PART II] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



271 



OXYTROPIS CAMPESTRIS (Field 

 0.). A dwarf stemless perennial, about 

 6 inches high, flowering in summer, 

 yellowish, tinged with purple, erect, 

 in a dense spike. Leaves, with many 

 pairs of leaflets, more numerous and 

 much less silky than those of the 

 Purple 0. Europe, America, and in 

 Scotland. The rock-garden, in sandy 

 loam. Seed and division. 



Oxytropis Pyrenaica (Pyrenean Oxy- 

 trope). A very dwarf species, with pinnate 

 leaves, clothed with a short silky down. 

 These barely rise above the ground, as the 

 short stems are nearly prostrate, and seldom 

 exceed a few inches in height ; the flowers, 

 borne in heads of from four to fifteen, 

 are of a purplish-lilac. It is not a showy, 

 but withal a useful kind for the parts of 

 the rock-garden devoted to very dwarf 

 plants. A native of the Pyrenees, in- 

 creased by seed or division, and should 

 be planted on well-exposed and bare spots, 

 in firm, sandy, or gravelly soil. 



0. uralensis (Purple 0.). An elegant 

 little perennial, resembling 0. campestris 

 in habit, but more densely clothed with 

 soft silky hairs in every part ; about 6 

 inches high, flowering in summer, bright 

 purple, in dense round heads. Scotland 

 and various parts of Europe. The rock- 

 garden, in moist sandy loam. Division 

 and seed. 



OZOTHAMNUS ROSMARINI- 

 FOLIUS. A neat little evergreen 

 shrub from Tasmania, almost hardy 

 in the south and coast districts, with 

 small, Rosemary-like leaves, and about 

 the end of summer bearing dense 

 clusters of small white flowers. It 

 thrives in any light soil, and should 

 be planted in an open sunny spot 

 or on a warm bank. 



PAP AVER (Poppy). Showy peren- 

 nial, biennial, or annual plants, for 

 the most part too vigorous for the 

 rock-garden, and in no need of its 

 care ; a few kinds are useful, however. 

 There is no difficulty about their 



culture, any open spot with sand or 

 gritty soil suiting them. As in our 

 country, the plants are apt to wear out 

 too soon ] it is well to sow a little seed 

 here and there on the rock-garden, and 

 leave the plants to grow where sown. 



Papaver alpinum (Alpine Poppy). 

 This dwarf and fragile plant has large white 

 flowers, with yellow centres, its leaves cut 

 into fine acute lobes. A native of the 

 higher Alps of Europe, it may sometimes 

 be seen in good condition in our gardens, 

 but it is liable to perish as if not a true 

 perennial. It varies much in colour, 

 there being white, scarlet, and yellow 

 forms in cultivation. The variety 

 albiflorum of botanists has white flowers, 

 spotted at the base ; the variety flaviflorum 

 has showy orange flowers, grows 3 or 4 

 inches high, and is hairy. This last 

 variety is also known as P. pyrenaicum. 



P. nudicaule (Iceland Poppy). A 

 dwarf kind, with deeply cut leaves, and 

 large yellow flowers on naked stems, from 

 12 to 15 inches high. A native of Siberia 

 and the northern parts of America, and a 

 handsome plant, easily raised from seed, 

 and forming rich masses of cup-like 

 flowers, but, like other dwarf Poppies, 

 does not seem to be permanent, and 

 should be raised from seed annually. 

 There are several varieties. 



PARADISIA LILIASTRUM (St 



Bruno's Lily). When the traveller 

 in early summer first crawls down 

 from the snowy fields of an Alp into 

 the grateful warmth and English 

 meadow-like freshness of a Piedmontese 

 valley, most likely the first flower he 

 notices in the pleasant grass of the 

 valley is a Lily-like blossom, standing 

 about level with the tops of the 

 blades of Grass and Orchises. The 

 blooms, about 2 iiicheslong, so delicately 

 white that they might well pass for 

 emblems of purity, have each division 

 faintly tipped with pale green, and 

 from two to five flowers occur on 

 each stem. It does not grow in close 

 tufts, as inour borders, but one orperhaps 



