhabits bogs and wet heaths in the South-west of Ireland, 
 and delights in moist mossy spots on the northern and shady 
 
Part II. PLUMBAGO— POLEMONIUM. 275 
 
 slopes of the rock-garden, or in more open places in very moist 
 peat soil. In the former situations it may be associated with the 
 Wintergreens, the Twinflower, or the Starflower, and in the arti- 
 ficial bog with Rhexia virginica and the Bavarian Gentian. 
 Increased by small green bulbils, which are given off at the base 
 of the rosettes. 
 
 PLUMBAGO LAEPENTJE.— iyar^^ P. 
 
 A DWARF herbaceous plant, originally cultivated in stoves and 
 greenhouses, but now found to be perfectly hardy, and a first-rate 
 ornament for rockwork, banks, or sunny borders. Its numerous 
 wiry stems, covered regularly from top to bottom with light 
 green leaves nearly two inches^ long, and margined with hairs, 
 are half prostrate, but, being very profuse, form neat and full 
 tufts from six to ten inches high, according to soil and position. 
 In September these become nearly covered with flowers arranged 
 in close trusses at the end of the shoots, and of a fine cobalt blue, 
 afterwards changing to violet — the calyces being of a reddish 
 violet. The bloom usually lasts till the frosts. I have seen this 
 plant flourish in very cold soils, but it is in all cases desirable to 
 give it a warm sandy loam or other light soil and a sunny warm 
 position, as under these conditions the show of bloom is much 
 finer. In consequence of the semi-prostrate habit, it is well 
 suited for planting above the upper edges of vertical stones or 
 slopes on rockwork, and it may also be used with good effect 
 as a border-plant, or as an edging-plant in the flower-garden, 
 particularly in the case of slightly raised beds. A native of 
 China ; very easily increased by division of the root during winter 
 or early spring. 
 
 POLEMONIUM CMB,TJIjEl!M.—yacodsiadder. 
 
 This old garden favourite, with its tender green leaves and 
 rather showy blue flowers, so widely diffused over the northern 
 regions of the world, is chiefly mentioned here in consequence 
 of the striking beauty of its variegated variety (P. ccBruleum 
 variegatum). It is feathery, silvery, and so graceful that some- 
 times people mistake it for a " variegated fern," and most valu- 
 able for mixed borders, rockwork, the flower-garden, or almost 
 any position. It is so desirable as an edging-plant in the 
 flower-garden that its propagation and culture are of impor- 
 
 T 2 
 
276 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 tance. On good garden soils generally it will be found almost 
 as «asy of culture as the common form. It is, however, apt to 
 go off on a very wet clayey soil, but flourishes finely in deep rich 
 but well-drained loam. As regards the propagation, it is effected 
 by simply digging up well-established old plants, pulling them 
 in pieces, and then planting them immediately in a nursery-bed 
 of good soil. This is best done in early autumn, so that it may 
 be nicely established in the nursery-beds before midwinter. 
 Where plants are riierely required for borders and rockwork, 
 the old stools simply require to be taken up, divided, and 
 replanted, where desired, in the old-fashioned way of dealing 
 with herbaceous plants. As the variegated variety is grown for 
 its leaf beauty alone, it is scarcely necessary to add that the 
 flower-stems should be removed when they appear. There are 
 several other species in cultivation, but they are scarcely of 
 a sufficiently perennial or ornamental character. 
 
 POLYGALA CALCAEEA.— C^a//^ Milkwort. 
 
 A NATIVE plant found in Kent, Surrey, Gloucester, Berks, and 
 a few other places in the South of England, generally on chalky 
 d6bris, and very pretty, usually with blue but sometimes with 
 pink or whitish flowers, about a quarter of an inch long, in 
 compact racemes ; the leaves deep shining green and smooth, 
 and the shoots six inches long in well -grown specimens. 
 Mr. Syme says this has no connecting links with the common 
 Milkwort {P- vulgaris). It is known by the flowering shoots 
 rising from rosettes of leaves, and by the leaves on those shoots 
 becoming abruptly smaller and narrower than those below them. 
 It is the handsomest and the easiest to grow of the British spe- 
 cies, and does very well on rockwoilc in sunny chinks, planted 
 in calcareous soil, forming neat dressy tufts of violet-blue and 
 white flowers, and blooming profusely in early summer. It should 
 be allowed to sow itself if possible, or the seed may be gathered 
 from wild plants and carefully sown in sandy soil. Plants care- 
 fully taken up from their native positions have also been esta- 
 blished in gardens. 
 
 POLYGALA C&hM.MS,\ys.X5^.— Box-leaved Milkwort. 
 
 A VALUABLE little Creeping shrub, a native of the Alps of 
 Austria and Switzerland, where it often forms but very small 
 
Part II. POLYGONUM— POTENTILLA. 277 
 
 plants ; in our gardens, however, on peaty soil, and in some fine 
 sandy loams, it spreads out into compact tufts covered with 
 creanvcoloured and yellow flowers, afterwards changing to a bay 
 colour in the lower division. A variety with purple wings and 
 calyx is not in cultivation, I believe. This plant was cultivated 
 200 years ago, at Oxford, but is now comparatively rare in our 
 gardens. It succeeds best in a peat soil, loves moisture, and 
 is admirably fitted for association with dwarf alpine shrubs on 
 rockwork or in peat beds. 
 
 POLYGONUM VACCINIFOLrtrM.— ./?(?f/?r Knotweed. 
 
 Although it comes of rather a poor and weedy race, this is 
 a neat and ornamental trailing plant, scrambhng freely over 
 stones, and producing many bright-rose spikes of flowers in 
 summer and autumn. It comes from elevations of from i r,ooo 
 to 13,000 feet on the Himalayas, which may perhaps have 
 had much to do in refining its character and making it so 
 unlike the Knotweeds that garnish the slime of our ditches and 
 canals. Easily increased by division or cuttings, and thrives in 
 common garden soil. Suited for banks, the fringes of shrub- 
 beries, rockwork, and the less important parts of the alpine 
 garden. 
 
 POTENTILLA K5JBK.— White Cinquefoil. 
 
 A PRETTY species, with the leaves in five stalkless leaflets, green 
 and smooth above, and quite silvery, with dense silky down, on 
 the lower sides. It is a very dwarf kind, neat and not rampant 
 in habit, with white strawberry-like flowers, nearly an inch 
 across, with a dark orange ring at the base. A native of the 
 Alps and Pyrenees, of the easiest culture in ordinary soil," and 
 a fitting ornament for borders or rockwork, flowering in early 
 summer, and easily increased by division. 
 
 POTENTILLA ALPESTEIS.— ^i^z«« Cinquefoil. 
 
 A RARE native plant, closely allied to the spring Potentilla 
 {P. verna), but with flower-stems more erect, forming tufts 
 nearly a foot high when well grown, the stalks of the leaves 
 being nearly six inches long, so that the whole plant is much 
 
278 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 larger. Found on ledges of rock and elevated slopes in Scotland 
 and Northern England, the root-leaves in five wedge-shaped 
 divisions notched at the top, and of a bright shining green 
 colour, the flowers of a bright yeUow, about an inch across. Well 
 worthy of a place on rockwork, it matters little how cold the 
 position, and will enjoy a moist deep soil. P. verna is also 
 worthy of a place in the garden, and is of the easiest culture. It 
 is not a very common plant, but is found in a good many parts 
 of the country on rocks and dry banks. 
 
 POTENTILLA CALABK,A.—Ca/a6rian Cinquefoil. 
 
 A VERY silvery species, particularly on the under sides of the 
 leaves ; the shoots prostrate, with lemon-yellow flowers about 
 three-fourths of an inch across. This species is chiefly valuable 
 from the hue of it's leaves ; it flowers in May and June, and 
 flourishes freely in sandy soil. It is worthy of a place in the 
 rock-garden and wherever dwarf Potentillas are grown. A 
 native of Italy and Southern Europe. 
 
 POTENTILLA S.VmiK.—Shining Cinquefoil. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL little plant, only a couple of inches high, with 
 silky-silvery leaves of three leaflets each, rarely more ; the 
 flowers of a pretty and delicate rose, the green sepals showing 
 between the petals. This native of the Alps is well worthy of 
 a place in the choice rock-garden, and is of the easiest culture 
 arid propagation. 
 
 POTENTILLA PYEENAICA.— /^r^w^aw Cinquefoil. 
 
 A DWARF but vigorous and showy species, with fine, large, deep 
 golden-yeUow flowers, the petals very round, full and over-lap- 
 ping. A native of high valleys in the Central and Southern 
 Pyrenees, easily increased by division or seeds. It will grow 
 without any particular attention on rockwork or in the mixed 
 border. It is known from other species by the stipules being 
 adherent to the leaf-stem for nearly their whole length. 
 
 PRIMULA AMCENA.— /"/eaj/wg- Primrose. 
 
 An uncommon and beautiful species, allied to our own wild 
 Primrose, but quite distinct. The flowers are large, of a pleasing 
 
Part 11. PRIMULA. 279 
 
 purple hue, and have a habit of coming out before the snow has 
 left the ground — thus dethroning, in a way, the common Prim- 
 rose. In leaf it is not unlike P. denticulata, and the fact that it 
 possesses the vigour of that plant, and also has much larger 
 flowers, makes it very welcome. It is so much earlier than 
 the common Primrose that, while that species is in full flower, 
 amoma has quite finished blooming, and sent up almost the same 
 kind of strong tuft of leaves which the common Primrose does 
 after its flowers are faded. I have seen it flourishing quite 
 freely in common borders, on a chalky soil, and doubt not that 
 it will prove one of the most valuable additions to the early spring 
 garden and mixed border that has been made for many years. 
 As the leaves are rather large, a sheltered and slightly shaded 
 position will most tend to the perfect health and development of 
 the plant. It is charming for rockwork or well-arranged borders, 
 and, when plentiful enough, will,- no doubt, be used in other 
 ways. It is readily propagated by division of the root, and is 
 a native of the Caucasus. The corolla is purplish lilac in bud, 
 or when recently expanded, turning bluer after a few days. The 
 umbel is many-flowered, the blooms larger than those of 
 P. denticulata, borne about six or seven inches high ; the leaves 
 woolly beneath and toothed. There is a stemless variety, which 
 would probably prove a great addition to our gardens. 
 
 PRIMULA AXTEICTJLA. — Common Auricula. 
 
 This flower was quite a favourite in England in old times, and 
 Parkinson, writing more than two hundred years ago, enumerates 
 twenty-one varieties, and says there were many more ; and in 
 1792 the catalogue of Maddock, the florist, named nearly five 
 hundred sorts. In our own time they have come to be almost 
 forgotten, and are rarely seen except in the garden of an oc- 
 casional enthusiastic florist. Of course I speak of the plants 
 as florists' flowers ; the common kind has always been, and I 
 trust will always remain, a popular cottage-garden and border 
 flower. Primula Auricula lives in a wild state on the high 
 mountain ranges of Switzerland, France, Austria, and the Cau- 
 casian chain, and has probably a much wider distribution. It 
 is one of tl^^many charming Primulas which rival the Gen- 
 tians, Pinlfs, and Forget-me-nots, in making the Flora of alpine 
 fields so Exquisitely beautiful and interesting. Possessing a 
 
28o ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 vigorous constitution, and sporting into a goodly number of 
 varieties when raised from seed, it attracted early attention 
 from lovers of flowers ; its more striking variations were per- 
 petuated and classified, and thus it became a " florists' flower.'' 
 I do not desire to approach the subject from the florists' point 
 of view, believing that to be a narrow and to some extent a base 
 one ; so much so, indeed, that I cannot regret that their prac- 
 tices and laws about the flower have taken but weakly root. 
 There are many things with which man interests himself that 
 require study and knowledge before they can be thoroughly en- 
 joyed ; but among them flowers should not and cannot be in- 
 cluded. To lay down mechanical rules to guide our appreciation 
 of flowers must for ever be the shallowest of vanities. To the 
 eye direct they appeal with " most persuasive reasons,'" and 
 rarely in vain ; so that the regulations which lay down in what 
 way their innumerable and inimitable dyes should arrange them- 
 selves are as needless as they are absurd. But, without seeking 
 to conform or select them according to mechanical rules, we may 
 preserve and enjoy all their most attractive deviations from the 
 " original," or, more correctly, the best known wild forms of the 
 species. 
 
 The varieties of cultivated Auriculas may be roughly thrown 
 into two classes : ist, self-coloured varieties, with the outer and 
 larger portion of the flower of one colour or shaded, the centre 
 or eye being white or yellow, and the flowers and other parts 
 usually smooth and not powdery ; 2nd, those with flowers and 
 stems thickly covered with a white powdery matter or " paste." 
 The handsomest of the not-powdery kinds, known by the name of 
 " alpines," to distinguish them from the florists' varieties, are the 
 hardiest of all. The florists' favourites are always readily distin- 
 guished by the dense mealy matter with which the parts of the 
 flower are covered. They are divided by florists into four sections : 
 green-edged, grey-edged, white-edged, and selfs. In the green- 
 edged varieties, the gorge or throat of the flower is usually yellow 
 or yellowish ; then comes a ring, varying in width, of white 
 powdery matter, surrounded by another of some dark, colour, 
 and beyond this a green edge, which is sometimes half an inch 
 in width. The outer portion of the flower is really and pal- 
 pably a monstrous development of the petal into a leaf-hke 
 substance, identical in texture with that of the leaves. The 
 "grey-edged" have also the margin of a green leafy texture, 
 
Part II. PRIMULA. 281 
 
 but so thickly covered .with powder that this is not distinctly 
 seen. This, too, is the case with the "white-edged," the dif- 
 ferences being in the thickness and hue of the " paste " or 
 powdery matter. In fact, the terms green-edged, grey-edged, 
 and white-edged, are simply used to express slight differences 
 between flowers all having an abnormal development of the 
 petals into leafy texture. It is a curious fact that between 
 the white and the grey the line of demarcation is imaginary, and 
 both these classes occasionally produce green-edged flowers. 
 The " selfs " are really distinct, in having the outer and larger 
 portion of the corolla of the ordinary texture, a ring of powdery 
 matter surrounding the eye. 
 
 - Xhe enumeration and classification of such slight difierences 
 merely tend to throw obstacles in the way of the flower being 
 generally grown and enjoyed in gardens. By all means let the 
 florists maintain them, but those who merely want to embellish 
 their gardens with some of the prettier varieties need not trouble 
 themselves with named sorts at all. One fact concerning the 
 florists' kinds should, however, be borne in mind — ^they are the 
 most delicate and difficult to cultivate. The curious develop- 
 ments of powdery matter, green margins, &c. have a tendency to 
 enfeeble the constitution of the plant. They are, in fact, varia- 
 tions that, occurring in nature, would have little or no chance of 
 surviving in the struggle for life. The general grower wiU do well 
 to select the free sorts — alpines, as they are called — or even good 
 varieties of the common border kinds. An especial merit of 
 these is that they may be grown in the open air on rockwork 
 and borders, while the florists' kinds must be grown in frames. 
 
 At the risk of earning the contempt of the florist, I must first 
 allude to the culture of the free-growing kinds, those most likely 
 to be enjoyed in all classes of gardens. It is very simple : light 
 vegetable soil and plenty of moisture during the growing season 
 being the essentials. In many districts the moisture of our 
 climate suits the Auricula to perfection, and in such may be 
 seen great tufts of it grown in gardens without any attention. 
 In others it must be protected against excessive drought by 
 putting stones round the plants, and cocoa-fibre and leaf-mould 
 are also useful as a surfacing. However, none but good varieties 
 of the '' alpine " section would justify even this trouble ; and, 
 wherever practicable, we should prefer to place these on rock- 
 work, on spots where they could root freely into rich light soil, 
 
282 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 and have some shelter. They would cause little or no trouble, 
 save taking up, dividing, and replanting every second or third 
 year, or as often as they become too crowded or lanky. The 
 very common kinds may be planted as edgings, or in beds in 
 the spring garden. Some have used them as edging plants for 
 the sake of their whitish leaves alone. In all places where the 
 plant naturally does freely, improved varieties should be substi- 
 tuted for the common old border kind. . The Auricula does not 
 do so well as could be desired around London — in the northern 
 suburbs, at all events ; and this is to be attributed more to the 
 soil than the air perhaps, as I have seen most vigorous ex- 
 amples in deep areas in London, the surface of the pots being 
 piled up with tea-leaves. 
 
 Auriculas are easily propagated by division in spring or 
 autumn — best in early autumn. They are also easily raised 
 from seed, which ripens in July, the common practice being to 
 sow it in the following January in a gentle heat. It should 
 be sown in pans thinly. The plants need not be disturbed till 
 they are big enough to prick into a bed of fine rich and light 
 soil, on a half-shady border in the open air. It is a most de- 
 sirable practice to raise seedlings, as in this way we may obtain 
 many beautiful varieties. When a desirable variety is noticed 
 among the seedlings, it should be marked and placed under 
 conditions best calculated to ensure its health and rapid increase, 
 and propagated by division as fast as possible. 
 
 As to the florists' varieties, endless precise descriptions of the 
 modes of culture considered necessary to success with these 
 have been given by good cultivators ; but the essential points 
 may be summed up in a few words. They require protection in 
 frames or pits during the winter and spring months ; and they 
 may be placed in the open air in summer and early autumn. 
 Their suitable winter quarters are shallow pits, in which they 
 are placed as near to the light as may be convenient, the lights 
 being left off in mild weather, and air being given at all times, 
 except in severe frosts. Air at night as well as by day is deci- 
 dedly beneficial. The aspect of the pit or frame may be the usual 
 one for the winter months ; but as soon as the plants begin to 
 show flower, they ought to be removed to one with a northern 
 exposure, so that the bloom may be prolonged. Here, with 
 abundance of air, they form objects of much interest and beauty 
 through the montli of April and the first weeks of May. After 
 
Part II. PRIMULA. 283 
 
 flowering they should be potted in May, and kept shaded till 
 they have recovered. The potting is usually a process of care- 
 fully shaking away all the soil, and putting the plant in fresh com- 
 post, and the practice is well-founded, for it is the habit of this 
 plant and its wild allies to put forth young roots higher up on the 
 stem every year, and the encouragement of these young roots is 
 sure to lead to a good result. Four-inch pots are generally used, 
 and are quite large enough where the annual disrooting system is 
 practised, one sucker of a kind being placed in the centre of each 
 pot. I , however, doubt the wisdom of applying this system of pot- 
 ting to every planf, and should select those that had sound roots, 
 and were set firmly and low in the earth, and, disturbing the ball 
 but little, give them a careful shift into a five-inch pot. In case 
 of growing the alpine kinds in pots — and they are quite as well 
 worthy of it as the others — instead of confining ourselves to one 
 plant in a small pot, we should put five or six of a kind in a 
 six-inch pot, one in the centre and four or five round the side, 
 thus forming a handsome specimen. Or the same principle 
 might be carried out in pans, and with the free-growing florists' 
 varieties as well as the alpines. In summer all the plants should 
 be placed in the open air, and on boards, slates, a bed of coal- 
 ashes, or some substance that can prevent the entrance of worms 
 into the pots. Some careful growers guard the' plants from 
 heavy rains ; this is unnecessary if the pots are perfectly drained 
 and everything else as it ought to be. The florists rarely plunge . 
 them ; but, if plunged in a bed of clean sharp sand, or any like 
 material placed on a well-drained bottom, and free from the 
 earthworm, they would be in a safer and certainly less trouble- 
 some condition, because free from the vicissitudes that must 
 attend aU plants exposed in a fragile porous shell containing but 
 a few inches of soil. 
 
 Prescriptions for the ailing human creature were never mea- 
 sured out with more care than the mixtures of soil recommended 
 by some authors for Auriculas ; and prescriptions never did less 
 good than these, or were less founded on philosophical prin- 
 ciples. The perfect development of the choicest florists' kinds is 
 secured by a simple mixture of one part good turfy loam, one part 
 leaf-mould, and another composed of well-decayed cow manure 
 and silver or sharp river sand. It should be observed that 
 some pot their plants in August, but just after the flowering is 
 the best time, as, if disrooted in the autumn, the plants have not 
 
284 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 that accumulated strength for flowering which they possess when 
 the blooming time is preceded by a long period of undisturbed 
 growth. 
 
 PRIMULA CGWSTS^OTDY&.—Cortusa-like Primrose. 
 
 This is entirely distinct in appearance from any of the species 
 commonly grown, the leaves being comparatively large and soft, 
 not nestling firmly on the ground like many of the European 
 species, but elevated on stalks two to four inches in length ; the 
 deep rosy clusters of flowers being produced on stalks from six 
 to ten inches high. In consequence of its taller and freer habit 
 the plant is liable to be much injured and disfigured if placed 
 in an exposed spot or open border, therefore the first considera- 
 tion should be to give it a sheltered position, in a sunny nook 
 on rockwork, surrounded by low shrubs, &c., or in any position 
 where it will not be exposed to cutting winds, and at the same 
 time not be shaded to its injury. The soil should be light and 
 rich, and a surfacing of cocoa-fibre or leaf-mould would be bene- 
 ficial in dry positions. It is one of the most beautiful and easily 
 raised of the Primulas, being readily increased from seed, and 
 quite hardy, at least where any pains are taken to give it a well- 
 drained and suitable position. It forms a charming ornament 
 for the lower and less exposed parts of rockwork, for a sunny 
 sheltered border near a wall or house, or for the margin of the 
 choice shrubbery. A native of Siberia. 
 
 Primula cortusoides amoena is considered a variety of the 
 preceding, but, if so, it is a very distinct one, being much larger 
 in all its parts than its relative, and bearing large trusses of 
 beautiful, deep rose-coloured flowers. The cultural directions 
 given for the preceding will apply to it. It is, however, so con- 
 spicuously beautiful that many people grow it in cold frames and 
 pits, and show it among their choice greenhouse flowers. Hand- 
 some specimens may be grown in good loam and leaf-mould 
 in six-inch pots. It came to us from Japan, but is suspepted 
 to be a native of Siberia. Mr. Wm. Thompson thinks that, 
 "apart from the size of the flowers and the breadth of the 
 foliage, the creeping root, the exclusively vernal habit of the 
 plant, the pseudo-lobed or grooved seed-vessel, and the roundish 
 flattened form of the seed, especially the two last features, war- 
 rant the behef in its distinctness from P. cortusoides.^'' 
 
Part II. PRIMULA. 285 
 
 PEIMULA DENTICULATA.— 2?««^zV2</a/^rf Primrose. 
 
 A Himalayan species, with neat dense umbels of many small 
 bright lilac flowers, on stalks from eight inches to a foot high, 
 springing from oblong-lanceolate toothed leaves, hairy on both 
 sides, but densely so beneath, by which it is distinguished from 
 its relative, P. erosa. It is often grown in pots, but is perfectly 
 hardy on rockwork in deep rich hght loam with a dry bottom, 
 selecting a position sheltered on the coldest sides by stones or 
 other plants. It succeeds as a border-plant in some districts on 
 well-drained light loams. When grown in pots, it may be brought 
 into flower about six weeks earlier than it usually flowers (April 
 and May), and this is the chief reason for growing it in pots, 
 except where it cannot be grown in the open air. Propagated by 
 division or by seeds. Although hardy, the leaves are injured 
 by the first sharp frosts, so that it is well to keep it in well-drained 
 warm positions. There is a handsome dwarf variety known as 
 P. denticulata nana. 
 
 PRIMULA EROSA. — Himalayan Primrose. 
 
 An interesting kind, occasionally grown about London in pots, 
 and sometimes under the name ol P. Fortunei, with shining 
 leaves, quite smooth, and sometimes quite powdery, which, with its 
 smoothness, distinguishes it at a glance from P. denticulata. The 
 purplish blossoms with yellow eyes in flattish heads expand in 
 early spring, and are borne on stems usually very mealy. . Drs. 
 Hooker and Thompson noticed it blooming at great elevations 
 among the snow on the Himalayas, and, as might be expected 
 from this, it is quite hardy in this country, and the true way to 
 enjoy its beauty is to place it in a sunny but sheltered nook on 
 rockwork, in deep sandy loam, lightened with peat and leaf- 
 mould, and with the drainage perfect. It should never be allowed 
 to suffer from drought in summer. 
 
 PRI]VnjLA FARING SA. — Bird's-eye Primrose. 
 
 Slender powdery stems, from three to twelve inches high, 
 springing from rosettes of musk-scented leaves, with their under- 
 sides clothed with a silvery-looking meal, bear the graceful lilac- 
 purple flowers of the Bird's-eye Primula. No sweeter flower 
 holds its head up to kiss the breeze that rustles over the elevated 
 
286 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 bogs and mountain pastures of Northern England, and it should 
 be doubly interesting to the British cultivator because it is a 
 true native, found in Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Durham, 
 Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Cuiaberland,' and in Scot- 
 land, at Bridgehouse near West Linton, on the south side of 
 the Pentland Hills. It is, however, a local plant. To find it 
 profusely inlaid over moist parts of the great hill-sides on an 
 early summer morning as one ascends the Helvellyn range for 
 the first time, is to a lover of our wild flowers a great pleasure, 
 and one that will be long remembered. I have mostly seen 
 it in very moist spots where running water spreads out all over 
 the surface, still, however, continuing to flow ; but it is also 
 found under somewhat different conditions. I have seen it at- 
 tain a height of nearly eighteen inches in a cultivated state, and 
 it is also occasionally seen very tall and strong in a wild one, 
 though generally it is little over half a foot. In our gardens, as 
 in Nature's gardens, it loves a moist vegetable soil. On the 
 west coast, and in moist and elevated parts of the country, I 
 have seen it flourishing on rockwork and slightly elevated beds 
 without any attention ; but in most parts of the country a little 
 care will be necessary to ensure its perfect health. On rock- 
 work a moist, deep, and well-drained crevice, filled with peaty soil 
 or fibry sandy loam, will suit it to perfection. It is easy to cul- 
 tivate in pots, the chief want, whether in pots or in the open, 
 being abundance of water in summer, and where this does not 
 fall naturally, it ought to be supplied artificially. When planted 
 on rockwork in the drier districts, it would be weU to cover 
 the soil with cocoa-fibre or leaf-mould, which would protect 
 the surface from being baked and from excessive evaporation ; 
 broken bits of sandstone would also do. It varies a little in the 
 colour of the flower, there being pink, rose, and deep crimson 
 shades. 
 
 P. farinosa acaulis is a very diminutive variety of the pre- 
 ceding. The flowers are not freely upheld on stems like those 
 of the common wild form, but nestle down in the very hearts 
 of the leaves, and bath flowers and leaves being very small, 
 when a number of plants are grown together on one sod, or 
 in one pan, they form a singularly charming little cushion of 
 leaves and flowers not more than half an inch high. The same 
 positions will suit it as have been recommended for the Bird's-eye 
 Primula, but being so very diminutive, it ought to have more 
 
Part II. PRIMULA. 287 
 
 care, whether grown on rockwork or in pots. If any weeds or 
 coarse plants were allowed to vegetate over or near it, it would 
 of course suffer. 
 
 PEIMTJLA GLUTINOSA. — Glutinous Primrose. 
 
 A DISTINCT little Primrose, rare in .gardens, and growing abun- 
 dantly in peaty soil at elevations of 7000 or 8000 feet on mountains 
 near Gastein and Salzburg, in the Tyrol, and in Lower Austria. 
 The leaves are nearly strap-shaped, but widening towards the 
 top, where they are somewhat pointed and neatly and regu- 
 larly toothed. The stem is as long again as the leaves, growing 
 from three to five inches high, bearing from one to five blossoms, 
 which have been described to me by those who have seen it wild 
 in quantity as of a peculiar purplish mauve, with the divisions 
 rather deeply cleft. Suitable for rockwork or pots in moist 
 peaty or very sandy soil. 
 
 PRIMULA INTEGEIFOLIA. — Entire-leaved Primrose. 
 
 A MOST diminutive Primrose, easily recognised by its smooth, 
 shining, entire, ciliated leaves, lying quite close to the ground, 
 and in spring, when in bloom, by its handsome rose flowers, with 
 the lobes deeply divided, one to three flowers being borne on a 
 dwarf stem, which elevates them but little above the leaves, and 
 these flowers are often large enough to obscure the plant that 
 bears them. It is very common on the higher parts of the 
 Pyrenees, and I met with it in abundance in elevated pastures 
 in North Italy. Scores of plants sometimes grew together in 
 a sod, like Daisies, wherever there was a little bank or slope not 
 covered by grass ; ahd it was also plentiful in the grass, grow- 
 ing in a sandy loam. There should be no difficulty in growing 
 this plant on flat exposed parts of rockworks, the soil moist and 
 free, but firm. The best way would be to try and form a wide 
 tuft of it, by dotting from six to a dozen plants over one spot, 
 and, if in a dry district, scattering a little cocoa-fibre mixed 
 with sand between them, to prevent evaporation. This, or 
 stones, will help till the plants become established. It flowers 
 in early summer, and is increased by division and by seeds. 
 P. Candolleana is another name for this, and P. glaucescens is at 
 best but a variety of it. 
 
»88 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 PEIMUIiA LATIFOLIA. — Broad-leaved Primrose. 
 
 A VERY handsome and fragrant Primrose, with from two to 
 twenty violet flowers in a head, borne on a stem about twice as long 
 as the leaves, or sometimes more ; the leaves slightly and distantly 
 toothed, both the surfaces and the margins being covered with 
 glandular hairs. This is less viscid, larger, and more robust than 
 the better knowti P. viscosa of the Alps, the leaves sometimes 
 attaining a length of four inches and a breadth of nearly two. 
 It grows to a height of from four to eight inches, flowers in early 
 summer, comes from the Pyrenees, the Alps of Dauphiny, and 
 various mountain chains in Southern Europe, and in a pure air 
 will thrive on sunny slopes of rockwork in sandy peat, with 
 plenty of moisture during the dry season, and perfect drainage 
 in winter. It, like P. viscosa, will bear frequent division ; and it 
 may also be well and easily grown in cold frames or pits. 
 
 PRIMULA XiO'NGiTPl^O'RK.— Long-flowered Primrose- 
 
 Related to our Bird's-eye Primrose, but distinct from it, and 
 considerably larger than those of the best varieties of that species ; 
 the lilac tube of the flower being more than an inch long, which 
 immediately distinguishes it. It is not at all difficult to cultivate 
 on rockwoi'k or in pots, and the treatment and position recom- 
 mended for Primula farinosa will suit it perfectly. In colour it 
 is deeper than the Bird's-eye Primrose, and is. a native of Austria. 
 
 PEIMULA 'iilLKRaiNA.IA..— Margined Primrose. 
 
 One of the most attractive of the family, and readily distin* 
 guished by the silvery margin on its greyish, toothed, smooth 
 leaves, caused by a dense bed of white dust which lies exactly on 
 the edge of the leaf ; and by its sweet, soft, violet-rose flowers, ap- 
 pearing in April and May. I have grown this plant successfully 
 in the open air in London, and in parts of the country favourable 
 to alpine plants it will prove almost as free as the common Au- 
 ricula. Even when not in flower, the plant is pleasing, from the 
 tone of the margin and surfaces of the leaves. Our wet and 
 green winters are doubtless the cause of this and other kinds 
 becoming rather lanky in the stems after being more than a year 
 or so in one spot. When the stems become long, and emit roots 
 above the surface, it is a good plan to divide the plants, and 
 
Part II. PRIMULA. 289 
 
 insert each portion firmly down to the leaves. This will be all 
 the more beneficial in dry districts, where the little roots that 
 issue from the stems would be more likely to perish. It is a 
 charming ornament for rockwork, where it thrives freely, and a 
 first-class subject for the front margin of the select mixed border. 
 In the open ground a few bits of broken rock, placed around 
 each plant, or amongst the plants if they are planted in groups 
 or tufts, will do good by preventing evaporation, and also acting 
 as a protection to the plant, which rarely exceeds a few inches 
 in height. It may also be grown easily in pots ; and, where 
 plentiful, it is. much better to put one plant in the centre, and 
 half a dozen round the side, of a six-inch pot than depend on 
 one tuft in the centre. A native' of the Alps of Tauria and 
 Dauphiny, and various ranges in the South of Europe, but not 
 of the Pyrenees. Readily increased by division. 
 
 PRIMULA MINIMA. — Fairy Primrose. 
 
 For its size a singularly ornamental kind, with very small 
 leaves, prostrate, and rather deeply notched at the ends ; but the 
 flowers make up for the very diminutive leaves, being not unfre- 
 quently nearly an inch across, and quite covering the minute 
 rosette from which they spring. It is a native of the Alps of 
 Austria, and flowers in early summer, the stem rarely bearing 
 more than one, but occasionally two flowers, rose-coloured, or 
 sometimes white. Bare spots in firm open parts of the rockwork 
 are the best places for it, the soil to be very sandy peat and 
 loam ; it is peculiarly suited for association with the very 
 dwarfest and choicest alpine plants. It may be propagated by 
 division or by seed, and comes from the mountains of Southern 
 Europe. 
 
 P. Floerkiana is very like the Fairy Primrose, probably only 
 a variety of it, and in the flowers only differing by bearing 
 two, three, or more, instead of a single bloom. There is also 
 a difference in the leaves, which in P. minima are nearly square 
 at the ends, but in P. Floerkiana are roundish there, and notched 
 for a short distance down the sides. It is a native of Austria, 
 and will be found to enjoy the same conditions and positions on 
 rockwork as the preceding. Of both it is desirable to establish 
 wide-spreading patches on firm bare spots, scattering half an inch 
 of silver-sand between the plants to, keep the ground cool. 
 
 U 
 
zgo ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 PRIMULA MUNEOI. — Mmird's Primrose. 
 
 This has not the brilliancy or dwarfness of the Primulas of the 
 high Alps, nor the vigour of our own wild kinds, but it has the 
 merit of distinctness, and is of the easiest culture in any moist 
 'boggy soil. It grows at vbry high elevations on the mountains 
 of Northern India, in the vicinity of water, and bears creamy- 
 white flowers, with a yellowish eye, more than an inch across, pn 
 Stems five to seven inches high, springing from smooth green 
 leaves a couple of inches long, nearly as much across, and with 
 a heart-shaped base. The flowers are very sweet, -and altogether 
 it highly merits culture in a moist spot on the -select rock- 
 work, or in a bog, and flowers from March to May. P. involu- 
 crata is a very closely allied kind, from the same regions, some- 
 what smaller, the leaves not heart-shaped at the base, and the 
 plant not quite so ornamental. It thrives under the same con- 
 ditions as its. relative. ..>,.,,■ 
 
 PRIMULA TSiVI'E.K.— Snowy Primrose. 
 
 A DWARF and neat species, freely producing trusses of lovely 
 White flowers, quite distinct in aspect from any other in culti- 
 vation, happily very easy of culture, and may be grown in pots or 
 in the open ground. 'If in pots, it should be frequently divided ; 
 for it has a tendency, in common with other choice Primulas, 
 to get somewhat naked aboiit the base of the shoots, and, as 
 these protrude rootlets, the Whole plant is likely to go off if 
 not taken up and divided into as many pieces as possible. 
 Every shoot will form a plant, inasmuch as each is usually fur- 
 nished with little rootlets, which take hold of fresh soil imme- 
 diately. Many people keep plants of Primulas like this for 
 years in the centre of the sanie pot, whereas by dividing them 
 and placing them down to the leaves in fresh soil much finer 
 specimens may be obtained. In a wild state the natural mois- 
 ture, and perhaps the accumulating debris of the mountains, 
 enable them to use those exposed rootlets and thrive ; but in 
 cultivation I have found it an excellent plan to divide such fine 
 Primulas as this, and plant them down to the leaves when their 
 stems have grown at all above the soil ; and I have no doubt 
 that careful annual division would suit them well. On dry 
 ground, it would have little or no chance unless surrounded by a 
 
Part n. PRIMULA. 291 
 
 few stones, which would prevent evaporation, and at the same 
 time save it from being lost among coarser things. The ground 
 would also be the better of being covered with an inch or so of 
 cocoa-fibre. In moist and elevated regions there would be less 
 trouble, but in all care should be taken to give the snowy Prim- 
 rose what it deserves — a select position on rockwork or in the 
 border, a light free soil, and plenty of water during the warm 
 season. It flowers in April and May, is a native of the Alps, 
 and is by some supposed to be a variety of P. viscosa. 
 
 PEIMULA OFFICINALIS.— Coje/j/z)). 
 
 The Cowslip, that familiar inhabitant of our meadows and 
 pastures, would be well worthy of introduction to our gardens 
 were it not a common native ; but the many handsome kinds 
 that have sprung from it are far more valuable from a gardening 
 point of view than the original form. Many of the plants pass-- 
 ing under the name of Polyanthuses may often prove hybrids of 
 parentage difficult to identify, and some botanists consider the 
 Primrose, Cowslip, and Oxlip as varieties of one species, P. veris 
 of Linnseus, who also entertained this ppinion. Mr. Darwin, 
 however, has recently proved that they have, as good right to be 
 called distinct species as any other subjects held to be distinct. 
 He concludes that, "although we may feel confident that Primula 
 veris, vulgaris, and elatior, as well as the other species of the 
 genus, are all descended from some primordial form, yet, from 
 the facts which have been given, we may conclude that they are 
 now as fixed in character as are very many other forms which 
 are universally ranked as species. Consequently, they have as 
 good a right to receive distinct specific names as have, for in- 
 stance, the ass, quagga, and zebra." He has proved the Poly- 
 anthus to be a variety of the Cowslip, having raised a great 
 number of crosses between it and the Cowslip, and found the 
 mongrels perfectly fertile. 
 
 Polyanthuses present a wonderful array of beauty, and are 
 not at all sufficiently appreciated. For rich and charmingly 
 inlaid colouring they surpass all other flowers of our gardens in 
 spring. It would require pages to describe .even the good 
 varieties. At one time the Polyanthus was highly esteemed as 
 a florists' flower, and none in existence better deserved the 
 attention and esteem of amateurs ; but nearly all the choice old 
 
292 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 a 
 
 kinds are now lost, and florists who really pay the flower any 
 attention are very scarce indeed. In consequence, however, of 
 the great facility with which varieties are raised from seed, 
 nobody need be without handsome kinds, and raising them will 
 prove interesting amusement for the amateur. The laws of the 
 florists are in this case of little more value than usual, but I 
 quote Maddock, because in the following passage he is de- 
 scribing a very beautiful type of the numerous variations of this 
 flower : " The ground colour is most to be admired when shaded 
 with dark rich crimson resembling velvet, with one mark or 
 stripe in the centre of each division of the limb, bold and dis- 
 tinct from the edging down to the eye, where it should terminate 
 in a fine point." He further says : " The pips should be large, 
 quite flat, and as round as may be consistent with their pecu- 
 liarly beautiful figure, which is circular, excepting those small 
 indentures between each division of the limb which divide it 
 into five or six heart-like segments. The edging should re- 
 semble a bright gold lace, bold, clear, and distinct, and so nearly 
 of the same colour as the eye and stripes as scarcely to be dis- 
 tinguished. In short, the Polyanthus should possess a graceful 
 elegance of form, a richness of colouring, and symmetry of parts 
 not to be found united in any other flower." Here, however, as 
 in most similar cases, the general cultivator will do well to select 
 the most diverse of the varieties that he may raise from seed or 
 otherwise become possessed of, and not be tied by any conven- 
 tional rules. 
 
 As to the capabilities of the various kinds of Polyanthus, it 
 would be difficult to name a hardy flower so generally useful. 
 The finer varieties are worthy of a place on rockwork amidst the 
 choicest alpine plants ; the showier ones do for bedding in the 
 spring garden. Numbers of the vigorous varieties so easily 
 raised from seed will form the most appropriate ornaments that 
 can be massed alongside of shady walks in pleasure-grounds. 
 Some may be employed as edgings. Many varieties are worthy 
 of being abundantly naturalised in pleasure-grounds and along 
 wood walks ; and, as we all know, the enthusiastic florist grows 
 the finer ones in pots. They are perhaps scarcely so much to be 
 recommended for using in masses in the spring garden as are the 
 finer varieties of the Primrose— requiring, in fact, to be seen rather 
 closely to be admired ; but wherever flowers are placed for their 
 individual beauty rather than for their mere effect as colouring 
 
Part II. PRIMULA. 293 
 
 agents, they are invaluable, and should be seen in strong tufts 
 round every shrubbery border. 
 
