SAXIFRAGE/E 



sun on moraine-like rockwork, where the exposed 

 portion may be baked and the roots find deep and very 

 gritty soil to penetrate. 



5. cotelydon (PL XL). This is the beautiful Saxifrage 

 with regular rosettes, and large leaves of glistening dark- 

 green, bordered with a line of fine, silvery teeth, which 

 may be seen springing from the deepest crevices in the 

 granite of the Simplon, the Mont-Blanc chain and 

 particularly of the valleys of Upper Italy. In July or 

 August the flower-scape pushes forth, rising to a height 

 of 20 in., and bearing innumerable, large white flowers, 

 spotted with rose at the base of the petals and set off in 

 clear relief upon the deep red of the stem. It is one of 

 the choicest varieties for cultivation, either in pots, or in 

 the open, but above all in rockeries and old walls. The 

 only thing it fears is abundance of chalk. 



Here and there in the Alps, on moist slopes where a 

 little rock is mixed among the earth, we find S. mutata, 

 whose dark green leaves, pitted and notched on the 

 margins, with ciliate hairs towards the base, are arranged 

 in rosettes very similar to those of S. cotelydon. This 

 rosette on reaching a certain age, rises in a stem of 8-20 

 in., covered with glandular hairs, and bearing a pyramid 

 of orange-yellow flowers, after which the plant dies. It 

 is a useful, ornamental plant, whose only requirements 

 are a rather heavy, moist soil and partial shade. 



S. aizoon (PI. XLI) takes smaller forms and is of more 

 modest appearance. It is the most widely spread of the 

 Swiss Saxifrages, being found on all rocky ground. The 

 leaves, grey-green, elegantly crenate and edged with 

 white teeth, form rosettes from which rise tall scapes 

 bearing white flowers spotted with purple and arranged 

 in pyramidal paniculate cymes. It is a most variable 

 species and is found in many different forms and colours 



