44 GARDEN FLOWERS. 



garden species called the annual daisy, [Bellis 

 annua,) whicli is mucli like our British daisy, 

 and which grows wild as commonly as that, 

 in the fields of Italy, Spain, and France. The 

 large white Portugal daisy (Bellis sylvestris) is 

 the common ornament of the meadows in the 

 land from which it derives its name. 



Some of our most elegant spring border 

 flowers are the saxifrages. They are chiefly 

 Alpine plants, growing wild on rocky or stony 

 places. ^ One of the most common kinds is that 

 which is in flower during this month, and 

 sometimes as early as February. It is tlie 

 thick leaved saxifrage, {Saxifraga crassifolia.) 

 It has pale purple blossoms, and large showy 

 foliage. During autumn the leaves of this 

 plant wither, and the stem turns quite black, 

 and forms fibres, which constitute tlie root of 

 the plant which is, in the following spring, 

 to enliven the garden. This flower is a native 

 of Siberia, growing among the snows of that 

 inclement clime, and blooming far up the hills 

 of those dreary regions. The variety called 

 the thick heart-leaved saxifrage bears larger 

 blossoms. The London pride (Saxifraga 

 umhrosa) is the hardiest and most common of 

 the genus. It grows wild on some of our 

 mountains. The French term it Amourette. 



Nearly sixty species of saxifrage bloom in 

 the English garden. Though mountain flowers, 

 they will flourish on plain and valley; and 

 many, Hke the London pride, will bloom amid 

 the impure airs of the great metropohs. A 



