THE CAMPANULAS OR BELLFLOWERS. 137 



masses as many feet across. It likes a sunny spot 

 and a peaty soil. 



Raineri is a nice Harebell, and quite worth adding 

 to a collection. It is a tiny plant, yet bears large 

 flowers of a bright blue colour. It likes a loamy soil 

 with abundance of grit. 



Rotundifolia is the common Harebell. It is a 

 familiar plant. There is a white variety of it (alba), 

 and Hkewise a pale blue (pallida), but the type varies. 



The true turhinata is a charming little plant, with 

 purpHsh blue erect flowers. It is a very low grower, 

 and thrives in ordinary soil if not very heavy and damp. 

 There are white (alha) and lavender (pallida) forms. 



Thyrsoidea, the subject of one of the coloured plates, 

 is not often met with in cultivation. It is a lime-lover 

 with yellow flowers, grows about a foot high, and is 

 best treated as a biennial. 



While the foregoing represent the most useful of 

 the Harebells for the purpose in view they by no means 

 exhaust the list of Alpine kinds. Those who want 

 to form a collection will find others in the large 

 nurseries. 



Barbata, the subject of one of the coloured plates, 

 takes its name from the beard at the mouth of the 

 flowers. It is a native of the European Alpine 

 meadows. It grows from six to nine inches high 

 in the mountains, more in the lowlands, and has sky 

 blue flowers. It is not a common plant in cultiva- 

 tion, and is not listed by a good many dealers. 