 The cultivation of Polyanthuses is, happily, almost as simple 
 as that of meadow grass. They grow vigorously in almost any 
 kind of garden soil, best in that which is somewhat rich and 
 moist. They thrive in the full sun, but enjoy best a partially 
 shaded and sheltered position, and are somewhat impatient of 
 heat and drought. When grown for bedding purposes, they are, 
 like the Primroses, &c., removed from the flower-garden to the 
 kitchen-garden or nursery in early summer, and again conveyed 
 there when the summer bedding plants have passed away. 
 Some varieties, a good deal larger in their parts than the com- 
 mon type, have been raised of late, and these are also very easy 
 of culture and very -vigorous ; and there are none, or very few, 
 double varieties, as in the case of the Primrose. There are, 
 however, some which are curious and interesting from the dupli- 
 cation of the calyx or corolla, and these are popularly known as 
 " hose-in-hose " Polyanthuses ; they grow with the same facility 
 as the others. Where soil is prepared for the choicer varieties, 
 any good loam with a free addition of decomposed leaf-mould 
 and decomposed cow-manure and sand will form an admirable 
 compost. 
 
 The Polyanthus may be raised with great facility from seed, 
 which should be sown immediately after it is gathered from the 
 plants, say, about the end of June. It will grow with vigour it 
 kept till the following spring, but by sowing it immediately 
 nearly a year is gained. The amateur wishing to raise choice 
 kinds had better sow the seed in rough wooden boxes or in 
 pans, but for all ordinary purposes a bed of finely pulverised 
 soil in the open air will answer to perfection. Sowings in early 
 spring are better made in rough shallow boxes or pans placed in 
 cold frames, as time will be gained thereby ; but the best plan 
 is not to lose the time by allowing the seed to remain idle in the 
 drawer all the autumn and winter, but to sow it directly it is ripe, 
 and by doing so have strong plants the following spring. 
 
 The common Oxlip is an hybrid more or less intermediate 
 between the Cowslip and the Primrose. It differs from the true 
 or Bardfield Oxlip by having much larger and brighter-coloured 
 flowers on longer footstalks, and by showing in the throat of the 
 flower the five bosses characteristic of the Primrose and Cows- 
 lip. Some varieties approach the Cowshp and others the 
 
394 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 Primrose in character. There ate various forms, not usually so 
 ornamental as the varieties of the Polyanthus, but more worthy 
 of culture than the true Oxlip of the Eastern Counties. In a 
 wild state the common Oxlips are rather rare, and, according to 
 Mr. Syme, " generally occurring whenever the Primrose and the 
 Cowslip grow together, but never found in districts inhabited 
 by only one of the parents." ', When cultivated in gardens, the 
 positions and treatment that suit the Polyanthuses and Primroses 
 will also suit the Oxlip. 
 
 P. suaveolens of Bertolini is a variety of the Cowslip found 
 in many parts of the Continent, and not sufficiently distinct 
 or ornamental to merit cultivation. 
 
 P. elatior is the true as distinguished from the common 
 Oxlip. It is not a very ornamental species,' the flowers being of 
 a pale buff yellow, and it is readily distinguished by its funnel- 
 and not saucer-shaped corolla, which is also quite destitute 
 of the bosses which are present in the Primrose and Cowslip. 
 It is, found in woods and meadows on clayey soils in the 
 Eastern Counties of England, particularly in Essex, Suffolk, and 
 'Cambridgeshire. It is of easy culture, and most suitable for 
 botanic gardens, or collections of interesting plants, being 
 neither distinct nor ornamental enough for very limited collec- 
 tions of ornamental kinds only. This plant is also known by 
 the name of the Bardfield OxUp. 
 
 PEIMTJLA 'StJJlTSXi'BX.— Large-leaved Primrose. 
 
 This is quite removed from other cultivated Primroses, inas- 
 much as it seems to grow all to leaf and stem, whereas many 
 of the other kinds often hide their leaves "with flowers. It is at 
 first sight more like a specimen of Semperyivum arboreum than 
 a Primrose, the leaves, almost as strong as those of young cab- 
 bages, being toothed and springing from a thick stout stem, which 
 generally rises sufficiently above the ground to be visible. In 
 April the bright yellow flowers appear in a bunch at the top of a 
 powdery stem, emit a' cowslip-like perfume, and are sufficiently 
 ornamental, though they rarely seem to fulfil the promise of the 
 vigorous-looking plant. I have seen it flourish healthfully in 
 rich light soil as a border-plant in various parts of these islands, 
 so that nothing more need' be said of its culture, and established 
 plants are easily increased by division. It is well suited for 
 
Part II. PRIMULA. 295 
 
 some isolated nook on rockwork, where there is an unusually 
 deep bed of soil. A native of Southern Italy. 
 
 PRIMULA PURPUREA.— /"zisr//^ Primrose.. 
 
 A HANDSOME Primrose, from elevations of 12,000 feet or more 
 on the Himalayas, and allied to P. denticulata, though far finer ; 
 the flowers, of an exquisite purple, are larger, in heads about 
 three inches across, and the leaves entire, by which it may be- 
 distinguished from its near relations. Sheltered and warm posi- 
 tions, but not very shady, on rockwork, or in the open parts of 
 the hardy fernery, will best suit it, the soil being i. light deep 
 sandy loam, well enriched with decomposed leaf-motld. I have 
 never seen it thrive so well as when planted in nooks at the base 
 of rocks which sheltered it, where it enjoyed more heat than' if 
 exposed ; but probably it will be found to thrive under ordinary 
 circumstances when plentiful enough for trial in various posi- 
 tions. At present it is scarce. 
 
 PRIMULA SCOTICA. — Scotch Bird's-eye Primrose. ' ' 
 
 This, one of the most lovely of its family and of the choicest little 
 gems in the British Flora, is a near ally of the Bird's-eye Prim- 
 ro.se of the moist and boggy mountain sides of the North qf Eng- 
 land. Its rich purple flowers, with la,rge,yellowish eye, open in the 
 end of April, supported on stems from half ^.n inch, to an, inch high, 
 growing an inch or two taller as the season advances.. It isisaid 
 by some botanists to be simply a variety of the Bird's-eye Prim- 
 rose, but the seedlings show no tendency to approach the larger 
 and looser P.farinosa, and Mr. Syme, who has carefully observed 
 the living- plant both in a. wild stat^ and cultivated in, his own 
 garden,- declares it to be' " perfectly distinct." , .Thet leaves are 
 very powdery on the under side, broadest near, the, njiddle, 
 shotter, and less indented than those of P.farinosa, -yvhich are 
 broadest near the end; and the whole plant, is about large 
 enough to associate with a dwarf moss or lichen. It is rather 
 difficult to obtain, unless one has an opportunity of getting, )i.t 
 from its native localities in Scotland ;. but it can be had froiji 
 several English and Scotch nurserymen who cultivate such 
 subjects. A native of the counties of Sutherland and Caith- 
 ness, and of the Orkney Isles, growing in damp pastures. 
 The best place to select for its cultivation i^ on a properly 
 
2g6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 made rockwork in some spot where it would have perfect 
 drainage, and not be injured by strong-growing subjects shading 
 it. The soil should be a friable loam, mixed with sandy peat 
 or a little cocoa-fibre, and made perfectly firm. If placed on 
 the level ground or on a raised border, a few pieces of broken 
 porous rock should be placed firmly in the ground around it, 
 so as to show half their size above tlie surface, prevent evapo- 
 ration, and also act as a guard to the very diminutive plant ; 
 and the same plan might be followed to some extent on a 
 rockwork. If a coating of dwarf moss is spread over the earth 
 after a time, I should not remove it, believing the tiny plant 
 to enjoy such a carpet, whether grown in pots or the open 
 air. Although so small, it is, when in health, a vigorous Lillipu- 
 tian, and seeds very freely, the self-sown seedlings having often 
 formed with me good plants on the mossy surface of the ground 
 or pots. I have grown. -it in the open air in the suburbs of 
 London ; but as a rule it is best for all who do not try it in a 
 pure atmosphere to grow it in well-drained pots or pans, using 
 the same kind of soil, and protecting the plants in a cool shallow 
 frame in winter, placing the pots out of doors in summer plunged 
 in coal-ashes or sand. In all cases the plant should be abun- 
 dantly watered in dry weather, whether in spring, summer, or 
 autumn. Easily propagated by seeds, which should be sown 
 soon after they are ripe in shallow pans of sandy peat or 
 fibrous loam mixed with cocoa-fibre, and placed in an open pit or 
 shallow cold frame. 
 
 PRIMULA SIKKIMENSIS.— i'/^-JzOT Cowslip. 
 
 This, one of the most remarkable of Primroses, has a leaf- 
 development not unlike that of P. denticulata, but when well 
 grown, it throws up strong flower-stems from fifteen inches to 
 two feet high, bearing numerous bell-Shaped, pale-yellow flovS'ers, 
 without a spot of any other colour, the pedicel smealy, the 
 blooms of an agreeable and peculiar perfume. Some of the 
 stems bear a head of more than five dozen buds and flowers, 
 and each individual flower is nearly an inch long and more than 
 half an inch across. It is perfectly hardy, and loves deep well- 
 drained and moist ground ; spots in the lower parts of rock- 
 work near water, or in deep boggy places, suit it best ; begins to 
 flower in May, and remains in flower for many weeks. It is a 
 
Part II. PRIMULA. 297 
 
 plant which, when plentiful, ought to be popular everywhere. It 
 is said to be the pride of all the Primroses of the mountains 
 of India, inhabiting wet boggy localities, at elevations of from 
 12,000 to 17,000 feet, and covering acres of ground with its yellow 
 flowers. Must be propagated by division, as it rarely or never 
 matures its seeds in this country. 
 
 PRIMUTjA %'S^3KB.'i^l,—Stuarfs Primrose. 
 
 A NOBLE and vigorous yellow Primrose, a native of the moun- 
 tains of Northern India, to some parts of which, according to 
 Royle, it gives a rich yellow glow. It grows about sixteen 
 inches high, has leaves nearly a foot long, lanceolate, mealy 
 below, smooth above, and sharply serrated ; the umbels being 
 many-flowered. Like P. denticulata and the purple Primrose, 
 the place most suitable for this is some perfectly drained and 
 sheltered spot on slightly elevated rockwork ; if convenient, 
 plant it against the base of rocks, which will shelter it from 
 cutting winds, though, when sufficiently plentiful, this precaution 
 may be dispensed with. A light deep soil, never allowed to get 
 dry or arid in summer, will suit it well. 
 
 PRIMULA VISCOSA.— Viscid Primrose. 
 
 This is the lovely little Primrose that travellers who visit the Alps 
 in early summer see opening its clear rosy-purple flowers with 
 white eyes at various altitudes ; sometimes, in crossing a high pass, 
 it comes into view, plant, flower and all, not bigger than a shil- 
 ling, but still bravely flowering^indeed, nearly all flower ; while 
 on sunny slopes and in the valleys it may be seen nearly as 
 large as the Auricula. It is known by its dark-green obovate or 
 suborbicular leaves with close-set teeth, covered with glandular 
 hairs, and viscid on both sides ; the flower-stems, which elevate 
 the sweet blooms barely above the foliage, being also viscid. It 
 is well-adapted for rockwork, on which it may be grown in any 
 position in light peaty or spongy loam, with about one-half its 
 bulk of fine sand, provided its roots are kept moist during 
 the dry season. A native of the Alps and Pyrenees ; easily 
 increased by division, and may also be raised from seed. 
 Varieties are sometimes found with white flowers, but rarely. 
 It is sometimes grown under the name of P. villosa. The 
 handsome purple Primroses known in gardens under the name 
 
298 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 of P. ciliata and P. ciliata purpurea are varieties of this, the ' 
 last said to be a hybrid between it and an Auricula. 
 
 PRIMULA VULGARIS.— Common Primrose. 
 
 The Gentians and dwarf Primulas do not do more for the Alps 
 than this charming wilding for the hedge-banks, groves, open 
 woods, and borders of fields and streams of the British Isles. 
 No need to say anything of its appearance, which must be 
 familiar to every person who has seen a wild flower in a country 
 lane. In some places it varies a good deal in colour, and some 
 of the prettiest of the wild varieties are worthy of being intro- 
 duced into shrubberies and semi-wild places, and also into 
 gardens. Although it does not vary so much as the CowsHp, 
 yet it does so in a degree that ought to make it much more 
 valuable in the hands of flower-gardeners than it is at present. 
 All the varieties would perhaps find their most appropriate 
 home in our woods and shrubberies ; but so long as rich and 
 lovely colour and fragrance are esteemed in the flower-garden 
 ' in spring, some of the more distinctly toned varieties should be 
 sought after. Varied hues of yellow, red, rose, lilac, bluish- 
 violet, lilac-rose, and white, have already been raised, and no 
 doubt many others will be raised in future, particularly if the 
 good single varieties should become popular plants for the 
 spring flower garden. Striking and desirable variations from 
 the commoner types will then be much more likely to be pre- 
 served. For bedding purposes these single varieties will always 
 prove more useful and effective than the old double kinds, 
 because more vigorous and easily increased. All the varieties 
 are readily increased by division of the offsets, or by seeds, which 
 are produced in abundance. Planted in woods and shrubberies, 
 the plants will take care of themselves — a quality that adds to 
 their charms. 
 
 When raised for flower-gardening purposes, some system of 
 culture must be pursued ; a very simple one will secure the best 
 results both as to the production of vigorous free-blooming 
 plants and an abundant stock. After the summer occupants 
 of the flower-beds are faded and removed in autumn, the 
 Primroses and other spring flowers are planted in the beds 
 as the taste of the grower may direct. About the middle or the 
 end of May it will be time to think of preparing the beds for 
 
Part II. PRIMULA. 299 
 
 their summer ornaments, and by that time the Primroses will 
 have begun to fade after furnishing a long and abundant bloom. 
 Then take them up, divide the offsets singly, doing this in a 
 shed or shady position if the day be sunny. Tufts of new or 
 scarce varieties, or those of which a large stock is required, may 
 be divided into the smallest offsets ; where much increase is not 
 required, the plants should simply be parted sufficiently to allow 
 of their healthy development. As soon as they are parted, they 
 should be planted in the kitchen-garden or some by-place. The 
 richer and moister the soil is the better they will grow, and if 
 the position be a half-shady one, it will be an improvement. 
 The alleys between the Asparagus-beds would do admirably for 
 them, in case room was scarce, and more convenient positions 
 could not be found. It would be desirable to shade them for a 
 few days after planting, if the weather be very bright, and 
 simply by spreading boughs or old garden mats over them ; 
 and it need hardly be added they .should be thoroughry watered 
 soon after planting. They should be planted in, line's at ten or 
 twelve inches apart each way if the plants be strong and regular 
 in their development, and, if small offsets, closer in the lines in 
 proportion to their size. By autumn they will make fine plants, 
 and may then be taken up, preserving as much of the root as 
 will come up with ordinary care, but not of necessity any soil or 
 ball, and transferring them to the beds in the flower-garden or 
 pleasure-ground. 
 
 However, the forms of the plant most precious for the garden 
 are the beautiful old double kinds. No sweeter or prettier 
 flowers ever warmed into beauty under a northern sun than their 
 richly and delicately tinted little rosettes. Once they were 
 grown in every garden ; Jhen the day came when they, in com- 
 mon with many hardy flowers, were cast aside to make way for 
 gaudier things ; but now people are beginning to grow them 
 again, and are enquiring where they can get some old and half- 
 lost kinds they used to know long ago. The best known and 
 most distinctly marked kinds are the double lilac, double purple, 
 double sulphur, double white, double crimson, and double red. 
 These and several other closely allied forms are occasionally 
 honoured with Latin names descriptive of their shades of colour, 
 In catalogues of the present day I find the following : — Pri- 
 mula vulgaris alba plena, lilacina plena, purpurea plena, 
 rosea plena, rubra plena, sulphurea plena; but we had better 
 
300 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 speak of them in plain English and confine the Latin term to 
 the species. 
 
 The double kinds, more delicate and slower-growing than 
 the single ones, require more care, and in their case the develop- 
 ment of healthy foliage after the flowering season should be the 
 object of those who wish to succeed with them. Shelter and 
 partial shade are the two conditions chiefly necessary to secure 
 this. Open woods, copses, and half-shady places are the 
 favourite haunts of the Primrose in a wild state. In them, 
 in addition to the shade, it enjoys shelter not merely from tall 
 objects around, but also from the Ibng grass and other herba- 
 ceous plants growing in close proximity ; and we should also 
 take into account the moisture consequent upon such com- 
 panionship, and let these facts guide us in the culture of the 
 double kinds. As' will be readily seen, a plant exposed to the 
 full sun on a naked border would be under a very different con- 
 dition to one in a thin wood ; the excessive evaporation and 
 searing away of the leaves by the- wind would be quite sufficient 
 to account for the failure of the exposed plant. It is therefore 
 desirable, in the case of the beautiful double Primroses, to plant 
 them in borders in slightly shaded and sheltered positions, using 
 light rich vegetable soil, and, if convenient, keeping the earth 
 from -being too rapidly dried up by spreading cocoa-fibre or leaf- 
 mould on it in summer. It would be better to plant them per- 
 manently in some favourite spot and leave them alone than to 
 change them repeatedly from place to place. They may, how- 
 ever, be employed as bedding plants, and successfully treated as 
 recommended for the single varieties, but for this purpose are 
 not so useful or pretty as when seen in good single tufts. 
 
 They are increased by division of the roots, and to take them 
 up in order to divide these is the only disturbance they should 
 suffer. The double Primroses well grown and the same kinds 
 barely existing are such very different objects that nobody will 
 begrudge giving them the trifling attention necessary to their 
 perfect development. Occasionally they may be seen flourishing 
 by chance in some cottage or old country garden, where they 
 find a home more congenial than the prim and bare fashionable 
 flower-garden of our own day. 
 
-tART II. PRUNELLA— PULMONARIA. 301 
 
 In addition to the Primroses above described, P. spectabilis, 
 a handsome kind with purphsh flowers and smooth leaves ; 
 P. carniolica ; P. intermedia, allied to farinosa and longijlora ; 
 P. sibirica, allied to P. cortusoides j P. pedemontana and P. 
 Dinyana, are amongst the best of the sorts in cultivation, but 
 most of them are very rare. The singular P. verticillata, . of 
 Arabia, covered with silvery farina and with yellow flowers in 
 whorls, is not hardy. P. Tkomasini, macrocalyx, intricata, 
 suaveolens, stricta, auriculata, Allioni, Clusiana, and mistassi- 
 nica, are either not sufficiently distinct from other and superior 
 sorts or are not ornamental enough to be recommended for 
 general cultivation. 
 
 PRUNELLA GRANDIFLORA.— Z<zr^« Self-heal. . 
 
 A HANDSOME and vigorous plant, with rather soft, sparsely- 
 toothed, ovate leaves, the lower ones about two inches and a half 
 long, and with channeled footstalks longer than the leaves, the 
 upper leaves smaller, and with the footstalks shorter than the 
 leaves. It is, however, not likely to be mistaken for any other 
 plant, and is readily distinguished by its large flowers from the 
 common British Self-heal, which is unworthy of cultivation. 
 There is a white as well as a purple variety, both handsome 
 plants, that thrive in almost any ground, but prefer a moist and 
 free soil and a position somewhat shaded. They are apt to go 
 off in winter on the London clay, at least on the level ground. 
 Well suited for the mixed border, for banks, or for naturahsation 
 in copses, &c. A native of Continental Europe ; flowering in 
 summer. 
 
 PULMONAELfi. OyFIClNALlS.— Lungwort. 
 
 A SOMEWHAT rare British plant, but often grown in cottage gar- 
 dens, and, if hot sufficiently ornamental for the rock-garden, very 
 desirable for borders and spring gardens. It has coarsely hairy 
 root-leaves, nearly oval in outline and acute at the apex, abun- 
 dantly marked on the upper surface with white blotches ; the 
 flowers at first rose and then blue, on stems from six inches to a 
 foot high, abundantly produced in spring. The blue-flowered 
 P, angustifolia is by some botanists united with this species, and 
 there is a white and a spotless variety in cultivation. The Lung- 
 wort and its varieties are very vigorous and hardy, thriving on 
 
302 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 any soil, and forming attractive beds in the spring garden. They 
 are also worthy of being planted in semi-wild places, but do not 
 deserve a place in the select rock-garden except where more . 
 valuable plants are very scarce. 
 
 PUSCHKINIA ^CUSL,OrD'SS,.—Sdlla-Uke P. 
 
 A FASCINATING fairy plant, and the most delicately beautiful 
 thing in the way of a spring bulb that I am familiar with ; 
 the flowers white, striped and tinged with a. delicate blue, the 
 small prostrate leaves concave ; easily grown too — more so than 
 the Squills ; it does not last long in flower, but few spring flowers 
 do. The best position for this is on low banks, in the rock- 
 garden, or in' positions where its delicate flowers may be seen 
 somewhat beneath the eye, associated with dwarf Primulas, the 
 Rush Daffodil, and other diminutive spring flowers. A native of 
 the Caucasus, flowering in spring, easily increased by division 
 of the root, and flourishing best in very sandy light soil. 
 
 PYEOLA 'ROTVN'DlFOIjIA.—Larg-er Wintergreen. 
 
 A RARE native plant, inhabiting woods, shady, bushy, and reedy 
 places ; with leathery leaves, roundish or broadly oval, very 
 slightly toothed, and erect stems, bearing long and handsome 
 slightly-drooping racemes of pure white fragrant flowers, half an 
 inch across, ten to twenty flowers being borne on a stem from 
 six inches to a foot high. Pyrola rotundifolia, var. arenaria, 
 is another very graceful plant, found wild on sandy sea-shores, 
 and differing from the preceding in being dwarfer, deep green, 
 and smooth, and generally with several empty bracts below the 
 inflorescence. Both are beautiful plants for shady mossy flanks 
 of rockwork, in free sandy and vegetable soil, and flourish 
 more readily in cultivation than any species of their family. In 
 America there are varieties of this plant with flesh-coloured and 
 reddish flowers, none of which are in cultivation with us. 
 
 Pyrola uniflora, media, minor, and secunda, are also interest- 
 ing British plants, of which the first, a very rare one in oiu- Flora, 
 is the most ornamental. P. elHptica, a native of North America, 
 is also in our gardens, though rare. Any of these plants that 
 can be obtained are worthy of a place in thin mossy copses on 
 light sandy vegetable soil, or in. moist and half-shady parts of 
 the rockwork or fernery. 
 
Part II. PYXWANTHBRA— RANUNCULUS. 303 
 
 PYXIDANTHEEA BAKBVLAi: A— Bearded P. 
 
 A CURIOUS and minute American plant, plentiful in sandy 
 dry " pine barrens " from New Jersey to North Carolina. It is 
 an evergreen shrub, yet smaller than many mosses ; the leaves 
 narrow, awl-pointed, and densely crowded; bearded at the base ; 
 the flowers are placed singly, and are stalldess, but very numerous, 
 rose-coloured in bud, white when open. The effect of the rosy 
 buds and five-cleft white flowers on the dense dwarf cushions is 
 singularly pretty. Generally found in low, but not wet, places, 
 and usually on little mounds, it is a gem for the rockwork, on 
 which it should be planted in pure sand and vegetable mould, 
 and fully exposed to the sun. Flowers in early summer ; in- 
 creased by division, and is as yet very scarce. 
 
 EAMONDIA PYRENAICA.— Pyr«»^a« Ji- 
 
 An interesting, distinct, and rather ornamental Pyrenean plant, 
 found on steep and somewhat shady rocks, and, according to 
 Ramond, exclusively in valleys leading from north to south ; 
 having leaves in rosettes spreading very close to the ground, 
 blistered, deeply wrinkled, and densely covered with short hairs 
 —quite shaggy beneath and on the leaf-stalk. The flowers are 
 borne on stems two to six inches long, from an inch to an inch 
 and a half across, purple-violet, with orange-yellow centre. It 
 does very well on rockwork in mossy fissures filled with well- 
 dr^-ined peaty earth, and is easily grown in cold frames in well- 
 drained pots, well watered during the warm months. Flowers 
 in spring and enrly summer. Increased from seed with the 
 greatest facihty, and well worthy of general culture. 
 
 RANUNCULUS AOONITIFOLIUS.— /7zz> Maids of France. 
 
 This white-flowered Crowfoot, which grows from eight inches to 
 a yard high in moist parts of vaHeys and woods in the Alps and 
 Pyrenees, is too large and not sufficiently ornamental for culti- 
 vation in the rock-garden; but its double variety (R. aconitifolius 
 fl. pi.) is a beautiful old border-flowei", now rarely seen. The flowers 
 are not large, but are so white and neat and pretty and double 
 that they resemble a miniature double white Camellia, and are 
 useful for cutting, apart from their appearance in theborder. A 
 rich light soil and partial shade will be found to suit it best. 
 
304 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 Well worthy of a place on the shady side of rpckwork, in the 
 open parts of a rocky fernery, or on half-shady borders. 
 
 RANUNCULUS ALPESTEIS.— .<4 .^ Crowfoot. 
 
 A VERY pretty and diminutive species, growing from one to 
 three or four inches high, and, when well grown, forming neat 
 tufts, each stem bearing from one to three pure white flowers, 
 which open in April. The leaves are of a dark glossy green, 
 roundish-heart-shaped in outline, and deeply divided ; the roots 
 fibrous, numerous, and white. A native of most of the great 
 mountain ranges of Europe, in moist rocky places on the higher 
 pastures, and one of the most desirable alpine plants for the 
 rock-garden. It is not difficult to grow in moist, sandy, or gritty 
 soil, in positions thoroughly exposed to the sun, and abundantly 
 supplied with moisture in summer. 
 
 R. Traunfellneri seems to be a diminutive of the preceding ; 
 the whole plant, even as I have observed it in cultivation, being 
 not more than one inch high. The same treatment will suit it 
 as the preceding ; but, being smaller, it will require a little more 
 care in selecting some firm spot fully exposed to the sun and 
 air, but kept moist and firm with a surfacing of moist grit, sand, 
 or small stones, till the plant is estabUshed into a little spread- 
 ing tuft. 
 
 RANUNCULUS &MS\:ESXCtJSi:L^.— Stem-clasping Crowfoot, 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL species, with large white flowers having yellow 
 centres, one to five flowers being borne on each of the stems, 
 which are clasped by smooth, gradually pointed, and sea-green 
 leaves, while oval-pointed leaves spring from the root, and set 
 off, so to speak, the snowy bouquet of flowers which adorns 
 the plant when well grown. I know no more graceful plant 
 for the rock-garden or the border — an alpine Buttercup, with the 
 purity of flower of a Snowdrop, its leaves not cut into raggedness 
 like those of many of its fellows, but as tenderly veined and carved 
 as if its natural home was some warm eastern isle, A native of 
 the Alps, Pyrenees, and other mountain ranges, usually growing 
 about six inches high, flowering in gardens in April or May, and 
 increased by seed or division. I have seen the plant thriving 
 in the London clay in Regent's Park, so there should be httle 
 difficulty about its cultivation. It is worthy of the best positions 
 
Part II. RANUNCULUS. 305 
 
 on rockwork or in borders, and is also an elegant subject for 
 growing in pots in cold frames. 
 
 RANUNCULUS GLACIAIilS.— G/aaVr Butteraip. 
 
 A WELL-NAMED plant, as it is an inhabitant of very high places 
 on the Alps, and may be often seen in flower near the snow ; 
 indeed, I have scraped away the snow in quantities to get at it. 
 The flowers are rather large, and white-tinted, of a dull purplish 
 rose on the outside ; the calyx soft, with shaggy brownish hairs ; 
 the leaves smooth, deeply cut, and of a dark brownish green. 
 From one to five flowers are borne on the stems, which in a wild 
 state are rather prostrate, and seldom more than six inches long. 
 This very interesting, as well as ornamental kind, will thrive 
 best in a cool position in deep, gritty, peaty soil, with abundance 
 of water during the warm months. I have seen it growing 
 abundantly from under flat stones, and perhaps it would be well 
 to try a few under like conditions on the rockwork. Possibly it 
 will prove more easy of cultivation than is at present supposed, 
 and there certainly should be no difficulty in succeeding with it 
 ' in northern and elevated districts. On the Alps it blooms in 
 early summer, in our gardens somewhat' earlier. It is easily 
 raised from seed, and i^ its native habitat spreads about freely. 
 This is the plant which Mr. Ruskin met high up among the 
 icy rocks, struggling successfully for life near the margins of the 
 everlasting snowy solitudes of the Alps, and which pleased him 
 so much there. 
 
 RANUNCULUS JI^KlASa—Rockwood Lily. 
 
 " Dr. Hooker calls this plant, as well he may, the 'most noble 
 species of the genus ' — ' the Water Lily of the shepherds.' In- 
 deed, even in the dried specimens, of which there are many in the 
 Kew herbaria, the resemblance to our common white Water Lily 
 is striking. The plant is stated to grow in moist places in the 
 Southern Alps, the Wurumui Mountains, in the glacier regions of 
 the Forbes River, near Otago, and elsewhere in the Middle Island 
 of New Zealand, at heights of from 1000 to 5000 feet above the 
 sea. In habit it seems almost identical with our common marsh 
 Marigold, but is twice or thrice larger. The leaves are circular, 
 twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, very like those of the plant 
 last mentioned, but peltate, as in the Nelumbium. The flowers 
 
 X 
 
3o6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 are borne in panicles ; each flower is of the purest waxy-white 
 colour, three to four inches across, and in shape and aspect is 
 like a Brobdingnagian Buttercup. We imagine there would be 
 no great difficulty in growing the plant if we once got it here. 
 To this end we should be disposed^ in addition to more ordinary 
 methods of transport, to try several means, such as sowing the 
 seeds in a Wardian case, or placing them in a closed bottle in 
 damp moss or moistened earth. At any rate, ' moist shady 
 gullies ' in New Zealand mountains must no longer be suffered 
 to have the monopoly of so grand a plant as this." — ' Gardener's 
 Chronicle.' "When it is readily obtainable in this country, no 
 doubt it will form a grand object for moist, depressed, sheltered 
 places in the neighbourhood of the rockwork or hardy fernery, in 
 deep moist soil. It grows from two to four feet high. 
 
 EANDNCULUS M.ON'SKSXSS.— Mountain Buttercup. 
 
 A PLANT with dwarf compact tufts of deep green, glossy 
 leaves, deeply divided, and with obtuse lobes, covered in spring 
 with a dense mass of brilliant yellow flowers, somewhat larger 
 than those of our common Buttercup [R. acris). Although so 
 like a Buttercup in tone, it is unlike it in its dwarf compact 
 habit, usually flowering at three inches high, and, though 
 growing freely enough, not spreading about with the coarse 
 vigour of many of its fellovfs, each little stem bearing one 
 flower, A native of alpine pastures on the principal great 
 mountain-chains of Europe, growing freely in moist sandy 
 soil on rockwork, on which it should be planted so as to form 
 spreading tufts, or in lines in chinks or ledges. Readily increased 
 by seed or division. 
 
 RANUNCULUS PABNASSIPOLIUS.— i'arwajJM-Zzfe R. 
 
 A HANDSOME and distinct kind, with beautiful pure white 
 flowers like those of R. amflexicdulis, from one to a dozen or 
 more being borne on each stem, which, according to soil and 
 position, grows from two to eight inches high, and is somewhat 
 velvety, and of a purplish tone. The leaves are entire-margined, 
 but of a dark brownish-green, oval-heart-shaped, or occasionally 
 kidney-shaped, in outline, sometimes slightly woolly along the 
 margins and nerves, and not so graceful as those of if. amplexi- 
 caulis. The roots are long, fibrous, and numerous, united in a 
 
Part II. RANUNCULUS— RHEXIA. 307 
 
 stout stock, and the whole plant of a leathery, firm texture. It 
 is as yet comparatively rare in our gardens, though abundant in 
 many parts of the Pyrenees and Alps. No plant is more worthy 
 of culture in the rock-garden, in deep, sandy, Well-drained loam. 
 There is a variety with narrow leaves, probably not at present in 
 cultivation. 
 
 RANUNCULUS RUTJEFOLIUS.— -ffK«-/«aw^ Crowfoot. 
 
 An interesting species, with much and deeply divided leaves 
 (the radical ones twice divided), reminding one somewhat of 
 those of a very dwarf Aquilegia more than of a Crowfoot, and 
 pretty white flowers, with orange centres, about an inch across. 
 The stems vary from three to six inches high, bearing from one 
 to three flowers, usually but one ; the flowers are sometimes rose- 
 tinted on the outside. Not difficult to cultivate in the same soil 
 and position as are recommended for the Alp Crowfoot, and 
 deserving a place in every collection. A native of elevated parts 
 of the great continental ranges, increased by seed or division. 
 It is sometimes made a separate genus of, under the name 
 Callianthemum rutcefolium. 
 
 The preceding kinds I believe to be the most worthy of culture 
 of all obtainable dwarf Ranunculi ; there are, however, others 
 worthy of a place in large collections, and of these, R. pyrenaUs, 
 graniineus, Thora, Gouani, spicatus, and uniflorus, are among 
 the best. The double varieties of our common R. acris, R. bul- 
 bosus, and also a fine large double kind known as R. bullatus 
 fl. pi., are very ornamental ; and though they may, with the ex- 
 ception of the last, not be fit for the choice rock-garden, they 
 should be planted freely in borders, rocky, or semi-wild places, 
 as the golden button-like flowers last a long time in bloom. 
 
 RHEXIA "VTRaiNICA.— Af^a(/oze/ Beauty. 
 
 A RARE American plant of the Melastoma order, but perfectly 
 hardy, forming neat little bushes, from six to twelve inches 
 high ; the stems square, with wing-like angles^ ; the leaves oval- 
 lance-shaped, on very short stalks, and with bristly teeth ; the 
 flowers a beautiful rosy purple, appearing in summer and early 
 autumn. A native of North America, from a considerable dis- 
 
3o8 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 tance north of New York to Virginia, and westward to Illinois 
 and the Mississippi, usually in sandy swamps. It is very rare, 
 indeed, to see it well-grown in this country, though no plant is 
 more desirable for the rock-garden or artificial bog. The only 
 place in which I have noticed this plant invariably doing weU 
 is in Messrs. Osborn's nursery, at Fulham, planted in beds of 
 deep and moist sandy peat, and I believe it would enjoy even a 
 greater degree of moisture than it obtains there. Deep, sandy, 
 boggy soil, with abundance of moisture at all times, wiU suit it 
 well. Propagated by careful division. 
 
 RHODODENDRON C^SJJJLmC^^^l^J%.— Thyme-leaved R. 
 
 A Lilliputian Rhododendron, rising scarcely a span high, and 
 thickly clothed with small fleshy leaves, ciliated at the edge, 
 and covered with exquisite flowers, of a lively purple colour, 
 three or four together, divided into five segments at the mouth, 
 about the size of those of Kalmia latifolia. This plant is very 
 rarely seen in good health in gardens, and for its successful 
 cultivation requires to be planted in limestone fissures, in peat, 
 loam, and sand in about equal proportions. A native of cal- 
 careous rocks in the Tyrol, and one of the most precious of 
 dwarf rock-shrubs, very suitable for association with such sub- 
 jects as the small Andromedas and Menziesias. Flowers in 
 early summer. 
 
 The well-known Rhododendron ferrugineum and hirsutum, 
 each bearing the name of " alpine Rose," and which ofteij ter- 
 minate the woody vegetation on the great mountain chains of 
 Europe, are easily had in our nurseries, and well suited for 
 large rockwork, in deep peat soil, in which they attain a height 
 of about eighteen inches. R. Wilsonidnum, myrtifolium, amce- 
 num, hybridum, dauricum-atrovirens, Gowenianum, odoratum, 
 and Torlonianum, are also comparatively dwarf kinds, which 
 may be tastefully employed in the rock-garden— the last two 
 very sweetly scented. It is perhaps needless to add that they 
 should rot be too intimately associated with minute alpine 
 plants. 
 
Part II. SAGINA—SANGUINARIA. 309 
 
 SAGINA GLABRA. — Lawn Pearlwort. 
 
 A PLANT very generally known in consequence of being much 
 talked of a few years since as a substitute for lawn-grass, and 
 though it has not answered the expectations formed of it in 
 that way, it is none the less a very beautiful and minute alpine 
 plant exceedingly welcome on rockwork, and forming carpets 
 almost as compact and smooth as velvet on, level soil, dotted 
 with numerous small but pretty and white flowers, the light, 
 fresh green, moss-like carpet being starred with them in early 
 summer. It is unsurpassed for forming carpets of the freshest 
 and dwarfest verdure beneath taller, but coinparatively small, 
 beautiful and rare bulbs or Other plants which it may be de- 
 sired to place to the best advantage. It is most readily multi- 
 pUed by pulling the tufts into small pieces, and replanting them 
 at a few inches apart ; they soon meet and form a carpet. 
 It is also readily increased by seeds, but this mode is rarely 
 worth resorting to, unless it is desired to propagate the plant 
 largely for lawn-making. Although it does not generally form 
 a permanent and satisfactory turf yet it is quite possible by 
 selecting a rather deep Sandy soil, and by keeping it perfectly 
 clean and well rolled, to make a beautiful turf of it ; but this 
 is rarely worth attempting except on a small scale, and when 
 it begins to perish in flakes here and there, it should be taken 
 up and replanted. It is very commonly grown in gardens under 
 the name of Spergula pilifera, but it really is a variety of Sagina 
 glabra of the Alps, found on high mountains in Corsica. Are- 
 naria ccBspitosa, Spergula subulata, axidSpergulasaginoides (a 
 British plant) are also names by which it is known in gardens 
 and described in gardening periodicals. 
 
 SANGUINAEIA CANADENSIS.— .S/f'Oisi'wo/. 
 
 •A CURIOUS, distinct, and pretty plant, with thick underground 
 stems, from which spring kidney-shaped leaves cut into large 
 wavy or toothed lobes, sea-green in tone, and full, of an orange- 
 red and acrid juice. The 'Stems grow from fqur, to six inches 
 high, each bearing a solitary and handsorne white flower when 
 the plant is established, in healthy tufts, which are very effective 
 in early spring. I have always observed this plant grow best in 
 somewhat shaded and moist positions and in rich but well- 
 
310 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 drained soil ; it is well worthy of a place on the rockwork, but 
 decidedly the best thing to do with it is to try and naturalise 
 it, on bare spots in open rich woods — positions like those in 
 which it is found wild in North America. Propagated by divi- 
 sion, and flowers in March. 
 
 SANTOLINA ISCKSK.— Hoary S. 
 
 A SMALL silvery shrub, with numerous branches and narrow 
 leaves, the whole plant covered with dense white down, form- 
 ing neat prostrate tufts of edgings in the flower-garden. The 
 ' flowers are rather small, pale greenish-yellow, and in no way 
 ornamental, but the plant is likely to be popular from its neat 
 habit and silvery hue, and it grows readily in ordinary soil 
 on the level border, and may be tastefully used on slopes of 
 rockwork. It is considered a variety of the better known S. 
 ChamcEcyparissus, the Lavender Cotton. This and its other 
 variety squarrosa are suitable for very large rockworks, banks, 
 &c., but, forming spreading silvery bushes, two feet high, in suit- 
 able soil, are not suited for intimate association with very dwarf 
 alpine plants. 
 
