3S6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 



mer, the stems dying down every year unlike those of its more 

 familiar relatives ; it thrives best in an open position. 



The well-known Vinca major is very useful on large rockwork, 

 on masses of rootwork, near cascades, &c., and also in rocky 

 places or banks in the wilder parts of pleasure-grounds or by 

 wood walks. There is a variety caUed elegantissima, finely 

 blotched and variegated with creamy white, and several other 

 variegated varieties, all exceedingly useful in the positions above 

 named. The lesser Periwinkle (K minor), a much smaller plant 

 than the preceding, is also useful for like positions ; there are 

 several varieties of it well worthy of cultivation, a white-flowered 

 one {y. ininor alba), one with reddish flowers, one or two double 

 varieties, and also, as of the larger, several variegated forms. 



VIOLA 'BXFUyRA..— Two-flowered Yellow Violet. 



This is a bright little Violet, very widely distributed through 

 Europe, Asia, and America, at present usually seen in such a 

 delicate condition in gardens that few would suspect what 

 a lovely little ornament it is on the Alps, in many parts of 

 which every chink between the moist rocks is densely clothed 

 with it. It even crawls far under the great boulders and rocks, 

 and hnes shallow caves with its fresh verdure and little golden 

 stars. It is readily known from any other cultivated species 

 by -its very small but bright-yellow flowers, the lips streaked 

 with black, being usually borne in pairs, and by its kidney- 

 or heart-shaped leaves. In our gardens its home wiU be on 

 the rockwork, running about among such plants as the yellow 

 annual Saxifrage, the Dog Violet, Arenaria balearica, &c., in 

 moist and half neglected spots. It will be found especially 

 useful on large rockworks, where rude flights of stone are con- 

 structed to give one or more winding pathways over the mass, 

 as it will run through every chink between the steps, and tend 

 to make them, as well as the most select spots, replete with 

 life and interest. If obtained in a small or weakly condition, 

 it may seem difficult to establish, but this is not by any means 

 the case ; once fairly started in a moist and half-shady spot, 

 it soons "begins to creep about rapidly, and may then be readily 

 increased by division. When well established on suitable rock- 

 work, it is able to talie cai'e of itself. 



