i8 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



Much can be done in order to protect some plants from the 

 effects of our damp and comparatively sunless winter. Sometimes 

 if a piece of glass or slab of stone be placed in a horizontal position 

 above delicate plants they will be protected from excessive rainfall 

 or drip. The soil around the base of the stems or rosettes of leaves 

 should not be allowed to become clogged and foul, or coated with 

 green liverwort, moss, or other weeds. This can be easily prevented 

 by carefully disturbing the top soil, removing the moss, etc., and 

 top-dressing with grit, sandy loam, bits of limestone, sandstone, or 

 sometimes a dressing of leaf-mould. This top-dressing is of the 

 greatest importance, and when done judiciously it cannot fail to be 

 of benefit. It applies even more to young plants in pots or boxes in 

 greenhouses and frames, for it is in such places that the growth of 

 liverwort, etc., is often most rapid. 



We have found the simplest way to remove the green moss or 

 Marchantia is with the flat, sharpened end of a thin piece of wood, 

 such as an ordinary plant label. By holding the pot in one hand, 

 and the flat wooden tool between the finger and thumb of the other, 

 so that it does not deeply penetrate the soil, the coating of green 

 slime or moss can very quickly be removed. A few small pieces of 

 grit or a little dry sandy loam should then take its place. 



Another thing to guard against is the ' coddling ' of Alpines in 

 warm or ill-ventilated greenhouses. They cannot have too much 

 air, and most of them do far better in the open than under any 

 glass. This somewhat artificial method of cultivating hardy plants 

 may be necessary sometimes, but it frequently tends to produce a 

 less robust race, with many individual specimens drawn out in 

 quite an unnatural manner. 



It is well known that one of the most characteristic features of 

 nearly all the higher Alpine species is their dwarf habit, with stems 

 frequently only a few inches in height, often with a rosette of leaves 

 at the base, and very long fibrous roots which sometimes penetrate 

 several feet into the soil. By this means they are prevented from 

 being blown away by the furious blasts of wind so frequent in high 

 mountains, and at the same time the long thick fibres absorb 

 moisture and nourishment from the soil through which they pass. 



Most Alpine plants can be grown from seed, and many are better 

 obtained from this source than from established plants, because 

 much of the material sent to England by collectors arrives with 

 insufficient root. It is very difficult to get up the complete fibrous 

 tap root of such things as Anemone alpina, Campanula barbata, 

 Gentiana asclepiadea, etc. Again, many plants die in transit to a 

 distant country. Moreover, when seed is collected, rather than 

 roots, there is less chance of disfiguring the mountain side. Seed 

 should be sown as soon as possible after its collection. In saying 

 this we merely follow Nature ; and it has been proved that many 

 seeds refuse to germinate after a certain limited time. 



