262 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



second series, tab. 190. The flowers, 

 as large as a shilling, and of a bright 

 yellow, come singly on short stalks, 

 rising very little above the tufted 

 glossy foliage in April and May. It 

 seems to do best in a light gritty soil, 

 and is of easy culture on the rock- 

 garden. It buries its seed-pods in the 

 soil, like some of the Violas. 



MUHLENBECKIA. Graceful free- 

 growing evergreen trailers, useful as 

 coverings for rocks or stumps ; natives 

 of New Zealand. The best known, 

 M. complexa, is a rapid grower, with 

 long wiry and entangled branches, 

 small leaves, and white waxy flowers 

 inconspicuous. M. adpressa is larger, 

 and has heart-shaped leaves, and long 

 racemes of whitish flowers. M. varia 

 is a small kind, with fiddle-shaped 

 leaves, and is very distinct from either 

 of the above, it being suited for the 

 rock-garden proper, whereas the larger 

 kind should only be used among shrubs 

 or to clothe bold rocks. 



MUSCARI (Grape Hyacinth). Very 

 pretty bulbous flowers, distinct and 

 good in colour and form. They come 

 early in the spring, and are very 

 welcome then. Most of the kinds 

 are pretty, the more so, if in associa- 

 tion with Narcissus and the flowers 

 of different colours that come about 

 the same time. They are plants 

 mainly of the East, and, though not 

 difficult about soil, are much happier, 

 and increase more freely in open warm 

 soils. Only the prettiest kinds are 

 fitted for, and in need of the advan- 

 tage of the rock-garden. Among the 

 shrubs, and associated with the dwarf 

 Narcissi, they come in well. 



Among these plants we have more 

 names than real distinctions, but some 

 few are very beautiful, such as M. 



contemn, which tells well in groups on 

 the rock-garden. Still, they do not 

 tempt us to grow numbers of them, 

 as we get all the beauty of the 

 family from a few kinds. 



MUTISIA. Remarkable and beau- 

 tiful South American plants, some 

 almost hardy in the milder parts of 

 our islands. In winter the bush- 

 clad rock-garden offers a good place 

 for them. Some few cultivators have 

 been successful with M. decurrens; 

 once or twice M. ilicifolia has been 

 grown and flowered very well. M. 

 Clematis is the least delicate. 



Mutisia ilicifolia. A very distinct and 

 beautiful plant, is a native of Chili, where 

 it grows over bushes, with thin wiry steins. 

 Every part is covered with a cobweb-like 

 tomentum. The leaves are about 2 inches 

 long, toothed, the. texture leathery, and the 

 mid-rib growing beyond the blade, and 

 forming a strong twining tendril. The 

 flowers are 3 inches across, with from eight 

 to twelve ray florets coloured pale pink, or 

 sometimes white with pink tips ; the disc 

 is lemon-yellow. 



M. decurrens. The most beautiful of 

 the three garden Mutisias. Mr Colemaii 

 has grown it well amongst Rhododendrons 

 at Eastnor Castle ; Mr Gumbleton, Mr 

 Hooke, Mr Ellacombe, and Kew have also 

 had it in good condition. Most culti- 

 vators kill this species by planting it in 

 a hot, sunny place, where it gets baked, 

 and soon sickens. It wants a moist, cool 

 soil, a sunny, airy position, and a few 

 slender Pea sticks to clamber upon. The 

 flowers of this are over 4 inches across, 

 a fine orange with a yellow disc. 



M. Clematis. The first coloured pic- 

 ture of this species ever published in any 

 English work was the plate in the Garden, 

 27th July 1883. It is a tall herbaceous 

 climber, 10 to 20 feet high, with leaves 

 ending in branched tendrils. The plant 

 grows freely, does not die off suddenly 

 like the others, and when properly treated 

 it flowers freely. It is probable that this 

 species would thrive out-of-doors in Devon, 

 South Wales, and South Ireland. It 



