328 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 



Of other cultivated Squills, the British ones, ^. verna and 

 S. autumnalis, are certainly not worthy of cultivation except in 

 botanical collections ; the plant usually sold by the Dutch and by 

 our seedsmen as S. hyacinthoides is generally S. campanulata, 

 and occasionally S. patula. The true S. hyaUnthoides of 

 Southern Europe is scarcely worthy of cultivation ; S. cernua is 

 nofsufficiently distinct from S.*patula, and one or two southern 

 species allied to S. peruviana have not been proved sufficiently 

 hardy for general cultivation. 



SCUTELLAEIA KUSTSK.— Alpine Skullcap. 



A SPREADING plant with all the vigour of the coarsest weeds of 

 its natural order, but withal neat in habit, and ornamental 

 in flower. The pubescent stems are prostrate, but so abundantly 

 produced that they rise into a full round tuft, a foot high or more 

 in the centre, and falling low to the sides ; the leaves are ovate- 

 roundish or heart-shaped at the base, very shortly stalked, 

 and notched, and the flowers in terminal heads, at first short, 

 afterwards elongating, and purplish or with the lower lip white 

 or yellow. The form with the upper lip purplish and lower pure 

 white is very pretty. The variety lutea {S. lupulind) is a very 

 ornamental kind, with yellow flowers. Both plants are admirably 

 suited for borders, the margins of shrubberies, and the rougher 

 parts of rockwork. A native of the Pyrenees, Swiss and 

 Tyrolese Alps, and many other parts of Europe and Asia ; readily 

 increased by division, and flowering freely in summer. 



Of other kinds of Scutellaria in cultivation, S. japonica, ori- 

 entalis, scordifolia, and the British 5'. minor, an interesting little 

 plant for the artificial bog, are among the best, but it is doubtful 

 if they are worth a place in any but a very large collection. 



SEDUM KCKE-Stonecrop. 



Growing on walls, thatched houses, rocks, and sandy places in 

 almost all parts of Britain, this little plant; with its small, thick, 

 bright green leaves and brilliant yellow flowers, is as well known 

 as the common Houseleek. Like the Daisy, it is so very 

 abundant in an uncultivated state that there is rarely occasion 

 to introduce it to gardens, though one of the most brilliant and 

 distinct of its very large family. Sheets of it in bloom look very 



