ROSE ROOT 251 



with St. Christopher it is impossible now to say. 

 Curiously enough, it has several rivals in the field, 

 the fleabane, meadow-sweet, betony, and one or 

 two other plants being also dedicated to this very 

 popular saint. 



The plants we next figure those on Plate XXXV. 

 are the rose- root and the foxglove, each of them 

 charming plants in the decking of our rock-garden. 

 It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to indicate which 

 is which, since few who feel sufficient interest in 

 Nature to turn over our pages can require an 

 introduction to the foxglove, and from thence they 

 can travel from the known to the unknown, should 

 the rarer rose-root not appeal so quickly to them. 



The rose-root should be sought amidst the moun- 

 tain crags of Scotland and Northern England, 

 where it may often be found in profusion. Its grey 

 and succulent foliage give the plant a very distinctive 

 character. It is a lover of moisture a point we 

 must not overlook in transferring it from its moun- 

 tain environment to our rock-garden. The root is 

 large and woody in character, yielding when dried a 

 strong odour that has been compared to that of 

 roses : hence its popular name. It is a near relative 

 to the house-leek, the beautiful crimson-flowered 

 orpine, and the numerous species of stone-crop, all 

 alike acceptable plants. Its old monkish name was 

 Rhodia radix, while its modern specific name is rho- 

 diola, each name testifying to the rose-like fragrance. 



