JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 17, 1882. ] 
freely that the plant has a very pleasing appearance when grown 
in a basket suspended from the roof of the Orchid house. It was 
introduced about twenty years ago, but was only certificated last 
year when shown by Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons of Chelsea at the 
meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, June 28th. A very 
distinct and beautiful variety was exhibited at the last meeting 
of the above Society, August 8th, by Mr. Ballantine, gardener to 
Baron Sehioder, The Dell, Egham. This was named P. violacea 
Schrcederi, and the Floral Committee awarded a first-class certifi¬ 
cate for it. It is distinguished from the typical form by the 
155 
flowers being of a uniform bright purplish tint, the petals not 
being whitish at the points as in the species. Another pretty 
variety, P. v. Murtoniana, is also known, a yellow hue being 
largely present in the blooms. 
ANDROSACES. 
This is a charming little group of Alpine flowers belonging to 
the Primula family, the floral structure being very similar to 
that of the genus Primula, but differs in the corolla mouth, which 
is very much contracted in Androsace. There is a number of 
species, especially if we include the sub-genus Aretia. Regardless 
of them, however, the species of the genus proper are numerous, 
inhabiting the mountainous regions of Europe, more particularly 
extending from Siberia to the Pyrenees, while a few occur in the 
upper parts of the Himalayas ; indeed, there may be several 
indigenous to the latter part yet undiscovered, as the flora of 
those regions is by no means fully worked out. There is nothing 
in these plants conspicuously attractive, but their very simplicity 
is quite sufficient to interest all lovers of Alpine plants. A. sar- 
mentosa is certainly pretty, and it has been received well by the 
floricultui al world generally, but the other species are only known 
to specialists, which are comparatively few in this country. The 
reasons for this are manifold, the primary one being, perhaps, 
that there has not been sufficient care bestowed upon them under 
cultivation, the result of which has been frequent loss. In 
the cultivation of Alpine plants, it must be confessed we are 
far in the rear of our continental brethren, and I do not forget 
that their climate generally is more conducive to the well-being 
of such plants, and amongst English gardeners as a whole there 
is a great lack of knowledge respecting them. They are most 
studiously cultivated by many on the continent absolutely for 
the love of them, and, in my opinion, the absence of such en¬ 
thusiasm is the chief cause why so many of our Alpines have been j 
