i84 ALPINE FLOWERS AND ROCK GARDENS. 



of leaves. It will thrive in ordinary soil. Over- 

 shadowed, perhaps, in recent years by Wallacei (Cam- 

 posi) it remains a fine and desirable plant. 



Muscoides is a dense, moss-like species, a native 

 of Britain, bearing its pale yellow flowers on stems 

 three to four inches high in May. It is a pretty and 

 useful plant, but is often passed over in favour of some 

 of its varieties, of which atropurpurea, bright red ; 

 Rhei, rose ; and Guildford Seedling, deep rose, are 

 three of the most popular. These varieties of the 

 mossy Saxifrage are among the most precious of all 

 the Rockfoils, for they combine close, dense, carpeting 

 habit with great charm of blossom. They will thrive 

 in sandy loam. 



Oppositifolia is also a British plant, with small, 

 densely-crowded leaves on prostrate stems, and bright 

 purplish-rose flowers on stems only a couple of inches 

 high in April. Its blossoms are borne so abundantly 

 as to gem the plants quite over. Major, with large 

 flowers ; and major splendens, with larger and brighter 

 blossoms, are charming varieties of it. There is also 

 a white one called alba. These little Rockfoils are 

 very easy to grow, for they will thrive in almost any 

 soil in town or country gardens, although they enjoy 

 a mixture of loam, limestone grit and sand. They are 

 not long-lived, and should be divided every year or 

 two. 



Peltata is a fine Cahfornian species, entirely distinct, 

 and put by botanists into a separate section, of 

 which it is the sole member. It throws up strong, 

 hairy flower-stems to a height of three or more feet 



