PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



187 



in all their parts with minute bright green 

 leaves, and bearing small, waxy, white 

 flowers, borne singly and drooping on 

 slender reddish stems. It is one of the 

 most beautiful of all alpine plants, and 

 one of the most difficult to grow, being 

 very rarely seen in a healthy state even 

 in the choicest collections. Drought is 

 fatal to it. It is a native both of Europe 

 and America, either far north into the 

 coldest regions of these countries, or on 

 the summits of high mountains. It is 

 such a delicate and fragile evergreen 

 shrub, that any impurity in the air is 

 sure to injure it. In elevated and moist 

 parts of these islands, it will succeed in 

 very sandy or gritty moist but well- 

 drained peat, freely exposed to the sun 

 and air, and placed quite apart from more 

 vigorous plants on rockwork. The chief 

 difficulty would seem to be the procuring 

 of healthy plants to begin with ; once 

 obtained, it would be desirable to care- 

 fully peg down the slender main branches, 

 and to place a few stones round the neck 

 of the plant, so as to prevent evaporation. 

 Cassiope tetragona (Square-stemmed (7.). 

 One of the prettiest of the diminutive 

 shrubs introduced to cultivation, seldom 

 growing more than 8 inches high. When 

 in health, the deep green branches grow 

 so densely that they form compact 

 tufts. The flowers are produced singly, 

 but rather freely ; of a waxy white, five- 

 cleft, contracted near the mouth, and 

 drooping. It is not likely to be con- 

 founded with any other plant except the 

 much rarer C. fastigiata, from which it 

 may be distinguished by the absence of 

 the thin chaffy margin of the leaf. It 

 is a native of Northern Europe and 

 America, quite hardy, requiring a moist 

 peat or very fine sandy peat for its 

 thriving. I have not elsewhere seen it 

 so healthy as in the nurseries near 

 Edinburgh ; loves abundance of moisture 

 in summer, and is easily increased by 

 division. 



CERASTIUM (Mouse-Ear Chick- 

 weed). Tufted rock plants of the 

 pink order, rather numerous, but so 

 far as known in gardens, not among 

 the best rock plants. 



Cerastium alpinum (Shaggy (7.). A 

 British plant, found on Scotch mountains, 

 and also more sparsely on those of England 

 and Wales. Dwarf, tufted, and prostrate, 

 spreading freely, but seldom rising more 

 than a couple of inches high, with leaves 

 broader than those of the common weedy 

 species, and densely clothed with a dewy- 

 looking down, giving the plant a shaggy 

 appearance, and with rather large white 

 flowers in early summer. It is not, like the 

 common kinds, a plant fitted for forming 

 edgings. Messrs Backhouse say that it 

 flourishes best under ledges that prevent 

 the rain and snow falling on the foliage, 

 but I have found it stand all sorts of 

 weather, and winters in the open border 

 in London. Division, by cuttings, or 

 seeds. 



0. Biebersteinii (Bieberstein's Mouse- 

 Ear C.). A silvery species, useful for the 

 same purposes, and cultivated with the 

 same facility, as G. tomentosum. It was 

 once expected that it would surpass in 

 utility the common kind, but this it has 

 failed to do. A very good plant for 

 borders or rough rock or root work. A 

 native of the higher mountains of Tauria 

 flowering with us in early summer. 



C. grandiflorum (Large flowered C.). 

 This is readily known from either G. 

 tomentosum or C. Biebersteinii by having 

 narrower and more acute leaves, and being 

 less hoary, and it usually grows somewhat 

 larger than either of the two very silvery 

 kinds, rapidly forming strong tufts, and 

 bearing pure white flowers. A fine plant 

 for the front margin of the mixed border, 

 or for the rougher parts of the rock- 

 garden, but only in association with many 

 fast-growing plants, as it spreads so quickly 

 that it would overrun delicate and tiny 

 plants if placed near them. Like the 

 other cultivated kinds, it is readily propa- 

 gated by division or by cuttings inserted 

 in the rudest way in the open ground, 

 and is a native of Hungary and neighbour- 

 ing countries, on dry hills and mountains, 

 flowering with us in early summer. 



C. tomentosum (Common Mouse-Ear 

 Chickweed). This was once used in almost 

 every garden for forming silvery edgings 

 to flower-beds, its hardiness, power of 

 bearing clipping, and facility of increase, 



