168 ALPINE PLANTS 
likes a fair amount of moisture during the growing season, 
and thrives better in partial shade than in the full glare 
of the sun. May be propagated by division soon after 
flowering. 
PHYTEUMA.—Some members of this family are perhaps 
eligible for inclusion in our preceding group of plants, 
whilst, so far as special cultural care is concerned, the 
chief essential in regard to the choicest is to guard against_ 
the ravages of slugs and woodlice. The whole genus, 
however, is commendable for distinct character and beauty, 
and some of the stronger growers, such as P. campanuloides, 
P. orbiculare, and both the blue and white forms of P. 
spicatum, may be grown in the alpine bed or on the 
rockery by novice as well as expert. 
Blue in rich shades is the predominant colour, the 
blossoms being more or less tubular, with inflations that 
give them something of a bottle-shaped appearance that 
led to the common name of “ bottle flower.” 
PLATycopon.—Closely allied to the Campanulas, and, 
in fact, sometimes catalogued as Campanula grandiflora, 
Platycodon grandiflorum and its varieties provide us 
with a group of very handsome plants of distinct char- 
acter and great beauty. The roots are fleshy, tuberous, 
and deeply penetrating, the foliage is of a slightly glaucous 
tint, and the flowers are large, saucer-like in shape, with 
pointed margins. The type is blue, with purple veins 
running through the petals, and there are white, pale 
greyish lavender, semi-double, dwarf, and late flowering 
variations from the type, one of the best being named 
mariesii major. Plants are easily raised from seed, but 
