ACHILLEA. 
than the narrow-toothed foliage of Ptarmica, and it is clothed, beside, 
in a fine down, whereas Ptarmica is smooth. To the same useful 
group belong A. lingulata (A. buglossis of catalogues, a big, rather 
coarse affair), A. grandiflora from alpine Caucasus, Armenia, &c., 
a fine species, though tall, with flowers equalling or surpassing 
Ptarmica’s in size, the whole growth being more or less without down, 
and the narrow leaves merely saw-edged- instead of toothed. Incom- 
parably the best of this group, however, is A. sibirica (A. mongolica 
of catalogues), which is not only in all respects an improved Ptarmica, 
neater in habit and much larger in bloom, but has also produced an 
improved version of even itself under the name of Perry’s White, a 
really beautiful thing, better fitted of course for the border than for 
the rock-garden, unless indeed the rock-garden be big enough to admit 
of wide stretches, one of which might gloriously be planted with this 
in combination with Delphiniuwm Belladonna or Delphinium grandi- 
florum. (Similar but more straggling, and inferior, is the North- 
_ American A. borealis.) 
A. Clavennae, from the high region of the eastern European Alps, 
is also a beautiful species, forming wide tufts of long, oval, irregularly 
lobed leaves, which are hoary white with down, while high above 
them rise the 6-inch stems, carrying clear white flowers of fair size 
in a loose head. In the rock-garden ideal associations for this 
plant would be Campanula rotundifolia and Senecio abrotanifolius or 
S. tyrolensis. 
A. clypeolata heads a group which all in habit resemble our 
common Yarrow, magnified or in miniature, with dense wide flattish 
heads of white, pink, or golden yellow. Among the best of these 
weeds is A. holosericea, from rocky places in pinewoods and higher 
regions in Greece and the Levant, with oval leaves cut into oval 
leaflets of which the end one is the biggest, and all clothed most 
beautifully in a robe of shining silver. Another good one should be 
A. pseudopectinata, from fields at the foot of the Balkans, whose 
flowers are of a rich orange gold. Others in this clan, of little or 
no merit, being-too often gawky and dull, are tomentosa, ligustica, 
setacea, odorata, crithmifolia, nobilis, filipendulina, pectinata, and 
such a large army of others that, rather than run through the whole 
dismal roll-call, I will merely repeat with emphasis my warning 
against ever buying any Achillea from garden or catalogue unless 
you have either seen it for yourself and liked it, or else feel yourself 
enlightened with a really reassuring description. But undescribed 
Achilleas in catalogues are best avoided, and the confusion in the race 
is terrible. 
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