 Other species of Santolina are suited for hke purposes, 6', 
 pectinata and 5". viridis, for example, forming bushes somewhat 
 like the Lavender Cotton. Santolina alpina is of more alpine 
 habit, forming dense mats quite close to the ground, from which 
 spring yellow button-like flowers on long slender stems. It grows 
 in any soil, and may be used on the less important parts of 
 the rock-garden. Cuttings of the shrubby species strike readily, 
 and .y. alpina is easily increased by division. 
 
 SAPONAEIA OCTMOIDES.— i?o<:,J S. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL trailing rock-plant, with prostrate stems and an 
 abundance of rosy flowers, so densely produced as to completely 
 cover the cushions of leaves and branches. It is easily raised 
 fr6m seed or from cuttings, thrives in almost any soil, and is one 
 of the most Valuable plants we have for clothing the most arid 
 parts of rockwork, particularly in positions where a drooping 
 plant is desired, the shoots falling profusely over the face of the 
 rocks, and becoming masses of rosy bloom in early summer, and 
 
Part II. SAXIFRAGA. 311 
 
 also excellent for planting on ruins and old walls, on which the 
 seed should be sown in mossy chinks in spots where a little 
 soil has gathered. It is also a valuable border-plant, formingi 
 roundish spreading cushions, with masses of flowers, and is well 
 worthy of being naturalised in bare and rocky places. A native 
 of Southern and Central Europe in stony and rocky places, and 
 although it grows freely in poor soil when it is planted with the 
 view of allowing it to fall freely over the face of a rock, a greater 
 development will be secured by putting it in deep rich loam. 
 
 One or two other dwarf Saponarias have recently been intro- 
 duced to our gardens, S. liitea and .S". ccespitosa, for example. 
 The former of these is not worthy of cultivation except in S. 
 botanic garden, and the last insufficiently tried. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA hJZ.OYD'E&.— Yellow Mountain Saxifrage. 
 
 A NATIVE plant, very abundant in Scotland, the North of Eng-v 
 land, and some parts of Ireland, in wet places, by the sides of 
 mountain rills or streams, and often descending along their 
 course, into the low country, producing at the end of summer 
 or autumn an abundance of bright yellow flowers, half an inch 
 across, and dotted with red towards the base. It forms dense, 
 dwarf, bright green masses of leaves, and has leafy branched 
 flower-stems, by which it is distinguished from the other yellow 
 native Saxifrages. Although a moisture-loving mountain plant, it 
 is quite easy to grow in lowland gardens, naturally doing best in 
 moist ground. Wherever a small stream or rill is introduced 
 to the rock-garden or its neighbourhood, it may be most appro- 
 priately used, and planted so as to form wide-spreading masses, 
 as it does on its native mountains. Easily propagated by divi- 
 sion or by seed. When the leaves are sparsely ciliated, it is, 
 according to Mr. Sytne, the S. dutumnalis of Linnseus. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA KIZOOTS .—Aizoon Saxifrage. 
 
 Not a pretty-flowering kind, having a greenish-white bloom, 
 but it spangles over many a low mountain crest and high alp- 
 flank in Europe and America with its silvery rosettes, and in 
 our gardens these form such firm, compact, and roundish silvery 
 tufts in any common soil that it deserves to be universally culti- 
 
312 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 vated as a rock, border, and edging plant. Plants of it established 
 two or three years form grey-silvery tufts a foot or more in 
 diameter, and about six inches high, sometimes a few inches more 
 ■^ — ^these great tufts not flowering so freely as the wild plants, 
 which need not be regretted, as it is the silvery mass, and not 
 the flowers, that is sought. The plant is easily distinguished by 
 its rather oblong and obtuse leaves, bordered with fine teeth, the 
 borders densely margined with encrusted pores, and stiffly cili- 
 ated at the base ; and by the flower-stems, which grow from six 
 to fifteen inches high, being furnished with glandular hairs on the 
 upper part, and usually smooth on the lower. As to its culture, 
 nothing can be easier ; it is very often grown in pots, but grows 
 as freely as any native plant, and best perhaps when exposed to 
 the full sun. Easily increased by division. There are several 
 varieties. 
 
 SAXIFRAOA hXiViSCE^^-a..— Andrew^ s Saxifrage. 
 
 This interesting British plant is considered by some botanists 
 to be a garden hybrid, and with pretty good reason, judging by 
 the leaves and flowers ; but nothing more has been ascertained 
 about its history. Mr. Andrews found it first in Ireland, but it 
 has not since been discovered. Among the green-leaved kinds 
 there is no better. Its flowers are large and freely produced, 
 but I never could see any good seed on it. The leaves are long, 
 firm in texture, and with a membranous margin ; the prettily 
 spotted flowers being larger than those of .S". umbrosa, and the 
 petals conspicuously dotted with red, which, with other slight 
 characters, points to the probalDility of its being a hybrid be- 
 tween a London Pride and one of the continental group of 
 encrusted Saxifrages. It is more worthy of a position on a rock- 
 work than the London Pride or the Kidney-leaved S., but does 
 quite freely on any border soil, merely requiring to be replanted 
 occasionally when it spreads into very large tufts, or to have a 
 dressing of fine light compost sprinkled over it annually. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA ARETIOIDES.— ^/-^/za-//fe Saxifrage. 
 
 A VERY gem of the encrusted section, forming cushions of little 
 silvery rosettes, almost as small and dense as those cXAndrosace 
 helvetica, and about half an inch high. It has rich golden- 
 yellow flowers, appearing in April, on stems a little more than 
 
Part II. SAXJFRAGA. 313 
 
 an inch high, and reminding one of the flowers of Aretia 
 Vitalliana. The stems and stem-leaves are densely clothed 
 with short glandular hairs like those of a Drosera. Like most 
 of its brethren, not difficult to grow, but requires a moist and 
 well-drained soil, and, being so dwarf and tiny, must be guarded 
 from being overrun by coarser neighbours. A native of the 
 Pyrenees ; increased by seed and careful division. 
 
 SAXrPRAGA ASPERA. — Rough Saxifrage. 
 
 A SMALL, grey, tufted, prostrate plant, with lance-shaped and 
 ciliated leaves, the lower ones closely imbricated, the upper 
 ones somewhat scattered, producing few flowers, rather large, 
 but of a dull white colour, on stems about three inches high. 
 S. bry aides is considered a variety of this, and forms a densely 
 tufted diminutive plant, with pale yellow flowers, the rosettes of 
 leaves being almost globular, and the plant not forming stolons 
 or runners like the preceding. I have never seen either of these 
 plants displaying any beauty of bloom, but both are worthy of 
 growing for their moss-like character. Both are natives of the 
 Pyrenees ; .S. bry aides in the most elevated regions. Both are 
 quite easy of cultivation, growing freely in the open air in 
 London, but rarely flowering there. 
 
 SAXIFEAGA BIFLOEA. — Two-flowered Saxifrage- 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL dwarf species, allied to the British species S. op- 
 pasitifalia, but larger in all its parts, and immediately distin- 
 guished by producing two or three flowers together, and by 
 having its leaves thinly scattered, and not packed on the stems 
 like those of that species. It is also a much larger plant, 
 and has larger flowers, rose-coloured at first, changing to 
 violet. I found it in abundance on fields of grit and shat- 
 tered rock, in the neighbourhood of glaciers on very elevated 
 parts of the Alps, in company with Campanula cenisiaj and 
 just without the margins of the vast fields of snow, under which^ 
 even in June, lay numberless plants waiting for an opportunity 
 to open when the snow had thawed. It grew entirely in loose 
 grit so that with a little care, masses of the branched imbedded 
 stems and long fine roots could be taken up entire. I beheve it 
 usually inhabits like positions in what may be termed moving 
 ddbris, but like many other plants the conditions in which it 
 
314 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part IL 
 
 occurs in a wild state are by no means necessary to succeed 
 with it in gardens. It grows very freely on rockwork in gritty 
 or sandy soil, in well-drained positions in rich light loam, may 
 be increased by division, cuttings, or seed, and should be seen 
 in every select rock-garden. 
 
 SAXIFEAGA C^SIA. — Silver Moss. 
 
 This resembles an Androsace in the dwarfness and neatness 
 of its tufts. I have met with it on the Alps, in minute tufts, 
 staining the rocks and stones like a silvery moss, and on level 
 ground, where it had some depth of soil, spreading into beautiful 
 little cushions from two to six inches across. It is easily known^ 
 either in cultivation or in a wild state, by its exceeding dwarfness 
 and neatness, and by its three-sided, keeled leaves, regularly 
 margined with white crustaceous dots. It bears pretty white 
 flowers, about the third of an inch in diameter, on thread-like 
 smooth stems, one to three inches high. A native of the high 
 Alps and Pyrenees, it thrives perfectly well in our gardens in 
 very firm sandy soil, fully exposed, and abundantly supplied 
 with water in summer. It may be also grown well in pots or 
 pans in cold frames near the glass ; but, being very minute, no 
 matter where it is placed, the first consideration should be to 
 keep it distinct from all coarse neighbours, and even the smallest 
 weeds will injure or obscure it if allowed to grow. Flowers in 
 summer, and is increased by seeds or careful division. 
 
 SAXIPEAGA CERK'SO-S-S:^-ULiK.— Horn-leaved Saxifrage. 
 
 A FINE and ornamental species of the mossy section, with 
 very dark highly-divided leaves, stiff and smooth, with horny 
 points ; the flowers pure white, and abundantly produced in loose 
 panicles in early summer, the calyces and stamens covered with 
 clammy juice. It quickly forms strong tufts in any good garden 
 soil, and is admirably adapted for covering rockwork of any 
 description, either as wide level tufts on the flat portions or 
 pendent sheets from the brows of rocks. May also be used with 
 good effect in borders. A native of Spain ; increased by seed 
 or division. 
 
Part II. SAXIFRAGA. 315 
 
 SAXIPEAGrA CORDIFOLIA. — Heart-leaved Saxifrage. 
 
 Entirely different in aspect to the ordinary dwarf section of 
 Saxifrages, with very ample leaves, roundish-heart-shaped, on 
 long and thick stalks, toothed ; flowers a clear rose, arranged 
 in dense masses, which are half concealed among the great leaves 
 in early spring, apparently hiding under them from the cutting 
 breath of March. S. crassifolia is allied to this, and is useful 
 for similar purposes. They grow and flower in any soil or 
 position, and are thoroughly hardy ; but it is desirable to en- 
 courage their early-flowering habit by placing them in warm 
 sunny positions, where the fine flowers may be induced to open 
 well. They are perhaps more worthy of association with the 
 larger spring flowers and with herbaceous plants than with 
 dwarf alpines, and are well worthy of being naturalised on bare 
 sunny banks, in sunny wild parts of the pleasure-ground, or by 
 wood walks. They may also be used with fine effect on rough 
 rock or root work, near cascades, or on rocky margins to streams 
 or artificial water, their fine, evergreen, glossy foliage being quite 
 distinct. They may, in fact, be called the fine-foliaged plants 
 of the rocks. A native of Siberian mountains. S. ligulata 
 {Megasea ciliatd) is a somewhat tender species, and only suc- 
 ceeds out of doors in mild and warm parts of this country. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA OOTYUEHON.— Pyramidal Saxifrage. 
 
 A NOBLE Saxifrage, which embellishes with its great silvery 
 rosettes and elegant pyramids of white flowers many parts of the 
 great mountain ranges of Europe, from the Pyrenees to Lapland, 
 and easily known by its rather broad leaves, margined with 
 encrusted pores, and its fine handsome bloom. It is the largest 
 of the cultivated Saxifrages, and also the finest except ^. 
 longifolia, of which it has not the linear leaves. The rosettes 
 of the pyramidal Saxifrage differ a good deal in size. When 
 grown in tufts, they are for the most part much smaller, from 
 being crowded, than isolated specimens. The flower-stem varies 
 from six to thirty inches high, and about London, in common 
 soil, will often attain a height of twenty inches, and in cultiva- 
 tion usually attains a greater size than on its native rocks ; 
 though in rich soil, at the base of rocky slopes in a Piedmontese 
 valley, I have seen single rosettes as large as I have ever seen 
 
3 1 6 ALPINE FLO WERS. Part II. 
 
 them in gardens. The plant is perfectly hardy, and second to 
 none as an ornament of the rock-garden. It also thrives per- 
 fectly in common soil, and is in some places much grown in 
 pots for the decoration of the greenhouse. When the pyramids 
 of beautiful flowers are strong, or in an exposed position, it is 
 well to put a neat and inconspicuous but firm stake to each. 
 Nothing can be easier to propagate by division, or cultivate 
 without any particular attention. It is sometimes known as 
 .S". pyramidalis, though some consider this 2X least a variety, 
 having amore erect habit, narrower leaves, and somewhat larger 
 flowers. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA CYICBALAEIA.— Go/^/^w Saxifrage- 
 
 Quite distinct in aspect from any of the family, and one of the 
 most useful of all,'being a bright and continuous bloomer. I 
 have had little tufts of it, which, in early spring, formed 
 masses of bright yellow flowers set on light green, glossy, small 
 ivy-like leaves, the whole not more than three inches high- 
 These, instead of falUng into the sere and yellow leaf, and fading 
 away into seediness, kept still growing taller, still elevating, and 
 still preserving the same little rounded pyramid of golden flowers, 
 until autumn, when they formed specimens about twelve inches 
 high. It is an annual or biennial plant, which sows itself abun- 
 dantly, coming up in the same spot, is peculiarly suitable for 
 moist spots on or near rockwork, grows freely on the level 
 ground, and might be readily naturalised on the margins of a 
 rocky stream, and in various other places in large pleasure- 
 grounds. 
 
 SAXIFRAG-A DIAPENSIOIDES.— Z'za/^wjza S. 
 
 One of the very best of all the dwarf Saxifrages, and also one of 
 the smallest, admirably suited for choice rockwork or culture in 
 pans. I have grown it very well in an open bed in London, and 
 it would flourish equally well everywhere if kept free from weeds, 
 and in a well-exposed spot. The soil should be very firm and 
 well-drained, though kept moist in summer. The flowers are of 
 a good white, three to five on a stem, rarely exceeding two inches 
 high, and often not more than an inch ; the leaves grey, Unear, and 
 obtuse, packed into such dense cylindrical rosettes that esta- 
 blished specimens feel quite hard to the hand. It comes near 
 
Part II. SAXIFRAGA. 317 
 
 S. aretioides, but is at once distinguished from that by its white, 
 entire, and olDlong petals. A native of the Alps of Switzerland, 
 Dauphiny, and the Pyrenees. 
 
 SAXIFRAG-A G-EUM. — Kidney-leaved London Pride. 
 
 Very like the London Pride in habit and flowers, but with the 
 leaves roundish, heart-shaped at the base, on long stalks, and 
 with scattered hairs on the surfaces ; flowers about a quarter 
 of an inch across, and usually with reddish spots. A native 
 of various parts of Europe, useful for the same purposes and 
 cultivated with the , same facility as the London Pride, will 
 grow freely in woods or borders, particularly in moist dis- 
 tricts, and is worthy of naturalisation in the former. Like its 
 neighbours, it is, of course, suitable for rockwork, but does not 
 deserve that position so much as numbers of plants niuch more 
 difficult to grow. Saxifraga hirsuta comes near this, and is pro- 
 bably a variety, the chief difference being that the leaves are 
 longer than broad, less heart-shaped, and more hairy ; it is suit- 
 able for like positions. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA Qc^B.&XS^3^Ll^JiK.— Meadow Saxifrage. 
 
 A LOWLAND plant, with several small scaly bulbs in a crown at 
 the root, and common in meadows and banks in England, with 
 crenate leaves, thickly clothed with shaggy glandular hairs, and 
 numerous white flowers, three quarters of an inch across. I should 
 not name it here were it not for its handsome double form 
 .S". granulata fl. pi., which I have often seen flowering profusely 
 and prettily in little cottage gardens in Surrey. . It is very useful 
 in the spring garden as a border-plant, or on rougher parts 
 of rockwork. Mr. Bentham considers that the small bulb- 
 bearing S. cernua of Ben Lawers may be a variety of the 
 Meadow S. As a garden-plant, S. cernua, however, is a mere 
 curiosity, though it may be acceptable in botatiical collections. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA HIRCULUS.— F^//oa/ Marsh Saxifrage. 
 
 A REMARKABLE species, with a single bright yellow flower on each 
 stem, or sometimes two or three, three quarters of an inch across, 
 and tufts of obovate leaves, gradually attenuated into the stalk. 
 Quite different in aspect from any other cultivated Saxifrage. 
 A native of wet moors in various parts of England, not difficult 
 
3i8 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 to cultivate in moist soil, and thriving best under conditions as 
 near as possible to those of the places where it is found wild. 
 It is best suited for a moist spot near a streamlet of the rock- 
 garden, or for the artificial bog. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA HYPNOIDES.— iJ/oJjry Saxifrage. 
 
 A VERY variable plant in its stems, leaves, and flowers, but 
 usually forming mossy tufts of the deepest and freshest green, 
 abundant on the mountains of Great Britain and Ireland, and 
 common in gardens. In cultivation it attains greater vigour 
 than in a wild state, and no plant is more useful for forming 
 carpets of the most refreshing green in winter and almost in any 
 soil. For this reason it is peculiarly well suited for planting in 
 the low rocky borders often made in town and villa gardens, and 
 should be largely used by those who desire to rest their eyes on 
 glistening verdure during the winter months. It thrives either 
 on rockwork or the level ground, in half-shady positions or 
 fully exposed to the sun, forming the fullest and healthiest tufts 
 in the latter case, and flowering profusely in early summer. 
 Nothing can be easier to grow or increase by division. It is 
 also suitable for forming dwarf verdant carpets in the flower- 
 garden or on the rockwork with a view of placing one or more 
 plants on the surface. Chiefly distinguished by its narrow 
 and pointed leaves, sometimes entire, but often three- to seven- 
 cleft, and stems, sepals, leaves, and shoots more or less covered 
 with glandular hairs. Under this species may be grouped 
 6". hirta, S. affinis, S. incurvifolia, S.platypetala, and ^. deci- 
 piens, all exhibiting differences which some think sufficient to 
 mark them as species. They present considerable differences 
 in appearance when grown together in a garden, and many 
 amateurs will, no doubt, think them worthy of a place ; they 
 all thrive with the same freedom as the Mossy Saxifrage, ap- 
 pearing to suffer only from drought or very drying winds. If, 
 when first planted, a few largish stones are buried in the earth 
 round 6ach, the plants will soon lap over them, the stones will 
 serve to preserve the moisture in each tuft, and the plants will 
 be much less likely to suffer from drying winds. ^. caspitosa, 
 a British plant, comes near to this, but is known at once by its 
 obtuse lobes and more tufted habit, does not emit slender spread- 
 ing shoots like ^. hypnoides, and is scarcely so ornamental. 
 
Part 11. SAXIFRAGA. 319 
 
 SAXIFRAGA JtTNIPEEINA.— 7««z>>«r Saxifrage. 
 
 This is one of the most distinct and desirable kinds in culti- 
 vation, having spine-pointed leaves, densely set in cushioned 
 masses, looking, if one may so speak, like Juniper-bushes com- 
 pressed into the size of small round pin-cushions, and with little 
 seen but the prickly points of the leaves. The flowers are 
 yellow, arranged in spikes on a leafy stem, and appear in summer. 
 It thrives very well in moist, sandy, firm soil, and is well worthy 
 of a place in the rock-garden, and also in every collection of 
 alpine plants grown in pots. A native of the Caucasus ; propa- 
 gated by seed and careful division. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA l^O^GrXWOIAK.— Long-leaved Saxifrage. 
 
 The single rosettes of this are often six, seven, and eight inches 
 in diameter, and, while retaining all the charms of its con- 
 geners, it boldly spreads forth into an object as striking as 
 some of the prettier succulent plants of the New World or the 
 Cape. I have, indeed, measured one specimen more than a foot 
 in diameter. It may well be termed the Queen of the silvery 
 section of Saxifrages, and by that section are meant those 
 which have their greyish leathery leaves margined with dots of 
 white, so as to give the whole a silvery character. This is 
 so beautifully marked in that way that it is attractive at all 
 seasons, while in early summer it pushes up massive foxbrush- 
 like columns of ilowers from a foot to two feet long, the stem 
 covered with short, stiff, gland-tipped hairs, and bearing a mul- 
 titude of pure white flowers. 
 
 ' A native of the higher parts of the Pyrenees ; perfectly hardy 
 in this country ; not difficult of culture, and may be grown in 
 various ways. On some perpendicular chink in the face of 
 a rockwork into which it can root deeply, it is very striking when 
 the long outer leaves of the rosette spread away from the densely- 
 packed centre. It may also be grown on the face of an old wall, 
 ijeginning with a very small plant, which should be carefully 
 packed into a chink with a little soil. Here the stiff leaves will, 
 when they roll out, adhere firmly to the wall, eventually forming 
 a large silver star on its surface. It will thrive on a raised bed 
 or border, surrounded by a few stones to prevent evaporation 
 and to guard it from injury; It also thrives in a greenhouse 
 or frame, and perhaps the readiest way of getting a weakly 
 
320 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 young plant from the nursery to develop into a sturdy rosette 
 is to put it in a six-inch pot, well drained and filled with a mix- 
 ture of sandy loam and stable manure, and placed in a sunny 
 pit or frame, giving it plenty of water in spring, summer, and 
 autumn. It is propagated by seeds, which it produces freely. 
 In gathering them it should be observed that they ripen gra- 
 dually from the bottom of the stem upwards, so that the seed- 
 vessels there should be cut off first, leaving the unripe capsules 
 to mature, and visiting the plant every day or two to collect 
 them as they ripen successively. 
 
 ^. lingulata is by some authors united with the preceding, from 
 which it chiefly differs by having smaller flowers, by the leaves 
 and stems being smooth and not glandular, by its shorter stems, 
 and by the leaves in the rosette being shorter and very much 
 fewer in number than in the Long-leaved S. It is also a 
 charming rock-plant, and will succeed with the same treatment 
 and in the same positions as the preceding, i". crustata is con- 
 sidered a very small variety of the Long-leaved S. with the 
 encrusted pores thickly set along the margins ; being several 
 times smaller, it will require more care in planting, and to be 
 associated with dwarfer plants. 
 
 SAXIFRAOA OPPOSITIFOLIA.— /"^r/fo Saxifrage. 
 
 It is impossible to speak too highly of the beauties of this bright 
 little mountaineer, so distinct in colour and in habit from the 
 familiar members of its family. The moment the snow melts, 
 its tiny herbage glows into solid sheets of purplish rose-colour ; 
 the flowers solitary, on short erect little stems, and often so 
 thickly produced as to quite hide the leaves, which are small, 
 opposite, and densely crowded. In a wild state on the higher 
 mountains of Britain and the Continent, in which it has to sub- 
 mit to the struggle for life, it usually forms rather straggUng 
 little tufts ; but on fully exposed parts of rockwork, rooted 
 in deep, light, and moist loam, it forms rounded cushions, neat 
 at all seasons, and peculiarly appropriate on slopes of rockwork, 
 or fringing over the sides of rocks. Propagated by division, 
 and flowering in early spring. There are the following varieties 
 in cultivation : S. opp. major, rosy pink, large ; S. opp. pallida, 
 pale pink, large ; .S". opp. alba, white. 
 
Part II. SAXIFRAGA. 321 
 
 SAXIFRAGA EETXTSA. — Retuse-leaved Saxifrage. 
 
 A PURPLISH species, closely allied to our own ^. oppositifolia, 
 but, in addition to the different character of the leaves, dis- 
 tinguished by the flowers having distinct stalks, and being 
 borne two or three together on their little branches. The 
 small, opposite, leathery leaves are closely packed in four ranks 
 on the stems, which form dense prostrate tufts. A native of the 
 Alps and Pyrenees, flowers in early summer, may be cultivated 
 with great success in the same way as .J. oppositifolia, and well 
 merits a place in the rock-garden. It is also easily grown in a 
 pan in a cold frame. 
 
 SAXTFRAOA EOCHELIANA.— J?cc-^«/V Saxifrage. 
 
 A VERY compact and dwarf kind, forming dense silvery rosettes 
 of tongue-shaped white-margined leaves, with distinctly im- 
 pressed dots. It is distinguished among the dwarf silvery Saxi- 
 frages by producing large white flowers on sturdy little stems in 
 spring. I know no more exquisite plaiit for rockwork, for culture 
 in pans, or for small rocky or elevated borders. Any free, good, 
 moist, loamy soil will suit it, and I have seen it thriving very 
 well on borders in London. It should always be exposed to the 
 full sun, and deserves to be associated With the choicest spring 
 flowers and alpine plants. A native of Austria ; increased by 
 seeds or careful division. 
 
 SAXrPRAGrA SARMENTOSA.— Cr«^/z»^ Saxifrage. 
 
 A WELL-KNOWN old plant, with roundish leaves, mottled above, 
 red beneath, with numbers of creeping, long, and slender runners, 
 producing young plants strawberry fashion. Striking and sin- 
 gular in leafage, it is also ornamental in bloom, and growing 
 freely in the dry air of a sitting-room, may be seen gracefully 
 suspended in numerous cottage windows. It perhaps is most at 
 home running wild on banks or rocks, in the cool greenhouse or 
 conservatory ; however, it lives in the open air in mild parts of 
 England, and, where this is the case, may be used in graceful 
 association with ferns and other creeping plants. A native of 
 China, flowering in summer. Closely allied to S. sarmentosa 
 is the delicate dodder-like Saxifrage, S. cuscutceformis, so called 
 from having thread-like runners like the stems of a dodder, and 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 distinguished by having much smaller leaves, and the petals more 
 equal in size than those of sarmentosa, in which the two outer 
 ones are much larger than the others. It will serve for the 
 same purposes as the Creeping Saxifrage, but, being much more 
 delicate and fragile in habit, will require a Httle more care. The 
 plants grown in gardens as .5'. japonica and S. tricolor axe con- 
 sidered varieties of the Creeping Saxifrage. 
 
 SAXIPRAG-A UMBROSA.— London Pride. 
 
 This almost universally cultivated plant grows abundantly on the 
 mountains round Killarney, though it was much grown in our 
 gardens before it was recognised as a native of Ireland. It is 
 needless tb describe the appearance of such a very familiar plant ; 
 it is, however, distinguished from .5'. Geum by having gval-oblong 
 leaves, narrowed and not heart-shaped at the base ; its flowers, 
 too, are a little larger and more freely dotted with red. It 
 is much used as an edging plant in old gardens, and, being such 
 a pleasing evergreen, should be freely used for embellishing 
 the rough parts of rockwork, the fringes of cascades, &c. It is 
 naturalised in several parts of England, and grows freely among 
 dwarf herbage, or in rocky ground in woods. There are several 
 varieties, a;s, for example, S. punctata and .S". serratifolid, which 
 are distinct enough when grown side by side, and submit to the 
 same culture. 
 
 It is believed that the preceding are among those best worth 
 growing. The following is a list of the other species or reputed 
 species believed to be in cultivation now in this country. 
 Those most worthy of culture are marked by an asterisk. 
 
 Saxifraga adscendens 
 
 Saxifraga cochleata 
 
 Saxifraga globifera 
 
 ajugEefolia 
 
 * crustata 
 
 Gmelini 
 
 ambigua 
 
 cuneifolia 
 
 *Guthrieana 
 
 androsacea 
 
 *daurica 
 
 hieraciifolia 
 
 aquatica 
 
 elatior 
 
 *Hostii 
 
 atropurpurea 
 
 elongella 
 
 *icelandica 
 
 *Bucklandii 
 
 erosa 
 
 iiifundibulum 
 
 bulbifera 
 
 exarata 
 
 *intacta 
 
 Burseriana 
 
 flavescens 
 
 * intermedia 
 
 calcarata 
 
 geranioides 
 
 japonica 
 
 * capillaris 
 
 germanica 
 
 setevirens 
 
 condensata 
 
 *gibraltarica 
 
 laevigata 
 
 *contraversa 
 
 glacialis 
 
 *l£evis 
 
Part II. 
 
 SCmSTOSTEGA. 
 
 323 
 
 Saxifraga leptopliylla 
 
 * Saxifraga pennsyl- 
 
 Saxifraga spatliulata 
 
 *lutea viridis 
 
 vanica 
 
 sponhemica 
 
 * marginata 
 
 pentadactylis 
 
 * Stansfieldii 
 
 * media 
 
 petrsEa 
 
 stellaris 
 
 Moliyi 
 
 planifolia 
 
 stenopliylla 
 
 multicauUs 
 
 pulchella 
 
 * Sternbergii 
 
 *muscoides 
 
 *purpurascens 
 
 Tazetta 
 
 ■"nervosa 
 
 pygmaea 
 
 *tenella 
 
 nivalis 
 
 * recta 
 
 thysanodes 
 
 ohioerisis 
 
 recurva 
 
 tricuspidata 
 
 orientalis 
 
 reniformis 
 
 trifida 
 
 * palmata 
 
 Rhei 
 
 trifurcata 
 
 *paniculata 
 
 *rosularis 
 
 trilobata 
 
 parnassica 
 
 , rotundifolia 
 
 villosa 
 
 *pectinata 
 
 rupestris 
 
 virginiensis 
 
 pedata 
 
 * Schraderi 
 
 Webbiana 
 
 pedatifida 
 
 sibirica 
 
 
 SCHISTOSTEGA F:EiNNATA.— Iridescent Moss. " 
 
 Mosses are small, but this is so very small that it virould hardly 
 be noticed by the naked eye were itnot for the iridescent gleams 
 of beautiful colour which it displays when viewed in positions 
 where it flourishes. It is no exaggeration to state that some of 
 the stones and sods on which it grows look as if sown with a 
 mixture of gold and the material that goes to form the wings of 
 green humming birds. It is almost startling to see this little 
 gem for the first time, no '' plant " being visible to the casual 
 visitor, who wonders what produces the exquisite colour. It 
 was supposed to require a particular kind of rock on which to 
 grow ; but I have been lately much pleased to see its wonderful 
 coruscations spread over sods of turf and masses of peat, quite 
 as well as on the chips of rock brought from its native place. 
 Messrs. Stansfield have it in beautiful condition among the 
 rocks in their cool fernery at Todmorden, and Messrs. Back- 
 house have it in perfection both in the open air, in a quiet, deep 
 gorge of rocks, where it obtains sufficient moisture without being 
 washed by rains, and also in their underground fernery, con- 
 structed for the rarer filmy ferns, which proves that there is no 
 insurmountable difficulty in establishing it in like positions ; and 
 certainly the most graceful dwarf or biggest tree fern is not 
 capable of adding to them a more decided charm than this most 
 diminutive moss. 
 
324 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 SCILLA AM.CENK.— Pleasing Squill. 
 
 A DISTINCT, earljr-spring-flowering kind, opening soon after i". 
 sibirica, and readily known from any of its relatives by the large 
 yellowish ovary showing conspicuously in the centre of the dark 
 indigo-blue flowers. It is, though sufficiently attractive to merit 
 a place in borders and collections of hardy bulbs, less orna- 
 mental than any other kind here mentioned, the flowers being 
 arranged in a somewhat sparse and rigid manner, and having 
 none of the grace characteristic of .S". catnpanulata, or of the va- 
 rieties of S. nutans, or the dwarfness and brilliancy of S. sibirica. 
 The leaves, usually about half an inch across, attain a height of 
 about one foot, and are very easily injured by cold or wind, so 
 that a sheltered position is that best suited to its wants. It is 
 not exactly suited for choice rockwork, though well worthy of a 
 place in borders, and of being naturalised on sunny banks in 
 semi-wild spots. A native of the Tyrol ; increased from seeds 
 or by separation of the bulbs. 
 
 SOILLA -BTEOlSUi..— Early Squill 
 
 Although not nearly so well known or popular as .S". sibirica, this 
 is quite as worthy of cultivation, producing in the very dawn of 
 spring, indeed often in winter, rich masses of dark blue flowers, 
 four to six on a spike, anfl forming very handsome tufts of vege- 
 tation from six to ten inches high, according to the richness and 
 lightness of the soil, and the warmth and shelter of the aspect. 
 It thrives well in almost any position, in ordinary garden soil, 
 the hghter the better. Although it blooms earlier than S. sibi- 
 rica, it does not withstand cold wintry and spring rains and 
 storms nearly so well as that species, and therefore it would be 
 well to place some tufts of it in warm sunny spots, either on 
 rockwork or sheltered borders. A native of Southern and Cen- 
 tral. Europe. As shown by Dr. Masters, in the 'Gardener's 
 Chronicle,' this species varies very much, and in consequence 
 has gone under many names. The varieties are of more impor- 
 tance than is usually the case, and the following are those enu- 
 merated by Dr. Masters as most distinct, and therefore most 
 worthy of cultivation : — 5. bifolia alba, S. bifolia Candida, S. bi- 
 folia carnea, S. bifolia compacta, S. bifolia maxima, S. bifolia 
 metallica, S. bifolia rosea, S. bifolia pallida, and S. bifolia prce- 
 
Part II. SCILLA. 325 
 
 cox. The name S.pracox, which occurs so often in gardens 
 and' in nurserymen's catalogues, does not really belong to a 
 distinct species, and, when most properly applied, refers to the 
 last-mentioned variety of .J. bifolia, which usually flowers some- 
 what earlier than the common form. 
 
 SCILLA CKiKSKS\51,KT:K.— Bell-flowered Squill. 
 
 A VIGOROUS species, long cultivated in England, one of the finest 
 ornaments among early-summer-flowering bulbs, and, though 
 a more southern species than most of the others, the most 
 robust of the family. It is easily known by its strong pyra- 
 midal raceme of pendent, short-stalked, large, bell-shaped flowers, 
 usually of a clear light blue. A variety known as ^. campanu- 
 lata major is larger in all its parts, and a noble early summer 
 flower ; and the white- and rose-coloured varieties, S. campanu- 
 lata alba and .S". c. rosea, are also excellent. It is never seen to 
 greater advantage than when peeping here and there from the 
 fringes of shrubberies and beds of evergreens, the shelter it re- 
 ceives in such positions protecting its very large leaves from 
 strong winds. It is, however, sturdy enough to thrive in any 
 position. Comes from the South of Europe, attains a height of 
 from twelve to eighteen inches, and deserves to be naturalised 
 alongside of wood walks, and in the semi-wild parts' of every 
 pleasure-ground. 
 
 SCILLA TSKLIGA.— Italian Squill. 
 
 A NATIVE not only of Italy but of Southern France and 
 Southern Europe generally. This Squill, with its pale blue 
 flowers, intensely blue stamens,- and delicious odour, is one of 
 the most interesting and distinct, if not the most brilliant, of cul- 
 tivated kinds. It grows from five to ten inches high, the leaves 
 somewhat shorter, slightly keeled, and oblique ; the flowers small, 
 spreading in short conical racemes, opening in May. It is per- 
 fectly hardy, living in almost any soil, but thriving best in sandy 
 and warm ones. Increased by division, which had better be 
 performed only every three or four years, when the bulbs 
 should be planted in fresh positions. It is worthy of a sheltered 
 sunny spot on rockwork, particularly as it does not seem to 
 thrive so freely in this country as some of the other species. 
 
326 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 SCILLA ■BXS'SASS— Bluebell. 
 
 A WELL-KNOWN and much admired native plant, abounding in 
 almost every wood and copse ; the flowers always arranged 
 in a gracefully drooping fashion on one side of the stem. The 
 Bluebell is so very common that I should not have mentioned it 
 here but for the sake of its several beautiful varieties, which ar6 
 not so much known as they deserve to be, although fitted to be 
 great ornaments of the early summer garden. I particularly 
 allude to the white variety, S. nutans alba; the rose-coloured one, 
 .y. nutans rosea; the pale blue, S. nutans ccerulea, and a pleasing 
 " French white " variety, which is not dignified by a Latin name. 
 These are all highly suitable for planting here and there in tufts 
 along the margins of shrubberies, near rockwork, for borders, 
 the spring garden, and for naturalisation in woods, among the 
 common blue kind. 
 
 SCILLA 'SK1'Ulih..-^Spreading Squill. 
 
 This is rather closely allied to the Bluebell, with flowers of a 
 pleasing violet-blue, not sweet, like those of that species, nor 
 arranged on one side, but larger, and more open, with narrow 
 bracts. It is easy of culture on almost any soil ; blooms late in 
 spring, and is suitable for the same purposes as the varieties 
 of- the Bluebell. A. native of France and Southern Europe 
 generally. 
 
 SCILLA 'B'EB.TmANA..— Pyramidal Squill. 
 
 The Peruvian Squill, which, however, is not a native of Peru, is 
 a very noble plant where it thrives, and it does so perfectly in 
 many mild parts of these islands, though it suffers on cold soils. 
 The flowers are of a fine blue, very numerous, arranged in a 
 superb, regular, umbel-like pyramid, which lengthens during the 
 flowering period. The white stamens contrast charmingly with 
 the blue of the flowers., In all but the warmest parts of the 
 country, this fine plant should have a somewhat elevated, warm, 
 and sheltered position, a deep, light, and well-drained soil, and the 
 large pear-shaped bulbs should be planted six inches under the 
 surface, which will better enable them to witlistand the cold. 
 A native of Southern Europe and^^orth Africa, grows from six 
 to eighteen inches high, flowers in May and June, and deserves 
 
Part II. SCILLA. 327 
 
 a place in a sheltered, sunny nook on every rockwork, and on 
 every warm raised bed or border devoted to choice hardy bulbs. 
 There is a white variety, .J. peruviana alba, which is not quite 
 so beautiful as the ordinary form. Tufts of the Peruvian Squill 
 should be taken up, when at rest, every three or four years, 
 the bulbs divided, and immediately replanted. 
 
 SCILLA SIBIRICA. — Siberian Squill. 
 
 This beautiful and minute gem among the flowers of earliest 
 spring is happily becoming very popular, and many will have 
 had an opportunity of concluding for themselves that no rock- 
 work, spring garden, or garden of bulbous plants, can be com- 
 plete without the striking and peculiar shade of porcelain blue 
 which quite distinguishes it from the other species. It has had 
 a great number of synonyms, but, unlike 6". bifolia, has sported 
 into few varieties, .J. amcEnula being the only one worth men- 
 tioning, and it is not really distinct. Varieties with larger blos- 
 soms and with one instead of frorn two to five on a stem are 
 preserved in herbariums and occasionally cultivated, but these 
 are only trifling variations, often arising from the conditions in 
 which they are placed. 
 
 There appears to be some doubt as to whether the plant 
 is really a native of Siberia, but it is known to be widely dis- 
 tributed in Asia Minor and Persia, and I received a specimen 
 found " growing among the Snowdrops," by a gentleman in the 
 Caucasus. It is perfectly hardy in this country,- and, like most 
 other bulbs, thrives best in a good sandy soil. Bulbs of it that 
 have been used for forcing should never be thrown away ; if 
 allowed to fully develop their leaves and go to rest in a pit or 
 frame, and afterwards planted out in open spots, in warm soil, 
 they will thrive well. It is needless to disturb the tufts' except 
 every twO' or three years for the sake of dividing them when they 
 grow vigorously. It comes in flower in very early spring a little 
 later than ..?. bifolia, but withstands the storms better than that 
 plant, and remains much longer in bloom. In places where it 
 does not thrive very freely, from the cold nature of the soil or 
 other causes, it would be well, in placing tufts of it on rockwork 
 or on borders, to put it in sheltered positions, so that the leaves 
 may not be injured by the wind, and the plant thereby weakened. 
 It mdy be used with good effect as an edging to beds of spring 
 flowers, or choice alpine shrubs. 
 
328 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 Of other cultivated Squills, the British ones, ^. verna and 
 S. autumnalis, are certainly not worthy of cultivation except in 
 botanical collections ; the plant usually sold by the Dutch and by 
 our seedsmen as S. hyacinthoides is generally S. campanulata, 
 and occasionally S. patula. The true S. hyaUnthoides of 
 Southern Europe is scarcely worthy of cultivation ; S. cernua is 
 nofsufficiently distinct from S.*patula, and one or two southern 
 species allied to S. peruviana have not been proved sufficiently 
 hardy for general cultivation. 
 
