PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



305 



loam, may be increased by division, 

 cuttings, or seed. 



Saxifraga Burseriana (Early Rock/oil). 

 This lovely early-flowering Rockfoil is 

 a native of the snowy regions of Europe 

 and of Central and Northern Asia. It is 

 dwarf, and forms spreading tufts of 

 glaucous or greyish-green foliage. The 

 flowers are large, pure white, with yellow 

 anthers, and borne singly or two together 

 on a bright purplish rose-coloured stem 

 in January and February. It soon forms 

 good-sized tufts, preferring a dry, sunny 

 situation and calcareous soil. There are 

 two or three distinct forms of this species 

 which differ chiefly in habit of growth, 

 one being much more tufted than the 

 others. 



S. cassia (Silvery Rockfoil). This re- 

 sembles an Androsace in the dwarf ness 

 of its tufts. I have met with it on the 

 Alps, in minute tufts, staining the rocks 

 and stones like a silvery moss, and on 

 level ground, where it had some depth of 

 soil, spreading into little cushions irom 2 

 to 6 inches across. It bears pretty white 

 floAvers, about the third of an inch in 

 diameter, on thread-like smooth stems, 1 

 to 3 inches high. A native of the high 

 Alps and Pyrenees, it thrives in our 

 gardens in firm sandy soil, fully exposed, 

 and kept moist in summer. It may be 

 also grown well in pots or pans in cold 

 frames near the glass ; but, being very 

 minute, no matter where it is placed, the 

 first consideration should be to keep it 

 distinct from all coarse neighbours, and 

 even the smallest weeds will injure it if 

 allowed to grow. Flowers in summer, 

 and is increased by seeds or careful 

 division. 



S. ceratophylla (Horn-leaved Rock- 

 foil}. A fine species of the mossy section, 

 with dark highly-divided leaves, stiff and 

 smooth, with horny points ; the flowers 

 pure white, and borne in loose panicles in 

 early summer, the calyces and stamens 

 covered with clammy juice. It quickly 

 forms strong tufts in any good garden soil, 

 and is well adapted for covering rocky 

 ground of any description, either as wide 

 level tufts on the flat portions or pendent 

 sheets from the brows of rocks. Seed or 

 division. 



Saxifraga cordifolia. (Great Heart- 

 Leaved Rockfoil). Entirely different in 

 aspect to the ordinary dwarf section 

 of Saxifrages, with very ample leaves, 

 roundish-heart-shaped, on long and thick 

 stalks, toothed ; flowers a clear rose, 

 arranged in dense masses, half concealed 

 among the great leaves in early spring. $. 

 crassifolia is allied to this. They often 

 thrive in any soil, and are hardy ; but it 

 is well to encourage their early-flowering 

 habit by placing them in sunny positions, 

 where the fine flowers may be induced to 

 open well. They are perhaps more worthy 

 of association with the larger spring 

 flowers and with herbaceous plants than 

 with alpine plants. They may also be 

 used with fine effect on rough rock, or 

 on rocky margins to streams or water, 

 their fine, evergreen, glossy foliage being 

 quite distinct. They may, in fact, be 

 called fine-leaved plants of the rocks. 

 A native of Siberian mountains. S. liyulata 

 (Megasea, ciliata) is a somewhat tender 

 species, and only succeeds out of doors 

 in mild and warm parts of this country. 

 Some good varieties of these great-leaved 

 Rockfoils have been raised of recent years. 



S. cotyledon (Pyramidal Rockfoil). 

 This embellishes, with its great silvery 

 rosettes and pyramids of white flowers, 

 many parts of the mountain ranges of 

 Europe, from the Pyrenees to Lapland, 

 and is easily known by its rather broad 

 leaves, margined with encrusted pores 

 and its handsome bloom. The rosettes of 

 the pyramidal Saxifrage differ a good deal 

 in size, and, when grown in tufts, they 

 are for the most part much smaller, from 

 being crowded than from single rosettes. 

 The flower-stem varies from 6 to 30 

 inches high, and about London, in common 

 soil, will often attain a height of 20 inches, 

 and in cultivation usually attains a greater 

 size than on its native rocks ; though in 

 rich soil, at the base of rocky slopes in a 

 Piedmontese valley, I have seen single 

 rosettes as large as I have ever seen them in 

 gardens. The plant is hardy, and second to 

 none as an ornament of the rock-garden, 

 thriving in common soil. Nothing can 

 be easier to propagate by division, or 

 cultivate without any particular attention. 

 It is sometimes known as S. Pyramidalis, 



U 



