132 ALPINE FLOWERS.- Part II. 



is on the rockwork, planted in sandy peat or very sandy light 

 loam, and so placed that its shoots may fall over thfe edge of a 

 low rock. Where the soil is very free, and not too wet in winter, 

 and the air moist and genial, it may be tried as a border plant. 

 It is best propagated by cuttings, and flowers in summer and 

 early autumn. A native of the Himalayas. 



ANDEOSACE OBTVSlEOljXA.—Bluni-leaved A. 



This is said to be allied to A. chamcejasme, but has rather larger 

 rosettes of leaves, lanceolate-oblong, somewhat spoon-shaped 

 and obtuse, with stems clothed with short down, from one to 

 four inches high, bearing sometimes one, but generally from 

 two to five white or rose-coloured flowers, with yellow eyes. It 

 seems to grow taller and more vigorously than A. chamajasme, 

 and in a native state is often gathered by handfuls, and placed 

 in vases, with gentians and other alpine'- flowers. Widely dis- 

 tributed over the European Alps, occurring in France, Ger- 

 many, and Switzerland, and usually flowering in midsummer ; 

 but in this country opening in spring. The treatment recom- 

 mended for A. chamajasme will be found equally suitable for 

 this plant. 



ANDEOSACE PUBESCENS.— iJowwy A. 



Allied to the Swi^s and Pyrenean Androsaces in its rather 

 large solitary white flowers, with pale yellow eyes, just rising 

 above the densely packed, slightly hoary leaves, the surface of 

 which is covered with stalked and star-like hairs. The unopened 

 blooms look like small pearls set firmly in a tiny five-cleft cup, 

 and are held on stems barely rising above the dwarf cushion 

 formed by the plant. It may be distinguished from its fellows 

 by a small sweUing on the flower-stem close to the flower, and 

 is an exquisite little plant, widely distributed over the Pyrenees, 

 Alps, and other European ranges, generally flowering in July 

 and August in its native state, and in our gardens in spring or 

 early summer. It seems to grow without difficulty on sunny 

 fissures in deep sandy and gritty peat. 



ANDEOSACE CUSLh^K.— Fringed A. 



Is by some considered a variety of the preceding, with the 

 flower-stems twice as long as the leaves, which are glabrous on 