 SCUTELLAEIA KUSTSK.— Alpine Skullcap. 
 
 A SPREADING plant with all the vigour of the coarsest weeds of 
 its natural order, but withal neat in habit, and ornamental 
 in flower. The pubescent stems are prostrate, but so abundantly 
 produced that they rise into a full round tuft, a foot high or more 
 in the centre, and falling low to the sides ; the leaves are ovate- 
 roundish or heart-shaped at the base, very shortly stalked, 
 and notched, and the flowers in terminal heads, at first short, 
 afterwards elongating, and purplish or with the lower lip white 
 or yellow. The form with the upper lip purplish and lower pure 
 white is very pretty. The variety lutea {S. lupulind) is a very 
 ornamental kind, with yellow flowers. Both plants are admirably 
 suited for borders, the margins of shrubberies, and the rougher 
 parts of rockwork. A native of the Pyrenees, Swiss and 
 Tyrolese Alps, and many other parts of Europe and Asia ; readily 
 increased by division, and flowering freely in summer. 
 
 Of other kinds of Scutellaria in cultivation, S. japonica, ori- 
 entalis, scordifolia, and the British 5'. minor, an interesting little 
 plant for the artificial bog, are among the best, but it is doubtful 
 if they are worth a place in any but a very large collection. 
 
 SEDUM KCKE-Stonecrop. 
 
 Growing on walls, thatched houses, rocks, and sandy places in 
 almost all parts of Britain, this little plant; with its small, thick, 
 bright green leaves and brilliant yellow flowers, is as well known 
 as the common Houseleek. Like the Daisy, it is so very 
 abundant in an uncultivated state that there is rarely occasion 
 to introduce it to gardens, though one of the most brilliant and 
 distinct of its very large family. Sheets of it in bloom look very 
 
Part II. SEDUM. 329 
 
 gay, and it may well be used with dwarf alpine plants in forming 
 carpets of living mosaic-work in gardens. The fact that it runs 
 wild on comparatively new brick walls round London does away 
 with the necessity of speaking of its cultivation or propagation. 
 There is a variegated or yellow-tipped variety, i". acre variega- 
 tumj the tips of the shoots of this become of a yellow tone in 
 early spring, so that the tufts or flakes look quite showy at that 
 season. It is suitable for use in the spring garden, on the rock- 
 work, and for the same purposes as the ordinary form. 
 
 SEDUM AISEWM..— White Stonecrop. 
 
 A British plant, with crowded fleshy leaves of a brownish 
 green, and in summer a profusion of white or pinkish flowers 
 in elegant corymbs. Like the common Stonecrop, this occurs 
 on old roofs and rocky places in many parts of Europe, and 
 may be cultivated with the same facility as that well-known 
 plant. It- is worthy of naturalisation on walls or old ruins, in 
 places where it does not occur naturally, and also on the margins 
 of the pathways or the less important surfaces of the rock-garden. 
 
 SEDUM ANACAMPSEROS. — Evergreen Orpine. 
 
 A SPECIES easily recognised by its very obtuse and entire 
 glaucous leaves, closely arranged in pyramidal rosettes on the 
 prostrate branches that do not flower. The rose-coloured flowers 
 are in corymbs, not very ornamental, but the distinct aspect of 
 the plant wiU secure it a place on the roclfwork, or among very 
 dwarf border-plants. A native of the Alps, Pyrenees, and moun- 
 tains of Dauphiny, flowering in summer, easily propagated by 
 division, and thriving in any soil. 
 
 SEDUM BB.'EVIFOL.ITJM.—Mealy Stonecrop. 
 
 One of the most fragile and interesting of alpine plants, very 
 nearly allied to 6". dasyphyllum, but recognised at a glance by its 
 pleasing, pinkish, mealy tone, without reference to the botanical 
 characters which divide them. A native of the Southern Pyre- 
 nees and Corsica, in .dry places, and somewhat too delicate for 
 general planting in the open air ; but it may be grown in dryish 
 soil in sunny well-drained parts of rockwork. In small pans or 
 pots it may be grown to great perfection in pit or frame, or the 
 
33° ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 airy shelf of a cool greenhouse, the higher degree of warmth 
 causing the plant to attain a fuller habit than it does out of 
 doors in England. A very interesting subject for naturalisation 
 on old ruins and walls, and nothing can,be more pleasing than 
 healthy tufts of it, though it is to its leaves rather than its flowers 
 that it owes its attractiveness. S.farinosum resembles this in 
 appearance, but so far as my exjjerience goes, it is tender. 
 
 SEDUM ■DhSnvs.Y.TJL.TSTsli..— Thick-leaved S. 
 
 A SINGULARLY pretty species, of a pleasing glaucous colour; 
 indeed, not unfrequently the plant is of an amethystine blue tone. 
 The leaves are usually perfectly smooth, very thick, and fat — in 
 fact, quite swollen at the back — and very densely packed. The 
 flowers are not ornamental, being of a dull white, tinged with 
 rose, but the peculiarly neat habit and attractive hue of the plant, 
 when not in flower, will always make it a favourite in collections 
 of dwarf plants. It occurs abundantly on rocks, old walls, 
 and humid stony places, in Southern and South-western Europe, 
 and is found in some places in the South of England. Although 
 hardy on walls and rocks, it has not the vigour and constitution 
 of many of the other Stonecrops, and it is desirable to establish 
 it on an old wall or dry stony part of rockwork, so as to secure 
 a stock in case the plant perishes in winter on low ground, as I 
 have seen it do occasionally. It is very suitable for association 
 with such plants as the Cobweb Houseleek, and is an interesting 
 subject for naturalisation on old ruins. 
 
 SEDUM TiWERBIl.—Swers's S. 
 
 An exceedingly . neat, distinct, and diminutive species, with 
 smooth, opposite, glaucous, and broad leaves, and purplish 
 flowers in terminal corymbs, the whole plant being of a pleasing 
 silvery tone and rather delicate appearance, but quite hardy, 
 easily increased by division, and flowering in summer. A native 
 of the Altai Mountains; merits a place on every rockwork 
 and in collections of the dwarfest hardy succulent plants, rarely 
 rising above two or three inches high. 
 
 SEDTTM GtI^TJCVM:.— Glaucous S. 
 A MINUTE species of a greyish tone, forming dense spreading 
 tufts of short stems, densely clothed with fat leaves, and rather 
 
Part 11. SEDUM. 331 
 
 sparsely producing somewhat inconspicuous flowers. The very 
 neat habit of the plant has caused it to become quite popular in 
 our gardens of late years as a minute edging or surfacing plant ; 
 for edging purposes it is perhaps better divided every spring ; 
 thin but regular lines planted at that season forming neat, 
 swelling, chubby-looking edgings four or five inches across in 
 autumn. On the rockwork it may be used in any spot that is to 
 spare, either to form a turf under other plants or for its own 
 sake. Various other Sedums are very nearly allied to this, and 
 all are probably but forms of one kind. A native of Hungary. 
 
 SEDUM KAMTSCHATICUM.— Ora«g-« Stonecrop. 
 
 A BROAD-LEAVED species, not unlike Sedtim spurium in habit, 
 but at once distinguished by its dark orange-yellow flowers. It 
 is a prostrate plant, quite hardy, succeeding in almost any soil, 
 but best in a warm rich loam, and flowering profusely in sum- 
 mer. Highly suitable for the rougher parts of the rock-garden, 
 where it will take care of itself, and is a capital plant for the 
 margin of the mixed border. It and .S". spurium axe much more 
 worthy of being employed as edging-plants than the dull-coloured 
 .S*. denticulatum and S. oppositifolium, frequently grown for that 
 purpose. 
 
 SEDUM VO'S'UlsrsO'LTaM..— Shrubby Stonecrop. 
 
 Distinct from all its race, and forming a small, much-branched 
 shrub, from six to ten inches high, with flat coarsely toothed 
 leaves, and whitish flowers with red anthers. Not an ornamental 
 plant, but being so different in habit to the other members 
 of the family, it is worthy of a place in large and botanical col- 
 lections. It grows in any soil, blooms rather late in summer, 
 and comes from Siberia. 
 
 SEDUM PULCHELLUM. — Purple American Stonecrop. 
 
 A VERY neat species, at once distinguished by its purplish 
 flowers arranged in several spreading and recurved branchlets, 
 bird's-foot fashion, with numerous spreading stems densely 
 clothed with alternate obtuse leaves. It is abundant in North 
 America, and at present very rarely seen in our gardens, though 
 far more worthy of cultivation than many commonly grown. In 
 
332 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II, 
 
 France I have seen it a good deal used as an edging-plant, for 
 which purpose, as well as for rockwork, it is well suited ; and it 
 is also a highly appropriate plant for the front margin of a mixed 
 border, flowering in summer, growing in any soil, and easily 
 increased by division. 
 
 SEDUM EUPESTEE. — Rock Stonecrop- 
 
 A GLAUCOUS densely-tufted plant, with numerous spreading 
 shoots, these shoots generally rooting at the base and erect 
 at the apex. It has rather loose corymbs of yellow flowers, and 
 is frequently grown as an edging and border plant in gardens, 
 though not so ornamental as some rarely grown kinds. There 
 are several varieties or sub-species, notably the British S. elegans, 
 and the, green-leaved 5'. Forsterianum. A native Of Britain 
 and various parts of Europe, and of the easiest culture. 
 
 SEDUM SIEBOLDII.— i'zV^o/rf'j S. 
 
 A WELL-KNOWN and elegant species, frequently cultivated in 
 pots, with roundish leaves, bluntly toothed in their upper part, 
 of a pleasing glaucous tone, in whorls of three on the numerous 
 stems that in autumn bear the soft rosy flowers in small round 
 bouquets. At first the boldly-ascending stems form neat tufts, 
 but as they lengthen, they bend outwards with the weight of 
 the buds and flowers at the points, making the plant a grace- 
 ful object for pots, small baskets, or vases. It is hardy, 
 and merits a place on the rockwork, especially in positions 
 where its graceful habit may be seen to advantage — that is to 
 say, where its branches may fall without touching the earth ; but 
 except in favoured places, it does not make such a strong and 
 satisfactory growth as most of the other Sedums, and is perhaps 
 seen to greatest advantage as a frame or. greenhouse plant. A 
 native of Japan ; easily propagated by division. In late autumn 
 the leaves often assume a lovely rosy-coral hue. There is a 
 variegated variety, but it is not so good as the ordinary form. 
 
 SEDUM SPECTABILE.— .S'^owy Stonecrop- 
 
 This is one of the finest autumn-flowering plants introduced of 
 late years — being at once distinct, perfectly hardy, fine when its 
 delicate rose-coloured flowers, in very large heads, are in bloom, 
 
Part II. SEDUM. 333 
 
 and pretty long before it flowers, from its dense bush of glau- 
 cous leaves ; it has been gradually making way in our gardens 
 under the names of S. Fabarium, Fabaria, and Fabarinum, all 
 of which are wrong. It was very properly named .i". spectabile 
 by M. Boreau, curator of the Botanic Gardens at Angers, who 
 has paid much attention to the group to which it belongs. Most 
 valuable for association with hardy plants in beds, for use around 
 shrubberies, as a pot-plant, a first-class border-plant, and also 
 for banks, or grouped with the most vigorous subjects in the 
 rougher parts of the rock-garden. It begins to push up its fleshy 
 glaucous shoots in the very dawn of spring, keeps growing on all 
 through the early summer, opens its flowers in early autumn, and 
 continues in full perfection till the end of that season, worthily 
 associating with such fine, autumn-flowering, hardy plants as 
 the Tritomas, white Japan Anemone, and the broad-leaved Sea 
 Lavender. The plant is one of the easiest to propagate and 
 grow that has been introduced to this country, and forms round, 
 sturdy, bush-like tufts of vegetation, eighteen inches or more 
 high when well estabhshed in the full sun. A native of Japan. 
 
 SEDUM SPURIUM.— /"ar//^ Stonecrop. 
 
 Several kinds of Sedum, with large, flat, crenate leaves, occur 
 in our gardens, of which this is much the best, its rosy-purple 
 corymbs of flowers being handsome compared to the dull whitish 
 flowers of allied kinds. A native of the Caucasus ; exceedingly 
 well suited for forming edgings, the margin of a mixed border, 
 or the rockwork, and not at all sufficiently grown in gardens. 
 It is of the easiest culture and propagation, and blooms late in 
 summer, and often through the autumn. The leaves are slightly 
 ciliated. 
 
 The preceding are the most distinct and ornamental kinds 
 in cultivation. The pretty.^, caruleum is an annual, and ^. 
 carneum. variegatum not hardy enough to stand our winters. 
 Several Sedums with a monstrous development of stem, or 
 what in botanical language is called fasciation, are in our 
 gardens : .$■. monstrosum, cristatum, and refiexum moiistrosum, 
 to wit. The following is an enumeration of other species, or 
 reputed species, now in cultivation in this country, the most 
 desirable being marked with an asterisk. They are almost 
 
334 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 without exception of the easiest culture and rapid increase in 
 ordinary soil. 
 
 Sedum aizoides 
 
 Sedum elongatum 
 
 Sedum orientale 
 
 Aizoon 
 
 Fabarla 
 
 pallens 
 
 albescens 
 
 *farinosum; rather 
 
 * pallidum 
 
 altaicum 
 
 tender 
 
 pruinosum 
 
 altissimum 
 
 Forsterianum 
 
 pulchrum 
 
 anglicura 
 
 grandifolium 
 
 reflexum 
 
 angulatum 
 
 * hispanicum 
 
 * sexangulare 
 
 arboreum 
 
 hispidum 
 
 * sexfidum 
 
 asiaticum 
 
 ibericum 
 
 *speciosum 
 
 aureum 
 
 , involucratum 
 
 stellatum 
 
 Beyrichianum 
 
 Jacquini 
 
 Stephani 
 
 Brauni 
 
 libanoticum 
 
 telephioides 
 
 cseruleum 
 
 littoreum 
 
 Telephium 
 
 * corsicum 
 
 Lydium 
 
 teretifolium 
 
 cruciatum 
 
 Maximowiczii 
 
 ternatum 
 
 * cruentum 
 
 maximum 
 
 triangulare 
 
 * cyaneum 
 
 * monregalense 
 
 *Verloti 
 
 dentatum 
 
 *multlceps 
 
 villosum 
 
 denticulatum 
 
 neglectum 
 
 virens 
 
 *elegans 
 
 ochroleucum 
 
 Wallichianum 
 
 SEMPEEVIVTJM ARACHNOIDEUM.— CoiJw^^ Houseleek- 
 
 One of the most singular of alpine plants, its tiny rosettes of 
 fleshy leaves being covered at the top with a thick white down, 
 which intertwines itself all over each plant like a spider's web. 
 Widely distributed over the Alps and Pyrenees, this plant is 
 perfectly hardy in our gardens, in which, however, it is rarely 
 seen, except as a frame-plant. It thrives in exposed spots, in 
 sunny arid parts of rockwork, forming sheets of whitish rosettes, 
 which look as if a thousand fine-spinning spiders had been at 
 work upon them, and send up pretty rose-coloured flowers in 
 summer. About London it sometimes suffers from the sparrows 
 plundering the "down." It should be on every rockwork; is 
 easily increased by division, and thrives in moist sandy loam. 
 
 SEMPERVIVUM CltJATVU.— Fringed Houseleek. 
 
 The margins of the leaves of this species are edged with trans- 
 parent hair-like bodies, which give the whole plant a distinct 
 appearance. The leaves are barred lengthways with brown and 
 deep-green stripes. Flowers freely in summer, in close corymbs 
 of many fine golden.yellow flowers, each scarcely half an inch 
 
Part II. SEMPER VIVUM. 335 
 
 across when fully expanded. It is, when grown at all in this 
 country, usually kept in the greenhouse, but is hardy in warm 
 well-drained spots on rockwork. It Ought to be placed in some 
 dry spot under a ledge of rock, and might be tried with 
 advantage on the top of an old wall or on a ruin. A native of 
 the Canary Islands ; like the other Houseleeks, easily increased 
 by division or cuttings. 
 
 SEMPERVIVUM MONTi^'aM..— Mountain Houseleek. 
 
 A DARK-GREEN kind, smaller than the common Houseleek, 
 with a very pleasing, almost geometrical, arrangement of leaves, 
 which are pubescent and glandular on both sides, ciliated, 
 forming neat rosettes, from which spring dull rosy flowers in 
 summer. It is very suitable for forming edgings or for rock- 
 work ; like all the others, grows in any soil, and, like all its 
 fellows, is very easily propagated. A native of the Alps. When 
 masses of it are in flower, they are visited by great numbers of 
 bees. 
 
 SEMPERVIVTJM S0B01LWE-RXm..—Ifen-and-C/iicken S. 
 
 One of the neatest and most distinct in appearance of the 
 family, particularly distinguished by growing in firm dense 
 tufts, and throwing off little round offsets so abundantly that 
 these are pushed clear above the tufts, and lie rootless, small, 
 brownish-green balls on the surface. The full-grown rosettes 
 are of a peculiarly light green, and of a decided chocolate brown 
 at the tips of the under side of the leaves, for nearly one-third 
 of their length. The small leaves of the young rosettes all 
 turning inward, they appear of a purplish-brown colour. The 
 rosettes are usually not more than one inch and a half in 
 diameter, but I have seen them in France more than three 
 inches ; however, whether they were the rosettes of a form 
 larger naturally than the common one, or the result of a higher 
 culture, I cannot say. The plant, which I have not seen in 
 flower, is admirably suited for forming wide tufts on rockwork, 
 on banks beneath the eye. It grows freely in any soil. 
 
 SEMPERVIVTJM TECTOEXJM. — Common Houseleek. 
 
 A NATIVE of rocky places, in the great mountain ranges 
 of Europe and Asia, but which, having been cultivated from 
 
336 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part II, 
 
 time immemorial on housetops and old walls, is well known 
 to everybody. It is needless to describe the culture of a 
 plant which thrives on bare stones, slates, and in the most 
 arid position. It, like some less known species, may be used 
 in flower-gardening for forming dwarf borders, &c., though it 
 would be better to give a position in gardens to somewhat rarer 
 species. It varies somewhat, a glaucous form called rusticum 
 being one of the most distinct. 
 
 SEMPERVIVUM CKLXMiSSXiM.— Glaucous Houseleek. 
 
 The Sempervivum now becoming very common in cultivation, 
 under the garden name of .S". californicum,' is by some con- 
 sidered a very glaucous variety of S. tectorum, by others the 
 same as the French S. calcareuvi ; it is probably the last, but 
 not having as yet met with the plant in flower, I am not able to 
 determine this point with certainty. Of one thing, however, we 
 may be assured — that no finer Houseleek has been introduced, 
 and that, if not very nearly related to our common one, it is 
 certainly as easily grown and as hardy as that much-enduring 
 old plant. Planted singly, the rosettes of S. calcareum some- 
 times attain a diameter of nearly five inches, and as the leaves 
 are of a decided glaucous tone, distinctly tipped at the points 
 with chocolate, it is deservedly very popular for forming edgings 
 in the flower-garden. It is also admirable for the rockwork, is 
 easily increased by division, and thrives in any soil. 
 
 In addition to the preceding, which are among the most distinct 
 and ornamental of the Houseleek race, there are a great number 
 of species, or so-called species, wild in Europe, many of which are 
 often cultivated in botanic gardens. In the following list the 
 more ornamental kinds are marked with an asterisk. 
 
 Sempervivum acumi- 
 
 * Sempervivum glau- 
 
 * Sempervivum Po 
 
 natum 
 
 cum 
 
 melli 
 
 *anomalum 
 
 •globiferum 
 
 * Requieni 
 
 * arenarium 
 
 grandiflorum 
 
 ruthenicum 
 
 assimile 
 
 ♦Heuffelli 
 
 *sediforme 
 
 Braunii 
 
 juratum 
 
 stenopetalum 
 
 canescens 
 
 Mettenianum 
 
 urbicum 
 
 Cotyledon 
 
 molle 
 
 velutlnum 
 
 dioicum 
 
 Neilreichii 
 
 villosum 
 
 * Funckii 
 
 *piliferum 
 
 
Part II. SENECIO. 337 
 
 The under-mentioned kinds I first observed in cultivation 
 
 in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. They are mostly sorts 
 desirable for cultivation. 
 
 Sempervivum affine 
 albidum 
 barbatulum 
 * Boutignianum 
 ComoUii 
 
 Sempervivum Doellianum 
 Fauconetti 
 fimbriatura 
 * Pseudo-arachnoi- 
 deum 
 
 Sempervivum Schle.- 
 ani 
 * Verloti 
 violaceum 
 
 Umbilicus chrysanthus is frequently associated with the Sem- 
 pervivums in botanic gardens, and much resembles a small 
 Houseleek, but has spikes of goldeti flowers. It is worthy of a 
 place in large collections, and issuitable for rockwork. The small 
 reddish and thick-leaved sedum-like U. sedoides of the Pyrenees 
 is also an interesting kind, and U. spinosus a. remarkable-looking 
 one. I have not seen it. in cultivation in the open air except 
 in the botanic garden at Geneva. Dry sunny parts of the rock- 
 garden will be found most congenial to these plants. 
 
 SENECIO AEG-ENTEUS. — Silvery Groundsel. 
 
 A STURDY but minute silvery plant, almost like a diminutive of 
 the popular Centaurea ragushia. The leaves are quite silvery, 
 and vary from half an inch to one inch and a half long, the footr 
 stalk of the leaf channeled, and the blade cut into rounded lobes. 
 The whole plant is not more than two inches high when fully 
 developed and established ; it stands any weather, and will live 
 everywhere in sandy soil in well-drained borders. It will prove 
 valuable for rockwork or borders, and, being well fitted to form 
 beautiful dwarf edgings, will probably become very popular. The 
 flower is not attractive, but, like the Centaurea and Cineraria 
 maritima, the plant is valuable for the effect of its foliage. A 
 native of the Pyrenees ; increased by division. 
 
 SENECIO tJNIFLORUS. — One-flowered Groundsel. 
 
 A VERY silvery dwarf species, growing little more than an inch 
 high, very suitable for rockwork, but scarcely equal to the pre- 
 ceding, and not so easily grown. The flowers are poor, and 
 should be removed, as tending to weaken and disfigure the 
 plant. Increased by seed and division. A native of Switzerland, 
 and perfectly hardy. S. incanus is another pretty dwarf alpine 
 
 z 
 
338 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 species, but hardly so fine as either of the preceding, or so easily 
 grown. 
 
 SILENE XCKa^JL^.— Cushion Pink. 
 
 Tufted into dwarf light-green masses like awide-spreadingmoss, 
 but quite firm, this plant safely defies the fiercest storms, snows, 
 and arctic cold of numerous mountain climes in northern regions 
 of the globe, from the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the 
 Pic du Midi in the Pyrenees, and always excites admiration in 
 the alpine traveller, covering, as it does, the most dreary positions 
 with glistening and refreshing verdure at all times. In summer 
 the Cushion Pink, or alpine Moss Campion, becomes a mass of 
 pink-rose or crimson flowers barely peeping above the leaves and 
 forming beautiful objects where nearly every other living thing 
 fails from the earth, and making lovely carpets where all else 
 is branded with desolation. Many places on the' mountains of 
 Scotland, Northern Ireland, North Wales, and the mountains in 
 the Lake District of England, are quite sheeted over with its firm 
 flat tufts of verdure often several feet in diameter. It is in cultiva- 
 tion as beautiful and distinct as in a wild state, and grows freely 
 in almost any soil on rockwork, or in pots and pans. It may also 
 be grown as a diminutive spreading border-plant, where borders 
 are made with a view of growing such fairy plants. In a small 
 state it would not be so easily seen as many we now grow, 
 though, when spread out into wide tufts, it is visible enough. 
 This plant is indispensable for rockwork, and those who have 
 the opportunity would do well to carefully transfer several old 
 established patches from the mountains to humid but sunny 
 slopes on the rockwork, in peaty or sandy soil. It is, however, 
 not a slow grower, and is easily increased by division. There 
 are several varieties : alba, the white one ; exscapa, with the 
 flower-stems even less developed than in the usual form, and 
 muscoides, dwarfer stiU ; but none of them are far removed from 
 the common plant or of greater importance either from a horti- 
 cultural or botanical point of view. 
 
 SILENE ALPESTEIS.— ^^z«^ Catchfly. 
 
 Possesses every quality that renders an alpine plant worthy 
 of extended garden culture— great beauty of bloom, perfect 
 hardiness, very dwarf and compact habit, growing only from four 
 to six inches high, and a constitution that enables it to flourish 
 
Part II. SILENE. 339 
 
 in any soil. It flowers in May, the flowers being of a pure and 
 polished whiteness, with the petals notched, and abundantly 
 produced over the shining green masses of leaves, and is one 
 of those plants which should be used in abundance on every 
 well-made rockwork, with the Aubrietias, and tiny shrubs hke 
 Menziesia empetriformis. To secure a perfect bloom, it should 
 not be disturbed, but allowed to spread forth into established 
 tufts, and, not being fastidious as to soil, will require no attention 
 except removing the flower-stems when the starry blooms have 
 passed away. Like most high-mountain plants, it should have 
 perfect exposure to the full ' sun ; it should never be elevated 
 amongst burrs or stones in such a position that a dry wind may 
 parch the life out of the tiny roots, so unwisely cut off from 
 revelling in the deep moist earth, and it should be protected 
 from being overrun by coarser plants. I once regretted to see 
 a colony of ants take up their abode under a tuft of this plant, 
 and begin to elevate the soil amongst its tiny leaves ; but as the 
 ants built their hill, the Silene expanded its leaves, and finally 
 grew to be quite a little pile of starry snow, finer than any of its 
 neighbours. A native of the Alps of Europe ; very readily 
 increased by seed or by division. Some individuals of this 
 species are quite sticky from viscid matter, and others perfectly 
 free from it. 
 
 SILENE 'EU&KSEjrS.M.— Elizabeth's Catchjly. 
 
 A REMARKABLY beautiful, and as yet very rare, alpine plant, 
 quite distinct from all its brethren, the flowers looking more like 
 those of some handsome but diminutive Clarkia than those of 
 the commonly grown Silenes. They are very large,' of a bright 
 rose colour, and with the claws or bases of the petals white, from 
 one to seven being borne on stems three or four inches high, 
 springing from tufts of acutely pointed and shining, slightly 
 viscid, and pubescent leaves', half an inch broad. This is 
 usually considered one of the plants difficult to cultivate, but 
 when we have once secured strong plants, it will be found as easily 
 grown as the Cushion Pink. It is rare in a wild state, occurring in 
 the Tyrol and Italy, where I had the pleasure of gathering it on 
 the top of Monte Campione, growing amidst shattered fragments 
 of rock, and in one case in a flaky rock without any soil. It 
 grows freely enough in sandy soil in a warm nook on rockwork, 
 
34° ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 as I observed in M. Boissier's garden, in Switzerland. Flowers 
 ill summer, rather late, and is easily increased by seeds. 
 
 SILENE MAEITIMA.— ^«fl Catchfly. 
 
 A British plant, not uncommon on sand, shingle, or rocks by 
 the sea, or on wet rocks on mountains, forming level carpets of 
 smooth glaucous leaves, from which spring generally solitary 
 flowers about an inch across, and white, with purple inflated 
 calyces. The handsome double variety of this plant, S. maritima 
 fl. pL, is well worthy of culture not only for its flowers but for 
 the dense, sea-green, spreading carpet of leaves which it forms, 
 and which make it particularly suitable for the margins of 
 raised borders, for hanging over the faces of stones in the 
 rougher parts of rockwork, or for the front edge of the mixed 
 border. The flowers appear in June, and, in the case of the 
 double variety, rarely rise more than a couple of inches above 
 the leaves, which form a turf about two inches deep. Mr. Ben- 
 tham unites this plant with the tall, ugly, and straggling Bladder 
 Campion {S. inflatd), but they are distinct, emphatically so con- 
 sidered from a gardening point of view, one being quite a weed 
 and the other an ornamental plant. 
 
 SILENE PENNSTLVANICA.— PKz/rf Pink. 
 
 The wild Pink of the Americans is a dwarf and handsome plant, 
 with narrow spoon-shaped and nearly smooth root-leaves, those 
 on the stems lance-shaped, forming dense patches, and pro- 
 ' ducing clusters of six or eight purplish-rose flowers, about an 
 inch across, notched, and borne on stems from four to seven 
 inches high, somewhat sticky, and hairy. A native of many 
 parts of North America, in sandy, rocky, or gravelly places, 
 flowering from April to June, and groXving very freely in deep 
 sandy soil. This plant is a fine ornament to rockwork, and will 
 probably prove very useful for borders, in both positions requiring 
 a certain degree of shade. It has only recently been introduced 
 to cultivation, and is increased freely by seeds or cuttings. 
 
 SILENE V^SVSllAO.— Pigmy Catchfly. 
 
 A RARE and interesting species from the Tyrol, resembling the 
 Cusliion Pink of our own mountains in its dwarf firm tufts of shin- 
 
Part II. SILENE. 341 
 
 ing green leaves, which are, however, a Uttle more succulent and 
 obtuse, and bearing much larger and handsomer rose-coloured 
 flowers, rising taller than those of Silene acaulis, and yet scarcely 
 more than an inch above the flat mass of leaves, so that the whole 
 plant seldom attains a height of more than between two and 
 three inches. This plant has been but recently re-introduced to 
 cultivation by Messrs. Backhouse, of York, and will be found 
 to thrive as well on our rockworks as Silene acaulis. It should 
 be planted in deep sandy loam on a well-drained and thoroughly 
 exposed spot, sufficiently moist in summer, facing thesouth, a few 
 stones being placed round the neck of the young plant to keep it 
 firm and prevent evaporation. Once it begins to spread, it will 
 take care of itself There is a white variety, but it is not in 
 cultivation. 
 
 SILENE SCHAETA.— Zfl/« Catchfiy. 
 
 A MUCH branched plant, not compressed into hard cushions 
 like the alpine, stemless, or dwarf Silenes,- but withal forming 
 very neat tufts, from four to six inches high, and becoming 
 covered with large purplish-rose flowers from July to September, 
 and even later. It comes from the Caucasus, is perfectly hardy, 
 and a fine ornament for the front margin of the mixed border, 
 but is particularly suitable for almost any position on rockwork. 
 In planting it, it may be as well to bear in mind its late-flowering 
 habit ; it should not be used where a spring or early summer 
 bloom is chiefly sought, but it may be employed in the sum- 
 mer flower garden in edgings to permanent beds, in the small 
 circles round standard roses, &c., with better effect than most 
 alpine plants, and is easily raised from seed or increased by divi- 
 sion of established tufts. 
 
 SILENE TIEGINICA.— i^'/r^ Pink. 
 
 A BRILLIANT perennial, with flowers of the richest and brightest 
 scarlet, nearly or quite two inches across, and sometimes more ; 
 the petals long, rather narrow, and with a deep notch at the end of 
 each dividing it into two lobes ; the lower leaves of a dark brown 
 tone, and spoon-shaped, higher leaves lanceolate ; stems, a 
 chocolate brown, very brittle, thinly furnished with short hairs, 
 and slightly viscid. It seems somewhat straggling in habit, 
 is hardy and perennial, and, as the colour is as fine as that 
 
342 ALP.NE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 of the old scarlet Lobelia, will prove a very popular and excel- 
 lent border and rock plant. A native of America, increased by 
 seeds and division, growing from one to two feet high, and 
 therefore most suited for association with the Aquilegias and 
 taller alpine plants, and not with the dwarf or delicate sorts. 
 
 Having in cultivation such brilliant and distinct plants as 
 the preceding Catchflies, we must consider Silene Zawadskii, 
 dwarf and with white ilowers, the diminutive soft-tufted 5". 
 quadridentafa (for which S. alpestris is often mistaken), the 
 woody Silene arborescens, a dwarf, shrubby, evergreen species 
 with rose-coloured flowers, and the dirty-white Silene Saxijraga 
 — only worthy of a place in very large collections or in botanic 
 gardens. Silene rupestris, a sparkling-looking, dwarf, white 
 species, little more than three inches high when in bloom, and 
 reminding one of a dwarf J", alpestris, is better worthy of a place. 
 Silene pendula, a handsome, rose-coloured, biennial plant, now 
 much used in the spring flower garden, is well worthy of being 
 naturalised in stony or bare sandy places. 
 
 SMILACINA -BTEOUA..— Two-leaved S- 
 
 A SMALL plant, allied to the Lily-of-the-valley, but with smaller 
 whitish flowers in close erect racemes or spikes, from one inch 
 to one inch and a half long, on stems three to six inches high, 
 each flowering-stem having usually two leaves, heart-shaped, but 
 with the lobes and points somewhat elongated ; the radical leaves 
 larger, rounder, and heart-shaped. A very graceful and easily- 
 grown little plant, found in woody places, and common on the 
 Continent and in America in moist and mountain woods. It 
 is found very plentifully near Scarborough, and occurs in Caen 
 Wood, at Hampstead, and one or two other places in Britain, 
 but probably is not truly wild. In cultivation it thrives either 
 in shaded places, or, when fully exposed, forms crowded 
 tufts of smooth leaves, a few inches high, freely spiked with 
 flowers in early summer. It is most ornamental when it has 
 spread into tufts a foot or eighteen inches in diameter, the chief 
 care required being to keep the spot in which it grows free 
 from coarser plants. It may be tastefully used in the rock- 
 garden or in bare mossy spots near the hardy fernery, and is 
 easily increased by division of its creeping white root-stalk. 
 
Part II. SOLDANELLA. 343 
 
 SOLDANELLA KLSTSiK.— Alpine S. 
 
 One of the most interesting plants that live near the snow-line 
 on many of the great mountain-chains of Europe — not brilliant, 
 but withal beautiful in its pendent, pale-bluish, open, bell-shaped 
 flowers, cut into numerous, narrow, linear strips, three or four 
 being borne on a stem from two to six inches in height, and 
 springing from a dwarf carpet of leathery, shining, roundish, 
 or kidney-shaped leaves, nearly entire or obscurely indented. It 
 is comparatively rare in gardens, is usually grown in pots, 
 included among subjects considered very difficult to cultivate, 
 and kept in frames, but if healthy young plants of it are placed 
 out of doors on the rockwork or a raised border, in a little bed 
 of deep and very sandy loam, they will be found to succeed per- 
 fectly well, especially in all moist districts, and in dry ones it 
 will be easy to prevent evaporation by covering the ground near 
 the young plants with some cocoa-fibre mixed with sand to give 
 it weight. I have seen a perfect carpet, several feet square, of 
 this plant growing on a bed of fine moist sandy earth on a flat 
 spot in an old rockwork, in this country, and no specimens I saw 
 in the Alps equalled it in luxuriance. The most suitable position 
 for the plant is a level spot on the rockwork near the eye. 
 
 S. montana is very nearly allied to the preceding ; in fact, 
 except that it is usually somewhat larger in all its parts than 
 alpina, and the flowers are of a bluer purple, there is no great 
 difference in its character. It also inhabits several of the great 
 continental chains, and will be found to thrive under the same 
 treatment as the preceding. Both are readily increased by 
 division, though, as they are usually starved and delicate from 
 being confined in small worm-defiled pots, exposed to daily 
 vicissitudes, they are rarely strong enough to be pulled in pieces. 
 ■S". pusilla, with kidney-shaped leaves, heart-shaped at the base, 
 and the corolla not nearly so deeply cut into fringes, and the very 
 small 6". minima, with minute round leaves and one flower fringed 
 only for a portion of its length, are also in cultivation, though 
 rare. They will thrive under the same conditions, but, being 
 much smaller, especially the last, require more care in planting, 
 and should be associated with the most minute alpine plants, in 
 a mixture of peat and good loam with plenty of sharp sand, and 
 get abundance of water in summer, especially in dry districts. 
 
344 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 SPIGELIA yiKB.Tl,KSi'D\Ck..— Wormgrass. 
 
 A MOST distinct and beautiful plant ; the flowers being tubular, 
 an inch and a half long, crimson outside and yellow within, 
 from three to eight borne on a stem from six to fifteen inches 
 high, and as, when the plant is well grown, these stems come up 
 very thickly and form close erect tufts, the effect, when in bloom, 
 is very brilliant. A native of rich woods in North America, from 
 Pennsylvania to Florida and Mississippi, flowering in summer, 
 and increased by careful division of the root. I have not 
 seen it grown to perfection except in deep and moist sandy 
 peat. It is very rare in our gardens, in which it should he 
 placed on the warm side of the rockwork in the soil above 
 mentioned. 
 
 STATICE TATABICA. — Tartarian Sea Lavender. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL, dwarf, hardy species, with rosy or reddish flowers, 
 contrasting prettily with the white membranaceous bracts ; the 
 leaves leathery, smooth, of a deep green, oblong, lance-shaped, 
 and pointed ; the flower-stems nine to twelve inches high, much 
 branched, [forming a wide-spreading inflorescence. This js the 
 prettiest and most distinct of the dwarf Sea Lavenders I have 
 seen in cultivation, its rose-tinted flowers quite removing it from 
 the often-seen blue sorts, some of which are scarcely orna- 
 mental. There is a variety with narrow leaves and reddish 
 flowers, S. tatarica angustifolia. Both bloom in autumn, 
 thrive best in deep, well-drained, sandy loam, and are admirable 
 for low sunny ledges or banks on or near rockwork. Increased 
 by careful division or by seeds sown in spring, and comes from 
 Tartary. ^. olecefolia, globularicefoUa, eximia, and several other 
 species, are also suitable rock-plants. 
 
 STMPHYANDRA V&VijyUIjA.— Pendulous S. 
 
 A CAMPANULA-LIKE plant, with branched pendulous stems, vel- 
 vety, toothed, and ovate leaves, and very large, cream-coloured, 
 drooping flowers (which are almost hidden amongst the leaves), 
 bell-like and velvety at the throat. It is a very hardy dwarf 
 plant, rarely reaching a foot high ; a native of rocky places 
 in the Caucasus, and easily increased by seed. In consequence 
 of its pendulous habit, it is seen to best effect when elevated to 
 
Part II. TEUCRIUM—THALICTRUM. 345 
 
 the level of the eye in the rock-garden, but it is also a first-rate 
 border-plant, and thrives in ordinary garden soil. 
 
 TEUCRIUM MARUM.— Ca/ Thyme. 
 
 I SHOULD no more have thought of including this in the present 
 selection than I should the British Oak, previous to one beautiful 
 afternoon in July, 1868. Sailing to one of the islands on Lago 
 Maggiore, I noticed a charming mass of lilac flowers, on some 
 plant that, from the great profusion of its bloom, appeared to be 
 a dwarf well-grown Heath. I was pleasingly surprised to find it 
 our old friend the Cat Thyme, which, flowerless and neglected, 
 used occasionally to be seen in old greenhouses. Here in this 
 dry old wall it had found a most congenial home, and become 
 a perfect mass of flowers. This suggested that its true garden 
 home was not in the greenhouse, but on some dry old sunny wall, 
 or in a chalk pit or very dry spot on the southern face of rock- 
 work. And indeed wherever there are cats the wall would seem 
 to be the only way of preserving it, for they are desperately fond 
 of it. I once placed a bushy old plant of it in the open air in 
 early summer, and in passing a few days afterwards noticed it 
 had disappeared, but, on looking closely, observed a stout stump 
 about two inches high arising from one of the pots and quite 
 covered with cats' hairs, just like a stake in a sheep-gap, and this 
 was all they had left of our pungent Cat Thyme. Therefor^ 'a 
 precipitous spot on a wall or very dry bank in the sunny and 
 warmer districts is what is wanted for it, for two reasons. It 
 is somewhat like the common Thyme, but quite grey, and more 
 wiry and taller ; but when grown out of doors, as I suggest, it 
 is dwarf and neat in habit. Hitherto it has in this country 
 been grown as a greenhouse under-shrub, as which it has no 
 merit except as a curiosity. A native of Spain ; readily increased 
 by cuttings. 
 
