298 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



varieties. S. pyramidalis is only a variety and not 

 a very distinct one. There are other varieties that 

 need not be specified. S. cotyledon does not need 

 lime, and some of its varieties seem to dislike it. It 

 is very easy to grow, but deserves a good place and 

 rich, light soil, as then it spreads into great patches 

 and blooms profusely. It can be quickly increased 

 by means of offsets, and differs in this from the even 

 finer S. longifolia, the giant saxifrage of the Pyrenees. 

 This dies as soon as it has flowered, but it often takes 

 some years to flower, and is worth growing both for 

 the beauty of the plant and for its short-lived glory 

 of bloom. It likes a cooler place than S. cotyledon, 

 and does very well on the north side of a sunny rock 

 garden in deep pockets between the rocks filled with 

 a rich, light, limy soil. It can be easily raised from 

 seed, like all the Aizoon saxifrages, but hybridizes 

 so profusely that one can never be sure of getting the 

 pure species. Hybrids, however, are often beautiful 

 and interesting, and some of them make offsets be- 

 sides growing as large as the species itself. S. coty- 

 ledon also hybridizes with other species, though less 

 freely, and a hybrid between it and one of the Aizoons 

 is called S. McNabiana. This is a splendid plant, but 

 difficult to get true. The true form, we believe, has 

 pink spots all over the flower. S. cochlearis is a species 

 with rather small rosettes, and not certainly in the 

 Aizoon section. S. valdensis is usually considered a 

 variety of it, and is a beautiful little plant, easily 

 grown in limy soil and a cool place among the rocks. 



