SAXIFRAGA. 



bogs, lake sides, and shady moist exposures. 8. ohjmpica stands only 

 doubtfully apart. 



8. R ' is an Aragonese alpine of the Xephrophylluni group, 



coming near S. granulate, with foliage deeply lobed. 



S. Rudolphiana remains aloof as a perfectly distinct species from 

 S. oppositifolia, which yet it in so many ways suggests. It is a most 

 minute form, never ramping, but forming tight and perfectly flat 

 masses, often a yard across, of wee wee packed and serried little shoots 

 (much greener than in S. oppositifolia, too) that have the aspect of 

 hundreds of microscopic rosettes squeezed in a carpet, and peppered all 

 over with royal cups of brilliant magenta rose-purple flowers sitting 

 stemless on the mass and staring boldly up to day. It is a rare 

 species, but very abundant in its home, where it often carpets all the 

 bare and open basins of fine moist shingle in the highest granitic 

 Alps of the Hohe Tauern ; as, for instance, in myriads on the 

 ranges round the Great Glockner, not as a rule ascending to the rocky 

 topmost ridges, but loving the finest shingles and silt-slopes in the 

 snow-filled hollows of the hills. In cultivation it is certainly dainty, 

 but can be made to thrive happily if planted in a choice corner of the 

 underground-watered bed, in company with the rarest plants of 

 similar tastes, in a spongy mixture such as that prescribed for the 

 smaller and more difficult high-alpine Gentians (if the water cannot 

 be achieved special care must be taken that the plant has a cool 

 position, as it hates being sunburnt if there is not a protective emana- 

 tion of moisture from below). Indeed, on the heights of the Pasterze 

 one wad of S. Rudolphiana will often contain as well both S. androsacea 

 and Gentiana imbricata. In spring all these treasures are truly grate- 

 ful for a top-dressing of fine sand and leaf -mould, to repair the 

 ravages of winter and yield a little added stimulant for summer. 



S. saginoeides makes a most charming little cushion of small 

 bright -green foliage as fine as a Sagina's — as its name so truthfully 

 informs us. All the stems are rammed together in the mass, over 

 which are studded the rosettes of tiny and grass-fine emerald leaves ; 

 and the turret is beset with golden stars, borne singly, each on a very 

 short leafy and glandular stem. It is an extremely rare prize in 

 cultivation ; a high-alpine of the Himalaya, belonging to the Hirculus 

 group, and requiring the same treatment as recommended above for 

 8. Rudolphiana. 



8. x Salomoni is a hybrid of old standing and high favour, between 

 S. Burseriana and 8. marginata. The massed rather looser tufts have 

 the blue bone and spiny look and erect leafage of 8. Burseriayias. 

 but the leaves themselves are broader, almost equalling those of 



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