DESCRIPTIVE AND SELECTIVE. 197 



ARENARIA (Sandwort). — ^These are useful as 

 carpeters, being quite moss-like in habit. The best 

 kno\vn species is balearica, which creeps over the 

 face of stones, covering them with a green carpet, 

 studded with white flowers. It is not a showy or 

 beautiful plant, but serves a useful purpose. Propa- 

 gation is by division, and ordinary soil will do. 

 Caespitosa of gardens is the verna of botanists. It is 

 moss-like in growth and has white flowers. A 

 yellow-leaved form is offered under the name of aurea. 

 The species montana is perhaps the finest of the Sand- 

 worts. It is very similar to grandi flora, but blooms 

 earlier. 



ARMERIA (Thrift or Sea Pink). — We cannot pass 

 over this charming little plant even though we some- 

 times see it as an edging to a cottage border. V^e find 

 it on the granitic rocks of our southern coasts, where 

 its neat tufts of grassy foliage and bright rosy flowers 

 make it an object of considerable attractiveness. 

 Cephalotes (or mauritanica) is one of the finest of 

 the Thrifts. It has rich rosy flowers. It enjoys good 

 soil, and comes readily from seed, which is well, for it is 

 not a durable plant. Maritima (or vulgaris) is the 

 common Sea Pink. There are three varieties of distinct 

 colour : alha (white), rubra (red), and Laucheana 

 (crimson). All can be propagated by removing side 

 shoots and inserting them in moist sandy soil in a 

 frame. 



A RNEBIA {MA C ROTO MI A ) EC H 10 IDES 

 (Prophet Flower). An interesting plant, remarkable 

 for the five dots on the yellow flowers, and which, 



