SAXIFRAGA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SAXIFRAGA. 



845 



peat or vegetable mould, suits S. relitsa and 

 S. Widfeiiiana. The Tyrolese species {S. 

 hiflora and S. Rttdolphiaiia) are less easy to 

 please. They grow wild on the moraines of 

 glaciers, where light vegetable soil, sand, and 

 debris of every kind blend with massive rocks, 

 coating the surface, and filling the interstices 

 where water drips or oozes around and fre- 

 quently flows in volume within 2 or 3 ft., so as 

 to soak the bases of the rocks on which their 

 rosy carpet is spread. They will grow in 

 pots, but not like the forms of S. oppositifolia. 

 S. peltata. — The shield-like leaves of S. 

 peltata make it unique among Saxifrages, and 

 on this account some have classed it apart 



S. Kocheliana (RochePs Saxifrage). — 

 A compact and dwarf kind, forming dense 

 silvery rosettes of tongue-shaped leaves with 

 white margins and distinct dots. In spring 

 appear large white flowers on sturdy little 

 stems. There is no more exquisite plant for 

 the rock-garden, pans, and for small rocky or 

 elevated borders. Any free, moist loam suits 

 it, and in London it thrives on borders exposed 

 to the full sun. Austria. Seeds or careful 

 division. S. coriophylla is similar but not so 

 valuable. 6'. Salomoiiii is a cross between this 

 kind and S. Burseriaiia, of strong growth, and 

 its large white flowers very early but too scanty 

 for fine effect. 



Saxifraga Wallacei. 



under the name Peltiphylliim. From a thick 

 fleshy root-stock rise stout erect leaf-stalks, at 

 the ends of which grow the target-like leaves, 

 I ft. or more in diameter. The white or pale 

 pink flowers appear in spring, a little before 

 the leaves, on stalks i to 2 ft. high, and in 

 loose clusters 3 to 6 in. in diameter. It is 

 found beside streamlets throughout the Sierra 

 Nevada of California, and is best in deep moist 

 peaty soil. Division or seeds. 



S. purpurascens is the finest of the Megasea 

 section. The stem is 10 to 12 in. high, and 

 the flowers are produced in pendent masses of 

 red and purple. The ample foliage takes on 

 charming autumn tints in purple and crimson. 

 Succeeds best in a moist peaty soil in a rather 

 sheltered spot. High elevations about Sikkim.- 



S. sancta. — A beautiful species, forming a 

 dense mass of deep green foliage, studded in early 

 spring with bright yellow blossoms on short 

 stems. It grows freely in any position in the rock- 

 garden, but needs free exposure to flower well. 



S. sarmentosa [Mother of Thozisands). — A 

 well-known plant, with roundish leaves 

 and numbers of slender runners spreading 

 Strawberry fashion. It grows freely in the dry 

 air of a sitting-room, and may often be seen in 

 cottage windows, but is most at home running 

 wild in the cool greenhouse or conservatory, 

 where it flowers during summer. In mild 

 parts of England it lives in the open air, and 

 may be used with Ferns and other creeping 

 plants. There is a pretty but rather delicate 

 form in which the leaves are finely variegated 



