148 ALPINES AND BOG-PLANTS 



Of the Snapdragons, those who wish can naturalise 

 Antirrhinum majus in any or all of its forms on sunny 

 rocks ; I content myself with several less showy yet 

 equally pretty southerners — asarinum, sempervirens, and 

 glwtinosum. Of these asarinum has fleshy, trailing stems, 

 with large, soft, rounded leaves and a quantity of big 

 creamy Snapdragons nestling among them, while semper- 

 virens and glutinosum make stiffish little bushes among 

 the rocks, with quantities of smaller blossoms along their 

 small-leaved, greyish branches. These are all lovers of 

 drought and sun ; therefore of doubtful hardiness in 

 many parts of England. But these half-hardies, as the 

 lady says of English women in ' Le Monde oil Von s''ennuie^ 

 ' ont (Taimables surprises,'' and I, who had always found 

 sempervirens and glutinosum dead after an average 

 winter, am now overwhelmed with astonishment to see 

 that they have sailed triumphantly through the mon- 

 strous inclemencies of 1906-7, and are breaking up into 

 vigorous little masses once again. Asarinum I planted 

 high and dry ; and yet I have known some incalculable 

 survivals here and there in the dampest, dankest, most 

 unpromising places. 



Linaria anticaria is a pretty dwarf thing, rather like a 

 much magnified Linaria alpina, with flowers which vary 

 infinitely from seed — some being dowdy and quite un- 

 worthy, while others are very fascinating — white and 

 velvety brown. Linaria repens is abundant on the walls 

 of Oxford and elsewhere, a tall plant with very long 

 close spikes of tiny purple flowers. This plant is only 

 admissible into the roughest wilds, for it ramps most 

 grievously and makes itself quite a nuisance. Its variety 

 alba has rather larger flowers, set more loosely on shorter 

 spikes, and altogether is much slighter in growth and 

 more graceful in effect. But even this should be used 

 with caution. Linaria dalmatica and Linaria dalmatica 



