248 
FLORA AND SVLVA 
suffer from late frosts, so that sheltered | 
corners should be given when possible, 
and they are not averse to a little shade. 
For the best effect the strong-growing 
large-leaved kinds should be massed \ 
freely with other fine-leaved plants at 
the edges of lawns or as a bold edging 
to the shrubbery. In formal gardening 
their massive foliage is well seen in the 
ornamental vases so common in old-time 
gardens, and it associates well with the 
stonework of terraces and formal edg- 
ings. They may also be used very happily 
upon banks of the woodland garden, and 
mixed with Ferns and Hellebores. The 
tender kinds are happiest in the rock- 
garden where they can be sheltered by 
a handlight in spring. In some con- 
ditions these giant Rockfoils are worth 
a place under glass in winter, where 
they flower early and are worth growing 
for the sake of the fine leaves alone. A 
good way is to plant them out in rich 
soil after flowering, water them freely 
all the summer, and if potted carefully 
into large tubs in October they keep in 
fine condition all the winter. 
The plants are so hardy that no soil 
can be called too bad for them, and in- 
crease is easy by seeds, by cuttings, or 
division every second or third year. 
Dividing should be done immediately 
after flowering, and though cuttings will 
root at almost any season, they are best 
made at about the same time. When 
the tips of long woody stems are taken 
as cuttings, side-shoots break all down 
the old stems, but these seldom flower 
till their second year of growth. Where 
it is desired to enjoy the autumn leaf- 
colour of such kinds as Stracheyi and 
purpurascens^2.x\.A hybrids such 2.^Bril- 
Iiant?indi C or a lie ^ they should be grown 
in open places and in rather poor soil, 
the finer shades of red, crimson, and 
yellow, being seen only under such con- 
ditions. The finest of all in this way is 
a new and little known kind, M.yun- 
7ia7ie7ise^ which is well spoken of by all 
who have grown it. The plants seed 
freely and many fine crosses, varied as 
to habit and colour of flower, have been 
raised by Mr. Thos. Smith of Newry, 
the hybrids of cordifolia and purpur- 
asce?is proving especially rich and vigor- 
ous. Seven or eight species are known, 
all coming from the Himalayas and the 
mountains of eastern Siberia, this group 
of Saxifraga being unknown in other 
parts of the world. The kinds may be 
known by the following brief descrip- 
tions : — 
Megasea Aitchisoni. — Quite a new early- 
flowering species of dwarf growth, with small 
erect leaves edged with fine hairs, and pretty- 
white flowers. Mr. G. Reuthe, in whose col- 
lection it appears, assures me that the plant is 
distinct and fully hardy. 
Megasea cordifolia. — This and the next kind 
come very near together and are possibly forms 
of the same plant, brought from Siberia in 
1779. From its hardiness and vigour it is the 
commonest kind in gardens, with glossy almost 
heart-shaped leaves which are larger, broader, 
and more undulating than in crassifolia, and 
broken at the edges into little rounded notches. 
The rosy flowers are larger, later in coming, 
and free from the trace of lilac seen in crassi- 
folia, clustered also in denser masses and held 
more erect. A good variety is cdWtd purpurea, 
a plant of very strong growth and fine ever- 
green foliage tinged with bronze. The flowers 
are of a deeper rosy-purple coming in heavy 
clusters upon vivid red stems of nearly 2 feet 
— one of the finest kinds for massing. The 
so-called white form is not pure, though nearly 
free from colour when grown under glass. 
