2IO 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



rambles. Plants of all sizes, from tiny 

 roots just starting on their own, to pa- 

 triarchal tufts 2 feet across, that must 

 (so slowly does it spread) have seen the 

 sun in the days when the greatNapoleon 

 called away the peasant from the brush- 

 grown terraces below to die on theplains 

 of Italy, and Massena drilled his men in 

 the fortress -crowned rock across the 

 valley. Thousands of starry blue flowers, 

 nearly an inch across and not unlike the 

 Spring Star Flower,but balanced quiver- 

 ing upon slender rush-like stems of dull 

 dark green, and freely intermingled — 

 by chance, or that inscrutable desig?i 

 which never errs — with such a sprink- 

 ling of the pretty little Onjon Asphodel 

 [Asph odelus fistulosus) with its branching 

 spikelets, as to form a perfect miniature 

 in Nature's picture-gallery. I left them 

 as I found them, save for a gathered 

 flower or two, and a tiny root which 

 might remind me in days to come of its 

 home amid the sunny hills of Provence, 

 and there, I doubt not, they await some 

 other wanderer to whom I willingly 

 bequeath his meed of joy. 



Though perfectly hardy, beautiful, 

 and curious in its structure, the Aphyll- 

 anthus is a scarce plant in Britain, hardly 

 seen outside botanical gardens and rare- 

 ly ofTered by the trade. Even in Europe 

 it is little known, being confined to the 

 sunny hillsides of southern France — a 

 region rich in floral treasures. As a neat 

 perennial, thriving for years without at- 

 tention in sunny corners of the rock- 

 garden, its charming flowers might en- 

 rich many a choice collection of hardy 

 plants. There are no true leaves, only a 

 dense tuft of upright rush-like stems of 



8 to 1 2 inches, at the very tip of which 

 the flowers burst forth, of a rich gentian 

 blue and borne in succession from May 

 j till late in summer. At all times of slow 

 ! growth and with little root,old tufts need 

 dividing with care; it may also be raised 

 in a cool house, from seeds sown in pots 

 as soon as ripe. To do well in our climate 

 it should be planted in light soil such as 

 sandy peat or almost pure sand, with as 

 sunny a spot as can be found; grown in 

 this way it has proved hardy without pro- 

 tection, and flowered freely as far north 

 as Yorkshire and the north of Ireland, 

 so that there are many gardens where 

 this dainty and interesting little stranger 

 might fittingly find a home. — B. 



COLLECTIONS OF OUR DAY: 

 CASTLEWELLAN. 



Ireland is a land of castles, or country 

 houses so called, but there is only one 

 Castlewellan, and its garden vegetation 

 so far as trees and shrubs are concerned 

 is certainly unique in its variety and 

 importance. The residence and home 

 grounds lie in a picturesque and undu- 

 lating valley, the soil being a rich and 

 fertile loam on the granite formation. 

 Around on nearly all sides rise the bold 

 and rocky declivities of the Mourne 

 Mountains,and the Slieve Donard is seen 

 towering skywards to a height of nearly 

 3,000 feet. The valley of Castlewellan 

 lies open towards the sea, which is only 

 three miles away, and, no doubt, exer- 

 cises a softening influence on the cli- 

 matic conditions of the locality. The 

 mountain and coast line scenery of the 

 whole district is remarkably bold and 



