254 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 



MYOSOTIS AIiPESTEIS. — Alpine Forget-me-not. 



A British alpine plant, found in one or two places in Scotland 

 and Northern England, and inferior to no gem of the high Alps 

 in vivid colour and beauty. It forms close tufts of dark-green 

 hairy leaves, rather narrow and pointed, healthy plants rising to 

 a height of only about two inches. About the end of April a few 

 flowers of a beautiful blue, with a very small yellowish eye, begin 

 to appear among the leaves, and as the weather gets warmer, the 

 little flower-stems gradually rise, and soon the plants become 

 ,pompact masses of blue, remaining in perfection all through the 

 early summer. Fortunately, it is very easily raised, and comes 

 quite true from seed. It loves to be pinched in between lumps of 

 millstone grit, whether in pots or on rockwork, and sometimes 

 grows freely in more ordinary circumstances, but is apt to perish 

 in winter if allowed to grow too grossly. It is quite distinct 

 fxora, and much finer than, the dwarf mountain form of the Wood 

 Forget-me-not, often met with on the Alps, the leaves always 

 being in very dense tufts close to the earth, while the smallest 

 specimens of M. sylvatica seen on the mountains do not branch 

 below the surface, but are rather slender and erect in habit. It 

 is also a true perennial, while the Wood Forget-me-not usually 

 perishes after blooming. The garden home of the Alpine Forget- 

 me-not is on the most select spots in the rock-garden — where it 

 grows finest, perhaps, on ledges with a northern aspect, though 

 it thrives perfectly in open sunny spots ; the soil to be moist 

 throughout the warm season. = M. rupicola. 



MYOSOTIS AZOBICA. — Azorean Forget-me-not. 



This is at once recognised among other Forgetrme-nots by 

 the flowers being of a rich indigo-blue throughout, and rich 

 purple when they first open. It was first brought home by Mr. 

 H. G. Watson, author of the ' Cybele Britannica,' who found 

 it near cascades and on wet rocks with a north-eastern aspect, 

 in the Westerly Azores. It is a little tender, but so beautiful 

 and distinct from our European blue and yellow-eyed Forget- 

 me-nots that it is worthy of being annually raised, in case old 

 plants should perish during winter. Easily increased by seed. 

 It is best raised in autumn, and kept through the winter in dry 

 frames, pits, or a greenhouse, or in very early spring in a gentle 



