SANVITALIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SAXIFRAGA. 



793 



Cotton. S. alpina is of more alpine 

 habit, forming dense tufts close to the 

 ground, from these arising slender stems 

 bearing yellow button-like flowers. It 

 grows in any soil, and may be used in the 

 less important parts of the rock-garden. 

 Division. Cuttings of the shrubby species 

 strike readily in spring or autumn. 



SANVITALIA.^. procttmbens is a 

 hardy annual from Mexico, with trailing 

 branches and bright yellow flowers. In the 

 single-flowered kind the blossoms have a 

 dark purple centre, but in the double (S. 

 procumbens fl.-pl.), which is by far the 

 showier, they are a bright yellow. S. 

 procumbens flowers from July till late in 

 September, and owing to its dwarf com- 

 pact growth, it is useful for masses in 

 beds or for the front rows of borders, or 

 in suspended baskets, as the slender 

 branches droop gracefully over. It may 

 be sown in any ordinary garden soil in 

 autumn for spring flowering, or in March 

 and April for summer flowering. 



SAPONARIA (Soapwort). Perennial 

 herbs and alpine plants or annuals of the 

 pink family. 



S. caespitosa is a neat little alpine 

 perennial, good in the higher regions of 

 the Central and Eastern Pyrenees, flower- 

 ing in August, but in the lowlands its 

 beautiful rose-coloured blossoms appear 

 towards the end of June. It forms 

 rosettes of linear leaves, thick, glabrous ; 

 the flowers, forming a thick cluster, are 

 supported by short stout stems. This 

 graceful little plant is valuable for the 

 rock-garden. A sandy soil suits it best, 

 and it endures our winters. 



S. calabrica is a pretty prostrate hardy 

 annual, 6 to 9 in. high, its slender stems 

 covered with small pink blossoms all the 

 summer. There is a white variety. It is 

 much used for beds and edgings. Seeds 

 may be sown in the open border in April, 

 or earlier in heat if bloom is required early 

 in the season, in rich sandy loam. 



S. ocymoides is a beautiful trailing 

 rock-plant, with prostrate stems, its rosy 

 flowers completely covering its leaves and 

 branches in early summer. It is most 

 valuable for clothing arid parts of the 

 rock-garden, where a drooping plant is 

 desired, as the shoots fall over the face of 

 the rocks, and become masses of rosy 

 bloom. It is also excellent for old walls, 

 and the seed should be sown in mossy 

 chinks where a little soil has gathered. 

 It thrives in ordinary soil, and is often a 

 good dwarf border plant. Seeds and 

 cuttings. Southern and Central Europe. 



S. officinalis (S0apw0rt).'This is a 

 handsome native plant about 2 ft. high, 



with large blossoms, usually rose-pink, 



the double variety being best. It is a 



rambling plant, and soon spreads rapidly; 



therefore it should not be planted in 



select borders, but is pretty for rough 



j places in the pleasure-ground and wild 



j garden, as it grows in any soil. Division. 



Sarana. See FRITILLARIA. 



SARRACENIA (Huntsman's Horn). 

 This singular plant, S. purpurea, belongs 

 to a family of Pitcher-plants, natives of 

 North America, it being the hardiest, and 

 handsome when well grown. Its curious 

 leaves, hollowed like a horn, are blood- 

 red in colour, and form a compact tuft i 

 ft. or more in height and the same in 

 breadth ; the flowers, singular in shape, 

 are not very showy. It is a good plant 

 for the bog-garden or for damp spots in 

 the rock-garden, in an open and fully-ex- 

 posed position with the choicer bog- 

 plants, in fibrous peat well mixed with 

 Sphagnum Moss, which is common in 

 marshy places. A layer of living Moss 

 should be placed round the plant to keep 

 it moist. The plant is hardy under these 

 conditions, but precautions should be 

 taken to prevent birds from disturbing 

 the soil and exposing the roots. Some of 

 the hybrids between it and others may be 

 hardy. S. flava, the hardiest species next 

 to S. purpurea, is rarely satisfactory in 

 the open air. 



SASSAFRAS (Ague Tree).S. offici- 

 nale is a distinct and remarkable tree, 

 sometimes growing over 100 ft. high, 

 with a trunk 6ft. or more in diameter, and 

 a rough aromatic bark in sandy soils in 

 New England, Canada, and westwards 

 and southwards. The leaves are three- 

 lobed, and vary much in shape. In our 

 country this plant should have soils similar 

 to those in which it grows in its own, as 

 our cool summers are less likely to ripen 

 the wood. Syn., Laurus sassafras. 



SAXIFRAGA (Rockfoit).Tti& genus 

 includes, perhaps, more true alpine flowers 

 than any other. In the Arctic circle, in 

 the highest alpine regions, on the arid 

 mountains of Southern and Eastern 

 Europe and Northern Africa, and 

 throughout the length and breadth of 

 Europe and of Northern Asia, they are 

 found in many interesting varieties of 

 form and colour. One might expect 

 them to be as difficult of cultivation as 

 most alpine plants, but they are the 

 easiest to grow of all. They were com- 

 mon in collections of alpine flowers 

 where few other families were repre- 

 sented. Of late years many pretty species 

 have been introduced, and the variety 

 of the family is now so great that a very 



