SAPONARIA SAXIFKAGA. 



221 



garden, in exposed spots, and the 

 margins of the mixed border, in sandy 

 loam. Seed and division. 



Saponaria ocymoides (Rock Soap- 

 wort). A beautiful dwarf alpine herb 

 with prostrate stems, forming dense 

 roundish spreading tufts from 6 to 

 1 2 in. high. Flowers, in early summer ; 

 rosy-pink, freely produced in panicled 

 clusters ; petals 5, spreading horizon- 

 tally, oblong-elliptic ; calyx tubular, 

 purple, villous, with 5 sraall erect 

 blunt teeth. Leaves, opposite, entire, 

 ovate or lance-shaped, generally 1- 

 nerved. Southern and Central Eu- 

 rope, in rocky and stony places. 



The rock-garden, borders, fringes of 

 shrubberies, and naturalized on banks 

 and slopes amidst dwarf plants, in any 

 soil if the plants are elevated ; if on 

 the level ground, in ordinary sandy 

 garden soil. Seed. 



Saponaria officinalis (Common Soap- 

 wort). A stout, vigorous, and showy 

 perennial, 1 to 2 ft. high. Flower p s,in 

 summer ; flesh-coloured or rose, vary- 

 ing to white, in dense panicled bun- 

 dles; calyx cylindrical, nearly 1 in. 

 long, yellowish, villous. Leaves, elliptic 

 or lance-shaped, acute or obtuse, 2 or 

 3 in. long, opposite, connate, entire, 

 3- or 5-nerved, smooth. There is a 

 variety with variegated leaves and a 

 double-flowered one, common in gar- 

 dens. Europe, North America, and 



Britain. Naturalized in any not 



very shady rough places, where little 

 else will grow, and in borders, in 

 ordinary soil. Division. 



Sarracenia purpurea (American 

 P ltd i er -plant). A very remarkable 

 plant, known at once by its pitcher- 

 like leaves ; 8 to 15 in. high. Floivers, 

 in June ; globose, nodding, solitary, 

 deep purplish- red, the fiddle-shaped 

 petals arching over the greenish-yel- 

 low style. Leaves, pitcher- shaped, 

 ascending, curved, broadly winged, 

 veined with purple ; the hood erect, 



open, round -heart shaped, clothed on 

 the inner side with stiff bristles point- 

 ing downwards. There is a rare va- 

 riety with greenish- yellow flowers, 

 and without purple veins in the foliage. 



North America. Though invariably 



treated as a house-, and usually a stove- 

 plant, this curious subject will thrive 

 in most parts in the artificial bog, in 

 wet peat, and it is a very desirable 

 plant to associate with Cypripedium 

 spectabile, Rhexia, virginica, the Parnas- 

 sias, and other ornamental bog plants. 

 Careful division of well-established 

 tufts. 



Saxifraga aizoides (Streamlet Saxi- 

 frage). A low tufted evergreen herb, 

 abundant by streams on our northern 

 mountains. Flowers, in summer and 

 autumn ; yellow, and dotted with 

 red towards the base, ^ in. across, 

 from 3 to 12 or more in a loose pani- 

 cle, on ascending stems, 3 to 6 in. 

 high ; calyx spreading, adherent at the 

 base, segments hardly shorter than 

 the petals, and often narrow and 

 yellow like them. Leaves, about 4 in- 

 long, alternate, narrow, rather thick, 

 entire or sometimes finely notched 

 with 1 or 2 teeth. When the leaves 

 are sparsely ciliated, it is, according 

 to Dr. Syme, the S. autumnalis of 



Linnaeus. Europe and Britain. 



The rock-garden, moist borders, and 

 bog-bed; should be introduced near 

 streams in the rock-garden. Division 

 or seed. 



Saxifrasra, Aizoon (Everlasting Saxi- 

 frage). The silvery kind most com- 

 monly seen on the European moun- 

 tains. Flowers, in early summer ; 

 cream-coloured, marked with small 

 rose-coloured dots, in corymbs on 

 stems 6 to 15 in. high ; petals nearly 

 round ; peduncles lengthened, usually 

 two-flowered; calyces smooth, with 

 acute segments. Leaves, short, silvery, 

 serrated; root leaves in rosettes, 

 wedge-shaped, ciliated at the bas; 



