BORAG1NE7E 4 ' 



which is but to abuse and prostitute it in the service of 

 false, ephemeral taste, and shall continue to protest 

 against such a base interpretation of garden-craft. The 

 proper place for the alpine Myosotis in the alpine garden 

 or among the grasses of a park or to make a picture in 

 some secluded corner; but its very nature, so sweet and 

 delicate, is degraded by employment as mere constructive 

 material, to subserve some garish effect of colour. 



The nomenclature of Forget-me-nots has become 

 entangled ; for example, usage varies as to whether 

 Jtt. rupicola is to be regarded as a superior form of 

 alpestris or as a distinct species. In appearance it 

 approximates towards the unique Eritrichium, but is a 

 much more robust and manageable plant. Yet it is more 

 exacting than the commoner forms of Myosotis, requir- 

 ing absolute dryness in winter, wedged among millstone 

 grit or sandstone and covered during the dormant period. 

 In cultivation all alpine kinds succumb to an amount or 

 winter moisture that would be innocuous in a natural 

 habitat. Both come quite true and freely from seed. 



Eritrichium 



E. nanum (PI. LXXX1V). High, very high on the 

 desolate Alps, on the ridges beaten by the most savage 

 fury of the storm a wonderful jewel sparkles in the sun 

 of the towering heights. Our moutain people know it 

 as The Alpine King, or The blue Moss ; at Saas, too, 

 they call it Alpenkonig, in Tyrol Himmelsherold. 

 Botanic prose has named it Myosotis nana or Eritrichium 

 nanum. It is a cushion plant, whose tiny leaves are set 

 with grey, silky hairs a dense little tuft buried in July 

 and August beneath flowers on the shortest of short 

 stalks, the corollas of the most superb of blues. It is one 



