88 SWISS FLOWERS. 



21. Saponaria. 



(PLATE XII.) 



The annual Saponaria is well known among annuals, poor 

 and rubbishy, but generally put forward in lists of seeds. 

 Quite diflFerent is S. ocymoides (Fig. 21), and much more 

 worthy of cultivation. It forms some of the prettiest 

 patches seen on our rock-work, and well deserves the pains 

 that may be bestowed upon it. But in the Jura and the 

 Alps it is found in full perfection, where it fixes itself 

 in the chinks of the rocks, their grey colour well contrast- 

 ing with its bright pink blossoms. It has ten stamens and 

 five petals ; the five-toothed, ten-nerved, and rather swollen 

 calyx is also a little sticky. This and the stems have a 

 tinge of dark-red; the leaves are elliptical and slightly 

 downy. Exposed rocks on the low mountains: Thones, 

 Alby, Martigny, Sion, Jura. 



22. Silene. 



(PLATE XIII.) 

 There are several Silencs, or Campions, well known with 

 us. The Pink Campion, so much cultivated with the Forget- 

 me-not in the early spring, is found wild in Switzerland, as is 



