268 THE ALPINE FLORA 



trumpet-shaped petals, prolonged into nectar-bearing 

 spurs. 



A. alpina (PL VII). Perhaps the most delicate and 

 charming of alpines, with its slender leaves, finely 

 divided into graceful leaflets, and its ample flowers, the 

 sepals a glorious blue, the petals purest azure. It is 

 necessary to insist that this is the typical form, on account 

 of an obstinate superstition that the variety with white 

 centre is the only true one. Flowers in July. Native of 

 shady alpine slopes (1200-2000 m.). 



Au flanc des verts ravins j'aime a voir 1'Ancolie 

 A la robe d'azur cachant un anneau d'or, 

 Yivre comme perdue en sa melancolie, 

 Poursuivant loin des bruits son eternel essor. 



De sa fleur qui se penche humblement vers la terre 

 On ne voit que du bleu, le bleu fonce des cieux, 

 Mais du fond du calice oil se cache un mystere 

 S'echappe un rayon d'or mille fois glorieux. 



H. C. 



This noble plant is not at all amenable to cultivation. 

 A stony, well drained soil is necessary, and a cool, 

 somewhat shaded situation. In England I have seen fine 

 examples at Warley and elsewhere, even in Surrey. In 

 the botanical garden of Linnaea, at Bourg-Saint-Pierre, it 

 grows magnificently and reaches a considerable size, pro- 

 ducing as many as thirty flowers on a stock. Perhaps the 

 secret is that most die a natural death, the plant being a 

 biennial, so that no care can avoid annual renewal from 

 seed a thing, fortunately, most easy to do. Certain it is 

 that columbines are prodigious rooters, the stock, it may 

 be, boring two feel down before emitting roots. The fact 

 mentioned below the habit of promiscuous hybridisation 

 in gardens is enough of warning to the wise to secure 

 collected seed from wild plants. None other is safe. An 

 autumn dressing ofleafmould and gritty loam is beneficial. 



