246 PRIMULACEzE. 



such time as the plants are strong enough to take care of them- 

 selves, which they will be the year after sowing. 



Lysimachia {Loose-strife). — This is a useful, sho\\'y, and free- 

 flowering group of plants. There is some diversity of habit 

 among them, but very little of colour, yellow predominating in 

 the majority of the species. They are best adapted for culture 

 in moist soils and situations, and are well fitted for naturalising 

 in moist woods and by the sides of lakes or ponds and streams, 

 and all are easily increased by division in autumn or spring. 

 They succeed in any kind of soil if moist. 



L. angustifolia {Narrow-leaved L.)., from North America, is a 

 very graceful species, growing to the height of i foot or 18 

 inches, with terminal leafy panicles of nodding pale yellow 

 flowers. It is useful for the same purposes as the two last 

 species, and is well worth a place in the mixed border. 

 Like the others, it delights in moisture, and is not fastidious as 

 to the quality of the soil. The flowers appear in June and 

 July, and throughout the greater part of summer, in moist 

 ground. 



L. ephemerum ( Willow-leaved), from several parts of the 

 south of Europe, is very distinct from either of the foregoing 

 species. It grows about 2 feet high, with rather graceful habit, 

 and the stems and branches terminate in handsome racemes 

 of white flowers. The corolla is rotate, with deeply-divided 

 spreading lobes obovate in form. It flowers in July and 

 August, and is most suitable for cultivating in the mixed border 

 or the margins of shrubberies in good moist soil. 



L. Nummularia {Mofieywort L.) is one of the prettiest and 

 most interesting. It is a dwarf prostrate plant, throwing many 

 branches out in all directions from the centre, which in moist 

 situations root at the joints and so spread many feet. The 

 flowers are yellow and appear in June, and last on till Septem- 

 ber and October if occasionally pinched in to induce fresh growth, 

 and kept moist. It is useful for a variety of purposes — for 

 clothing rockwork, moist banks, front lines in mixed beds and 

 borders, and for festooning the margins of rustic vases where 

 such ornaments may with propriety of taste be introduced into 

 flower-gardens. Native of Britain and Europe generally. A 

 variety with yellow leaves or yellow variegated leaves, recently 

 introduced, is of considerable value, and will, when more gene- 

 rally knoA\Ti, become a favourite in the flower-garden of any 

 style. 



L. thyrsiflora {Tufted L.), native of Britain and other parts of 

 Europe, of Northern Asia, and America. It is 18 inches high, 

 dwarf, with simple or unbranched erect stems. The flowers are 



