HARDY EXOTIC FLOWERING PLANTS. 123 
similar effect, and produces myriads of star-like white flowers. 
Numerous singular effects may be produced from species less showy 
and more curious and vigorous, as for example the old yellow A. Moly. 
The white Narcissus-like Allium, in the orchards of Provence; type 
of family receiving little place in gardens which may be beautiful 
for a season in wild places. 
Alstremeria—All who care for hardy flowers must admire the 
beauty of Alstroemeria aurantiaca, especially when it spreads into bold 
healthy tufts, and when there is a great variety in the height of the 
flowering stems. A valuable quality of the plant is, that in any light 
soil it spreads freely, and it is quite hardy. For dry places between 
shrubs, for dry‘or sandy banks (either wooded or bare), copses, or 
heathy places, this plant is admirable. I have noticed it thriving in 
the shade of fir trees. It is interesting as being a South American 
plant, thriving in any open soil. 
Marsh Mallow, Althea.—These are plants rarely seen out of 
botanic gardens now-a-days, and yet, from their vigour and showy 
flowers, they may afford unique effects in the wild garden. The 
common Hollyhock is an Althea, and in its single form is typical 
of the vigorous habit and the numerous showy flowers of other ram- 
pant species, such as A. ficifolia. A group of these plants would be 
very effective seen from a wood walk, no kind of garden arrangement 
being large enough for their extraordinary vigour. It is not a nnmer- 
ous genus, but there are at least a dozen species, principally found on 
the shores and islands of the Mediterranean, and also in Western Asia. 
Alyssum—In spring every little shoot of the wide tufts and flakes 
