ARABIS. 
form, with its big flowers of pure true blue, being incomparably more 
attractive than the garden-mules that diverge into every dingy shade 
of claret and purple, even attaining to many horrible reduplications. 
There is, however, a beautiful and large white variety, sometimes 
offered as nivea grandiflora, or as Munstead White; and a variegated- 
leaved variety Vervaeneana. But the alpine wild variations are much 
more appropriate and interesting ; the common type in many cf the 
Alps has smaller flowers of a dense chocolate darkness, which is then 
called A. v. atrata. More remarkable than this, and with better 
blossoms, larger and not so sombre, is a form found on the way up to 
the Malga Valbona, above Daone in the Alps of Judicaria. This is a 
slenderer grower altogether, one-stemmed, with few large, large-lobed 
leaves of a conspicuous deep bronze, which remains constant in cultiva- 
tion. Yet another rare natural form is sometimes talked of with 
enthusiasm, and is a special treasure in the district of the Cima Tombea 
(whence another Columbine, as we have seen, is called A. (pyrenaica) 
viscosa, Rchb.). But A. viscosa, Ten., is nothing more nor less (if 
indeed there be no confusion in this matter) than a form of A. 
vulgaris; you may know it from the fact that it is densely sticky all 
over, and sweetly fragrant, with blooms which are described (by one who 
has collected it, gomg down from the Tombea district to Garda) in 
terms of unqualified rapture. It has been suggested that this A. 
viscosa may have some affinity with the rather misty A. Ottonis, which, 
however, is better left at present lurking in decent obscurity under 
the wing of A. Wittmanniana, which seems but a synonym of A. 
olympica. 
Arabis, as a rule, is a race neither clegant in appearance nor 
pleasing in smell—a large family of cruciferous coarse weeds, among 
which A. albida is a well-known ramping loose Wall-cress, with 
tcothed grey-flannelly leaves, and countless spikes of large white 
flowers almost all the year through, but especially in spring; tho 
double form is curiously beautiful and recommendable, giving an 
unanalysable suggestion of Lily-of-the-valley spires, especially when 
cut. (The whole plant has a coarse smell if bruised.) 
A. alpina is really by no means to be confused with this, for it 
does not flop or ramp, but grows more upright (about 8 to 10 inches), 
with smaller toothed leaves deeply heart-shaped at the base, so as to 
embrace the stem; these leaves are greener, set with fewer grey 
hairs, the flowers are smaller, white, though improved in the variety 
A. alpina superba, a rather pretentious differentiation for what is, 
after all, no such wonderful acquisition, though its Verbena-like 
heads of white have a certain effect. 
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