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ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



top of an old wall. A native of the 

 Canary islands; easily increased by 

 division or cuttings. 



Sempervivmn montanum (Mountain 

 Houseleek). A dark- green kind, smaller 

 than the common Houseleek, with an 

 almost geometrical arrangement of leaves, 

 forming neat rosettes, from which spring 

 dull rosy flowers in summer ; grows in 

 any soil, is easily propagated. When 

 masses of it are in flower, they are 

 visited by great numbers of bees. Alps. 



S. soboliferum (Hen-and- Chicken House- 

 leek) . Growing in dense tufts, and throwing 

 off little round offsets so freely that these 

 are pushed clear above the tufts, and lie 

 rootless, small, brownish-green balls on 

 the surface. The full-grown rosettes are 

 of a light-green, and of a chocolate-brown 

 at the tips of the under side of the leaves, 

 for nearly one-third of their length. The 

 small leaves of the young rosettes all 

 turning inward, they appear of a purplish- 

 brown colour. The rosettes are usually 

 not more than l inch in diameter, 

 but I have seen them in France more 

 than 3 inches ; however, whether they 

 were the rosettes of a form larger naturally 

 than the common one, or the result of a 

 higher culture, I cannot say. The plant 

 is well suited for forming wide tufts 

 on banks beneath the eye. It grows 

 freely in any soil. 



S. tectorum (Common Houseleek). A 

 native of rocky places, in the mountain 

 ranges of Europe and Asia, and which, 

 having been cultivated for ages on house- 

 tops and old walls, is well known. It is 

 needless to describe the. culture of a plant 

 which thrives on bare stones, slates, and 

 in the most arid places. It varies some- 

 what, a glaucous form called rusticum 

 being one of the most distinct. 



S. calcareum (Glaucous Houseleek}. 

 The Sempervivum now common in cultiva- 

 lion, under the garden name of S. 

 californicum, is really only the French 

 X. calcareum, and no finer Houseleek 

 has been introduced. Planted singly, the 

 rosettes attain a diameter of nearly G 

 inches, and as the leaves are of a 

 glaucous tone, distinctly tipped at the 

 points with chocolate, it is useful. It is 

 admirable for the rock-garden, is easily 



increased by division, and thrives in any 

 soil. 



In addition to the preceding, which 

 are among the most distinct Houseleeka, 

 there are a great number of species, or so- 

 called species, wild in Europe, which are 

 cultivated in Botanic Gardens. In the 

 following list the more ornamental kinds 

 are marked with an asterisk. 



acuminatum 



* anomalum 



* arenarium 

 assimile 

 Braunii 

 canescens 

 Cotyledon 

 dioicum 



* Funckii 

 *glaucum 



* globif erum 

 grandiflorum 



* Heuffelli 



juratum 

 Mettenianum 

 molle 

 Neilreichii 



* piliferum 

 Pomelli 



* Requiem 

 ruthenicum 



* sedif ornie 

 stenopetalum 

 urbicum 

 velutinum 

 villosum 



The under-mentioned kinds I first saw 

 in cultivation in the Jardin des Plantes, 

 at Paris. They are mostly sorts desirable 

 for cultivation. 



affine 



albidum 



barbatulum 

 * Boutignianum 



Comollii 



Dcellianum 



Fauconetti 



fimbriatum 



* Pseudo-arachnoi- 



deum 

 Schleani 



* Verloti 

 violaceum 



SENECIO (Ragwort). An immense 

 family of groundsel-like plants, many 

 of them far too large for our purpose; 

 but some dwarf, silvery, and pretty, as 

 rock-garden plants. There are nearly 

 a thousand kinds, a number of which 

 are not introduced. Any of the dwarf 

 grey kinds may be used with good 

 effect on the rock-garden. 



Senecio argenteus (Silvery Groundsel). 

 A sturdy, minute, hoary plant ; the 

 leaves quite silvery. The plant is not 

 more than 2 inches high ; it withstands 

 any weather, and will live everywhere 

 in sandy soil in well-drained borders. 



S. unifloms (One-flowered Groundsel). 

 A silvery species, growing little more 

 than an inch high, but scarcely equal to 