 THALICTRTJM ANEMONOIDES.— i?a^ Anemone. 
 
 A DELICATE, diminutive, and interesting species, with the " habit 
 and frondescence of Isopyrum, the inflorescence of Anemone, 
 and the fruit of Thalictrum." These qualities, in addition to its 
 dwarf habit, usually only a few inches high, make it worthy of 
 cultivation. The flowers are white, nearly an inch in diameter, 
 open in April and May, the flower-stem bearing a few leaves 
 
346 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 near the summit, so as to form a sort of whorl round the 
 flowers. A native of many parts of North America, increased 
 by seed or by the division of its tuberous roots. There is a 
 pretty double variety, T. anemonoides fl. pL, with the flowers 
 somewhat smaller than those of the single one, and very neat. 
 Being small and fragile in its parts, it requires a little more care 
 than most of its brethren, should have a light peaty and moist 
 soil, and be associated with other delicate growers, or placed 
 in a position where it is not liable to be overrun by coarse 
 neighbours. = Anemone thalictr aides. 
 
 yHALICTRTJM MINUS. — Maidenhair Meadow Rue. 
 
 Perhaps of all the flowerless plants introduced to this country, 
 none has given so much pleasure as the Maidenhair fern 
 {Adianium cuneatum), found in every stove and fernery, and 
 which is in such great demand in every garden for mingling 
 with cut flowers. I cannot give a plan by which our Brazilian 
 friend may be grown in the open air in Britain, but have a 
 substitute to recommend, which is as hardy as the common 
 Crowfoot. Thalictrum minus is the plant, a native of Britain, 
 but also found on the Continent and in Russian Asia. By 
 pinching off the small, weak, and inconspicuous blooms that 
 appear in summer, the plant presents a good resemblance in 
 outline to the Maidenhair fern — ^looks, in fact, like a well-grown 
 plant of .,4. cuneatum brought out of the stove and plunged in 
 the open border. Singular to say, the finely dissected and 
 elegant leaves are equally well adapted for mingUng with cut 
 flowers, and better in one respect, as they are of a pretty firm 
 and wiry consistency, and do not fade quickly like those of the 
 fern. It would form an excellent subject to plant in the mixed 
 border, on the rockwork, or indeed in the flower-garden as a 
 green edging. It has scarcely ever been grown in our gardens 
 for these purposes, and for that reason I, having ascertained its 
 merits, here speak so favourably of it. It will thrive in any soil, 
 and requires no trouble whatever after planting, unless pinching 
 off a few flowers may be so considered. 
 
 THLASPI LATIFOLIUM.— 5/4owy Bastard Cress. 
 
 A DWARF but strong-growing plant, with large indented root- 
 leaves and corymbs of pretty white flowers, somewhat like those 
 
Part II. THYMUS— TRIENTALIS. 347 
 
 of Arabis albida, but a little larger, and of a pure paper-white, 
 appearing early in March. It is worth growing with the earlier, 
 hardier, and more vigorous spring flowers such as the Aubrietias 
 and yellow Alyssum, and is more ornamental than either Arabis 
 procurrens or A, alpina, though not nearly so much known or 
 grown. It comes from the Caucasian and Iberian mountains, 
 and is easily increased by division. Being an early, vigorous, 
 and showy plant, it is well suited for rough rockwork, or for 
 naturalisation in rocky places and by wood walks. 
 
 THYMUS LANUGINbSTJS.— Z)(?w»y Thyme. 
 
 Of the various sorts of Thyme, this is, I am inclined to think, 
 the most worthy of cultivation. It is usually considered a very 
 woolly variety of T. Serpyllum, our common British Thyme, 
 but, placed under the same conditions, it is a far more orna- 
 mental plant, pleasing at all seasons, and forming wide cushions 
 in any soil, provided it be thoroughly exposed to the sun. Few 
 plants are more suited for the most arid parts of rockwork, 
 and for those in which, from various causes, many other plants 
 will not thrive, though it spreads so quickly into wide dense 
 cushions that it ought not to be placed near any delicate or 
 very minute alpiiie plants. 
 
 Various other kinds of Thyme are worthy of a place on the 
 dry arid slopes of the large rock-garden and on old ruins, but 
 space forbids any more than the enumeration of them here. 
 The minute, creeping, and strongly peppermint-scented Thymus 
 corsicus, with flowers so small that they are almost invisible, 
 should be planted on every rockwork, where -it will soon become 
 one of the welcome weeds. There is a neatly variegated form 
 of the common garden Thyme, which makes a pretty tufted 
 bush, and many subjects are grown and sold in collections of 
 alpine plants not having half the merits of the Lemon Thyme 
 as rock-plants. Other species or reputed species in cultivation 
 are — T. asoricus, asureus, bracteosus, Zygis, and thuriferus. 
 
 TRIENTALIS ■^\5-&0'?M\S%.—Starflower. 
 
 A DELICATE and graceful inhabitant of shady, woody, and 
 mossy places, with erect slender stems, rarely more than six 
 
348 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part 11. 
 
 inches high, bearing a whorl of five or six leaves, the largest 
 nearly two inches long ; from the centre of the whorl arise from 
 one to four slender flower-stems, each supporting a star-shaped 
 white or pink-tipped flower, A native of Northern and Arctic 
 Asia, America, and Europe, and found in the Scotch Highlands 
 and North of England. With healthy well-rooted plants to 
 begin with, it is not difficult to establish among bog shrubs 
 in some half-shady part of the rock-garden, or in the shade of 
 Rhododendrons, &c., in peat soil. It is very suitable for asso- 
 ciation with the Linnaea, the Pyrolas, and Pinguiculas, among 
 mossy rocks. Flowers in early summer, and is increased by 
 division of the creeping root-stocks. 
 
 TRILLIUM GEANDIFLOEXJM.— f^^zV« Wood Lily. 
 
 This, one of the most singular and beautiful of all hardy plants, 
 belongs to a well-known American family, deriving its name 
 from the larger parts being usually arranged in threes. When 
 in good health, each stem bears a lovely, white, three-petalled 
 flower, fairer than the white Lily, and almost as large when the 
 plant is strong ; but much depends on the vigour of the speci- 
 mens. It seems to thrive under almost any kind of treatment, 
 and blooms tolerably well even in small pots in frames. But 
 what a difference between it in that state and when its leaves 
 get large and fleshy, and the plant assumes its natural pro- 
 portions and becomes a free-growing herb of goodly size in 
 the open air ! There can be no doubt as to its requirements — 
 a free deep soil full of vegetable matter, and a shady position 
 either in the hardy fernery or some depressed nook, or, failing 
 such, among the Rhododendrons in peat beds. If placed in a 
 sunny or exposed position, the large soft green leaves are not 
 sufficiently developed, and consequently the plant fails to be- 
 come strong. In a position much exposed to both sun and 
 wind, I have grown it to perfection by planting it in peat, and 
 keeping it covered with a clouded hand-glass so long as the 
 leaves were above ground. At Biddulph Grange I first saw 
 it in its true glory, forming bushes of the healthiest green, 
 more than two feet high, and spreading out as freely as any 
 border-plant. Every stem bore traces of flower, and it may 
 easily be imagined what pictures of beauty these plants must 
 have been in spring. They were planted in a moist spot, very 
 
Part II. TRITELEIA. 349 
 
 much shaded by highly-raised root and rock work and shrubs, 
 and perfectly sheltered by the same. In like positions it may 
 be grown as well as in its native woods. Depressed shady nooks 
 in the rock-garden or hardy fernery will suit it admirably. It is 
 rather an uncommon plant ; but I once saw it selling in the 
 Nottingham market as cheaply as any common little border- 
 plant. 
 
 There are several other species in cultivation — T. atrop'ur- 
 pureum., sessile, and pendulum, none of them equal to T. gran- 
 diflorum, but some of them pretty, and all interesting. 
 
 TRITELEIA UNIPLORA. — Spring Starjlower. 
 
 A NATIVE of Mendoza, in South America, with strap-shaped, 
 spreading leaves, above which the flowers stand clear. They are 
 on stems from about six to ten inches high, and are nearly an 
 inch and a half across when the plants are not grown too thickly ; 
 colour white, with delicate descending bars of pale blue on the 
 inside. The leaves, when bruised, smell exactly like those of an 
 Onion, the flowers like those of the Persian-Iris — a dehcate and 
 grateful perfume. They open with the morning sun, and are 
 conspicuously beautiful on bright days, precisely those in early 
 spring when we are most disposed to visit and admire them, 
 and close in dull and sunless weather. It comes into flower 
 with or before Scilla sibirica, and remains during the last days 
 of April stiU in effective bloom, when the vivid blue of the Squill 
 has been long replaced by green leaves. An exposed position 
 is usually a very bad one for hardy bulbs, as the leaves get 
 lacerated, and the bulbs suffer in consequence ; but from lying 
 nearly flat on the ground, the leaves of Triteleia appear to 
 escape injury from this cause ; however, the warmer and more 
 sheltered. the position and better the soil, the better the bloom. 
 Its bulbs increase as fast as those of Garlic, so that it may be 
 propagated to any extent by division. A few years ago it used 
 to be seen flowering most profusely in pots ; but having put a 
 small plant out in pure clay in a most unfavourable situation, 
 I was surprised to find my single weak root flowering boldly 
 after two hard winters in succession, and during the past few 
 years it has become a general favourite. Associated with the 
 best Scillas, Leucojum vernum, Iris reticulata, dwarf Daffodils, 
 
35° ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 and the like, it forms a charming addition to the select spring 
 garden, and is equally useful for rockwork, borders, or edgings. 
 Triteleia {Leucocoryne) alliacea is a nearly allied plant, but 
 scarcely so ornamental ; it will thrive under similar circum- 
 stances. 
 
 TROP^OLUM ^OJSrS^-ZUJOM..— Yellow Rock T. 
 
 A VERY distinct-looking subject, whether in or out of flower ; 
 the- leaves glaucous, almost rue-like in tone, and orbicular in 
 outline, but cut into ten -or eleven divisions or leaflets, which 
 overlap each other. These leaves are densely crowded on a 
 stem a quarter of an inch thick, at least when the plant is well 
 grown ; and when planted on a warm sunny rockwork, the stems 
 creep about, snake-like, through the vegetation around, some to 
 three or four feet in length. The flowers are a deep yellow, and 
 produced as freely as the leaves. It is a tuberous-rooted kind, 
 quite hardy in dry situations on rockwork and sunny banks, 
 • where it should not be often disturbed ; springs up early, and 
 dies down at the end of summer. It is very well grown by 
 Mr. James Atkins, of Painswick. A native of the Cordilleras 
 of Chih. 
 
 TE0P.a30LUM SB'EClOSUyL.— Brilliant Nasturtium. 
 
 A SPLENDID creeping plant, with long amd elegant annual shoots, 
 gracefully clothed with six-lobed leaves, from the axils of which 
 spring such brilliant vermilion flowers that a long shoot of the 
 plant is startlingly effective, especially if seen wandering alone 
 among Ivy leaves, or among verdure of any kind. It has been 
 introduced a considerable time from South America, but, notwith- 
 standing its graceful beauty and perfect hardiness, is but very 
 little grown or known, especially in Southern England. It is 
 impossible to find anything more worthy of a position in which 
 its shoots may fall over or climb up the face of some high rock or 
 bank in the rock-garden — or some open spot in the hardy fernery, 
 or of any other position in which its peculiar beauty may be seen 
 to fuU advantage. I never saw it more beautiful than when 
 it was clambering through evergreen shrubs, nailed against terrace 
 walls in Scotland. It enjoys a deep, rich, and rather moist soil, 
 apparently flourishing best in cool moist places, or in those near 
 the sea, and not so well in a dry atmosphere. No pains should 
 be spared to establish this plant in a vigorous condition. When 
 
Part II. TULIPA. 351 
 
 a position is selected for it, the soil should be made light, and 
 deep, and free, by the addition of leaf-mould, peat, fibry loam, 
 and sand, as the nature of the ground may require, and the 
 surface should be mulched in summer with an inch or two of 
 decomposed manure or leaf-mould, to prevent excessive eva- 
 poration. It will also enjoy a deep bed of manure beneath 
 the roots, and put below the soil in which the young plants are 
 first placed, and is best planted in spring, the roots inserted six or 
 eight inches in the soil, and the young plants well watered. It 
 is best planted where the shoots may ramble among the spray 
 of shrubs, or ferns, or trailers ; but, as it must in the first in- 
 stance be placed on a cleared spot, it is well to put a few branch- 
 lets over the roots so that the young shoots may crawl over 
 them when they begin to grow. When established, they may be 
 allowed to take care of themselves, and it is much better to 
 let them have their own wild way than to resort to any kind 
 of staking or support, except that afforded by other subjects 
 growing near. 
 
 Mr. W. Smythe, of Elmham Gardens, who grows the plant 
 remarkably well, writes to me : — " It increases almost as freely 
 from its thin white tuberous roots as Bindweed. It should be 
 planted in light sandy mould, is quite hardy, and likes a half- 
 shady situation. My plants do well on a fernery opening to 
 the south, having trees in front of about eight feet or ten feet 
 in height ; they will not thrive under trees. It seeds freely, and 
 the seeds, when ripe, are berry-like and of a beautiful blue ; but 
 they soon drop, and come up the next spring about the fernery 
 round the old plant. It increases and grows most luxuriantly 
 over large Box-trees six feet high, and over large ferns and 
 logs of wood, forming one mass of bloom, and all who see it 
 stop to admire it and ask its name. It ripens about August and 
 September, and the seeds come up the next spring if sown in 
 light sandy mould in pots, and placed in a greenhouse or pit." 
 
 TULIPA CELSIANA. — Dwarf Yellow Tulip. 
 
 A SPECIES having slightly concave glaucous leaves, the largest 
 nearly an inch across, and bright yellow flowers, much smaller 
 than those of the common bedding Tulips, and, when in clumps 
 and fully open, sometimes reminding one of a yellow Crocus ; 
 the outside of the petals is tinted with reddish brown and green. 
 
352 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 It begins to flower about the first of May, and usually attains 
 a height of six to eight and sometimes twelve inches. The 
 bulbs emit stolons after flowering. Comes from Southern Europe 
 and the shores of the Mediterranean, and is well suited for rock- 
 work or choice borders, in well-drained sandy soil. 
 
 TTJLIPA CLUSIANA.— C/«JZ«j'j Tulip. 
 Usually our Tulips are great, bold, showy flowers, but in this 
 species we have one delicate in tone, humble in stature, and 
 modestly pretty in appearance. The bulbs are very small, the 
 stem reaching from six to nine inches high, seldom more, and 
 sometimes flowering when little more than three inches high. 
 The flower is small, with a purplish spot at the base of each petal ; 
 the three outer divisions of the petals sta!ined with a pleasing 
 rose, the three inner ones of a pure transparent white. A 
 native of the South of Europe, a little more delicate than most 
 of its family, and requiring to be planted in good light vegetable 
 earth in a warm, sheltered, and well-drained position to succeed 
 to perfection. Although so small, it will be the better of being 
 planted rather deeply, say at from six to nine inches, and of 
 being placed in some snug spot, where it need not be disturbed 
 too often. Readily known from other species by the peculiarity 
 of its colouring, and well adapted for the rock-garden or the 
 collection of hardy bulbs. 
 
 The two preceding Tuhps are among the dwarfest and neatest 
 known, but the many beautiful and brilliant varieties of our 
 florists' and of our early-flowering bedding TuUps should be 
 extensively used in every garden. 
 
 TUNICA SAXIFRAaA.— i?o<r,& T. 
 
 A SMALL plant, with narrow leaves, and a profusion of wiry 
 stems, bearing elegant rosy flowers, small, but very numerous, 
 thriving without particular care on most soils, and' forming tufts 
 a few inches high. A native of arid stony places on the Pyre- 
 nees and Alps, often descending into the low country, where I 
 have found it on the tops of walls. There can be no doubt that 
 it will grow in like positions in this country, and also on ruins, 
 while it is a neat plant for the rock-garden or the margin of the 
 mixed border. It is not unlike a Gypsophila in appearance, is 
 easily raised from seed, and thrives in poor soil. 
 
Part 11. VACCINIUM— VERONICA. 353 
 
 VACCINIUM VITIS-ID^A.— 7?«i/ Whortleberry. 
 
 A DWARF British evergreen, with box-Hke foliage, but of a paler 
 green, and with clusters of small white, or pale rose-coloured, 
 flowers, which appear in summer, and are followed by berries 
 about the size of red Currants, very like those of the Cranberry, 
 on wiry stems from three to nine inches high. It forms a neat 
 little bush on rockwork, or in beds in peat soil. 
 
 The Marsh Cranberry (K Oxycoccos), a native of wet bogs in. 
 Britain, with very slender creeping shoots and drooping dark- 
 rose flowers, requiring wetter soil than the preceding, is also 
 worthy of a place where bog-plants are admired. The Ame- 
 rican Cranberry {V. macrocarpuni), a much larger plant, distin- 
 guished from the preceding by its oblong-obtuse leaves, and 
 very much larger fruit, is also worthy of a place in moist sandy 
 peat, associated with bog shrubs. 
 
 VERONICA CHAMfflDRYS. — Germander Speedwell. 
 
 A WELL-KNOWN and much-admired little native plant, with 
 ovate, or heart-shaped, hairy leaves, and with hairs curiously 
 arranged in two opposite lines down the stem, while the other 
 portions are bare. The flowers are bright blue, produced in 
 great numbers. It is abundant in nearly all parts of Britain, 
 and may be allowed to crawl about here and there in the less 
 important parts of rock- or root- work. Easily increased by seed 
 or division. 
 
 VERONICA PROSTRATA.— P^tf J/ra/«. Speedwell. 
 
 A DWARF spreading plant, forming dark-green tufts, under 
 six inches high, the leaves lance-shaped or linear ; the stems 
 covered with a short down, forming circular tufts, and nearly 
 woody at the base ; flowers of a deep blue, but varying a good 
 deal, there being several varieties with rose-coloured and white 
 blooms, appearing in ea:rly summer, somewhat earUer than V. 
 Teucrium. A hardy and pretty plant, flowering so freely that, 
 when in full perfection, the leaves are often quite obscured by 
 the flowers. A native of France, Central and Southern Europe, 
 occurring on stony hills and in dry grassy places, and, in culti- 
 vation, succeeding perfectly in dry sandy soil, though by no 
 
354 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 means fastidious, and easily increased by seeds or division. An 
 admirable plant for rockwork, its prostrate habit fitting it best 
 for sloping positions or fissures on vertical faces of rocks. It 
 also thrives perfectly well as a border-plant, at least in well- 
 drained sandy soils. It is nearly allied to V. Teucrium, but 
 differs by flowering earlier, by having the divisions of the calyx 
 smooth and not ciliated, the lobes of the corolla obtuse at the 
 summit, and the fruit smooth and somewhat smaller. 
 
 VERONICA SAXATILIS.— i?Of/l V. 
 
 A BRILLIANT, blue-flowering, dwarf, bush-like plant, a native of 
 alpine rocks in various parts of Europe, and also in a few places 
 in the Highlands of Scotland, forming very dressy tufts, six or 
 eight inches high. The flowers are a little more than half an 
 inch across, and of a very pretty blue, striped with violet, with a 
 narrow but decided ring of crimson near the 'bottom of the cup, 
 its base being pure white. Blooms in May and June abun- 
 dantly, is easily increased by seed or cuttings, grows in ordinaiy 
 soil, and should Tie in every rock-garden or collection of dwarf 
 alpine plants. 
 
 VERONICA TAURICA.— 7a«rM« Speedwell. 
 
 A VERY dwarf, wiry, and almost woody species, forming neat 
 dark-green tufts, under three inches high ; the leaves crowded, 
 the upper ones distinctly toothed ; the flowers a fine gentian-blue, 
 abundantly produced, ""^rhaps the neatest of all rock Veronicas 
 for forming spreading tufts in level spots, or tufts drooping from 
 chinks, and admirable also for the margin of the mixed border, 
 thoroughly hardy, growing in ordinary well-drained garden soil, 
 and flowering in early summer. Suitable for association with 
 the dwarfest alpine plants and mountain shrubs, being itself 
 indeed a tiny compact prostrate shrub. A native of Tauria ; in- 
 creased by division or by cuttings. 
 
 VERONICA T^XSGSSXm..— Teucrium Speedwell. 
 
 A CONTINENTAL plant, somewhat pubescent, with opposite 
 leaves, the upper ones nearly linear, the lower oval-oblong, 
 deeply and unequally incised and toothed ; the stems forming 
 spreading masses from eight inches to a foot high, and covered 
 
Part 11. VESICARIA—VICIA—VINCA. 35 S 
 
 with flowers of an intense blue in early summer. The flowers 
 are at first in dense racemes, which afterwards become much 
 longer, the fine blue corolla having oval segments, the three 
 lower ones pointed. It is an excellent plant either for the rock- 
 work or borders, easily increased by seeds or division, and 
 growing freely in ordinary garden soil. 
 
 V. Nummularia, of the Pyrenees, V. aphylla, the neat little 
 bushy V, fruticulosa, V. satureifolia, and V. Candida, with silvery- 
 white leaves, very suitable for bedding out and edgings, are also 
 worthy of a place. 
 
 VESICARIA -U'SVaCXyL&.'SK.—Bladder-j>odded V. 
 
 A PLANT with large yellow flowers, not unlike the alpine Wall- 
 flower in habit and general appearance, but at once distinguished 
 by its bladder-like pods. It usually grows from ten inches to a 
 foot high, and has a vigorous constitution, though I have observed 
 it perish in winter on cold soils. A native of mountains in France, 
 Italy, and Southern Europe generally, usually on calcareous 
 rocks, and most likely to flourish and endure on dry sunny 
 parts of our rockworks in dryish soil. It is very easily increased 
 from seed. 
 
 VICIA AEGENTEA.— i'z/z/^rj' VeicA. 
 
 A SPECIES with silvery and downy leaves, composed of from four 
 to ten pairs of leaflets, and of prostrate habit, but without ten- 
 drils, and rarely more than eight inches high, spreading about, 
 however, pretty freely in light, warm, and well-drained soil ; the 
 rather large whitish flowers are veined with violet in the upper, 
 and spotted with purple in the lower part. It, however, is not a 
 brilliant plant in flower, but the elegant silvery leaves make it 
 worthy of a place in the rock-garden, in dry warm soil. A 
 Pyrenean plant, rare in gardens ; easily increased by division 
 or seed. 
 
 VINCA "SESBKCEA.— Herbaceous Periwinkle. 
 
 A PLANT much less frequent than our common Periwinkles, 
 and more worthy of culture on rocks, as it is not rampant in 
 habit. A native of Hungary, flowering in spring and early sum- 
 
3S6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 mer, the stems dying down every year unlike those of its more 
 familiar relatives ; it thrives best in an open position. 
 
 The well-known Vinca major is very useful on large rockwork, 
 on masses of rootwork, near cascades, &c., and also in rocky 
 places or banks in the wilder parts of pleasure-grounds or by 
 wood walks. There is a variety caUed elegantissima, finely 
 blotched and variegated with creamy white, and several other 
 variegated varieties, all exceedingly useful in the positions above 
 named. The lesser Periwinkle (K minor), a much smaller plant 
 than the preceding, is also useful for like positions ; there are 
 several varieties of it well worthy of cultivation, a white-flowered 
 one {y. ininor alba), one with reddish flowers, one or two double 
 varieties, and also, as of the larger, several variegated forms. 
 
 VIOLA 'BXFUyRA..— Two-flowered Yellow Violet. 
 
 This is a bright little Violet, very widely distributed through 
 Europe, Asia, and America, at present usually seen in such a 
 delicate condition in gardens that few would suspect what 
 a lovely little ornament it is on the Alps, in many parts of 
 which every chink between the moist rocks is densely clothed 
 with it. It even crawls far under the great boulders and rocks, 
 and hnes shallow caves with its fresh verdure and little golden 
 stars. It is readily known from any other cultivated species 
 by -its very small but bright-yellow flowers, the lips streaked 
 with black, being usually borne in pairs, and by its kidney- 
 or heart-shaped leaves. In our gardens its home wiU be on 
 the rockwork, running about among such plants as the yellow 
 annual Saxifrage, the Dog Violet, Arenaria balearica, &c., in 
 moist and half neglected spots. It will be found especially 
 useful on large rockworks, where rude flights of stone are con- 
 structed to give one or more winding pathways over the mass, 
 as it will run through every chink between the steps, and tend 
 to make them, as well as the most select spots, replete with 
 life and interest. If obtained in a small or weakly condition, 
 it may seem difficult to establish, but this is not by any means 
 the case ; once fairly started in a moist and half-shady spot, 
 it soons "begins to creep about rapidly, and may then be readily 
 increased by division. When well established on suitable rock- 
 work, it is able to talie cai'e of itself. 
 
Part II. VIOLA, 357 
 
 VIOLA CKLC&:rA.'I!A..— Spurred Violet. 
 
 This plant comes very near the well-known Viola cornuta in the 
 flower, including the spur, but is easily known by the stipules, 
 which are deeply divided into three lobes at the top, whereas in 
 V. cornuta they are broad, leafy, and toothed. The stipule of 
 V. calcarata is never toothed, nor wide like a leaf, and the 
 plant is even more readily known by its habit of increasing by 
 runners under the earth, somewhat after the manner of Campa- 
 nula pulla, instead of forming strong leafy tufts like V. cor- 
 nuta. It is a very pretty plant on the Alps, usually in very high 
 situations, amidst very dwarf flowers, sometimes so plentiful 
 that its large purple flowers form sheets of colour, the leaves 
 being scarcely seen amidst the other dwarf plants that form the 
 turf I have not seen it in cultivation, but have no doubt it 
 would form as charming a plant in the rock-garden as it does in 
 its native wilds. There is a yellow variety, ^frtwa iy. Zoysii), 
 
 VIOLA COENTrTA.— //bmerf Pansy. 
 
 This fine Pyrenean and Alpine Violet is now to be seen in 
 almost every flower-garden, its pale blue or mauve-coloured and 
 sweet-scented flowers, so abundantly produced, making it very 
 valuable in lines, borders, and mixtures. It has been cultivated 
 for ages in our gardens as a rockwork and border plant, but its 
 value as a continuous bloomer, and consequent capacity for 
 bedding, only came to be noticed a couple of years ago. Gene- 
 rally speaking, it does poorly on dry soils and in warm dis- 
 tricts, and exceedingly well in wet places. I have rarely seen 
 anything to equal its appearance in the cold wet climate of 
 East Lancashire, while it looks poor indeed in many gardens 
 in the South. In long lines or ribbons, or large beds, it looks 
 very pretty, the colour being of a quiet though decided tone, but 
 it is in mixtures that it will prove truly beautiful. One of the 
 most beautiful bits of colouring I have ever seen was produced 
 by a mixture of Beaton's variegated Nosegay Geranium and 
 Viola cornuta. In many cold and stormy districts, the blue 
 Lobelia, so fine in the South, grows quite to grass instead of 
 flower ; that which spoils the Lobelia will highly improve this 
 Violet. It is quite easily propagated by division, cuttings, or 
 seeds. 
 
35 8 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 
 
 VIOLA 1X5TE&..— Mountain Violet. 
 
 This is one of our native Violets classed by Bentham as a 
 variety of V. tricolor, but considered distinct by other botanists, 
 and certainly quite distinct enough for garden purposes. Being 
 called lutea, one is surprised to find the flowers of nearly every 
 wild plant of it a fine purple, with a yellow spot at the base of 
 the lower petal. Both forms make very pretty rockwork orna- 
 ments, but the yellow one has lately become deservedly popular 
 as a dwarf bedding and edging plant, and it is also a first-class 
 plant for the front margin of the mixed border. In cultivation 
 the yellow form is a very neat and compact plant, rising from 
 two to six inches high, and flowering abundantly from the month 
 of April onwards. The flowers are of a peculiarly rich and 
 handsome yellow, the three lower petals striped with thin lines 
 of rich black. It possesses first-class qualities as a bedding 
 plant, and is' less uncertain in its growth on the majority of soils 
 than V. cornuta, while it is dwarf, neat, and of a colour much 
 to be desired for the flower-garden. Hitherto we have had no 
 very dwarf yellow plant that could be depended upon, or was at 
 all satisfactory. The Calceolaria, which is of greater height, 
 has of late become most precarious on many soils, so much so 
 that many have given up its culture to a great extent ; and 
 therefore this Viola is all the more acceptable to flower-gar- 
 deners. Much dwarfer and more compact than V. cornuta, it 
 may be planted in front of it with the best taste. More tasteful 
 uses than that, however, must soon be found for it in the margin- 
 ing of choice beds, in forming low and rich mixtures with bright- 
 leaved plants like Amaranthus or Coleus kept very dwarf, and in 
 not a few other ways which wiU in due time suggest themselves 
 to the flower-gardening reader. 
 
 VIOLA OOORhlSK.— Sweet Violet. 
 
 This well-known plant is in a wild state widely spread over 
 Europe and Russian Asia, and common in various parts of 
 Britain, but best known from its occurring in almost every 
 garden, and from enormous quantities of it being sold in London, 
 Paris, and many other cities. It is as needless to describe 
 it as the Daisy ; besides, its delicious odour distinguishes it im- 
 mediately from the numerous- other Violets. It is too well known 
 
Part II. . VIOLA. 359 
 
 to require praise, but it is very seldom used in the best way. 
 The Sweet Violet and most of its varieties may be used in many 
 places where few other things but weeds succeed ; it will form 
 carpets for open groves or the fringes of woods, or in open parts 
 of copses, or on hedgebanks, demanding in such positions no 
 care, and rewarding the planter by filling the cold March air 
 with unrivalled sweetness ; and in the garden, instead of confining 
 it to a solitary bed for cutting from, as is often the case, it should 
 be permitted to fringe the margins of shrubberies, or the margins 
 of rockwork, or ferneries, or any like places where it may be 
 allowed to exist and take care of itself. It will grow in almost 
 any soil, but succeeds best in free sandy loams, and should be 
 put in such when there is any choice. It is well to naturalise 
 the plant on sunny banks, and fringes of woods, and on the 
 warmer sides of bushy places, to encourage a very early bloom. 
 
 The cultivation of the Sweet Violet in gardens is of great 
 importance, not only for the supply of private wants,"but also for 
 the vast supply required in large cities. About Paris the culti- 
 vation of the Violet for the markets is carried on to a great 
 extent, and in some places near that city three or four acres may 
 be seen covered with them, all in the possession of one culti- 
 vator, the ground being well exposed to the mid-day sun and of 
 a rich, free, and warm nature, the plantations being made in 
 spring, and those required during winter being grown in frames. 
 The most successful cultivation of Violets I have observed in 
 this country was at Bicton, carried out by Mr. Barnes. The 
 plants, raised from seed, and having passed the summer in 
 a slightly shady position, were transferred in early autumn to 
 a little temporary border on the sunny side of a long glass-house, 
 sheltered also by other structures near at hand ; the border was 
 formed of a few inches of fibrous loam on a row of flag-stones 
 enclosed by an edging of brick, and was made every year afresh. 
 The additional warmth and perfect drainage obtained in this 
 position caused the plants to flowfer throughout the autumn, 
 winter, and early spring months, and doubtless a similar plan 
 would be very desirable in milder parts of the country. In cold 
 dry parts and gardens in which Violets do not succeed well, 
 and where they are required in mid-winter, it is better to raise 
 a number of healthy plants every year and put them in a light 
 frame in a sunny position in autumn. It is almost needless to 
 say that they may be propagated to any extent by division, but 
 
3>6o ALPINE FLOWERS. • Part 11. 
 
 strong, healthy, free-flowering plants are also easily raised froffl 
 seed ; and this is also better sown as soon as convenient after 
 being gathered. 
 
 The Neapolitan Violet, a much admired variety of the Sweet 
 Violet, is a little tenderer, and is usually grown in frames in 
 winter.- Mr, Barnes recommends the following mode of culture 
 as the best. The plants, after flowering in spring, about the be- 
 ginning of April, are encouraged to throw out runners by spread- 
 ing some open sandy soil between the old plants, and afterwards 
 giving a good watering if the weather be dry ; a few weeks 
 afterwards the strongest and healthiest of these runners are se- 
 lected and planted on well prepared ground in a north or shady 
 aspect ; during summer the ground is kept clear from weeds, 
 all side runners are cut off, and they are thoroughly watered 
 should drought set in. By October these have formed strong 
 plants, and they are then transferred to cold frames or pits in 
 a sunny position, the plants being carefully taken up with balls, 
 and placed in the pits so that they nearly touch each other. When 
 it is desired to have the blooms early, or to force them, eighteen 
 inches of slightly fermenting material are placed in the bottom 
 of a turf pit, on that six or eight inches of sweet fibrous loam, 
 in which the plants are placed. In fine weather the lights are 
 always taken off, and as much air as possible given at other 
 times. 
 
 The Sweet Violet varies a great deal ; thus we have the single 
 white and single rose, double white and double rose, the small 
 Russian, the Czar, a very large and sweet variety ; the Queen of 
 Violets, with flowers almost as large as those of the double 
 white Cherry ; and the perpetual-blooming Violet, well known 
 in France as the Violette des quatre saisons. This last differs 
 but slightly from the common Sweet Violet, but is valuable for 
 flowering long and continuously in autumn, winter, and spring. 
 It is the variety used by the cultivators round Paris. 
 
 VIOLA -p-E'DA'SK.— Bird-foot Violet. 
 
 Thi: most beautiful of the American Violets, with handsome 
 flowers, an inch across, pale or deep lilac, purple or blue, the two 
 upper petals sometimes deep violet, and velvety like a Pansy ; 
 the leaves deeply divided, like the foot of a bird, and the plant 
 very dwarf and compact in habit. In a wild state it inhabits 
 
Part II, VIOLA. ' 361 
 
 sandy or gravelly soil in the Northern States of America, and 
 is of easy culture in this country, flowering in summer, and 
 increased by seeds or division. It is best adapted for the choice 
 rock-garden, but may also be grown in borders where the soil is 
 sandy and moist* It does freely in pots where alpines are grown 
 in cold frames, and should be amongst those that are grown for 
 exhibition. 
 
 VIOLA •sniGOZ.OVt,.— Heartsease. 
 The Pansy is usually included under the head of V. tricolor, 
 though it is more likely to have descended from V. altaicaj 
 in any case, a good many kinds seem very nearly allied to that 
 species. But the kinds are so numerous, so varied, and, withal, 
 so distinct from any really wild species of Violet in cultivation, 
 that little can be traced of their origin. Of one thing we may be 
 certain : the parents of this precious race were true mountaineers. 
 Only alpines could give birth to such rich and brilliant colour 
 and noble amplitude of bloom considering the size of the plant. 
 Its season never ends, it blooms often cheerfully enough at 
 Christmas, and is sheeted with delightful gold and purple when 
 the Hawthorn is whitened with blossoms. Such a flower must 
 not be ignored on our rock-gardens, even though it thrive in 
 almost any soil and position. It may be treated as an annual, 
 biennial, or perennial, according to cUmate, position, and soil. 
 Good varieties are quickly and easily raised from seed, while the 
 plant may be raised freely from cuttings or by division. It is, 
 however, so well known that it is needless to describe its culture, 
 and space forbids the shortest enumeration of its numberless 
 varieties, which are, however, given in detail in many catalogues. 
 In addition to the " florists' varieties," so richly and deeply 
 stained, there is a race of fancy or Belgian Pansies now in cul- 
 tivation ; and there are also what are called bedding Pansies, 
 many of them very fine, with simple colours, yellow, blue, or 
 white. Of these, such fine varieties as Imperial Blue merit 
 a place on the rougher slopes of the rockwork, where a free and 
 fine effect of bloom is desired, as well as any wild species of rock- 
 plant. Although in some soils the Pansy becomes perennial, the 
 flowers on old plants are smaller and less beautifully coloured 
 than those from young ones, and therefore, where a perfect 
 yearly bloom is desired, it is necessary to increase the stock 
 annually from seed or cuttings. 
 
362 ALPIN:e FLOWERS. Part II, 
 
 In addition to the Violets here described, other species are 
 worthy of cultivation in large collections, for example : V. striata, 
 V. canadensis, V. obliqua, V. palmata, V. blanda, V. pennata, 
 V. palmaensis, and V. cucullata; but these are all exceeded in 
 size and beauty of flower by those described, and all surpassed 
 in odour by the Sweet Violet. 
 
 VITTADENIA TEILOBA.— iV^a/ Holland Daisy. 
 
 A PRETTY Australian composite plant, bearing an abundance of 
 flowers with yellowish disks and rosy-white rays, somewhat like 
 those of a Daisy ; but the plant has a spreading diffuse habit, and 
 forms neat little bushes nearly or quite a foot high. The seed is 
 commonly sold, and the plant may be raised as freely as any 
 annual, sown in frames or on a gentle hot-bed, in March or early 
 in April ; when put out in April in free sandy soil in a suimy posi- 
 tion, it flowers abundantly from early summer to late autumn. 
 Even better results are obtained by sowing it in August, keeping 
 it in pots over the winter. I probably should not have mentioned 
 it in this book had I not met with it in North Italy beautifully 
 embellishing rockwork on which it had become naturalised, and 
 I am confident it will do the same in well-drained sandy loam 
 on rockwork, and banks in the southern and milder parts of Eng- 
 land and Ireland. Although frequently treated as an annual, it is 
 really a perennial on soils and in positions where not destroyed 
 by wet and frost. 
 
 WALDSTEINIA 'S'KlYOlSliL.— Three-leaved W. 
 
 A DWARF but vigorous plant, spreading about with stout but 
 stubby strawberry-like runners. The trifoliate leaves are very 
 deeply cut, and the flowers rich golden-yellow, on dwarf stems, 
 with a dense brush of golden ■ filaments and stamens in the 
 centre. A thoroughly hardy and vigorous-growing subject, good 
 for any kind of rockwork or the margin of the mixed border or 
 shrubbery. Flowers in April, and is as readily propagated as 
 any common weed. 
 
 Waldsteinia geoides is also worthy of a place on bare banks, 
 and occasionally as an edging among spring flowers, but it is 
 not so showy as the preceding. 
 
Part II. 
 
 ZEPHVRANTHES. 
 
 363 
 
 ZEPHYRANTHES hJSiJ&ASaO.—Atamasco Lily. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL, dwarf, lily-like plant, bearing handsome white 
 flowers tinged with purple, three inches and a half across, 
 on stems from six to twelve inches high. Although growing 
 abundantly in North America, this fine plant is very rare in 
 our gardens, where it is weU worthy of culture on every rockwork, 
 or in every collection of hardy bulbs, thriving freely in light, rich, 
 sandy soil, and flowering in early summer. Dotted over a turf 
 formed of some carpet-plant like the Lawn Pearlwort, it would 
 be seen to great advantage when its great bell-like flower opened. 
 The leaves are linear, concave, and fleshy, and appear at the 
 same time as the flowers ; the bulb small. It flowers in summer, 
 and is increased by seeds, or division of established tufts. 
 
3^4 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 SELECTIONS OF ALPINE AND ROCK PLANTS 
 FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES. 
 
 A Selection of Alpine Plants which ought to be Grown 
 IN EVERY Nursery. 
 
 When nurserymen do begin to collect hardy alpine plants, they gene- 
 rally err by not taking care to select ornamental kinds only. Others, 
 appalled by the display of vigorous weeds seen here and there under 
 the name of " alpine plants," never grow one at all. But most intelli- 
 gent nurserymen would gladly grow a collection if they were confident 
 of securing really ornamental kinds. I have therefore taken considerable 
 pains in selecting the following ; they will grow in almost any soil on 
 the level ground, and will give general satisfaction. And as they are 
 fitted for every nursery, so they will embellish every garden. They are 
 the plants that beginners should select, and they will, I hope, intro- 
 duce many to a very delightful communion with alpine flowers. 
 
