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PBAGTICAL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS andeosace 



year to keep up a supplj-. It will flourish 

 in sandy peat, loam and leaf soil, and may 

 be planted in rather shaded positions 

 between the crevices of rocks and stones 

 in the rock garden. 



A. Chamsejasme. — A beautiful alpine, 

 3-5 in. high, native of the Tyroiese, 

 Swiss, and Austrian Alps. Leaves lance- 

 shaped, acute, fleshy, tapering towards 

 the base, and forming large but not dense 

 rosettes. Flowers in June, white or blush, 

 changing to deep pink, with a yellow 

 centre, in umbels on short stout stems. 



Culture dc. as above. This is closely 

 related to A. villosa described below. It 

 flourishes in deep, well-drained, rich, 

 loamy soil in the rockery, and is very 

 free when once established. 



A. Charpentieri. — According to M. 

 Correvon 'this is one of the rarest and 

 most remarkable of the Androsaces, rare 

 as it only grows on the rocky ridges of 

 two mountains which overlook the lake 

 of Como, being found nowhere else in the 

 whole world.' It grows in dwarf clumps 

 close to the ground, and has rosettes of 

 thick blunt downy leaves, and beautiful 

 bright pink flowers with a paler centre. 



Culture and, Propagation. — Writing 

 in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' M. Correvon 

 says this interesting plant is not easily 

 cultivated. It grows naturally in gravelly 

 soil composed of scraps of granitic rock, 

 between which it forces its fine and long 

 white rootlets. The soil contains very 

 little humus, and I have even seen young 

 plants shooting up, growing, and develop- 

 ing in broken rocks which certainly did 

 not contain a single scrap of vegetable 

 mould. The crumbled rock, which is 

 always moist, is sufficient for them ; the 

 roots and rootlets draw from it all that 

 the plant requires to sustain life, just as 

 the roots of certain rock plants, which 

 creeping along the fissures of the bluffs 

 draw thence aH that they require for 

 growth and development. Besides this, 

 A. Charpentieri grows in full sun and light 

 in a pure atmosphere charged with mois- 

 ture. It is therefore a mistake to cultivate 

 this plant in pots and in frames, as is 

 usually done. This is how I succeed with 

 it, and how I would advise it to be grown 

 in England : I plant it vipright, between 

 the cracks of two blocks of granite, on a 

 rockery with an eastern aspect, taking 

 care that the fissure is open only on one 

 side, so as to prevent the roots fi:om being 



parched up. I keep it in place by means 

 of little pebbles, which I put round the 

 clump ; for soil I put in the crack a mix- 

 ture of small broken pebbles, granitic 

 sand, and some turfy loam. By following 

 this plan I succeeded in making my 

 plant flower, but it has not produced seed. 

 A root, however, transferred to the alpine 

 garden and planted in a horizontal posi- 

 tion in full sunshine, in poor and light 

 soU, flowered and fi-uited well. 



A. ciliata. —A handsome Pyrenean 

 species 2-3 in. high, forming dense 

 cushions of lance-shaped oblong leaves, 

 smooth on both sides, fringed with hairs 

 on the margins, and imbricated. Flowers 

 in June, deep carmine-red or pinky-rose, 

 just rising above the foliage. 



Culture dc. as above. Exposed parts 

 of the rookery in deep sandy soil. 



A. cylindrica. — A native of the Central 

 Pyrenees on the chalky rocks of St. 

 Bertrand, and very rare. It grows from 

 the rocks in large drooping tufts 2-6 in. 

 long, and has narrow linear-lance-shaped 

 leaves, more or less obtuse, closely set in 

 rather cylindrical rosettes, and covered 

 with simple and starry hairs. Flowers 

 in July and August, solitary, small, white, 

 on slender hairy stalks. Sepals lance- 

 shaped acute, with a prominent green 

 vein. 



Culture Sc. as above. Suimy fissures 

 of the rockery, in sandy peat and loam. 



A. foliosa. — A native of the Western 

 Himalayas with a woody rootstock, 

 having no runners, and sending up one 

 or more very short stems. Leaves 2-3 

 in. long, elliptic or eUiptic-oblong, blunt 

 or acute, hairy. Flowers from May to 

 September, pale flesh colour, about \ in. 

 across, many in an umbel on stalks 3-5 

 in. high. 



Culture Sc. as above. Warm sunny 

 spots in the rockery in sandy loam and 

 peat. 



A. helvetica (A. Aretia). — An attrac- 

 tive Alpine and Pyrenean species about 1 

 in. high, forming dense cushions of small, 

 lance - shaped, blunt, ciliated leaves, 

 closely overlapping each other. Flowers 

 in spring and early summer, white with 

 a yellowish centre, on short stalks. 



Culture So. as above. This little plant 

 requires sunny or slightly shaded positions 

 between large stones in the rockery, and 

 flourishes in sandy loam and peat. 



