296 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



often baffle him, and half his time he is explaining 

 that the familiar name of some well-known variety 

 is not the right one. In the matter of names, there- 

 fore, one must do the best one can, avoiding tiresome 

 controversies and also, as far as possible, avoiding 

 misleading errors. 



Some idea of the complexity of the subject may be 

 gathered from the fact that the innumerable different 

 species and varieties of saxifrages are usually divided 

 into about fifteen sections. But of many of these 

 luckily it is unnecessary to speak in an article ad- 

 dressed to the general reader. Here we shall mention 

 only those sections which contain plants likely to 

 interest the ordinary gardener; and, of these, the 

 best known is the Aizoon section, in which are grouped 

 all the rosette saxifrages, of which S. Aizoon is sup- 

 posed to be the type. We say supposed, because 

 nobody seems to know what exactly S. Aizoon is. 

 Mr. Farrer says that he believes it to be a sort of 

 Platonic idea, "represented only by innumerable 

 varieties or partial manifestations of its sacred es- 

 sence." When you see a rosette Saxifrage of ordinary 

 size and do not know its name, you call it S. Aizoon, 

 and no harm is done. For the fact is, the species is 

 so variable and so liable to hybridize with other sim- 

 ilar species, that it has lost its identity. Yet this 

 may be said for certain about it, that it grows in sil- 

 very rosettes of varying size, the largest about 3 in. 

 across, and that from the centre of these rosettes it 

 throws up sprays of little flowers white or a pale yellow 