 AcanthoUmon glumaceum 
 Achillea tomentosa 
 Adonis vernalis 
 ^thionema coridifolium. 
 Alyssum saxatile 
 Anemone alpina 
 
 apennina 
 
 angulosa 
 
 blanda 
 
 coronaria {in var.) 
 
 fulgens 
 
 Hepatica 
 
 sylvestris 
 Antennaria tomentosa 
 
 dioica rosea 
 Aquilegia canadensis 
 
 c^erulea 
 
 alpina 
 
 glandulosa 
 Arabis albida 
 Armeria cephalotes 
 Astragalus monspessulanus 
 Aubrietia {in var.) 
 Begonia Veitcliii 
 Calandrinia umbellata 
 Campanula carpatica 
 
 Raineri 
 
 ceespitosa 
 alba 
 
 mural is 
 
 other 
 
 Campanula fragilis 
 
 garganica 
 
 turbinata 
 Coronilla varia 
 Crocus nudiflorus 
 
 speciosus (and 
 species) 
 Cyclamen europeum 
 
 hederaefplium 
 Cypripedium spectabile 
 Dianthus alpinus 
 
 deltoides 
 
 negleotus 
 
 petraeus 
 Dondia Epipactis 
 Erinus alpinus 
 Erodium Manescavi 
 Erysimum ochroleucum 
 Gentiana acaulis 
 
 verna 
 
 asclepiadea 
 Geranium cinerenm 
 
 argenteum 
 Helianthemums (in var.) 
 Ibe.ris sempervirens 
 
 correse folia 
 
 corifolia 
 Iris cristata 
 
 nudicaulis 
 
 pumila 
 
 Iris reticulata 
 Leucojum vernum 
 Lilium tenuifolium 
 Linaria alpina 
 Linum alpinum 
 
 narbonnense 
 Lithospermum prostratum 
 Lychnis Lagascae 
 Muscari botryoides 
 Myosotis alpestris 
 
 sylvatica 
 
 dissitiflora 
 Narcissus juncifolius 
 
 Tazet^ 
 
 Bulbocodium 
 Nierembergia rivularis 
 Omphalodes verna 
 
 Lucilise 
 CEnothera marginata 
 
 missouriensis 
 
 taraxacifolia 
 Phlox reptans 
 
 subulata (and vars.) 
 Polygala Chamasbuxus 
 Polygonum vaccinifo- 
 
 lium 
 Primula Auricula (in var.) 
 
 marginata. 
 
 nivea 
 
 viscosa 
 
Part II. 
 
 SELECTIONS. 
 
 365 
 
 Primula vulgaris (and the 
 
 fine double vars.) 
 Ranunculus alpestris 
 
 amplexicauUs 
 
 parnassifolius 
 Sanguinaria canadensis 
 Saponaria ocymoides 
 Saxifraga Aizoon 
 
 Andrewsii 
 
 biflora 
 
 ceratophylla 
 
 juniperina 
 
 longi folia 
 
 hypnoides {and vars.) 
 
 oppositifolia 
 
 Saxifraga Cotyledon 
 
 Rocheliana 
 Sedum Ewersii 
 
 kamtschaticum 
 
 pulchellum 
 
 Sieboldii 
 
 spectabile 
 
 spurium 
 Sempervivum arachnoideum 
 
 calcareum 
 
 globiferum 
 
 Boutignianum 
 
 montanum 
 
 soboliferum 
 Senecio argenteus 
 
 Silene alpestris 
 
 Elisabethss 
 
 Schafta 
 Sisyrinchium grandiflorum 
 Trillium grandiflorum 
 Triteleia uniflora 
 Plumbago Larpentae 
 Veronica prostrata 
 
 taurica 
 
 Candida 
 
 saxatilis 
 
 fruticulosa 
 Viola pedata 
 
 lutea. 
 
 List of Dwarf Alpine and Rock Plants Suited por the 
 Margins of Mixed Borders. 
 
 Anemone apennina 
 
 Hepatica (in var.) 
 Adonis vernalis 
 Ranunculus amplexicaulis 
 Epimedium pinnatum ele- 
 gans (and several 
 other species) 
 Sanguinaria canadensis 
 Dielytra eximia 
 Arabis albida 
 
 petrxa 
 Aubrietia (all the vars.) 
 Alyssum spinosum 
 
 saxadle 
 Iberis corifolia 
 
 corresefolia 
 
 sempervirens 
 
 Tenoreana 
 Dianthus petrseus 
 
 neglectus 
 Saponaria ocymoides 
 Silene alpestris 
 Oxalis floribunda 
 Genista sagittahs 
 Anthyllis montana 
 Potentilla verna 
 Sedum elegans 
 
 Ewersii 
 
 glaucum 
 
 kamtschaticum 
 
 pulchellum 
 
 sem pervivoides 
 
 Sieboldii 
 
 spurium 
 Sempervivum arenarium 
 
 californicum 
 
 glaucum 
 
 globiferum 
 
 hirtum 
 
 Sempervivum montanum 
 
 soboliferum 
 
 tectorum 
 Saxifraga Andrewsii 
 
 longifolia 
 
 Aizoon 
 
 Bucklandii 
 
 csespitosa 
 
 crustata 
 
 granulata plena 
 
 Guthrieana 
 
 hypnoides 
 
 Hostii 
 
 intacta 
 
 juniperina 
 
 lingulata 
 
 oppositifolia 
 
 pectinata 
 
 Cotyledon 
 
 rosularis 
 
 Stansfleldii 
 Dondia Epipactis 
 Cornus canadensis 
 Hieracium lanatum 
 
 Camerarii 
 Helichrysum arenarium 
 Aster alpinus 
 albus 
 Double Daisies 
 Achillea aurea 
 
 tomentosa 
 Campanula carpatica 
 alba 
 
 fragilis 
 
 garganica 
 
 Cccspitosa 
 alba 
 Erica carnea 
 Gaultheria procumbens 
 
 Gentiana acaulis 
 Phlox reptans 
 
 subulata 
 Convolvulus lineatus 
 Lithospermum prostratum 
 Linaria alpina 
 Calceolaria Kellyana 
 . Pentstemon procerus 
 Veronica Candida 
 Zietenia lavandulsefolia 
 Zapania nodiflora 
 Cyclamen europseum 
 
 hedersefolium 
 Primula vulgaris plena (and 
 vars.) 
 
 Auricula (and vars.) 
 Acantholimon glumaceum 
 Armeria vulgaris rosea 
 Plumbago Larpentse 
 Iris cristata 
 
 pumila 
 Sisyrinchium grandiflorum 
 Crocus luteus 
 
 vernus (and many vars. ) 
 Sternbergia lutea 
 Narcissus Bulbocodium 
 
 minor 
 Leucojura vernum 
 Galanthus nivalis 
 
 plicatus 
 Funkia albomarginata 
 Convallaria majalis 
 Smilacina bifolia 
 Scilla bifolia 
 
 sibirica 
 Erythronium Dens-canis 
 Bulbocodium vernum 
 Colchicum autumnale 
 
 variegatura. 
 
366 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS, 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Dwarf Shrubs Suited for occasionally Intermingling with 
 THE Larger Alpine Plants, when Planted on the Margins 
 OF Shrubberies, etc. 
 
 Andromeda fioribunda 
 
 tetragona 
 Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi 
 Astragalus Tragacantha 
 Azalea amcena 
 Betula nana 
 Bryanthus erectus 
 Calluna vulgaris (in var.) 
 Cistus (various species) 
 Clematis (numerous kinds) 
 Comus canadensis 
 Cotoneaster microphylla 
 
 thymifolia 
 Cytisus sessilifolius 
 Daphne alpina 
 
 Cneorum 
 
 coUina 
 
 Mezereum 
 Deutzia (several kinds) 
 Empetrum nigrum 
 
 rubrum 
 Epigaea repens 
 
 Erica (all hardy species) 
 Euonymus japonicus fol. 
 argenteis 
 nanus 
 
 radicans fol. variegatis 
 Gaultheria procumbens 
 
 Shallon 
 Genista anglica 
 
 hispanica 
 
 sagittalis 
 
 tinctoria 
 Helianthemums (many 
 
 kinds) 
 Hydrangea (several kinds) 
 Hypericum calycinutn 
 Indigofera Dosua 
 Ivies (in great v^.) 
 Kalmia latifolia 
 
 nana 
 Leiophyllum buxifolium 
 Menziesia (several kinds) 
 
 Ononis fruticosa 
 
 rotundifolia 
 Pernettya (several kinds) 
 Polygala Chamaebuxus 
 Potentilla fioribunda 
 
 fruticosa 
 Rhododendron (dwarf 
 
 kinds) 
 Ruscus Hypoglossum 
 
 racemosus 
 Salix lanata 
 
 reticulata 
 Santolina Chamaecyparissus 
 
 viridis 
 Skimmia japonica 
 
 laureola 
 
 oblata 
 Spirasa (several dwarf kinds) 
 Vaccinium (three or four 
 
 kinds) 
 Vinca (various kinds). 
 
 Selection of Alpine and Rock Plants for Growing on Old 
 Walls, Ruins, Stony Banks, etc. (The most suitable kinds are 
 marked *.) 
 
 •Corydalis lutea 
 *Cheiranthus Cheiri 
 
 pleno {in var.) 
 
 Arabis albida 
 
 *arenosa 
 
 lucida variegata 
 
 petraea (old mossy walls) 
 
 ble^harophylla (do.) 
 
 Aiibrietia (all the vars.) 
 
 Hutchinsia petraea 
 
 Vesicaria utriculata 
 
 Schivereckia podolica 
 
 *AIyssum montanum 
 
 saxatile 
 
 spinosum 
 
 Koniga maritima _ 
 
 Petrocallis pyrenaica (mossy 
 
 and moist old walls] 
 *Draba aizoides 
 
 boeotica 
 lonopsidion acaule (north 
 
 side of old wSlls) 
 
 Thlaspi alpestre 
 
 Iberis (in var.) 
 
 ♦Reseda odorata (sown in 
 
 chinks in walls this 
 
 sometimes becomes 
 
 perennial) 
 
 Heliarithemums (many of 
 
 the varieties might be 
 
 grown upon old ruins, 
 
 stony banks, &c.* 
 
 *Gypsophila muralis 
 
 Gypsophila i>rostrata 
 •Tunica Saxifraga 
 *Dianthus cassius 
 
 deltoides 
 
 monspessulanus 
 
 petrseus 
 Saponaria ocymoides 
 Silene acaulis (moist walls, 
 to be first carefully 
 planted in a chink) 
 
 alpestris 
 
 rupestris 
 Silene Schafta 
 *Lychnis alpina 
 
 lapponica 
 Sagina procumbens pleno 
 •Arenaria balearica 
 
 caespitosa 
 
 ciliata 
 
 graminifolia 
 
 montana 
 
 verna 
 Linum alpinum 
 Malva campanulata (ruins) 
 Erodium romanum(oldwalls) 
 
 Reichardii 
 Ononis alba 
 
 Astragalus mdnspessulanus 
 CoroniUa minima 
 
 varia 
 Acaena Novae Zealandige 
 
 (moist mossy walls) 
 •Cotyledon Umbilicus I 
 
 Umbilicus chrysanthus 
 *Sedum acre 
 
 ♦acre variegatum 
 
 Aizoon 
 
 *album 
 
 anglicum 
 
 brevifolium 
 
 cacruleum 
 
 *dasyphyllum 
 
 elegans 
 
 •Ewersii 
 
 farinosum 
 
 hispanicum 
 
 *kamtschaticum 
 
 multiceps 
 
 pulchrum 
 
 *sempervivoides 
 
 sexangulare 
 
 sexfidum 
 
 *spurium 
 *Sempervivum arach- 
 noideum 
 
 arenarium 
 
 *calcareum 
 
 globiferum 
 
 *Heuffelli 
 
 hirtum 
 
 *rnontanum 
 
 piliferum 
 
 *soboliferum 
 
 *tectorum 
 Saxifraga bryoides 
 
Part II. 
 
 SELECTIONS. 
 
 367 
 
 Saxifraga crustata 
 
 cuscutasformis 
 
 diapensioides 
 
 *Hostii 
 
 intacta 
 
 •lingulata 
 
 •longifolia 
 
 pectinata 
 
 pulchella 
 
 retusa 
 
 *rosularis 
 
 Rocheliana 
 
 *Rhei 
 
 sarmentosa 
 *Asperula cynanchlca 
 Centranthus ruber 
 albus 
 coccineus 
 Antennaria dioica minima 
 (mossy chinks, with a 
 little soil) 
 
 BelUum bellidioides 
 
 crassifolium 
 
 minutum 
 Santolina incana 
 Achillea tomentosa 
 Symphyandra pendula 
 Campanula Barrelieri 
 
 *fragilis 
 
 *garganica 
 
 CEcspitosa 
 alba 
 
 rotundifolia 
 ♦Antirrhinum rupestre 
 
 *majus 
 
 Orontium 
 *Linaria Cymbalaria 
 alba 
 
 vulgaris 
 *Erinus alpinus 
 Veronica mitipulosa 
 
 saxatilis 
 
 Thymus citriodorus (earthy 
 
 chinks) 
 Iris germanica (and vars.) 
 
 pumila 
 Polypodium vulgare 
 Adiantum Capillus Vene- 
 ris {on moist warm 
 walls) 
 Asplenium Adiantum-ni- 
 grum 
 fontanum 
 •septentrionale 
 *Ruta-muraria 
 *germanicum 
 *lanceolatum 
 *Trichomanes 
 
 vars.) 
 *viride 
 *Ceterach officinarum 
 *Matthiola tristis. 
 
 (and 
 
 Alpine Plants to be Raised From Seed. 
 
 Nearly all alpine plants may be raised from seed, but several 
 kinds may be increased more readily in other ways, and of many the 
 seeds are rarely obtainable. Therefore the following list only enumerates 
 some of those that it is desirable to raise in this way. By carefully 
 selecting the really ornamental kinds, of which seed is offered in the 
 various trade catalogues, a goodly number of kinds may be raised from 
 seed in a single season. 
 
 Aquilegia- alpina 
 
 casrulea 
 
 californlca 
 Arabis petraea 
 
 blepharophylla 
 Aubrietias (all) 
 Vesicaria utriculata 
 Schivereckia podolica 
 Alyssum saxatile 
 
 spinosum 
 
 alpestre 
 Draba Aizoon 
 
 aizoides 
 
 cuspidata 
 Iberis corifolia 
 
 sempervirens 
 
 Tenoreana 
 Viola (any kinds not readily 
 increased from cut- 
 tings or by division) 
 Pamassia palustris 
 Tunica Saxifraga 
 Dianthus alpinus , 
 
 caesius 
 
 superbus 
 
 Dianthus deltoides 
 
 petreeus 
 
 suavis 
 Saponaria ocymoides 
 Silene acaulis 
 
 alpestris 
 
 exscapa 
 
 maritima 
 
 Schafta_ 
 Lychnis alpina 
 
 Lagascae 
 Arenaria verna 
 Cerastium Biebersteinii 
 
 tomentosum 
 
 Boissierii ^ 
 Linum alpinum 
 
 flavum (and various 
 others) 
 Erodium Manescavi (and 
 
 others) 
 Oxytropis campestris 
 
 uralensis 
 Calandrinia umbellata 
 Sedum (all good kinds) 
 Sempervivum, (do.) 
 
 Saxifraga (all good kinds) 
 Scabiosa Webbiana 
 Campanula carpatica 
 alba 
 
 fragilis 
 
 turbinata 
 
 muralis 
 Jasione perennis 
 Myosotis alpestris 
 
 azorica 
 
 dissitiflora 
 
 sylvatica 
 Linaria alpina 
 Pentstemon procerus 
 Erinus alpinus 
 Veronica taurica (and other 
 
 good kinds) 
 Thymus (various species) ' 
 Soldanella (in var.) 
 Primula (do.) 
 Armeria cephalotes 
 Androsace Chamaejasme 
 (and any others of 
 which seed m^y be 
 obtained). 
 
368 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Selection of Alpine and Rock Plants of Prostrate or 
 Drooping Habit, Suited for Placing so that they may 
 Droop over the Brows of Rocks, and like Positions. 
 
 Arabis albida 
 
 procutxens 
 Aubrietias 
 Alyssum montanum 
 
 saxatile 
 Iberis corifolia 
 
 sempervirens 
 
 Tenoreana 
 Helianthemum (in var.) 
 Gypsophilas (several) 
 Dianthus deltoides (and - 
 
 others) 
 Tunica Saxifi-aga 
 Saponaria ocymoides 
 Cerastium Biebersteinii 
 
 grandiEorum 
 
 tomentosum 
 Malva campanulata 
 Callirhoe involucrata 
 
 pedata 
 Hypericum humifusum 
 Tropaeolum speciosum 
 
 polyphyllum^ 
 Genista prostrata' 
 
 ttnctoria 
 
 sagittalis 
 Ononis arvensis albus 
 Trifolium repens penta- 
 
 phyllum 
 Lotus corniculatus 
 
 pleno 
 Astragalus monspessulanus 
 Coroniila iberica 
 
 varia 
 Hippocrepis comosa 
 Vicia argentea 
 Orobus roseus 
 Dryas octopetala 
 Fragaria indica 
 Rubus arcticus 
 Potentilla alpestris 
 
 Potentilla calabra 
 
 Hopwoodiana 
 
 M'Nabiana 
 
 Tonguei 
 
 verna (and numerous 
 vars, and hybrids) 
 Zauschneria californic^ 
 CEnothera acaulis 
 
 missouriensis 
 
 taraxacifolia 
 Sedum spurium 
 
 Ewersii 
 
 kamtschaticum 
 
 reflexum- 
 
 Sieboldii 
 Saxifraga hypnoides 
 
 ceratophylla 
 
 biflora 
 
 sarmentosa 
 
 oppositifolia (and vars.) 
 Linnsca borealis 
 Galium verum 
 Scabiosa graminifolia 
 
 Webbiana 
 Santolina incana 
 Diotis maritima 
 Artemisia argentea 
 
 frigida 
 Campanula Barrelieri 
 
 rotundifolia 
 alba 
 
 fragilis 
 hirsuta 
 
 garganica 
 
 muralis 
 
 csespitosa 
 alba 
 Erica carnea 
 Cornu& canadensis 
 Epigaea repens 
 Phlox subulata 
 
 Phlox reptans 
 Convolvulus mauritanicus 
 Lithospermum prostratum 
 Antirrhinum rupestre 
 Linaria alpina 
 
 Cymbalaria 
 Pentstemon procerus 
 Veronica taurica 
 
 prostrata 
 Thymus lanuginosus 
 
 Serpyllum (white var.) 
 Zietenia lavandulsefolia 
 Dracocephalum argunense 
 Zapania nodiflora 
 Androsace lanuginosa 
 Lysimachia Nummularia 
 
 nemorum 
 Plumbago Larpentse 
 Polygonum vaccinifolium 
 Euphorbia Myrsinites 
 Salix lanata 
 
 reticulata 
 Empetrum nigrum 
 Polygonum complexum 
 Boussingaultia baselloides 
 Medicago falcata 
 Lathyrus grandiflorus 
 
 latifoUus 
 albus 
 
 tuberosus 
 Vicia Cracca 
 Convolvulus arvensis 
 Calystegia dahurica 
 
 pubescens 
 Vinca major 
 
 minor 
 
 hcrbacea 
 Clematises (the new varie- 
 ties of the lanuginosa 
 section) 
 Cyananthus lobatus, 
 
 A Selection of Alpine Plants Suited for Culture in Pots 
 
 FOR Exhibition. 
 
 Anemone alba 
 
 alpina 
 
 angulosa 
 
 blanda^ 
 
 narcissiflora 
 
 palmata 
 . Favonina 
 
 stellata 
 
 sylvestris 
 Ranunculus amplexicaulis 
 
 parnassifolius 
 
 Aquilegia alpina 
 
 caerulea 
 _ pyrenaica 
 Epimedium macranthum 
 
 pinnatum elegans 
 Dielytra eximia 
 
 spectabilis 
 Arabis blepharoiihylla 
 Aubrietia deltoidea (and 
 
 vars.) 
 Alyssum montanum 
 
 vEthionema coridifoHum 
 Draba Aizoon 
 
 aizoides 
 
 cuspidata 
 Iberis (in var.) ' 
 Helianthemum venustum 
 Viola pedata 
 Parnassia Carolinian^ 
 Gypsophila repens 
 JDianthus alpinus 
 
 neglectus 
 
Part II. 
 
 SELECTIONS. 
 
 369 
 
 Saponaria ocymoides 
 Silene alpesCris 
 
 acaulis 
 
 Schafta 
 
 EHsabethae 
 
 Purailio 
 
 virginica 
 Lychnis Lagascae 
 
 alpina 
 Arenaria montana 
 Linum arboreum 
 
 flavum 
 
 alpinum 
 Malva campanulata 
 Callirhoe involucrata 
 Geranium argenteum 
 
 cinereum 
 
 sanguineum 
 
 lancastriense 
 Erodium Manescavi 
 
 macradenium 
 
 petrseum 
 
 Reichardi 
 Oxalis Bowieana 
 
 floribunda 
 
 speciosa 
 Genista sagittalis 
 AnthyUis montana 
 Astragalus monspessulanus 
 
 hypo glottis 
 Coronilla minima 
 Orobus vernus 
 
 cyaneus 
 Spirsea japonica 
 Geum coccineum 
 
 montanum 
 Acaena microphylla 
 (Enothera marginata 
 
 missouriensis 
 Zauschneria califomica 
 Sedum spuriiim 
 
 pulchellum 
 
 kamtschatibum 
 
 spectabile 
 
 Sieboldii 
 
 Ewersii 
 Sempervivum arachnoide- 
 um 
 
 montanum 
 
 Pittoni 
 
 Laggeri 
 
 Pomellii 
 Saxifraga Cotyledon 
 
 Rochdiana 
 
 csesia 
 
 biflora 
 
 diapensioides 
 
 juniperina 
 
 Saxifraga oppositifolia 
 
 retusa 
 
 Stansfieldii 
 Cornus canadensis 
 Aster versicolor 
 SanColina incana 
 
 alpina 
 Achillea aegyptiaca 
 
 Clavennae- 
 
 tomentosa 
 
 umbellata 
 Campanula fragilis 
 
 garganica 
 
 turbinata 
 
 carpatica 
 
 pulla 
 Symphyandra pendula 
 Andromeda hypnoides 
 
 fastigiata 
 
 tetragona 
 Menziesia empetriformis 
 Pyrola rotundifolia 
 
 media 
 Gentiana bavarica 
 
 verna 
 Spigelia marilandica 
 Rhexia virginfca 
 Polemonium cseruleum va- 
 
 riegatum 
 Lithospennum prostratum 
 Myosotis dissiliflora 
 
 alpestris 
 
 azorica 
 Phlox- reptans 
 
 subulata 
 Convolvulus mauritanicus 
 
 lineatus 
 Pulmonaria virginica 
 Omphalodes Lucilize 
 
 verna 
 Ramondia pyrenaica 
 Antirrhinum rupestre 
 Linaria alpina 
 Calceolaria Kellyana 
 Pentstemon procerus 
 Mimulus repens. 
 Erinus alpinus 
 Wulfenia carinthiaca 
 Veronica saxatilis 
 
 taurica 
 Zapania nodifiora 
 Cyclamen coum 
 
 vernum 
 
 hederaefolium 
 Soldanella (in var.) 
 Dodecatheon{all the species 
 
 and vaps.) 
 Primula amoena 
 
 Primula Aiu-icula (in var.) 
 
 denticulata 
 
 erosa 
 
 farinosa 
 
 integrifolia 
 
 latifolia 
 
 longiflora 
 
 marginata 
 
 minima 
 
 Munroi 
 
 nivea 
 
 purpurea 
 
 viscosa 
 Androsace carnea 
 
 Chamsejasme 
 
 ciliata 
 
 cylindrica 
 
 glacialis 
 
 helvetica 
 
 imbricata 
 
 lac tea 
 
 lanuginosa 
 
 obtusifolia 
 
 pyrenaica 
 
 villosa 
 
 Vitaliana 
 Static^ olesefolia 
 Acantholimon glumaceum 
 Armeria cephalotes 
 Cypripedium acaule 
 
 Calceolus 
 
 pubescens 
 
 spectabile 
 Epipactis palustris 
 Goodyera pubescens 
 Ophrys apifera 
 
 arachnites 
 Orchis foliosa 
 
 latifolia 
 
 laxiflora 
 
 nigra 
 Iris reticulata 
 
 nudicaulis 
 
 cristata 
 Sisyrinchium grandifloruin 
 Narcissus juncifolius 
 
 minor 
 
 Bulbocodium (and 
 many others) 
 Nierembergia rivularis 
 Begonia Veitchii 
 Leucojum veruum 
 Funkia grandiflora 
 Trillium grandiflorum 
 
 cernuum 
 
 erectum 
 Lilium tenuifolium 
 
 longiflorum. 
 
370 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Alpine Plants Green in Winter. 
 
 The mossy section of the Saxifrages become of such a glistening and 
 refreshing green in winter that by their aid, and by the aid of other 
 alpine plants verdant in winter, many positions, borders, and banks 
 within view of the dwelling-house windows may be made most pleasing 
 at the dullest time of the year. 
 
 Aubrietta deltoidea (and all 
 
 the vars.) 
 Arabis albida 
 
 procurrens 
 
 lucida 
 Alyssum montanum 
 Iberis corifolia 
 
 sempervirens 
 Helianthemum (invar.) 
 Dianthus deltoides 
 Tunica Saxifraga 
 Silene acaiilis 
 
 alpestris 
 
 maritima 
 Sagina glabra 
 Arenaria verna 
 
 balearica 
 Linum arboreum 
 Hippocrepis comosa 
 Dryas octopetala 
 Sedum album 
 
 anglicum 
 
 Sedum reflexum 
 
 rupestre 
 
 sexangulare 
 Sempervivum montanum 
 
 nagelliforme 
 
 soboHferum 
 
 arenarium 
 Saxifraga caespitosa 
 
 Geum 
 
 hyjjnoides 
 
 juniperina 
 
 Isevis 
 
 muscoides 
 
 decipicns 
 
 palmata 
 
 pedata 
 
 contraversa 
 
 Stansfieldii 
 
 afiinis 
 Hieraclum aurantiacum 
 Antennaria dioica 
 
 Achillea tomentosa 
 Santolina viridis 
 Vaccinium Vitis-idsea 
 
 Oxycoccos 
 Arbutus Uva-ursi 
 Gaultheria procumbens 
 Vinca major 
 
 minor 
 Gentiana acaulis 
 Phlox reptans 
 
 subulata 
 Veronica gentianoides 
 
 saxatilis 
 
 taurica 
 Thymus corsicus 
 
 bracteosus 
 
 ianuginosus 
 
 Serpyllum 
 
 micans 
 •Zygis^ 
 Lysimachia Nummularia. 
 
 List of Dwarf Alpine Shrubs, etc. for the Rock-garden. 
 
 Iberis (in var.) 
 Helianthemum (do.) 
 Cistus (do.) 
 
 Polygala Chamasbuxus 
 Hypericum humifusum 
 Genista tinctoria 
 
 sagittalis 
 
 prostrata 
 Hedera (variegated and 
 other curious vars.) 
 Othonna cheirifolia 
 Erica carnea (and all hardy 
 
 Species and vars.) 
 Arbutus Uva-ursi 
 Pernettya mucronata 
 Gaultheria procumbens 
 Andromeda hypnoides 
 
 Andromeda fastigiata 
 
 tetragona 
 Bryan thus erectus 
 Menziesia cserulea 
 
 empetriformis 
 
 polifolia (and vars.) 
 Daphne Cneorum 
 Lithospermum prostratum 
 Thymus Mastichina 
 Polygonum vaccinifolium 
 Veronica saxatilis 
 
 taurica 
 Euphorbia Myrsinites 
 Salix lanata. 
 
 reticulata 
 
 serpyllifolia 
 Empetrum nigrum * 
 
 Santolina Chamsecyparissus 
 
 incana 
 Euonymus radicans varie- 
 
 gatus 
 Rhododendron hirsutum 
 
 ferrugineum 
 
 Chamascistus (and 
 others) 
 Azalea amoena 
 Epigsea repens 
 Skimmias (in var.) 
 Vaccinium Myrtillus 
 
 macrocarpum 
 
 Oxycoccos 
 
 Vitis-idsea 
 
 uliginosum 
 Juniperus squamata. 
 
Part II. 
 
 SELECTIONS. 
 
 37T 
 
 Dwarf Hardy Plants of a Silvery or Variegated Tone, and 
 mostly suitable for edgings. 
 
 Tender plants are totally excluded from this list ; so are subjects that 
 rise to any height or dignity. It includes only such as grow from 
 one inch to six or eight inches, or, in rare cases, a foot high. But, 
 even with these strict limitations, a varied and pretty assortment may 
 be singled out. 
 
 Arabis albida variegata 
 
 lucida variegata 
 
 procurrens variegata^ 
 Aubrietia deltoidea varie- 
 gata 
 Alyssum saxatile variega- 
 tum 
 
 spinosum 
 Cerastium Biebersteinii 
 
 grandiflorum 
 
 tomentosum 
 Sedum glaucum 
 Sempervivum arachnoideum 
 
 calcareum 
 Saxifraga Aizoon 
 
 crustata 
 
 Saxifraga lingulata 
 
 longifolia 
 
 pectinata 
 
 Cotyledon 
 
 recta 
 Andryala lanata 
 Antennaria hyperborea 
 
 tomentosa 
 Santolina incana 
 Artemisia friglda 
 Achillea eegyptiaca 
 
 Clavennee 
 Polemonium cKruleum va- 
 
 riegatum 
 Convolvulus lineatus 
 
 Linaria Cymbalaria varie- 
 gata 
 
 Veronica gentianoides varie- 
 gata 
 
 Ajuga reptans rubra 
 variegata 
 
 Thymus lanuginosus 
 
 Origanum vulgare variega- 
 tum 
 
 Stachys lanata 
 
 Sideritis syriaca 
 
 Glechoma hederacea varie- 
 gata 
 
 Salvia argentea 
 
 Euphorbia Myrsinites. 
 
 Hieracium Cainerarii 
 
 Alpine Plants suitable as Flowering Edgings for Beds or 
 Borders. 
 
 Aubrietia deltoidea' 
 Anemone apennina 
 
 Coronaria 
 Alyssum saxatile 
 Iberis sempervirens 
 
 corifolia 
 
 Tenoreana 
 Helianthemum (in var.) 
 Viola lutea 
 
 comuta 
 Gypsophila repens 
 Dianthus alpinus 
 
 deltoides 
 
 petrseus 
 Saponaria ocymoides 
 Silene alpestris 
 
 Schafta 
 Spergula piUfera 
 Cerastium Biebersteinii 
 
 grandiflorum 
 
 tomentosum 
 Erodium Reichardi 
 CEuothera taraxacifolia 
 
 CEnothera marginata 
 Oxalis (all hardy species) 
 Dryas octoi>etaIa 
 Sedum spurium 
 pulchellum 
 Sieboldii 
 spectabile (for large 
 
 beds) 
 kamtschaticum 
 Saxifraga hypnoides (and 
 most of the mossy 
 section) 
 Aster versicolor 
 Bellis horteijsis aucubaefolia 
 
 (and double vars.) 
 Achillea tomentosa 
 Campanula carpatica 
 alba 
 fragilis _ 
 garganica 
 csespitosa 
 alba 
 Gentiana acaulis 
 
 Phlox reptans 
 
 subulata 
 Convolvulus mauritanicus 
 Lithospermum prostratum 
 Myosotis dissitiflora 
 
 sylvatica 
 Omphalodes verna 
 Nierembergia rivularis 
 Linaria alpina 
 Pentstemon procerus 
 Veronica fruticulosa 
 
 saxatilis 
 
 taurica 
 Dodecatheon Meadia 
 Primula Auricula (in var.) 
 
 vulgaris (do.) 
 Armeria vulgaris rosea 
 Statice oleaefolia 
 Plumbago Larpentse 
 Polygonum vaccinifoUum 
 Ajuga genevensis 
 Calandrinia umbellata 
 Arabis albida. 
 
372 
 
 ALPINE FLOWERS. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Alpine Plants that will grow well in the Smoky Air 
 OF Cities. 
 
 Alyssum saxatile 
 Aquilegia alpina 
 
 cserulea 
 Arabis albida 
 Aubrietia deltoidea (and 
 
 vars.) 
 Calandrinia umbellata 
 Erysimum ochroleucum 
 Camp^pula fragitts 
 
 garganica 
 
 turbinata 
 Cerastium Biebersteiiiii 
 
 grandiflorum 
 Dianthus caesius (on walls) 
 
 deltoides 
 
 neglectus 
 Erinus alpmus (on walls} 
 Gentiana acaulis 
 
 Andre wsii 
 Gypsophila prostrata 
 Hepatica angulosa 
 
 trUoba 
 Iberis corifolia 
 
 corrcEefolia 
 
 sempervirens 
 Lithospermum prostratum 
 Phlox subulata 
 
 Phlox reptans 
 Polygonum vaccinifoHum 
 Ranunculus amplexicaulis 
 
 montantis 
 Saponaria ocymoides 
 Saxifraga Andrewsii 
 
 coriophylla 
 
 Rocheliana 
 
 capillaris 
 
 longifolia 
 
 crustata 
 
 pyramidalis 
 
 opjwsitifolia 
 
 juniperina 
 
 ceratophylla 
 
 recta 
 
 Isevis 
 
 hypnoides 
 
 muscoides 
 
 pectinata 
 
 incurvifolia 
 
 cristata 
 Sedum hispanicum 
 
 reflexum 
 
 rupestre 
 
 monstrosum 
 
 Sieboldii 
 
 spectabile 
 
 Sedum kamtschaticum 
 
 pulchelluni 
 
 Ewersii 
 
 spurium 
 Sempervivum montanum 
 
 calcareum 
 
 hirtum 
 
 globiferum 
 
 soboliferum 
 
 glaucum 
 Silene alpestris 
 Tunica Saxifraga 
 Veronica saxatills 
 
 Candida 
 Acantholimon glumaceum 
 Anemone apennina 
 
 blanda 
 
 fulgens 
 Aster versicolor 
 Dryas octopetala 
 Gaultheria procumbens 
 Helianthemum (many 
 
 kind,s) 
 Onosma taurica 
 Armeria vulgaris rosea 
 
 cephalotes 
 Plumbago Larpentae 
 Anthyllis montana. 
 
 A Selection of Alpine Rock-plants, etc. chiefly of 
 Botanical Interest. 
 
 I have excluded so many species tliat have long figured in catalogues 
 and books as ornamental that I have thought it best to enumerate 
 some of them here. 
 
 Aceras aithropophora 
 Adoxa moschatellina 
 Ajuga pyramidalis 
 Alchemilla alplna 
 
 _ fissa 
 Allium paradoxum 
 Arabis rosea 
 Cephalanthera ensiTera 
 Chrysospleniuni alternifo- 
 lium 
 oppositifolium. 
 Disandra prostrata 
 Drypis spinosa 
 Enoronum umbellatum 
 Frankeiiia Isevis 
 Gagea lutea 
 Galax aphylla 
 
 Glaux maritima 
 Goodyera discolor 
 
 repcns 
 Gratiola officinalis 
 punnera magellanica 
 Gymnadenia conopsea 
 Habenari'a bifolia 
 
 chlorantha 
 Herniaria glabra 
 
 hirsuta 
 Honckeneja peploides 
 Hydrocotyle bonariensis 
 
 saniculeefolia 
 
 Sibthorpioides 
 
 vulgaris 
 Leptinella scariosa 
 Listera ovata 
 
 Mandragora vernalis 
 Mimulus repens 
 Neottia spiralis 
 Paronychia serpyllifolia 
 Plantago alpina 
 
 Coronopus 
 
 monstrosa 
 Ruhus Chamsemorus 
 Scleranthus perennis 
 Serapias cordigera 
 Sibbaldia procumbens 
 Sieversia triflora 
 Swertia perennis 
 Telephium Imperati 
 Thahctrum aJpinum 
 Tussilago alpina 
 Uvularia grandiflora. 
 
Part IT. 
 
 SELECTIONS. 
 
 373 
 
 Trailers, Climbers, etc. 
 
 The selection of plants to cover bowers, trellises, railings, old trees, 
 stumps, rootwork, &c. suitably is an important matter, particularly as 
 the plants fitted for these purposes are equally useful for the rough rock- 
 work, precipitous banks, flanks of rustic bridges, river-banks, ruins 
 natural or artificial, covering cottages or outhouses, and many other uses 
 in garden, pleasure-ground, or wilderness. 
 
 Vitis EEStivalis 
 
 amooriensls 
 
 cordifolia 
 
 heterophylU variegata 
 
 Isabella 
 
 Labrusca 
 
 laciniosa 
 
 riparia 
 
 Sieboldii 
 
 vinifera apiifolia 
 
 vulpina 
 Hedera (all the finer va- 
 rieties of Ivy, both 
 green and variegated) 
 Aristolochia Sipho 
 
 tomentosa 
 Clematis azurea grandiflora 
 
 campanifiora 
 
 elliptica 
 
 Flammula 
 
 florida 
 plena 
 Standishi 
 
 Fortune! 
 
 Francofurtensis 
 
 Clematis Henderson! 
 
 insulensis 
 • Jackmani 
 lanuginosa 
 montana 
 nivea 
 patens Amelia 
 
 Helena 
 
 insignis 
 
 Louisa 
 
 monstrosa 
 
 Sophia 
 
 violacea 
 pubescens 
 rubro-violacea 
 Shillingii 
 Sieboldii 
 tubulosa 
 Viticella 
 
 alba 
 
 venosa 
 Calystegia dahurica 
 pubescens plena 
 Wistaria sinensis 
 Asparagus Broussoneti 
 
 Cynanchum acutum 
 
 monspeliacum 
 Apios tuberosa 
 Tamus communis 
 Periploca grseca 
 Hablitzia tamnoides 
 Boussingaultia baselloides 
 Menispermum canadense 
 
 virginicum 
 Cissus orientalis 
 
 pubescens 
 Ampelopsis bipinnata 
 
 cordata 
 
 hederacea 
 
 tricuspidata 
 Jasminum nudifiorum 
 
 officinale 
 
 revolutum 
 Passiflora cxrulea 
 Lonicera Caprifolium 
 
 confusa 
 
 flava 
 
 japonica 
 
 Periclymenum 
 Lycium europaeum. 
 
 A Selection of Ferns most likely to Succeed in Sunny 
 AND Exposed Positions. 
 
 Asplenium Trichomanes 
 
 Ruta-muraria 
 
 septentrionale 
 Ceterach officinarum 
 Polypodium vulgare 
 Scolopendrium vulgare 
 
 AspleniumAdiantum-nigrum 
 Woodsia ilvensis 
 
 hyperborea 
 Asplenium Halleri 
 
 fontanum 
 
 lanceolatum 
 
 Cheilanthes odora 
 Asplenium monanthemum 
 Cystopteris fragilis 
 
 alpina 
 Woodsia polystichoides 
 Platyloma atropurpurea. 
 
 List of Hardy Plants with Fern-like or Graceful Leaves, 
 Suitable for the Rock-garden. 
 
 Thalictrum minus 
 
 fostidum 
 Isopyrum thalictroides 
 Meum Athamanticum 
 
 adonidifolium 
 Spiraea filipendula fl. pi. 
 Dielytra eximia 
 
 Astragalus pannosus 
 Equisetum sylvaticum 
 
 scirpoides 
 Corydalis lutea 
 Anthriscus fumarioides 
 Seseli elatum 
 
 globiferum 
 
 Seseli gracile 
 Peucedanum longifolium 
 
 Petteri 
 
 involucratum 
 Pyrethrum tanacetoides 
 
 achilleEefoliumj &c. 
 
( 375 ) 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 The names in Roman type refer io the places where the most disti^ict and 
 beautiful kinds are treated of at length in the alphabetical arrangement 
 in Part II, 
 
 ANDROSACE. 
 
