90 ALPINES AND BOG-PLANTS 



duces astonishing differences in the flora. Androsace 

 Otamaejasme is replaced by A. obtusifoUa. Aster alpintis 

 is abundant in the higher reaches, with Ranunculus pyre- 

 naeus and Androsace camea ; and of larger things the big 

 gentians are very abundant, every possible hybrid of 

 purpurea occurring in every conceivable shade of colour, 

 from dull tawny to claret. 



Androsace camea is a pretty treasure, whose merit has 

 been obscured by the greater merit of his major eximia, 

 and his minor Laggeri. The type carnea is a thin and 

 wiry-leaved species, quite dwarf, with a head of rather 

 pale little Primula-flowers. Eanmia has much broader, 

 solider, glossier leaves, with bigger flowers, more abundant, 

 and of a much deeper pink. The type, however, is very 

 well worth growing, and, with eximia, has the strong 

 recommendation of being perfectly easy to grow, quite 

 trustworthy and robust, preferring a light, rich peaty 

 soil, and needing no glass protection in winter, as do the 

 downy-leaved species from the higher Alps and the 

 Himalya. In point of fact, the cultivator can always 

 tell the easier Androsaces by the fact that their leaves 

 are thin, leathery, and devoid of down. 



Another in this blessed category is A. vitaliana — some- 

 times called Aretia vitaliana — pardonably, too, as it is so 

 unlike the other Androsaces. It makes a prostrate mat 

 of dark green, furry branches, and then emits a quantity 

 of brilliant golden-yellow flowers, in shape and almost in 

 size recalling those of Jasminum primulinum. This plant, 

 though perfectly easy and safe in any soil and any decent 

 aspect, must yet be bought with caution. There is a thin- 

 leaved, sparse-blooming, small-flowered form of A. vita- 

 liana ; and there is also a stalwart form, with leaves slightly 

 broader, more robust-looking, hemmed with a ciliation of 

 white down, which produces a splendid abundance of big 

 flowers, whose colour is of the richest, softest, imperial 



