September 6, 1913. 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE. 
C71 
ANDROSACE LANUGINOSA. 
This is without doubt the loveliest of 
the androsaces when seen in large masses 
covered with flower. Its rosy-lavender 
blossoms, with yellow centres, commence to 
expand during the month of May, and are 
at their best about midsummer or a little 
later, but continue to bloom well into the 
autumn, it being no uncommon occurrence 
to see an example bearing a dozen or more 
flower-heads as late as mid-November. 
Between these two dates it is never en¬ 
tirely flowerless, but generally reaches its 
zenith of perfection early in July. 
In their native altitudes the plants are 
exposed to severe frosts, and during the 
winter are covered with deep snow, but in 
our climate, with its alternations of frost 
considerably from damp in the winter, but 
is less subject to its effects when the 
growths are pendent, and are backe<l by 
rocks. AVhere it is grown on a fiat surface, 
this should be covered with small, flat 
stones, in order to prevent contact with the 
soil. Fibrous loam and peat, with which 
a liberal allowance of rough grit and rock 
chippings is mixed, proves, in most cases, 
a satisfactory compost. Overhead moisture 
during the winter can, to a certain extent, 
be obviate<l by fixing a large pane of glass 
horizontally a few inches aimve the plant, 
or, in the case of large plants, by placing 
a glass light a few inches above them. 
It is surprising what difference of 
opinion exists regarding the culture of the 
breadth. This suddenly dicnl, and for 
some years, though strong young plants 
have been trie<l again and again, and the 
whole of the old soil removed, and prepare<l 
compost of the best description substituted, 
it absolutc'ly refustnl to grow'. 
Wy.\dh.\m Fitzherbert. 
Kingsw'car. 
TRITELEIA UNIFLORA. 
Commonly known as the Sju'ing Star 
Flower, ami passing under the name of Tri- 
teleia unitloia in gar<lens, this bright and 
interi'sting half-hanly, bulbou.'i plant is now 
placiMl by botanists in tln‘ g<'nu.s Hnaliica. 
A native of the southern part of South 
America, chiefly arouml Brnmos .\yi*es, it 
has been know n in gardems since the early 
j)art of last ct'iitury. The <*olour of the 
flowers is reminiscent of the chiono<loxas, 
which bloom two months in advance of the 
s|KH'ies under notice. In other r 4 *spects 
they are quite dissimilar. In Tritoleia the 
flowers are Imrne singly, or more rarely in 
ANDROSACE LANUGINOSA IN A DEVONSHIRE GARDEN. 
The flowers are rose-lavender, and freely produced over a long period. 
and damp, muggy weather, the androsaces 
otten succumb. The silky foliage is 
in colour, and large speci- 
•iil r y.^ appearance of cascades of 
rocks. The mass 
c f '“^f^rated, which measures over four 
tinv is the development of two 
^ Pnt out from thumb pots three 
witif ^ sunny bank, in soil mixed 
proportion of small stones and 
rough gnt. 
lanuginosa makes prostrate 
mav *oot or more in length. Cuttings 
PlaL^i of these, and, if they are 
for a silver sand, and kept close 
Plants! they will soon root, 
thesp ®Pr*ing, a few inches apart, 
stemti n effective mass. Old 
b^r 1 make stronger growth, and 
^ion fo nf bloom. The best posi- 
SrowthQ androsace is one where its 
rocks hang over perpendicular 
silvery, silky foliage often suffers 
subject of this note. A certain writer, 
a very successful rock gardener, once wrote 
of it as “one of the easiest grown of all 
alpine plants,” though, by the way, it 
is a native, not of the Alps, hut of the 
Himalayas. Another w'riter, particularly 
well versed in the culture of alpines and 
such-like subjects, stated, on the other 
hand, that he found no plant more diffi¬ 
cult to cultivate successfully. Between 
these two extremes many instances of par¬ 
tial success or failure are recorded. Thovse 
who experience no difficulty in growing the 
plant fail to understand why others 
are not as successful, while the unfortu¬ 
nates who are unable to prevail upon it 
to live wonder at the easily-gamed 
triumphs of their more favoured brethren. 
Even where Androsace lanuginosa has 
flourished for years it sometimes dies out 
unexpectedly. In one of the best rock 
gardens in Devon this androsace grew' with 
astonishing vigour, and formed a mass 
six feet in length and three feet m 
pairs, on simple stems; the flowers are 
large, over tw'o inches in diameter, and open 
flat; the segments are arrangeLl in two 
series in the form of regular, pointed tri¬ 
angles, hence the popular name of Star 
Flower is suggested. Provided that a sunny 
2>osition and moderate rich, w'ell-drained 
sf>il can be given it, this triteleia will add 
distinction and interest to the garden in 
spring. The best results I have obtained 
w'ere with bulbs planted on low', sunny 
banks, in company with Anemones pulsa- 
tilla and apennina, and Tiarella c^ordifolia. 
In the {bird year after planting the colony 
became so dense as to convey an impression 
similar to that produced by overcrowding 
from seed-sow'ing. To those who garden on 
limestone or chalky soils this is a bulb to 
naturalise freely, as under these conditions 
I have found it most reliable in flowering, 
and prolific in increase, and it is one of the 
least expensive to procure. It is best planted 
in autumn at a depth of two to three inches 
in the soil. Thomas Smith. 