 Page 
 A 
 
 Acaena raicrophylla 121 
 
 Acantholimon glumaceum . . . . 121 
 
 Achillea aegyptiaca 122 
 
 , , aurea . . . . , . 365 
 
 . , , Clavennae . . . . . . 122- 
 
 , , tomentosa 123 
 
 , , -umbellata . . . . . . 123 
 
 Acis auturanalis 123 
 
 Adiantufn Capilliis- Veneris .. 367 
 
 Adonis vernalis 123 
 
 , , pyrenaica 124 
 
 , , sibirica . . . . . . 124 
 
 iSthionema coridifolium .. .. 124 
 
 ,, -meinbranaceutn .. 125 
 
 ,, parvifloruin ,. .. 125 
 
 , , saxatile . . . . 125 
 
 Aizoon Saxifrage .. .. .. 311 
 
 Ajuga genevensis . . . . . . 125 
 
 , , pyramidalis 125 
 
 , , reptans 125 
 
 Alp Crowfoot 304 
 
 Alpine plants, conditions under 
 
 ivhick they thrive in a wild state 2 
 
 Alpine plants, culture of ., . . ' i 
 Alpine plants, how protected front 
 
 evaporation, dr^c, . . . . . 3 
 
 Aipijie plants, on ruins and old 
 
 walls . . . . . . . . . . 33 
 
 Alpine plants, soil for ,. 3i» 67 
 
 A ipitie plants, reqtdre full exposure 30 
 A Ipine plants, their roots descend to 
 
 a great depth .. ,. . . 3 
 
 Alpine A lyssum .. .. .. 125 
 
 Alpine Aster 155 
 
 Alpine Catchfty 338 
 
 Alpine Cingttefoil 277 
 
 Page 
 
 Alpine Columbine .. .. .. 146 
 
 Alpine Feverfew 238 
 
 Alpine Flax 242 
 
 Alpine Forget-me-jtot .. .. 254 
 
 Alpine Harebell . . . . 162 
 
 Alpine Hutchinsia .. .. .. 230 
 
 A Ipine Lychnis . , . . 245 
 
 Alpine Pink . . igi 
 
 Alpine Poppy . . . . . , 269 
 
 Alpine Sanicle .. .. .. 175 
 
 Alpine Skullcap 328 
 
 Alpine Soldanella 343 
 
 Alpine Toadflax ' 240 
 
 Alpine Wallflower 213 
 
 Alpine Whitlow-Grass .. .. 202 
 
 Alpine Wi?tdfiower . . ' .. .. 135 
 
 Alps, a little tour in the . , . . 78 
 
 Alyssum alpestre 125 
 
 ,, argenteum .. .. .. 126 
 
 , , montanum . . . . . , 126 
 
 , , saxatile . . . . . 126 
 
 ,, ,, compactuin .. 127 
 
 , , spinosum 127 
 
 American Cowslip .. .. ,. 200 
 
 A methysi Hyacinth 230 
 
 Ampelopsis bipinnata .. .. 373 
 
 , , cordata . . . . , . 373 
 
 ,, hederacea •.. ,. 373 
 
 , , tricuspidaia . . . . 373 
 
 Andrews's Saxifrage . . . . 312 
 
 Andromeda fastigiata . . . . 127 
 
 ,, hypnoides .. .. 128 
 
 , , tetragona . . . . 128 
 
 J t floribtinda . . . . 366 
 
 Androsace argentea . . . . . . 131 
 
 ,, carnea .• .• .. 129 
 
 ,, . Chamsejasme .. .. 130 
 
 ,, Charpentieri .. .. 134 
 
376 
 
 ANDROSACE. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Androsace ciliata 132 
 
 cylindrica .. .. 133 
 
 HaussmaTmil ,. .. 134 
 
 Heerii 134 
 
 helvetica 130 
 
 131 
 131 
 134 
 132 
 132 
 133 
 
 imbricata 
 
 lanuginosa 
 
 lutea 
 
 obtusifolia 
 
 pubescens 
 
 pyrenaica 
 
 villosa 133 
 
 Vitaliana 134 
 
 Wulfenii .. .. 134 
 
 Androsaces .. . . . . . . 100 
 
 Andryala lanata .. .. ,. 371 
 
 Anemone alba 134 
 
 , , alpina 135 
 
 , , angulosa . . . . . . 135 
 
 ,, apennina 236 
 
 , , baldensis .. , . . . 144 
 
 , , blanda . . . . . . 137 
 
 , , Coronaria 138 
 
 , , fulgens 138 
 
 , , Halleri 144 
 
 , , Hepatica . . . . « . 139 
 
 , , hortensis .. .. .. 142 
 
 , , japonica 144 
 
 I , nemorosa 139 
 
 , , palmata 140 
 
 , , patens 144 
 
 , , pavonina .' 140 
 
 , , Pulsatilla 141 
 
 , , ranunculoides . . . . 141 
 
 , , stellata . . ... . . 142 
 
 , , snlphurea . , . . . . 135 
 
 > , sylvestris . . . . . . 142 
 
 , , thaliciroides .. . . 346 
 
 , , trifolia 143 
 
 , , vcrnalis . . . . . . 143 
 
 Antennaria dioica . . . . . . 144 
 
 , , hyperborea .. . . 144 
 
 , , tomenCosa . . . . 144 
 
 . Antkriscus fumarioides . . . . 373 
 
 Anthyllis montana 145 
 
 Antirrhinum majus .. .. .. 146 
 
 , , Orontium . . . . 367 
 
 , , rupestre .. .. 367 
 
 Apenjtine Windjiower . . . . 136 
 
 Apios tuberosa 373 
 
 Aquatic plants for waternear rock- 
 
 ivork . . . . • . . • . . 67 
 
 Aquilegia alpina 
 
 , , cxrulea . ■ 
 , , califor7iica. 
 , , canadensis . . 
 , , exitnia 
 
 146 
 147 
 148 
 148 
 148 
 
 Page 
 
 Aquile^a glandulosa 147 
 
 » I pyrenaica , . .. . . 147 
 
 , , Skinneri . . . . . . 148 
 
 , , vulgaris .. . . . . 147 
 
 Arabis albida 148 
 
 alpina 148 
 
 arenosa 148 
 
 blepharophylla . . . . 148 
 
 crispata .. . . . . 148 
 
 lucida .. 149 
 
 petrma 149 
 
 procnrrens . . . . . 149 
 
 purpurea 149 
 
 Arctostaphylos alpina . . . . 150 
 , , Uva-ursi . . . . 150 
 
 Arenaria balearica 150 
 
 , , cxspiiosa 309 
 
 * , , ciliata '. 152 
 
 , , graminifolia .. . . 152 
 
 , , , laricifolia 152 
 
 , , montana 151 
 
 , , purpurascens . . . . 151 
 
 , , tetraquetra 152 
 
 , , iriflora 152 
 
 , , verna 152 
 
 Aretia Vitaliana .. .. ..134 
 
 Aretia-like Saxifrage . . . . 312 
 
 Aristolochia Sipho .. . . . . 373 
 
 , , tomentosa . . . . 373 
 
 Armeria cephalotes : 152 
 
 forfnosa 153 
 
 latijolia 153 
 
 ntauritanica .. .. 153 
 
 Pseudo-armeria .. . . 153 
 
 vulgaris 153 
 
 Artemisia argentea 368 
 
 I > frigida 368 
 
 Arum italicum . . . . . . 153 
 
 AsclepiaS'like Gentian .. . . 218 
 
 Asparagus BroiissoTieti . . . . 373 
 
 Asperula odorata . . . . . . 154 
 
 , , cynanchica . . . . . . 367 
 
 AspleniuTK Adiantu7n-nigru7n .. 367 
 , , fontammi . . . . 367 
 
 , , germanicum ,. . . 367 
 
 , , Halleri . . . . . . 373 
 
 , , lanceolatujii . . . . 367 
 
 , , monantkejuutn . . 373 
 
 » , Ruta-muraria .. . . 367 
 
 , , septentrionale . . . . 367 
 
 , , Trichonianes .. . . 367 
 
 , , viride 367 
 
 Aster alpinus 154 
 
 , , altaicus 155 
 
 , , bicolor 155 
 
 1 1 Pyrefueus 155 
 
 , , Reevesii 155 
 
INDEX. 
 
 CERASTIUM. 
 
 377 
 
 Aster verszcalor 
 Astragalus alpinus . . 
 , , hypoglottis 
 , , major 
 
 , , -microphyllus 
 
 , , moldaviats 
 , , monspessulanus 
 
 , , Onobrychis 
 
 , , pannosus . . 
 
 , , Tragacantha 
 
 Aiamasco Lily 
 Aubrietia Campbelli 
 , , deltoidea . . 
 , , grandiflora 
 
 Austrian Dracocephalum 
 Autu^nnal Ads 
 Azalea atnccna 
 
 , , procumbens . . 
 Azorean Forget-vie-not 
 
 Page 
 155 
 157 
 155 
 157 
 157 
 157 
 IS6 
 iS6 
 IS7 
 366 
 363 
 158 
 157 
 158 
 158 
 205 
 123 
 366 
 245 
 254 
 
 B 
 
 Balm Melittis 249 
 
 Barbary Ragwort 266 
 
 Basil-like Sttnrose .. . . . . 225 
 
 Bavarian Gentian .. . . . . 219 
 
 Bearberry .. . . . . . . 150 
 
 Bearded Harebell 162 
 
 Bearded Pyxidanthera . . . . 303 
 
 Beautiful Sunrose 225 
 
 Beauty 0/ the Rocks , , .. .. 272 
 
 Bee Orchis 263 
 
 Begonia Veitchii 158 
 
 Bell-Jlowered iiquill 325 
 
 Bellis hortensis aucubff/olia * . 371 
 
 , , perennis ■ ■ • • • • 159 
 
 Be Ilium bellidioides 160 
 
 , , crassifolium . . . . 160 
 
 , , viinututn . > . • . • 160 
 
 Betony-leaved Dracocephahmt , . 205 
 
 Betula nana . . . . • • • . 366 
 
 Bieberstein's Cerastium .* -• 168 
 
 Bird's-eye Prijnrose 285 
 
 Bir£s-foot Trefoil =45 
 
 Bird's-foot Violet 360 
 
 Black Bearberry .. .. .. 150 
 
 Bladder-podded Vesicaria .. .. 355 
 
 Blue Bitter Vetch 264 
 
 Blue Rock Bindweed . . • ■ 173 
 
 Bluebell - . " S^^ 
 
 Bluets 229 
 
 Blunt-leaved Androsace ., .. 132 
 
 Bloodroot 3°9 
 
 Bloody Cranesbill 222 
 
 Bog Arum 161 
 
 Border, mixed, plan 0/ . . . . 46 
 
 , , fragilis . . 
 
 » I garganica 
 
 , , hederacea 
 
 , , isophylla 
 
 , , Tnodesta . . 
 
 , , muralis . . 
 
 , , nitida . . 
 
 , , pulla 
 
 , , pumila . . 
 
 , , pusilla . . 
 
 , , Raineri . . 
 
 , , turbinata 
 Cardamine trifolia 
 Carnation 
 
 Carolina Pamassia , . 
 CaTpathian Harebell 
 Cat Thyme 
 
 Centaurea uniflora 
 Cerastium alpinum . . 
 , , Biebersteinii 
 , , grandiflorum 
 , , incanunt . . 
 , , lanuginosuvi 
 
 Border^ m-ijced, positions/or . . 
 Borders, mixed, alpine Jiowers in 
 Borders, tnixed, varieties of 
 Borders, shrubbery, aipi?ie plants in 
 Boussingauliia baselloides . 
 Boiuie's Wood Sorrel 
 Box-leaved Milkwort 
 Brilliant Calandrinia 
 Briiliant\Nasturtium 
 Brittle Harebell 
 Broad-leaved Primrose 
 Eryanthus erectus 
 Bulbocodium vernum 
 Bulbous Fumitory . , 
 
 Calandrinia uinbellata 
 Calceolaria Kellyana 
 Calla palustris 
 Calliantheviuni rutcefoliufn 
 Callirhoe involucrata 
 
 , , pedata 
 Calluna vulgaris 
 Cdlystegia dahurica 
 , , Pubescens 
 Campanula alpina . . 
 
 , , barbata . . 
 
 , , Barrelieri 
 
 , , csespitosa 
 
 , , carpatica 
 
 , , Cenisia . • 
 
378 
 
 CERASTIUM. 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Page 
 
 CGT&stium ovaiifaimjK ,. .. 170 
 
 , , ovatutn 170 
 
 , , ienuifolium . , . . 170 
 
 t , tomentosum . . . . 169 
 
 . » trigynuin 170 
 
 ) , Willdenovii ,. ,. 170 
 
 Ceterach officinarum .. . . 367 
 
 CMI& Milkwort 276 
 
 Cheddar Pink . . . . . , 192 
 
 Ckeilanthes odora .. .. . . 373 
 
 Cheiranthus alpinus .. . . . . 213 
 
 ,, Cheiri .. .. .. 170 
 
 Ckillon, Castle of ., -. . . , 85 
 
 Chimaphila maculata . . . . 171 
 
 I, umbellata ,. .. 171 
 
 Ckristfnas Rose .. ,. , ■ 227 
 
 Ckrysanihemum alpinuTn .. . . 235 
 
 Cissus orientalis ,. . . ., ^yz 
 
 , , puhescefis .. , . . . 372 
 
 Cisius algarvensis .. .. . . 225 
 
 I , Jormosus . - . . . . 225 
 
 Cletnatis azurea grandiflora . . 373 
 
 , , campanijiora . . . . 373 
 
 , , elliptica 373 
 
 , , FlaTnmjila .. . . . . 373 
 
 , t Jlorida .. ■ . . . 373 
 
 t* 1 1 plena , . . , 373 
 
 1 , * I Standishi . , . . 373 
 
 , , Fortunei . . . . . . 373 
 
 , , Francofurtensis .. . . 373 
 
 , , Hendersoni .. .. 373 
 
 , , insulensis .. . , . . 373 
 
 , , Jackmani . . . . . . 373 
 
 , , lanuginosa .. . . 373 
 
 , , montana 373 
 
 , , nivea ., . , . , 373 
 
 ,, patens Amelia .. .. 373 
 
 I * * • Helena .. .. 373 
 )t , > insignis .. .. 373 
 > ) , t Louisa . . . . 373 
 
 I I , , monstrosa . . 373 
 It ,, Sophia .. . . 373 
 ) ) > I violacea .. . , 373 
 
 > t pvbescefis . . . . , , 373 
 
 , , rubrO'violacea . . . 373 
 
 J , Shillingii . . , . . . 373 
 
 , , Sieboldit . . . . . . 373 
 
 , , tubulosa ., . . . . 373 
 
 , , Vitzcella . . . , . . 373 
 
 > I » f alba , , , , 373 
 » ) ) I venosa ,, .. 373 
 
 Closed Gentian .. .. ... 218 
 
 Cloth of Gold Crocus .. .. 178 
 
 Clusius's Tulip 352 
 
 Calabrian Cinquefoil . . . , 278 
 
 Cobweb Houseleek 334 
 
 87, 89 
 
 Page 
 
 Colchicum alpinutn ^ 17Z 
 
 , , auiumnale . . . . 171 
 
 , , byzantinum .. . . 171 
 
 i , vaiiegatum . . . , 171 
 
 Common Auricula -. .. .. 279 
 
 Common Grapejlower . , . . 253 
 
 Cotnm^on Hepatica .. .. .. 139 
 
 Common Houseleek . . . . . . 335 
 
 Common Primrose . . . . . . 298 
 
 Common Sunrose 226 
 
 Common Thrift . . . . . . 153 
 
 Common Woolly CerastiuTn . . 169 
 
 Convallaria majalis .. . . 171 
 
 Convolvulus arvensis . . . 368 
 
 , , lineatus . . . . 172 
 
 , , mauritanicus . . . . 173 
 
 ,, Soldanella . . .. 173 
 
 Coptis irifolia . . . . . . 228 ' 
 
 Coris-leaved Caiuiyiuft . . , , 231 
 
 Comus canadensis . . . . . . 173 
 
 , , suecica . . . . . . 174 
 
 Coronilla iberica 368 
 
 tt minima ,. .. .. 174 
 
 , , montana . . . , . , 174 
 
 )) varia 174 
 
 Correa-leaved Candytuft . . . . 231 
 
 Cortusa Matthioli 175 
 
 Cortttsa-like Pritnrose . . . . 284 
 
 Corydalis lutea 175 
 
 ] , nobilis 176 
 
 , , solida 176 
 
 Cotoneaster microphylla .. . . 366 
 
 , , thymifolia . . . . 366 
 
 Cotyledon Umbilicus .. .. 366 
 
 Cowslip . . . . . . . , 290 
 
 Creeping Forget-me-not .. ,. 262 
 
 Creeping Je?iny 248 
 
 Creeping Pink 273 
 
 Creeping-rooted Hedysarum ', . 225 
 
 Creeping Saxifrage 321 
 
 Creeping Wintergreen .. .. 215 
 
 Crested Gentian . . . . . . 220 
 
 Crested Iris . . . . . . . . 234 
 
 Crimean Snowdrop . . . . . . 215 
 
 Crocws bi_fiortts .. .. .. 181 
 
 , , Boryanus 181 
 
 , , Itnperati i8r 
 
 , , luteus 176 
 
 , , medius x8i 
 
 > , nudiflorus 177 
 
 ,, Orphanidis- ; 177 
 
 , , reticulatus , . . . . . 178 
 
 1 , sativus 178 
 
 J , SieUeri . . . . . . 170 
 
 , , speciosus 179 
 
 , , susianus . . . . . . 178 
 
 . I vernus 180 
 
INDEX. 
 
 dyer's. 
 
 379 
 
 Crocus versicolor 
 Cushion Pink ,. 
 Cyananthus lobaius , . 
 Cyclamen cEstivum . . 
 
 , , africayiufn 
 
 , , ayt^vtonoides 
 
 , , Atkinsii . . 
 
 , , auiumnale 
 
 , , Clusii 
 
 , , Coum 
 
 , » , , album 
 
 , , , , zonale 
 
 , , europaeum 
 
 , , grtscuni . . 
 
 , , hederaefolium 
 
 , , hyemale . . 
 
 J , ibericum . . 
 
 , , littorale . . 
 
 , , neapolitanuvt 
 
 , , odoratum . . 
 
 , , Peakeanuni 
 Foli 
 
 , , repanduin 
 
 , , vernum 
 
 , , vemujiz (Sweet) 
 
 , , zonale 
 Cyclamen-leaved Anemone 
 Cyclatnefts, ivild 
 Cynajichum acuhim 
 
 , , Tnonspeliacnm 
 
 Cypripedium acaule . . 
 , ,■ Calceolus 
 
 , , fnbescens 
 
 , , spectabile 
 
 Cystopteris alpina . . 
 
 '» fragilis .. 
 Cytisus sessilijolius . . 
 Czackia Liliastrum. . 
 
 Page 
 1 80 
 338 
 368 
 188 
 i8s 
 
 181 
 182 
 182 
 183 
 X85 
 
 186 
 i8s 
 182 
 188 
 140 
 108 
 373 
 373 
 1S8 
 189 
 igo 
 189 
 373 
 373 
 366 
 270 
 
 Daisy ^. •• iS9 
 
 Dandelion-leaved CEnothera . . 261 
 
 Daphne alpina .. . . . - 366 
 
 , , Cneorum 190 
 
 J , , coUinum- 366 
 
 , , MezereuTK . . . . . . 366 
 
 Denticulated Prifnrose .. . . 285 
 
 Dianthus alpinus 191 
 
 , , barbatus 191 
 
 , , cs&sius . . . . . 192 
 
 , , Caryophyllus . . . . 192 
 
 , , deltoides 194 
 
 , , dentosus 195 
 
 , , glacialis .. . . . . 196 
 
 , , vtonspessiilanns . . . . 366 
 
 Page 
 
 Dianthus neglectus 195 
 
 petrseus , , . . . . 196 
 
 plumarius . . . . . . 196 
 
 , , annnlatus . . 198 
 
 suavis 367 
 
 superbus 198 
 
 Diapensia lapponica 198 
 
 Diapensia-like Saxifrage .. ., 316 
 
 Dielytra eximia 199 
 
 , , fortnosa . . . . .. 199 
 
 , , spectabilis . . . . ■ . 199 
 
 Diotis maritima 200 
 
 Dodecatheon album 201 
 
 elegans . . . . 201 
 
 giganteum ., . . 201 
 
 integrifolium . . , , 201 
 
 Jeffreyanum . . . . 201 ■ 
 
 lilacinu-m . . . . 201 
 
 Meadia . . . . 200 
 
 splendidum . . . . 201 
 
 Dog's-tooth Violet 214 
 
 Downy Androsa^e .. .. .. 132 
 
 Do7uny Yarrow .. . . . . 123 
 
 Downy Thyme . . . . . . 347 
 
 Draba aizoide.*; . . . . . . 202 
 
 Aizoon . . . . . . . . 202 
 
 alpina . . . . . . . . 202 
 
 aurea . . . . . . . . 203 
 
 bceotica .. .. , . . . 202 
 
 borealis . . ,. .. 203 
 
 Ckanimjasme . . . . . . 203 
 
 cilzaris .. . . . . 203 
 
 cinerea . . . . . . 203 
 
 cuspidata 203 
 
 Jrigida . . . . . . 203 
 
 lapponica .. .. .. 203 
 
 nivalis .. . . . . 204 
 
 rupestris . . . . . . 204 
 
 tridentata . . . . . . 204 
 
 violacea .. .. .. 205 
 
 Dracocephalum austriacum . . 205 
 
 , , grandifiorum . . 205 
 
 , , Ruyschianum . . 205 
 
 Dryas Drunttnondi . . , . . . 206 
 
 , , octopetala 206 
 
 Dwarf Cornel . . . . . . 173 
 
 Dwarf Globularia 224 
 
 Dwarf Iris .. .. .. .. 235 
 
 Dwarf Jasione .. .. .. 237 
 
 Dwarf Mazus 248 
 
 Divarf Silvery Bindweed .. . . 172 
 
 Dwarf Yellow Tulip .. .. 351 
 
 Dwarfest Coronilla . . .. .. 174 
 
 Dyers Genist<^ 216 
 
38o 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 GENTIAN-BLUE. 
 
 Page 
 
 E 
 
 Early Bulbous Iris 236 
 
 Early Forget-me-not . . . . 255 
 
 Early Squill .. .. . . . . 324 
 
 Echeveria nieiallica . . . . . , 207 
 
 . 1 1 secunda . . . , . . 206 
 
 Egyptian Yarrow 122 
 
 Elizabeth! s Catchfly . . . . 339 
 
 Empetrunt nigrum .. . . . , 366 
 
 , , rubrutn . . . . . . 366 
 
 Empetrum-like Menziesia .. .. 250 
 
 Endlicher^s Pelargonium. .. .. 271 
 
 English Lad^s Slipper .. , . 189 
 
 Entire-leaved Primrose .. . . 287 
 
 EpigEca repens 207 
 
 Epi-medium- inacranthwm . . . . 368 
 
 , , pinnatum elegans . . 368 
 
 Epipactis palustris 369 
 
 EquisetUTn scirpoides .. , . 373 
 
 , , sylvaticum .. . . 373 
 
 Eranthis hiemalis 207 
 
 Erect Bugle 125 
 
 Erica carnea 208 
 
 If ]( •• • ■ •. . . 109 
 
 , , ciliaris .. . . . . , . 208 
 
 , , cinerea . , , . . , . . 208 
 
 , , kiberjiica .. . . . . 208 
 
 , , Mackieana 208 
 
 , , mediierranea 209 
 
 , , Tetralix . . . . . . 208 
 
 Erigeron Roylei 209 
 
 , , speciosus 2og 
 
 Erinus alpinus 209 
 
 , , hirsutus .. . . . . 209 
 
 Erodium cicutarium 211 
 
 , , crispum 211 
 
 , , luczdum ,, . . . . 210 
 
 , , macradenium . . . . 210 
 
 , , Manescavi 210 
 
 , , petraeum . . , . , . 210 
 
 ,, Reichardi 211 
 
 ,, romanum 211 
 
 , , trichomanefolium .. 211 
 
 Erpetion reniforme 212 
 
 Erysimum ochroleucum . . . . 213 
 
 ,, pumilum .. .. .. 213 
 
 Erythronium Dens-canis . . , . 214 
 
 EuonymusjaPonicus . . . , 366 
 
 , , radicans ,. . . . . 366 
 
 Euphorbia Myrsinttes .. .. 368 
 
 European Cyclamen .. .. 183 
 
 Evergreen Candytuft . . . . 232 
 
 Evergreen Flax . . ' . . . . 242 
 
 Evergreen Orpine 329 
 
 Evergreen Whitlow-Grass . . 202 
 
 Page 
 
 Eivef's StOTiecrop . . . . . . 330 
 
 Exhibition, alpine plants Jbr , , 56 
 
 F 
 
 Fair Maids of France .. .. 303 
 
 Fairy Primrose .. .. . . 289 
 
 Fer7ts on rockwork . . . . . . 22 
 
 Ficaria grandiflora .. .. .. 214 
 
 , , ranunculoides . . . . 214 
 
 Fire Pink ,, , , . . . . 341 
 
 Florist^ flowers . , . . . . 49 
 
 Fragaria indica . . . . . , 368 
 
 Fringed Androsace 132 
 
 Fringed Houseleek . . . . . . 334 
 
 Fringed Pink . . . . . , . . ig8 
 
 Fruiting Duckweed . . . . . . 259 
 
 Faimaria bulbosa 176 
 
 , , solida .. .. . . 176 
 
 Fzaikia alboniarginata . . . . 365 
 
 J I grandiflora . . . , . , 369 
 
 G 
 
 Galanthus nivalis .. .. .. 215 
 
 ,, plicatus ., .. .. 215 
 
 Galium verujn . . .. .. 368 
 
 Gargano Harebell 165 
 
 Garlandflower 190 
 
 Gaultheria procumbens . . . . 215 
 
 ( , Shallon .. .. .. 366 
 
 Genista anglica ,. . . . . 366 
 
 , , hispanica .. ., . . 366 
 
 , , prostrata 368 
 
 ] ) sagittalis 216 
 
 ,, 81 
 
 ' , , tinctoria 216 
 
 Gentiana acaulis . . . . . . 217 
 
 I, adscendens ,. ,, 221 
 
 ,, alpina .. .. .. 218 
 
 , , Andrewsii . . . . . . 218 
 
 , I asclepiadea . . . . 218 
 
 , I bavarica . . . . . . 219 
 
 119 
 
 , , caucasica 221 
 
 , , cmciata .. . . . . 221 
 
 , , Foriunei .. ., . . 221 
 
 , , lutea . . . . . . 221 
 
 , , Pneumonanthe . . . . 219 
 
 , , punctata . . , . . . 221 
 
 , , purpurea 221 
 
 . I pyrenaica 220 
 
 , , Saponaria 218 
 
 I , septemfida 220 
 
 ( , verna 220 
 
 I > , , . . . . 83, 119 
 
 Gentian-blue Gromwell . . . . 244 
 
GENTIANELLA. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ISOPYRUM. 
 
 381 
 
 variegaii 
 
 Gentianella . . 
 
 Gefituifis, culture 0/ ,\ 
 
 Geranium argenteum 
 , , cinereum . . 
 , , tancasirisnse 
 » , macrorhizum 
 , » sanguineum 
 ,, striatum ». 
 
 German Caickfly 
 
 Germander Speedwell 
 
 Geum cocczneum 
 , , ntonianunt 
 
 Gibraltar Candytuft 
 
 Glacier Buttercup . . 
 
 Glacier Pink . . 
 
 Glandular Cotumbifie 
 
 Glaucous Houseleek . . 
 
 Glaucous Sionecrop .. . 
 
 Gleckoma hederacea 
 
 Globularia cordi/olia 
 , , nana 
 , , nudicaulis 
 
 , , triclwsantJia 
 
 Glutinous Pnmrose . » 
 
 Golden Saxifrage 
 
 Goodyera pubescens .. 
 
 Grande Salive, ascent of 
 
 Grape Hyacifttk 
 
 Grass of Parnassus . . 
 
 Great American Cowslip 
 
 Great Hepatica 
 
 Great Thrift .. 
 
 Gregoria Vitaliana .. 
 
 Grey Cranesbill 
 
 Grey Whitlow-Grass 
 
 Ground Laurel 
 
 Ground Pine .. 
 
 Gypsophila elegans . . 
 , , muralis . . 
 
 , , paniculata 
 , , prostrata 
 
 , , repens . . 
 
 H 
 
 Page 
 217 
 
 58 
 221 
 
 232 
 223 
 222 
 
 223 
 =+7 
 
 353 
 369 
 369 
 232 
 305 
 19s 
 147 
 335 
 330 
 371 
 224 
 S24 
 224 
 224 
 287 
 316 
 369 
 78 
 
 201 
 
 222 
 203 
 207 
 247 
 224 
 224 
 225 
 224 
 224 
 
 Ballitzia tamnoides 
 
 • 373 
 
 Hardy Plumbago .. 
 
 ■ =7S 
 
 Heart-leaved Saxifrage 
 
 • 31S 
 
 Heartsease 
 
 . 361 
 
 Heaths, hardy 
 
 . 109 
 
 Hedysarum obscurum 
 
 . 22s 
 
 Helianthemum canitm 
 
 . 227 
 
 , , formosum . . 
 
 . 223 
 
 , , pittatum . . 
 
 . 226 
 
 , , ocymoides . . 
 
 . 22s 
 
 Tuberaria . . 
 
 . 226 
 
 Helianthemum vulgare 
 
 , , venustuni 
 
 Helichrysum arenariutn 
 Helleborus abckasicus 
 , , argutifoliils 
 
 , , atrorubens 
 
 niger 
 
 , , , , maximus 
 
 , , , , minor 
 
 ) , olympicus 
 
 , , trif alius . . 
 
 Hen-and'Chicken Houseleek 
 Herbaceous Periwinkle 
 HieraciU7n aura^ttiacutn 
 
 , I Camerarii 
 
 Himalayan Andromeda 
 Himalayan Androsace 
 Hitnalayan Primrose 
 Hippocrepis coinosa . . 
 Hoary Santolina 
 Hoop-petticoat Daffodil 
 Homed Pansy 
 Horn-leaved Saxifrage 
 Horseshoe Vetch 
 Hoteia japonica 
 Hottonia palustris . . , 
 Houseleeks 
 
 Houstonia caerulea . . 
 Hutchinsia alpina 
 
 » , Petrata . , 
 
 Hyacinthus amethystinus 
 Hybrid Bryanthus . , 
 Hypericufn calycinum. 
 , , humifusum. 
 
 Page 
 226 
 368 
 227 
 228 
 228 
 228 
 227 
 227 
 227 
 228 
 228 
 335 
 355 
 370 
 365 
 127 
 131 
 28s 
 228 
 310 
 257 
 357 
 313 
 228 
 228 
 229 
 87 
 229 
 230 
 366 
 230 
 160 
 366 
 368 
 
 I 
 
 Iberian Cyclamen 182 
 
 Iberidella rotundifolia . . . . 231 
 
 Iberis corifolia 231 
 
 , , correaefoHa . . . . . . 231 
 
 , , Garrexiana 233 
 
 , , gibraltarica . . . . • . 232 
 
 , , Pruiti 232 
 
 , , sempervirens . . . . . > 233 
 
 , , Tenureana . . . . . . 232 
 
 Iceland Poppy . . 269 
 
 I>tdigofera Dosua 366 
 
 lonopsidion acaule 234 
 
 Iridescent Moss 3=3 
 
 Iris cristata . . 234 
 
 ) 1 *germanica 367 
 
 , , nudicaulis 235 
 
 ,, pumila 235 
 
 , , reticulata 236 
 
 Irish Butterwort 274 
 
 Isopyrum thalictroides . . . . 236 
 
382 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 LYSIMACHIA. 
 
 Italian Cuckoo Pint 153 
 
 Italian Squill 325 
 
 Ivy Campanula . . . . • ■ 165 
 
 Ivy-leaved Cyclamen . . . > 184 
 
 J 
 
 yacob^s-ladder .. .. .. 275 
 
 Japanese Hoteia .. . . . . 228 
 
 Jasione humilis .. .. •. 237 
 
 , , Perennis . . . . . • 237 
 
 yasminum nudiflorunt .. .. 373 
 
 1 1 officinale . . .. 373 
 
 , , revolutuTH .. . . 373 
 
 JeflFersonia diphylla 237 
 
 yuniper Saxifrage 319 
 
 yuniperus squamata .. .. 370 
 
 K 
 
 KalTJiia latifolia . . . . . . 366 
 
 , , ,1 nana .. .. 366 
 
 Kidney-leaved London Pride . . 317 
 
 Killarney Fern, in rock-garden . . 24 
 
 Koniga Tnaritima 366 
 
 L 
 
 Lake Maggiore . . . . . , 107 
 
 Lapland Diapensia 198 
 
 Large Evening Primrose .. .. 260 
 
 Large Pilewort . . . . . . 214 
 
 Large Self-heal 301 
 
 Large-Jlowered Cerastium .. 169 
 
 Large-leaved Primrose . . . . 294 
 
 Larger Wintergreen . . . . 302 
 
 Late Caickfly., .. .. ,. 341 
 
 Lathyrus grandi^orus .: . .. 368 
 
 , , laiifolius . . , . . . 36s 
 
 , , tuberosus 368 
 
 Lawn Pearlwort 309 
 
 Least Daffodil 257 
 
 Lebanon jStkioneina . . . , 124 
 
 Ledum ihymijoliuvi 238 
 
 Leiophyllum buxifolrum . . . . 237 
 
 Leontopodium alpinum , . , . 338 
 
 Leucanthemuni alpinum . . . . 238 
 
 LeucocoryTt^ alltacea .. .. 350 
 
 Leucojunf sestivum 238 
 
 i , Hemandezii . . . . 239 
 
 , , pulchellutn . . . . 239 
 
 , , vernum 239 
 
 Ligurian Harebell 165 
 
 Lilium longiflerufn 365 
 
 , , tenuifolium 240 
 
 Lilliputian Wallflower .. .. 213 
 Lily^ WildOraTtge .. .. ..104 
 
 Lily, St, Bntno's 
 Lily-of-tke-valley 
 Linaria alpina. . 
 
 , , Cytnbalaria . . 
 
 , , origanifolia . . 
 
 , , vulgaris Peloria 
 Linnaea borealis 
 Linum alpicola 
 , , alpinum 
 
 , , . arboreum 
 , , austriacum . . 
 , , campanulatum 
 , , collinuTK 
 
 , , crystallinuTH 
 
 , , Jlavum 
 
 » , Leonii. . 
 , , Lewisii variegaiuvi 
 , , narbonnense . , 
 1 , perenne 
 
 , , Provinciale 
 
 , , sibiricuni 
 
 Lionsfooi 
 Lithospermum canescens 
 
 /riiUcosum .. 
 Gasioni 
 petraeura. 
 prostratum . . 
 Purpureo-cmruleum. 
 Loiseleuria procumbens 
 
 London Pride 
 
 Long'Jlowered Primrose . . 
 Long-leaved Saxifrage 
 Long-rooted Geranium 
 Lonicera Capri/olium 
 , , confusa 
 , , Jiava 
 
 1 1 japonica 
 
 , , Periclymenujn 
 
 Lotus corniculatus 
 
 L ucilia's Omp/ialodes 
 
 Lungwort 
 
 Lychnis alpina 
 
 , I Coronaria . . 
 
 , J diuma 
 
 , , Jlos-yovis 
 
 ' » JulgCTlS 
 
 , , Haageana 
 
 I , Lagascee 
 
 , , lapponica 
 
 , . pyrenaica 
 
 , , vespertina 
 
 . , Viscaria 
 
 Lycium europesum . . 
 Lycopodium dendroideum . . 
 Lysimachia nemormn 
 I • nummularia 
 
 Page 
 
 . lOI 
 
 . 171 
 
 ■ 240 
 
 . 241 
 
 . 241 
 
 - 241 
 
 . 241 
 
 242 
 
 242 
 
 . iiS 
 
 242 
 
 242 
 
 243 
 242 
 242 
 243 
 243 
 243 
 243 
 243 
 243 
 243 
 238 
 245 
 244 
 
 24s 
 244 
 244 
 
 24s 
 245 
 322 
 288 
 
 319 
 222 
 
 373 
 373 
 373 
 373 
 373 
 24s 
 262 
 301 
 24s 
 247 
 
 247 
 247 
 247 
 247 
 246 
 366 
 246 
 
 247 
 247 
 
 373 
 
 . 247 
 
 368 
 
 2^8 
 
MACUGNAGA. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 383 
 
 Page 
 
 M 
 
 Macugtiaga. 
 
 Macugnaga^ larchivoods near 
 
 Maiden Pt?tk 
 
 Maidenhair Fern 
 
 Maidenhair Meadow-Rue . . 
 Malva campanulata 
 Many-Jlowered Wood Sorrel 
 Margined Primrose . . 
 Marsh Gentian 
 
 Matthiola tristis 
 
 Mazus Pumilio 
 
 Meadow Beauty 
 
 Meado'w Saxifrage . . 
 Meadow-rue Isopyrum 
 
 Mealy Sionecrop 
 
 Meconopsis aculeata 
 
 } , cambrica 
 
 Medicago falcata 
 
 Megasea ciliata 
 
 Melittis grandiflora 
 
 , , Melissophyllum 
 Menispermu7n canadense ,. 
 7 , - virginicum . . 
 Menziesia cEerulea 
 
 , , empetriformis 
 
 I J globosa 
 
 , , poHfoIia . . 
 
 Mertensia virginica 
 
 Mesembryanthemum acinaciforme 
 Meum adonidifolium 
 , , Athajnanticum 
 
 Mimulus repens 
 
 Missouri Evening Primrose * . 
 Mont Cenis Harebell 
 Montpellier Milk Vetch 
 
 Moss Pink 
 
 Mossy Andromeda .. 
 
 Mossy Saxifrage 
 
 MountaiJt Alyssum 
 
 ,, AveTis 
 Mountaifi Buttercup 
 
 Mountain Catsfoot 
 
 Mountain Dielytra 
 
 Mountain Houseleek 
 Mountain Kidney Vetch . . 
 
 Mountain Violet 
 
 Munro's Primrose . . 
 
 Muscari botryoides 
 
 cotnmutatum 
 
 comosum 
 Heldreichii . , 
 luteum 
 monstrosuni 
 moschatum .. 
 
