OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS. 117 



distinct and somewhat conglomerate character, besides being of 

 a silvery-grey colour. Well-grown specimens of this charming 

 Crane's-bill look remarkably well against dark stones. Its 

 flowers are large for so small a plant, and wherever it finds a 

 suitable home it cannot fail to win admiration. In borders of 

 rich soil it is grown to the height of about six inches, but in 

 drier situations, as on the upper parts of rockwork, it is more 

 dwarf. 



The flowers are fully an inch in diameter when open, cup- 

 shaped, and striped in two shades of rose colour ; the unopened 

 flowers are bell-shaped and drooping ; they are borne on long 

 naked pedicels, bent and wiry, oftentimes two on a stem ; calyx 

 five-cleft, segments concave ; petals five, equal and evenly 

 arranged. The leaves are produced on long, bent, wiry stalks, 

 the outline is circular, but they are divided into five or seven 

 lobes, which are subdivided and irregular, both in size and 

 arrangement ; they have a silky appearance, from being furnished 

 with numerous fine hairs or down. The plant continues to flower 

 for many weeks, but, as may be judged, it is, otherwise than 

 when in flower, highly attractive. To lovers of ornamental 

 bedding this must prove a first-rate plant. As an edging to beds 

 or borders of choice things it would be pleasingly appropriate, 

 and, indeed, anywhere amongst other dwarf flowers it could not 

 be other than decorative. 



It thrives well in a good depth of loam, its long tap-roots 

 going a long way down. If, therefore, it is planted on rockwork, 

 suitable provision should be made for this propensity. The pro- 

 pagation of the plant is not so easy, from the fact that it makes 

 large crowns without a corresponding set of roots, and its seed is 

 scarce and often taken by birds before ripened. Moreover, the 

 seedlings do not always come true; still, it seems the only 

 mode of propagation, unless the old plants have plenty of time 

 allowed them to spread and make extra roots. Latterly I have 

 gathered the seeds before the capsules burst in fact, whilst green 

 and, after carrying them in the waistcoat pocket for a few 

 days, they have been sown in leaf soil and sand, and germinated 

 freely. When the seedlings have made a few leaves the deterio- 

 rated forms may be picked out readily. 



Flowering period, May to July. 



Gillenia Trifoliata. 



Syn. SPIR^A TRIFOLIATA and S. TRILOBA THREE-LEAVED 



GILLENIA ; Nat. Ord. ROSACE^E. 



A HARDY herbaceous perennial from North America, imported 

 in 1713. The main features about this plant are its elegant form 

 and rich tints. The illustration (Fig. 46) may give some idea of 

 the former quality, but to realise the latter the reader should see 



