DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE BEST KINDS 229 



and the glaucous green foliage of some kinds is attractive 

 throughout the winter. About nine sorts may be selected 

 as the best for a small rock garden on account of their 

 dwarf habit and freedom in flowering. A neat little 

 plant is H. crenulatum, from Cilicia, with prostrate 

 stems, pink buds, and yellow flowers. H. empetrifolium, 

 native of Southern Europe, and H. Coris, from the Levant, 

 form little tufted Heath-like plants, with abundance of 

 bright yellow flowers during summer. H. Kotschyanum, 

 from Syria, has prostrate stems, grey hairy leaves, and 

 yellow flowers. A fine trailing species, making quite a 

 carpet, is H. nummularium, from the Pyrenees, with 

 little rounded leaves and bright yellow flowers in racemes 

 in summer. Perhaps the best one of all, and most attrac- 

 tive for the rock garden, is H. olympicum, found wild on 

 Mount Olympus in Greece. This is a very handsome 

 glaucous evergreen, with fine large flowers of bright yellow 

 colour in summer. Planted on a rocky ledge it makes 

 a large tuft of spreading branches, each terminating in a 

 bunch of flowers which open in succession over a long 

 period. A smaller edition of the last is H. polyphyllum, 

 one of the neatest and most compact for walls and similar 

 places. H. repens is quite a distinct plant, with narrow, 

 Heath-like leaves on prostrate stems, and rich yellow 

 flowers. Of prostrate spreading growth, H. reptans, a 

 Himalayan species, requires a more shady and moist 

 position than any of the others. The golden-yellow 

 flowers are very large for the size of the plant. All are 

 easily raised from seed, and will grow in any light loamy 