 103 
 194 
 108 
 346 
 368 
 267 
 288 
 219 
 367 
 348 
 307 
 317 
 236 
 
 329 
 249 
 249 
 368 
 315 
 250 
 249 
 373 
 373 
 250 
 250 
 251 
 251 
 251 
 252 
 
 373 
 373 
 369 
 260 
 X64 
 156 
 274 
 128 
 
 317 
 126 
 206 
 306 
 144 
 199 
 335 
 14s 
 358 
 290 
 252 
 253 
 253 
 253 
 253 
 253 
 253 
 
 Page 
 
 Muscari neglecium. 253 
 
 , , pallens , . . . . , 253 
 
 , , racemosum . . . . . . 253 
 
 Musk Hyacinth 253 
 
 Myosotis alpestris 254 
 
 , , arvensis . . . , , 256 
 
 , , azorica 254 
 
 , , dissitiflora . . . , . . 255 
 
 , , moniana . . . . . , 255 
 
 palustris 256 
 
 , , rupicoia 254 
 
 , , sylvatica 256 
 
 N 
 Naked-stemmed Iris 
 
 Narc: 
 
 issus bicolor 
 
 Bulbocodium 
 Jonguilla . . 
 juncifolius 
 Tnajor 
 minor 
 
 poeticus 
 pulchellus . . 
 Tazetta 
 triandrus . . 
 Nicrembergia rivularis 
 Nertera depressa 
 New Holland Daisy 
 New Holland Violet 
 Noble Cypripedium . . 
 Noble Fumitory 
 Noble Heronsbill 
 Nothochlmna Maranta 
 
 235 
 258 
 257 
 258 
 257 
 258 
 257 
 258 
 258 
 258 
 364 
 258 
 259 
 259 
 362 
 
 2Z2 
 189 
 176 
 210 
 23 
 
 o 
 
 CEnothera acaulis 261 
 
 , , m.acrocarpa .. . . 260 
 
 , , marginata . . . . 260 
 
 , , missouriensis . . . . 260 
 
 , , speciosa 261 
 
 , , taraxacifolia . . . . 261 
 
 Omphalodes Lucilise . . . . 262 
 
 , , verna 262 
 
 One-Jlowered Groundsel , . . . 337 
 
 OTie-Jlowered Knapweed . . . . 168 
 
 Ononis alba . . . . . . . . 366 
 
 , , arvensis . . . . . . 262 
 
 , , campestris 263 
 
 , , fruticosa .'. . . . . 366 
 
 , , rotundifolia 263 
 
 Onosma taurica 372 
 
 Ophrys apifera 263 
 
 , , arathnites . . . . . . 369 
 
 Orange Sionecrop 331 
 
384 
 
 ORCHIS. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page' 
 
 Or^'s.foliosa ., 264 
 
 , , latifolia 264 
 
 , , laxiflora . . , . . . 264 
 
 , , maculata . . . . ■- . . 264 
 
 , , nigra . . . . . . . . 369 
 
 Origanum vulgare variegaiitnt . . 371 
 
 Orobus catiescens ., . . .. 266 
 
 , , cyaneus . . . . . . 264 
 
 , , Fischeri .. .. .. 266 
 
 , , Jlaccidus 265 
 
 , , pubescens .. . . .. 266 
 
 , , roseiis ., .. ... 368 
 
 , , ruscifolitts . . . . . . 265 
 
 , , variegatus 265 
 
 , , varvus . . . . . . 266 
 
 , , vernus . . . • . . 265 
 
 Orphanides' Crocus . . . . . . 177 
 
 Osntundas, culture of . . ... 24 
 
 Othonna cheirifoHa 266 
 
 Oxalis Bowiei 266 
 
 ,, floribunda .. ... -. 267 
 
 , , lohata • > . • • > • . 267 
 
 , , rosea . . . . . . . . 267 
 
 , , speciosa . • . > . ^ 267 
 
 Oxytropis pyrenaica . . . » ... 267 
 
 P 
 
 Pachyphytum bracteosum ... . . 267 
 
 Pale Purple Autumn Crocus . . 177 
 
 Papaver alpinum 369 
 
 , , , , albiflorum . . 269 
 
 , , It Jiaviflorum. , . 269. 
 
 , , nudicaule 269 
 
 ,, pyrenaicum .. .. 269 
 
 Paradisia Liliastrum 269 
 
 ,> )l >• •• .. lOI 
 
 Parnassia asarifolia , . . . 270 
 
 , , caroliniana . . . . 270 
 
 , , palustris . . . . . . 270 
 
 Pamassia-like Ranunculus .. 306 
 
 Pasqueflower 141 
 
 Passiflora ccerulea ., . . . . 373 
 
 Peacock Windflower ., . . 140 
 
 Pearl-wort, Lawn 309 
 
 Pelargonium Endlicherianum . . 271 
 
 Pendulous Symphyandra ., .. 344 
 
 Pentstemon cyanantkus .. .. 271 
 
 , , diffusus 272 
 
 , , geniianoides .. .. -z-j-z 
 
 , , glaber 271 
 
 , , Hariwegi .. . . 272 
 
 1 » yeffreyanus .. , . 272 
 
 , , procerus 271 
 
 , , Scouleri 273 
 
 , , speciosus . . . . 271 j 
 
 Perennial Flax ^ 243 | 
 
 Page 
 
 Periploca greeca 373 
 
 Pemeiiya mucronata . . . , 370 
 
 Petrocailis pyrenaica • . ' . . 272 
 
 PetrocopHs Pyrenaica ., .. 246 
 
 PeucedanuTH involticmtum . , .. 373 
 
 , , longifolium. . > . . 373 
 
 Petteri 373 
 
 Phlox divaricata 273 
 
 , , Nelsoni 274 
 
 , , reptans . . * 273 
 
 , , siolonifera ,. . . . . 274 
 
 , , subulata . . . . . . 274 
 
 , , vema .. . . . . . . 274 
 
 Phyllodoce entpetrt/ormis . . . . 251 
 
 Pigmy Catchfly 340 
 
 Pinguicula grandiflora . . . . 274 
 
 1 1 •vulgaris . . . . . . 274 
 
 Pink . . . . . . . . . . 196 
 
 Plaiyloma atropurpurea .. . . 373 
 
 Platysiylis cyanea . , .. .. 264 
 
 Plumbago Larpentae 275 
 
 Plumy Dielytra 199 
 
 Pointed Whitlow-Grass . . , . 203 
 
 Polemonium caeruleum . . . . 275 
 
 , , , , variegaium. 275 
 
 Polygala calcarea . . ... . . 276 
 
 , , Chamsebuxus . . . . 276 
 
 Polygonum complextim .. .. 368 
 
 , , vaccin-ifolium . . . . 277 
 
 PolyPodium vulgare . . . . .. 367 
 
 Poppy Anemone ,. , . . . . 138 
 
 PotentiUa alba 277 
 
 , , alpestris 277 
 
 , , calabra 278 
 
 , , floribunda .. . , 366 
 
 , , Jruticosa 366 
 
 ,1, Hopwoodiana .. ,. 368 
 
 , , M'NaMana .. . . 368 
 
 , , nitida 278 
 
 , , pyrenaica 278 
 
 , , Tonguci 368 
 
 , , vema 278 
 
 Pots, best mode of plunging . , 60 
 Pots, groimng eUpine plants in 55, 59 
 
 Prickly Poppy 249 
 
 Prickly Thrift 121 
 
 Primula Allioni 301 
 
 , , amcpna 278 
 
 , , Auricula 279 
 
 1 » auriculaia 301 
 
 , 1 Candolleana ., . . 287 
 
 , , camiolica 301 
 
 , , ciliata 298 
 
 .1 , . purpurata . . . . 298 
 
 , , Clusiana . . . . . . 301 
 
 , , cortusoides 284 
 
 >> *■ amoma . , 284 
 
PRIMULA.. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 385 
 
 Page 
 
 Primula denticulata 283 
 
 , , Dinyana 301 
 
 , , elaiior 294 
 
 , , erosa 285 
 
 , , farinosa 285 
 
 ,, it acaulis .. .. 286 
 
 , , Fleerkiana. 289 
 
 , , Foriunei 285 
 
 , , glaucescens . . . . . . 287 
 
 , , glutinosa . . . . . . 287 
 
 , , integrifolia 287 
 
 ,, 11 no 
 
 , , intermedia 301 
 
 , , iniricata 301 
 
 , , involucrata 290 
 
 , , ladfolia 288 
 
 , , longiflora . . . . . . 288 
 
 , , -macrocalyx 301 
 
 , , marginata 288 
 
 , , minima . . . . . . 289 
 
 , , misiassinica .. .. 301 
 
 , , Miinroi 290 
 
 , , nivea . . . . . . . 290 
 
 , , ofiicinalis . . . . . 291 
 
 , , Palinuri 294 
 
 , , pedetnoniana . . . . 301 
 
 , , purpurea ^ 295 
 
 , , scotica - . . . . . 295 
 
 , , sibirica . . . . . . 301 
 
 , , sikkimensis . . . . . . 296 
 
 , , spectahilis 301 
 
 , , stricta. . . . . . . 301 
 
 , , Stuarti 297 
 
 , , suaveoUns 294 
 
 , , Thomasini 301 
 
 , , veris 291 
 
 , , verticillata 301 
 
 , , villosa 297 
 
 , , viscosa 297 
 
 . , - ■ • ■ 95. 98 
 
 , , Vii(^liana 134 
 
 , , vulgaris 298 
 
 Prostrate Speedwell 353 
 
 Prunella grandiflora 301 
 
 Pulmonaria angtistifolia . . - . 301 
 
 ,, officinalis -. .. 301 
 
 Purple American Sionecrop . - 331 
 
 Purple Auhrietia iS7 
 
 Purple Crocus 180 
 
 Purple Milk Vetch 155 
 
 Purple Primrose 295 
 
 Purple Saxifrage ' 320 
 
 Purple Stonecrop 333 
 
 Puschkinia scilloides 302 
 
 Pyramidal Saxifrage .. .. 315 
 
 Pyramidal Squill 326 
 
 Pyrenean Adonis 124 
 
 Page 
 
 Pyrenean Androsace .. .. 133 
 
 Pyrenean Cinque/oil .. .. 278 
 
 Pyrenean Gentian 220 
 
 Pyreneajt Oxytrope 267 
 
 Pyrenean Ratnondia . . . . 303 
 
 Pyrethru>n oxhilleeEfolium .. .. 373 
 
 , , alpinum .. . . . . 235 
 
 , , tanacetoides . . . , 373 
 
 Pyrola elliptica 302 
 
 -media 302 
 
 ■minor . . . . . . . . 302 
 
 rotundifolia. 302 
 
 , , arenaria . . 302 
 
 secunda 302 
 
 unijiora .. . . . , 302 
 
 Pyxidanthera barbulata . . . . 303 
 
 R 
 
 Rainer's Harebell 166 
 
 Ramondia pyrenaica . , . . 303 
 
 Ranunculus aconitifoHus . . . . 303 
 
 , , acris 307 
 
 , , alpestris . . . . 304 
 
 , , amplexicaulis . . . . 304 
 
 , , bulbosus .. . . 307 
 
 , , bullatus . . . . 307 
 
 , , glacialis 305 
 
 • ' , 97 
 
 , , Gonani . . . . . . 307 
 
 1 1 gramineus . . . . 307 
 
 , , Lyallii 305 
 
 , , montanus . . . . 306 
 
 , , parnassifolius . . . . 306 
 
 , , pyreneetts .. .. 307 
 
 , , rutaefolius ... . - 307 
 
 , , spicatus . . . . 307 
 
 , , Thora . . . . . . 307 
 
 , , Traun/elhteri . . . - 304 
 
 , , uniflorus . . . . 307 
 
 Red Whortleberry .. . . .. 353 
 
 Reichard's Heronsbill .. .. 211 
 
 Reseda odorata 366 
 
 Reiuse-leaved Saxifrage . . . . 321 
 
 Rhexia virginica 307 
 
 Rhododendron atnmt^im . . . . 308 
 
 , , Chamsecistus . . 308 
 
 , , dauricutn atrovirens 30B 
 
 , , ferrzigifieum . . 308 
 
 , , Gowenianum . ■ 308 
 
 , , hirsittutn . . . . 308 
 
 , , hybridum. . . . . 308 
 
 , , myrtifolium . • 308 
 
 , , odoratum . . - - 30S 
 
 , , Torloniannni' , . 308 
 
 Rocket's Saxifrage .- •- •■ 321 
 
 Rock Alyssuvi 126 
 
 2 C ~ 
 
386 
 
 ROCK. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 SAXIFRAGA. 
 
 Page 
 
 Rock Gromivell .. . . . . 244 
 
 Rock Heronsbill 210 
 
 Rock yasmme 130 
 
 Rock Knoiweed 277 
 
 Rock Pink 196 
 
 Rock Saponaria .. .. .. 310 
 
 Rock Stonecrop 332 
 
 Rock Tulip 352 
 
 Rock Veronica .. • • • . 354 
 Rock-garden, plants suited forna- 
 
 iural . . . . . . > ■ . . 52 
 
 Rockwood Lily 305 
 
 Rockfworkf arrangement of fissures 12 
 Rockwork, aspect not of so viitck 
 
 moment as soil and moisture . . 15 
 Rockwork, best and worst general 
 
 forms of steep ii 
 
 Rockwork, general disposition of ,. 12 
 Rockwork, defects in coTistruction 
 
 of 5 
 
 Rockwork, horizontal fissures to be 
 
 avoided . . , . . . . . 9 
 
 Rockwork in -woods 53 
 
 Rockwork of bricks and cement , . 27 
 Rockwork, oblique and vertical fis- 
 sures preferable .. .. .. 10 
 
 Rockwork on a small sca^ .. .. 28 
 
 Rockwork on margins of shrub- 
 beries ' • m^ . . . . . , 30 
 
 Rockwork, kinds of stone for . . 32 
 Rockwork, right and wrong ar- 
 rangement .... . . . . S 
 
 Rockwork, straight-sided, wall-like 
 
 structures to be avoided . . , . 5 
 Rockwork, what to avoid in design- 
 ing 72 
 
 Rocky Mountain Columbine . . 147 
 
 Rojnan Heronsbill . . . . . . 211 
 
 R ose<oloured A ndrosace . . . . 1 29 
 
 Rosy Coronilla . . . , . . 174 
 
 Rosy Lady's Slipper 188 
 
 Rosy Lychnis .. . . . . . . 346 
 
 Rosy Rock Cress 148 
 
 Rosy-spitjted Acesna .. •■ .. 121 
 
 Rough Saxifrage 313 
 
 Rouftd-leaved Cyclamen .. .. 181 
 
 Round-leaved Iberidella .. .. 231 
 
 Round-leaved Rest-harrow . . 263 
 
 Royl^s Erigeron 209 
 
 Rue Anemone , ■. .. .. .. 345 
 
 Rue-leaved Crowfoot 307 
 
 Ruscus HyPoglossum, . . . . 366 
 
 , , racemosus . . , . . . 366 
 
 Rush-leaved Daffodil .. .. 257 
 
 Ruysch's L}racocephalum . . . . 205 
 
 Page 
 
 Saas, hotel at 95 
 
 Saas, road from Visp to .. .. 87 
 
 Saffron Crocus . . . . . . 178 
 
 Sagina glabra 309 
 
 , , procumbens plena . . . . 366 
 
 Saintfoin-like Milk Vetch . . . . 156 
 
 Salix lanata . . . . . . . . 368 
 
 , , reticulata . . * . . . . 368 
 
 , , serpyllifolia 369 
 
 Salvia argentea 371 
 
 Sand Myrtle 237 
 
 Sanguinaria canadensis . . . . 309 
 
 Santolina aipina . . . . . . 310 
 
 , , Chameecyparissus . . 310 
 
 ,, ,, squarrosa -310 
 
 , , incana 310 
 
 , , pecthiata . . . . . . 310 
 
 , , viridis 366 
 
 Saponaria £'^-s^zV(7J-fS 311 
 
 , , luiea 311 
 
 , , ocymoides . . . . 311 
 
 Saxifraga adscendens .. . . 322 
 
 , , affinis 318 
 
 , , aizoides , 311 
 
 , , Aizoon . - . . • . 311 
 
 I > ajug^folia .. . . 322 
 
 , , am.bigua . . . . . . 322 
 
 , , Andrewsii . • . . . . 312 
 
 , } androsacea . . . . 322 
 
 , , aguatica . . . . . . 322 
 
 , , aretioides 312 
 
 , , aspera 313 
 
 , , atropurpurea .. • . 322 
 
 I , autumnalis ., .. 311 
 
 , , biflora 313 
 
 ., 118 
 
 , , Bucklandii . . . . 322 
 
 , , huVdfera ,. . . . . 322 
 
 1, Burseriana .. .. .322 
 
 ,] bryoides .. .. .. 313 
 
 >) cassia 314 
 
 , I ceespitosa .. .. . . 318 
 
 , , ceratophylla . . "314 
 
 , I cernua .. .. . . 317 
 
 , , calcarata 322 
 
 , , capUlaris ., .. . , 322 
 
 I > cochleata . . . . . . 322 
 
 , , condensata .. . . 322 
 
 , , , contraversa . . . . 322 
 
 ,, cordifolia 315 
 
 , . Cotyledon 315 
 
 '• .» "4 
 
 , , crassifolia . . . . 315 
 
 , , crustata 320 
 
SAXIFRAGA. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 387 
 
 Saxifraga cuneifolta 
 
 , , cuscutce/ormis 
 
 , , Cymbalaria 
 
 , , daurica 
 
 , , decipietis . . 
 
 , , diapensioides 
 
 , , elatior 
 
 , , elon^ella . . 
 
 , , erosa 
 
 , , exarata , . 
 
 t , Jlavescens . . 
 
 •> y ^eranioides 
 
 , , ^ertnanica 
 
 , , Geum 
 
 , , ^ibraltarica 
 
 , I ^lacialis . . 
 
 , , Gntelini . . 
 
 , . ^ranulaia 
 
 , , Guthrieana 
 
 , , hieracifolia 
 
 i , kiria 
 
 , , hirsuta 
 
 , , HostU 
 
 , , hypnoides . . 
 
 , , icelafidica . 
 
 , , incurvifoUa 
 
 , , in/iitidibiilum 
 
 , , iniacia 
 
 , , intervtedia 
 
 , > japonica . . 
 
 , , juniperina . . 
 
 , , leetevirens. . 
 
 , , lavtgata. . . 
 
 , , lavis 
 
 , , leptophylla 
 
 * > ligulaia , . 
 
 , , liiigulata. . . 
 
 , , longifolia . . 
 
 , , lutea viridis 
 
 , , tttedia 
 
 Mollyi . . 
 
 f , fnulticaulis 
 
 , , fftuscoides . . 
 
 , , ttervosa 
 
 , , nivalis 
 
 , , okioensis . . 
 
 > > oppositifolia 
 
 , y orienialis . , 
 
 y y palmata . • 
 
 , , parnassica 
 
 , , peciinata. . . 
 
 , , fedaia 
 
 , , pedatifida 
 
 y , pennsylvanica 
 
 Page 
 
 322 
 321 
 
 312 
 
 322 
 
 318 
 
 316 
 322 
 322 
 322 
 322 
 322 
 
 322 
 
 322 
 
 317 
 322 
 
 322 
 322 
 
 322 
 
 322 
 322 
 322 
 
 318 
 
 317 
 
 322 
 
 318 
 
 322 
 3i8 
 
 322 
 322 
 
 322 
 
 319 
 322 
 322 
 322 
 323 
 3IS 
 320 
 319 
 106 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 320 
 
 323 
 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 
 Saxifraga peniadactylis 
 , y petrcBa 
 , , planifolia . , 
 , , Puhhella . . 
 , I pufictata . . 
 , ( purpurascens 
 ■ . Pygmaa . . 
 , , pyramidalis 
 , , recta 
 , , reciirva 
 , , retiiformis 
 , , retusa 
 Rkei 
 1 1 Rocheliana 
 , , rosularis . . 
 , , roiundi/olia 
 ,, rupestris .. 
 , , sarmentosa 
 , , Schraden, . 
 , , serratifolia 
 , , sibirica 
 , , spathulaia 
 , , sponhemica 
 , , Siansfieldii 
 i , stellaris . . 
 , , stenophylla 
 , , Ster7ibergU 
 , , Tazeita . . 
 , , tenella 
 , , ikysanodes 
 , , tricolor 
 , , tricuspidaia 
 , , trifida 
 , , irifurcata 
 , , trilobata . . 
 , y umbrosa . . 
 , , villosa 
 » I virgin^nsis 
 ,, Webbiana.. 
 
 Saxifrages 
 
 Saxifragesy silvery . . 
 
 Saxifrages, silvery, for 
 Purposes 
 
 Sca&iosa gratninifolia 
 , , Webbiana . . 
 
 Scarlet Windflmuer. , 
 
 Schistostegia pennata 
 
 Sckivereckia podolica 
 
 Scilla amcEna . . 
 amcefiula 
 auiumnalis 
 bifolia . . 
 campanulata . . 
 certiua . . 
 Ayacini/ioides . . 
 italica . . 
 nutans . • 
 
 83, 
 bedding 
 
 Page 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 323 
 316 
 3=3 
 3Z3 
 3=3 
 3=1 
 323 
 321 
 323 
 323 
 
 3=3 
 321 
 
 3=3 
 332 
 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 323 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 322 
 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 322 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 3=3 
 III 
 
 "3 
 
388 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 SELECTION. 
 
 Page 
 
 £cilla patula 326 
 
 , I peruviana . . . . . ■ 326 
 
 , , prcBCOx .. .. . . 325 
 
 , , sibirica 327 
 
 , , verna 328 
 
 Scilla-like Puschktnia .. . - 302 
 
 Scolopendriuin vulgare .. • • 373 
 
 Scotch Bird's-eye Primrose . . 295 
 
 Scouler's Pentstemon .. •■ 272 
 
 Scutellaria alpina 32S 
 
 'japonica . . . - . - 328 
 
 lupulina 328 
 
 tninor 328 
 
 orientalis . . . . 328 
 
 scordifolia .. . . 328 
 
 Sea- Bindweed. . . . . . . . 173 
 
 Sea Catckjiy 34° 
 
 Sea Cottoniveed .. . . 2cx> 
 
 Sea-green Whitlow-Grass . . . . 202 
 
 Sedum acre 328 
 
 , , aizoides 334 
 
 , , Aizoon 334 
 
 , , albescens .. . . . . 334 
 
 , , album . . . . . . . . 329 
 
 , , altaicunt .. . . . . 334 
 
 , , altissim-um- 334 
 
 , , Anacampseros . . . . 329 
 
 . , anglicum 334 
 
 , , angulaiutn . . . . . . 334 
 
 , , arhoreum 334 
 
 , , asiaticum. .. .. .. 334 
 
 , , aurevm .. . . . . 334 
 
 , , Beyrickianum .. . . 334 
 
 , , Brauni 334 
 
 , , brevifolium 329 
 
 , , cmruleum . . . . . . 333 
 
 , , cameum •vartegatum . . 333 
 
 , , corsicum 334 
 
 , , crisiaium 333 
 
 , , cruentufn .. . . . . 334 
 
 , , cruciatunt 334 
 
 , , cyatieum . . . . . . 334 
 
 , , dasyphyllum 330 
 
 , , dentatutn .. .. .. 334 
 
 , , denticulaium. .. .. - 334 
 
 ,, elegans 334 
 
 , , elongatutn 334 
 
 , , Ewersii 330 
 
 , , Faharia 333 
 
 , , Faharinuwt .. ,. .. 333 
 
 , , Pabariuvt . . . . ., 333 
 
 , , farinosum . . . . . . 333 
 
 , , Forsterianuni .. . . 332 
 
 , , glaucum 330 
 
 , , grandifoliufn .. . . 334 
 
 I , kispanicutH . ■ • . . . 334 
 
 i^wwz 334 
 
 Page 
 
 Sedum tbericunt 334 
 
 involucratum .. . . 334 
 yacquini 334 
 
 kamtschaticum 
 
 331 
 
 Itbanoticutn 334 
 
 littoreum 
 
 Lydium 
 
 MaxiTnowiczU 
 
 tnaximum. 
 
 monregalense 
 
 monstrosum. ., 
 
 Tnulticeps . . . . . . 334 
 
 neglectutn 334 
 
 ochrolettcum . . 
 
 334 
 334 
 334 
 334 
 334 
 333 
 
 • ■ 334 
 
 orientale 334 
 
 palletts .. . . . . 334 
 
 Pallidum 334 
 
 populifolium 331 
 
 Pruinosuin . . . . . . 334 
 
 pulchellum . . . . . . 331 
 
 pulchrunt • . . . . . 334 
 
 rejlexum 334 
 
 , , jftonstrosum . , 333 
 
 rupestre 332 
 
 sexangulare 334 
 
 sexfidum 334 
 
 Sieboldii . . . . . . 332 
 
 speciosum .. . . . . 334 
 
 spectabile 332 
 
 spurium 333 
 
 stellatum 334 
 
 Stephani . . . . . . 334 
 
 telepkioides 334 
 
 Telephium 334 
 
 iereiifoliutn 334 
 
 iematum . . . . . . 334 
 
 iriangulare 334 
 
 Verloti 
 
 villosum 
 
 virens 
 
 Wallichiamnn 
 Sedums, list of best, for bedding . . 
 Seed, raising alpine plants from. .. 
 Seedlings, treatment of alpine-plaxU 
 Selaginella, Helvetian , . . . Zq 
 Selection of alpine and rock plants 
 for growing on old walls, ruins, 
 
 stony banks, &fic. 366 
 
 Selection of alpine and rock ploMts 
 of prostrate or droopiftg habit,, 
 suited for placing so that they 
 may droop over the brows of 
 rocks, and like positions , . 
 Selection of alpine plants green in 
 
 334 
 334 
 334 
 334 
 40 
 7" 
 6S 
 
 368 
 
 370 
 
 Selection of alpine plants suitable as 
 flowering edgingsfor beds or borders 371 
 
SELECTION. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 389 
 
 Page 
 
 Selection of alpine plants suited for 
 
 culture in pots for exkibitioft . . 368 
 Selection of alpine plants to be 
 
 raised from seed . . . . • < 367 
 Selection of alpine plajits that will 
 
 grow -well in cities . . . . 372 
 Selection of alpine plants which 
 ought to be grown in every nur- 
 sery . . 364 
 
 Selection of alpine rock-plants, &fic. 
 
 chiefly of botanical interest . . 372 
 Selection of dwarf alpine and rock 
 plants suited for the vtargins of 
 
 mixed borders 365 
 
 Selection of dwarf alpine shrubs, 
 
 S^c.for the rock-garden . . . . 370 
 Selection of dwarf hardy plants of 
 a silvery or variegated tone, and 
 mostly suitable for edgings . . 371 
 Selection of dwarf shrubs suited 
 for occasionally interiningling 
 with the larger alpine plants, 
 when planted on the margins of 
 
 shndiberies, ^'c. 366 
 
 Selection of ferns 7nost likely t& 
 sTtcceed in sunny and exposed 
 
 positions .. - 373 
 
 Selection of hardy plants with | 
 
 fern-like or graceful leaves, suit- 
 able for the rock-garden . . • - 373 
 Selection of trailers, climbers, &=c. 373 
 Sempervivum acuminatum • . 336 
 
 , , affine 337 
 
 , , albiduvt . . . • 337 
 
 , , anamdlutn .. • • 336 
 
 aracbnoideum . . 334 
 
 , , arenariutn .. • - 336 
 
 , , assimile . . • • 33^ 
 
 , , barbatulum . . . . 337 
 
 , , Boutignianunt . . 337 
 
 , , BroMni . - • • 33^ 
 
 ,, calcareura .. •• 33^ 
 
 , , califomicum • • 33^ 
 
 , , canescens - . * • 33^ 
 
 , , ciliatum • • • * 33^ 
 
 , , Comollii . • • • 337 
 
 , , Cotyledon . . • • 33^ 
 
 , , dioicum . • • • 33^ 
 
 , , Dmllianum - . • • 337 
 
 ,, Fauconetti .. •• 337 
 
 , , fimbriaium. . . . . 337 
 
 ,, Funckii .- •* 33^ 
 
 , , glaucum . . * • 336 
 
 1 , globiferum . . . • 336 
 
 , , grandiflorum . - 336 
 
 Heuffelli -. ••336 
 , , juratum ... ■ • 33^ 
 
 Page 
 
 Sempervivum Mettenianum . . 336 
 
 , , molle 336 
 
 , , montanum . . . . 331 
 
 , , Neilreichii ' .. .. 336 
 
 , , piliferwm .. - . 336 
 
 , , Pomelli . . . . 336 
 
 , , Pseudo-arachnoideum. 337 
 
 , , Requieni 
 
 , , rusticu?n 
 
 , , rjfthenicum . . 
 
 , , Schleani 
 
 , , sediforme 
 
 , , stenopetalum . . . 
 
 , , tectorum 
 
 , , urbicum 
 
 , , velutinum. 
 
 VerloH 
 , , villosum 
 
 , , vioiaceunt 
 
 Sempervivum.s 
 
 Sempervivums, list of best, for bed- 
 ding 
 
 Senecio argenteus 
 
 , , zncanus 
 
 ,, uniflorus 
 
 Seseli elatum 
 
 I , globiferum 
 
 , , gracile 
 
 Shaggy Androsace 
 
 Shaggy Cerastium 
 
 336 
 336 
 336 
 337 
 336 
 336 
 335 
 336 
 336 
 337 
 336 
 337 
 87 
 
 40 
 337 
 337 
 337 
 373 
 373 
 373 
 133 
 168 
 
 Shaggy Milk Vetch iS7 
 
 Shaggy Pasqueflower 
 Shining Cinquefoil . . 
 Showy Autumn Crocus 
 Showy Bastard Cress 
 Showy Evening Primrose 
 Showy Sionecrop 
 Shrubby Stonecrop . . 
 Siberian Squill 
 Siderztis syriaca 
 Sieber's Crocus 
 Siebold's Stonecrop . - 
 Sikkim Cowslip 
 Silver Moss 
 
 143 
 27S 
 
 T7g 
 
 346 
 261 
 
 332 
 331 
 327 
 371 
 179 
 333 
 296 
 314 
 
 Silmrbracts 267 
 
 Silvery Androsace. . . 
 
 Silvery Caisfoot 
 
 Silvery Cranesbill . . 
 
 Silvery Echeveria .. 
 
 Silvery Groundsel . . 
 
 Silvery Vetch 
 
 Silene acaulis 
 
 , , alpestris 
 , , arborescens 
 , , Elisabethae 
 
 , , exscapa 
 
 131 
 144 
 221 
 206 
 337 
 3SS 
 33S 
 338 
 342 
 339 
 114 
 338 
 
39° 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 TRITELEIA. 
 
 Page 
 
 Silene inflaia-. . 340 
 
 , , maritima 340 
 
 , , tntiscoides ., .. . > 338 
 
 , , pendula 342 
 
 , , pennsylvanica 340 
 
 , , Pumilio . . . . . . . . 340 
 
 , , quadHdeniata .. . • 342 
 
 , , Tupesiris 342 
 
 ,, Saxifraga 34^ 
 
 , I Schafta 341 
 
 t , virginica . , . . . . 341 
 
 , , Zawadskii 342 
 
 Sisyrinchiutn grandifloruni . . 365 
 
 Skifninia japontca .. .. .. 366 
 
 , » Laureola . . . . . . 366 
 
 1 1 oblata > . . . . . 366 
 
 S-mall American Cowslip .. .. 201 
 
 Small Scarlet Lily 240 
 
 Smilacina bifolia . . . . . . 342 
 
 Smooth Penistemon 271 
 
 Snapdragon . , . . . , . . 146 
 
 Snowdrop . . . . . . . . 215 
 
 Snowdrop WiTidflower .. . . 142 
 
 Snowy Primrose 290 
 
 Soil /or alpine plants .. .. 4 
 
 Soldanella alpina 343 
 
 , , minima 343 
 
 , , fnontana .. . . .. 343 
 
 t , pusilla . . . . . . 343 
 
 Spergula pUifera .. ., .. 309 
 
 ,, saginoides .. .. 309 
 
 , , subulata .. . . . . 309 
 
 Spigelia marilandica 344 
 
 spiny Alyssum. 127 
 
 Spireeafilipendula 373 
 
 Spotted Heronsbill .. .. .. 210 
 
 Spotted Orchis 264 
 
 Spotted Winiergreen .. .. 171 
 
 Spreading Gypsophila .. .. 244 
 
 Spreading Phlox 273 
 
 Spreading Squill 326 
 
 spring Bitter Vetch 265 
 
 Spring Cyclamen 184 
 
 spring Heath 208 
 
 spring Meadow Se^ron .. .. t6o 
 
 Spring Snowfldke 239 
 
 Spring Starjlmver 349 
 
 Spurred Violet 357 
 
 Square-stemmed Andromeda . . 128 
 
 St. Bruno's Lily ,. .. .. 269 
 
 St. Daheot^s Heath 251 
 
 Stachys lanaia 371 
 
 Star/lower 347 
 
 Starry Windfiower 1^.2 
 
 Statice Ararati 121 
 
 , , eximia . . . . . . 344 
 
 1 1 globularupfolia .. ,. 344 
 
 Page 
 
 Statice olees/olia 344 
 
 1 , tatarica 344 
 
 > 1 , ) angustifolia . . 344 
 
 Stem-clasping Crowfoot .. . . 304 
 
 Stenactis speciasa . . . . . . 209 
 
 Stembergia, lutea 365 
 
 Sionecrop 328 
 
 Striped Cranesbill 293 
 
 Striped Crocus .. . . . . 180 
 
 Stuart's Primrose 297 
 
 Succulent plants in pans .. .. 57 
 
 Succulent plants in raised beds .. 38 
 
 Su-mmer Snowflahe . • ■ . • . 238 
 
 Sweet Violet 358 
 
 Sweet William, igi 
 
 Sweet Woodruff 154 
 
 Swiss Androsace 130 
 
 Symphyandra pendula .. .. 344 
 
 T ' 
 
 Tatnus communis 373 
 
 Taitrian Speedwell .. .. •• 354 
 
 Tartarian Sea Lavender .. .. 344 
 
 Tenore's Candytu/t 232 
 
 Teucrium Marum 345 
 
 Teucrium Speedtvell .. "354 
 
 Thalictrum anemonoides . . • • 34S 
 
 ,, foetidum 373 
 
 , , minus 346 
 
 Thick-leaved Stonecrop . . . . 339 
 
 Thlaspi alpestre 366 
 
 t , latifolium 346 
 
 , , rotundifolium .. . • 231 
 
 Three-toothed Whitlow-Grass . . 204 
 
 Three-leaved Waldsteinia . . . . 362 
 
 Three-leaved Wood Anemone . . 143 
 
 Thyme-leaved Rhododendron . . 308 
 
 Thymus azoricus 347 
 
 , , azureus 347 
 
 , , bracteosus . . . . . . 347 
 
 , , corsicus 347 
 
 , , lanuginosus . . . . 347 
 
 , , Mastichina 370 
 
 , J fnicans 370 
 
 , , Serpyllum 347 
 
 ,, thuriferus 347 
 
 , , Zygis 347 
 
 Trefoil Ladie^ Smock . . . . 167 
 
 Trientalis europaeus 347 
 
 Trifolium repens peniaphyllum . . 368 
 
 Trillium atropurpureum . . . . 349 
 
 , , grandiflorum • < • • 348 
 
 , , cer^iuum • • • • • • 369 
 
 , f pendulum . . . ■ • • 349 
 
 , , sessile 349 
 
 Triteleia alliacea 350 
 
TRITELEIA. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 WINDOW-SILLS. 
 
 391 
 
 Triteleia uniflora 
 Tropaeolum polyphyllum 
 
 I , speciosum 
 
 Truffle Sunrose 
 Tufted Harebell 
 Tufted Pentstenton 
 Tulipa Celsiana 
 > , Clusiana 
 Tunica Saxifraga 
 Tivin/iower . . 
 Twinleaf 
 
 Two-Jloxvered Seixifrage 
 TwQ-fl&wered Yellow Violet 
 Two-leaved Smilacina 
 
 Umbilicus chrysanthus 
 J , sedoides . . 
 , , spinosus . . 
 
 Page 
 349 
 350 
 350 
 
 2Z6 
 
 163 
 271 
 
 351 
 352 
 
 352 
 241 
 237 
 313 
 356 
 342 
 
 337 
 337 
 337 
 
 V 
 
 Vaccinium macrocarpum . . . . 353 
 
 , , Myriill-us .. . . 370 
 
 , , Oxycoccos .. . . 353 
 
 , , ■uliginosum .. • • 370 
 
 , , Vitis-idaea . . . • 353 
 
 Val Anzasca, the ., .. •• 104 
 
 Variegated Bitter Vetch . . . . 265 
 
 Vase Harebell 167 
 
 Veitch*s Begonia 158 
 
 Vernal Adonis . . . . . . 124 
 
 Vernal Gentian .. . ■ . . 220 
 83,119 
 
 Veronica apkylla 355 
 
 , , Candida . . . - • • 355 
 
 , , ChamEedrys . . . • 353 
 
 , , fruticulosa 355 
 
 , » gentianoides variegata . . 371 
 
 , , NuTnmularia . . . . 355 
 
 , , prostrata 353 
 
 , , satureifolia • • • • 355 
 
 ,, saxatilis 354 
 
 ,, taurica .• ■• •• 354 
 
 , , Teucrium 354 
 
 Vesicaria utriculata 355 
 
 Vicia argentea 355 
 
 , , Cracca 368 
 
 Vinca herbacea 355 
 
 , , major 35^ 
 
 , , minor 35^ 
 
 Viola aliaica 361 
 
 , , biflora 35^ 
 
 95 
 
 , , blanda 363 
 
 , , calcarata 357 
 
 Page 
 
 VvA^. calcarata ,. .. ,, ^ig 
 
 , , canadetisis 362 
 
 , t cornuta 357 
 
 , , cucullata . . . . . . 362 
 
 *) lutea 358 
 
 , , obliqtta 362 
 
 * , odorata 353 
 
 , , palntaensis .. . . . . 362 
 
 , , palmata 362 
 
 ,, pedata 360 
 
 , I pinnaia 362 
 
 , , striata 362 
 
 it tricolor 361 
 
 ,, ZoyHi 357 
 
 Violet Cress 234 
 
 Violet Harebell 166 
 
 Virginian Cowslip 251 
 
 Viscid Primrose 297 
 
 Vitis eesiivalis .. . . . . 373 
 
 , , avtooriensis .. . . . . 373 
 
 , , cordifolia . . . . . . 373 
 
 , , heterophylla 373 
 
 ,, Isabella. » .. ... .. 373 
 
 , , Labrusca 373 
 
 , , laciniosa . . . . , , 373 
 
 ) ) Tipana , , , , . . . . 373 
 
 , , Sieboldii . . . . . . 373 
 
 , , vinifera apiifolia .. . . 373 
 
 , , vulpina 373 
 
 Vittadenia triloba 362 
 
 w 
 
 Waldsteinia^^ozy^j .. .. .. 362 
 
 , , trifolia 362 
 
 Wall Erinus 209 
 
 Wall Mesembryanthemum . . 252 
 
 Wallflmver 170 
 
 Walls for alpine plants .. . . 37 
 
 Water, plants for 21 
 
 Water Forget'me-not . . • . 256 
 
 Water NUrembergia . • . . 259 
 
 Water^ stepping'Stone bridge for . . 21 
 
 Water^ supply of 66 
 
 Water Violet 229 
 
 Waterfalls, &'c. in combination 
 
 with rockwork 20 
 
 Welsh Poppy 249 
 
 White Alpine Yarrow .. ..122 
 
 White Cifiquefoil 277 
 
 White Rock Cress 148 
 
 White Stonecrop 3^9 
 
 White Windflower 134 
 
 White Wood-Lily 348 
 
 Wild Liquorice 262 
 
 Wild Pink 340 
 
 Window-sills, rock'gardens for . . 54 
 
392 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Winged Genista 
 Winter Aconite 
 Winter Windfi<ywer 
 Wistaria sinensis 
 Wood A nemone 
 Wood Forget-ntg'not 
 Woodsia kypeTiorea. 
 
 , , ilvefisis 
 
 1 1 Polystwhoides 
 Wormgrass • . 
 Wulfenia carinthiaca 
 
 Yellow Androsace 
 Yellow Croats 
 
 Page 
 
 216 
 207 
 137 
 373 
 139 
 256 
 373 
 373 
 373 
 344 
 369 
 
 134 
 176 
 
 Yelloiu Everlasting .. 
 Yellow Fumitory 
 Yellow Herbaceous Flax . . 
 Yellow Marsh Saxifrage . . 
 Yellow Mountain Saxifrage 
 Yellow Rock TropeeoluTH . . 
 Yellotv Wood Anemone 
 Yetii-leaved Memiesia 
 
 Page 
 227 
 
 175 
 243 
 
 317 
 311 
 
 350 
 141 
 250 
 
 Zapania nodijlora . . 
 Zausckneria, califomica 
 Zephyranthes Atamasco 
 Zietenia lavandulafolia 
 
 368 
 368 
 363 
 368 
 
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