78 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



Pyrenees ; Zermatt Valley in Switzerland ; Mont Cenis, Southern 

 Europe ; Western Asia ; North Africa. 



A. serpyllifolium Desf. is a small-leaved, pale yellow-flowered, 

 and very hoary variety, found at Mont Cenis and in Spain, etc. 



Alyssum halimifolium L. 



Plant shrubby, i foot high, with twisting branches. Leaves 

 oblong, obtuse, silvery. Flowers white, large. Petals slightly 

 emarginate, oval. Fruiting-spike a dense corymb. Silicules 

 circular, glabrous, twice as long as the style. Seeds broadly winged. 



Limestone rocks in the low mountains of the South. May, June. 



Distribution. — Maritime Alps and Department of the Var ; 

 Liguria, Col di Tenda, and Piedmont. Very local. 



This very distinct species might be more cultivated in warm 

 places in limy soil on the rockery. 



All the rock and Alpine Alyssums are easily grown in hght, sandy, 

 or other dry soil. A. saxatile, from Southern Russia, is the best- 

 known species in gardens, where it makes great masses of yellow 

 colour in April and May. None of the Alyssums can have too much 

 sun in summer, or too little damp in winter. Several are very 

 liable to attacks by slugs. 



Clypeola L. 



A genus of about 8 species inhabiting southern Europe, Western 

 Asia, and N. Africa. Flowers very small, yellow, turning whiter. 

 Silicule orbicular, edged, compressed, i-celled, and i-seeded. 



Clypeola Gaudini Trach. 



Stem ascending, 3-6 inches long. Leaves grey, covered with 

 stellate hairs, small, sessile, oblong spathulate. Flowers very small, 

 yellow, then white, in a long spike. Silicules orbicular, flat, rather 

 large (4 mm.), glabrous, on arched peduncles. 



Sandy places and stony hills. Local. April, May. 



Distribution. — Rhone Valley in Switzerland, Maritime Alps, 

 Southern France, Mediterranean Europe, Corsica, Western Asia. 



Berteroa DC. 

 Stem leafy. Filaments of stamens short, furnished with a 

 distinct tooth. Otherwise like Alyssum. 



Berteroa incana DC. (Alyssum incanum L., Farsetia incana R.Br.). 



A biennial plant, grey, with stellate hairs, 1-2 feet high. Stem 

 erect, generally branched above. Leaves sinuate-dentate. Fruit 

 elliptic. Petals white, bifid. 



Sandy roadsides in hot valleys. June. 



Distribution. — Rare in Switzerland (Geneva, Martigny, Morges, 

 etc.). North, East, and South-East Europe, Western Asia. Natural- 

 ised in a large part of France, and in England. 



