308 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



sandy, firm soil, and is well worthy of 

 a place in the rock-garden. A native 

 of the Caucasus. Seed and careful 

 division. 



Saxifraga longifolia (Queen Rockfoil). 

 The single rosettes of this are often 

 6, 7, and 8 inches in diameter. I 

 have indeed measured one more than 

 a foot in diameter. It may well be termed 

 the Queen of the silvery section of 

 Saxifrages, and is so beautifully marked 

 that it is attractive at all seasons, while 

 in early summer it pushes up foxbrush- 

 like columns of flowers from a foot to 

 2 feet long, the stem covered with 

 short, stiff, gland-tipped hairs, and 

 bearing many pure white flowers. 



It is a native of the higher parts of 

 the Pyrenees : hardy in this country ; 

 not difficult of culture, and may be grown 

 in various ways. In some perpendicular 

 chink in the face of a rock into which 

 it can root deeply, it is very striking 

 when the long outer leaves of the 

 rosette spread away from the densely 

 packed centre. It may also be grown 

 on the face of an old wall, beginning 

 with a very small plant, which should 

 be carefully packed into a chink with 

 a little soil. Here the stiff leaves will, 

 when they roll out, adhere firmly to 

 the wall, eventually forming a large 

 silver star on its surface. It will thrive 

 on a raised bed, surrounded by a few 

 stones to prevent evaporation and to 

 guard it from injury. It is propagated 

 by seeds, which it produces freely. In 

 gathering them it should be observed 

 that they ripen gradually from the 

 bottom of the stem upwards, so that 

 the seed-vessels there should be cut off 

 first, leaving the unripe capsules to 

 mature, and visiting the plant every 

 day or two to collect them as they ripen 

 successively. 



S. lingulata is by some authors united 

 with the preceding, from which it chiefly 

 differs by having smaller flowers, by 

 the leaves and stems being smooth and 

 not glandular, by its shorter stems, and 

 by the leaves in the rosette being shorter 

 and very much fewer in number than 

 in the Long-Leaved Saxifrage. It is also a 

 charming rock-plant, and will succeed with 



the same treatment and in the same 

 positions as the preceding. S. cru*t<ita 

 is considered a small variety of the long- 

 leaved Saxifrage with the encrusted pores 

 thickly set along the margins ; being 

 several times smaller, it will require more 

 care in planting, and to be associated with 

 dwarf er plants. 



Saxifraga Lantoscana (Foxbrush Rod- 

 foil). A beautiful species of the encrusted* 

 leaved section, and a native of Val Ltin- 

 tosque in the Maritime Alps. It reminds 

 one of S. cotyledon, but is smaller, the 

 leaves narrower and more crowded in 

 the rosette, and the flower-spike, which is 

 not borne erect, but slightly drooping, 

 is more densely furnished with white 

 flowers. It should be grown in a well 

 exposed position, in a gritty soil well- 

 drained. It remains long in flower, and 

 is one of the best rock-garden plants. 



S. Ma we ana (Maw's Rod-foil) is a 

 handsome species of the ccespitosa section, 

 larger than any other as regards both 

 foliage and flowers. The latter, about 

 the size of a shilling, form dense white 

 masses in early summer. After flowering, 

 this species forms buds on the stems, 

 which remain dormant till the following 

 spring. Similar, but finer, is a new 

 kind called S. Wallace^ which is far 

 more robust, and far earlier, and freer 

 as regards flowering, but which docs 

 not develop buds during summer. It 

 is a good plant for the border or the 

 rock-garden. 



S. mutata. A yellow-flowered speeies, 

 bearing considerable likeness to S. li-iujulnfa 

 and having the flower - panicle about 

 18 ins. high. It is rare in cultivation, 

 owing to the fact that it not infrequently 

 exhausts all its vigour in producing blooms, 

 and it rarely matures seeds in this 

 country ; and, further, it does not 

 produce offsets, like most of this section. 

 It is a native of the Alps, but limited 

 in its distribution. An allied species, 

 S. florulenta, is a beautiful plant of the 

 Maritime Alps, difficult of cultivation 

 in this country. 



S. oppositifolia (Purple Hock/oil). A. 

 bright little mountaineer, distinct in 

 colour and in habit. The moment 

 the snow melts, its tiny herbage 



