3 1 6 ALPINE FLO WERS. Part II. 



them in gardens. The plant is perfectly hardy, and second to 

 none as an ornament of the rock-garden. It also thrives per- 

 fectly in common soil, and is in some places much grown in 

 pots for the decoration of the greenhouse. When the pyramids 

 of beautiful flowers are strong, or in an exposed position, it is 

 well to put a neat and inconspicuous but firm stake to each. 

 Nothing can be easier to propagate by division, or cultivate 

 without any particular attention. It is sometimes known as 

 .S". pyramidalis, though some consider this 2X least a variety, 

 having amore erect habit, narrower leaves, and somewhat larger 

 flowers. 



SAXIFRAGA CYICBALAEIA.— Go/^/^w Saxifrage- 



Quite distinct in aspect from any of the family, and one of the 

 most useful of all,'being a bright and continuous bloomer. I 

 have had little tufts of it, which, in early spring, formed 

 masses of bright yellow flowers set on light green, glossy, small 

 ivy-like leaves, the whole not more than three inches high- 

 These, instead of falUng into the sere and yellow leaf, and fading 

 away into seediness, kept still growing taller, still elevating, and 

 still preserving the same little rounded pyramid of golden flowers, 

 until autumn, when they formed specimens about twelve inches 

 high. It is an annual or biennial plant, which sows itself abun- 

 dantly, coming up in the same spot, is peculiarly suitable for 

 moist spots on or near rockwork, grows freely on the level 

 ground, and might be readily naturalised on the margins of a 

 rocky stream, and in various other places in large pleasure- 

 grounds. 



SAXIFRAG-A DIAPENSIOIDES.— Z'za/^wjza S. 



One of the very best of all the dwarf Saxifrages, and also one of 

 the smallest, admirably suited for choice rockwork or culture in 

 pans. I have grown it very well in an open bed in London, and 

 it would flourish equally well everywhere if kept free from weeds, 

 and in a well-exposed spot. The soil should be very firm and 

 well-drained, though kept moist in summer. The flowers are of 

 a good white, three to five on a stem, rarely exceeding two inches 

 high, and often not more than an inch ; the leaves grey, Unear, and 

 obtuse, packed into such dense cylindrical rosettes that esta- 

 blished specimens feel quite hard to the hand. It comes near 



