72 



IRISH GARDENING 



Saxifraga Cotyledon and some 

 of its Varieties. 



By MUHHAY Ih^KNiBUOOK, Kiiaptoii. Abboyleix. 



There are few who are not familiar with S. 

 Cotvledon — the Pyramid Saxifrage of com- 

 merce — it is to b.^ found in most rock gardens, 

 and can usually be seen on sale in pots in Covent 

 (iarden, but some of its forms and varieties are 

 not so well known, and it is of them that I would 

 write. Mr Farrer finds that the type, and 

 especially the variety Icelandica, do not care for 

 lime. I have not found that they object to the 

 limestone which 

 one gets in this 

 part of Ireland, 

 but they seem to 

 dislike most the 

 heavy winter rain- 

 fall, and are in 

 clined to rot away 

 unless fully ex- 

 posed — sou th or 

 south-east. Tliis 

 is somewhat 

 curioxis, as all the 

 other varieties of 

 the Euaizoon sec- 

 tion grow any- 

 where here in sun 

 or shade, and 

 seem impervious 

 to winter dam}). 



S. " Icelandica '" 

 is a notable ])lant 

 with very long, 

 dull, leathery, 

 s t r a p - s h a p e d 

 leaves. It is a 

 shy flowerer, but 

 last summer it 

 sent up an enor- 

 mous plume of 

 almost i)ure white 

 flowers, about 2 

 feet tiigh, which 

 was well worth 

 waiting for. The 

 acco m p a n y i n g 

 photograph was 

 taken just as the 

 flowers opened 



Var. nepalensis. — The plant I have under this 

 name seems very near the ty])e. but flowers more 

 densely s])otted with red and the rosettes do not 

 die after flow^'ring. 



Var. lingulata. — This is the most satisfactory 

 --variety I possess, the foliage of the rosettes is 

 narrower than the type and much longer — in full 

 grown plants (5 inches and more. It does not 

 seem to mind wet or aspect, and is generous 

 with its flower s]nkes, which sometimes attain a 

 height of 2 feet b inches to nearly 3 feet. 



Var. " Hermitage." — A distinct variety, which 

 I have only just got, with foliage resembling a 

 pineapple ; it has not yet flowered. 



Var. from the Pyrenees. — This is a true S. 

 Cotyledon in habit (centre rosette dies after 

 flowering), with very distinct X)ale green — 

 almost yellow — foliage : leaves very short and 

 -tumpy, and round at the ti))s ; flowers pure 



white ; flower stem short and I'cd colour. Very 

 attractive. 



I V/7\"atroi)urpur('a.'" — This was a seedling raised 

 (from an original S. Cotyledon) whi<'h flowered 

 last y-ear ; foliage the same as tlie type, but the 

 flowers not spotted, but blotched with crimson 

 to such an extent that the whole of t^ach petal, 

 with the exce])tion of a thin white edging, was 

 crimson ; most attractive and distinct. Unfor- 

 tunately a wandering dog smashed the flower 

 stem bsfore the seed ripened, and the rosette 

 died, but it made three offsets before it ex]jired 

 which are alive and doing well, so I trust they 

 will have the same flowers as their i)arents. 



I grow several other forms which are either too 

 near the type to be distinct or I suspect to be 



possessed of 

 foreign blood. It 

 any of the readers 

 of Irish Garden- 

 ing have any 

 ( )ther varieties I 

 should be inter- 

 ested to hear of 

 them. 



S. Cotyledon 

 in Nature. 



Plifjfu hy] [.Viirrai/ Ildriiihroak 



Saxifraga Cotylkdon irET.ANDicA at Knapton, 

 Abbeyleix. 



Some time ago 

 when in Switzer- 

 land we walked 

 along the Han- 

 degg road which 

 leads to the 

 Grimsel Pass, 

 from which a 

 glorious view 

 opens out to the 

 Khone fHacier 



This Handegg 

 road during part 

 of the way winds 

 between lime- 

 stone cliffs, on 

 the sides of which 

 Saxifraga Cotyle- 

 don abounds, the 

 road having been 

 cut out of the 

 rock. Above our 

 head the cliffs rise steeply for lumdreds 

 of feet, and below the road the rock falls 

 away precii)itously to a roaring torrent 

 beneath. 



To see this big Hockfoil growing naturally is a 

 beautiful sight, its large pyramidal masses of 

 white, crimson-s])otted flowei's waving in the 

 slightest ])reeze elicits the admiration of all 

 ])assers by. and not a single flower spike was 

 within easy reach, for they are gathered as 

 soon as the flowers open In small crevices large 

 single rosettes sent roots deep into the 

 rock ; in larger cracks and shelves, where 

 humus had accumulated large tufts had formed 

 These were sending up a dozen or so plume-like 

 flower stems, each IS inches or more in 

 length. Even-tually we found a place where, 

 by scrambling over the para])et guarding the 

 road, my comi)anion, Mr Malby, was [able to 



