Androsace villosa

Androsace villosa is an alpine plant, widespread in the mountains of Europe and Asia. It is frequently grown by alpine gardeners.[1]

Androsace villosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Primulaceae
Genus: Androsace
Species:
A. villosa
Binomial name
Androsace villosa

Description

A. villosa is very variable. The typical form grown in gardens is a small tufted or mat-forming perennial, with rosettes of linear to elliptical leaves, up to 1.5 cm across. The leaves have fine hairs underneath, particularly towards the tips. The flowers, which are 6–10 mm in diameter, are in umbels on stems up to 3 cm tall. They vary in colour from white to red-purple, with a pink or yellow eye. The white forms may age to pink.[1]

Distribution

In the wild, A. villosa grows on limestone mountains in Europe and Asia, usually on rocky slopes above 1500 m.[1]

Cultivation

Androsace villosa is widely grown in rock gardens. A number of forms are in cultivation:[1]

  • A. villosa var. arachnoidea has a compact habit and more woolly rosettes.
  • A. villosa var. taurica (syn. A. taurica) has pink flowers with a red eye.
  • A. villosa var. jacquemontii, from the Himalaya above 3500 m, is stoloniferous, spreading to form large mats. The leaves are more densely hairy; the flowers are red-purple with a greenish-yellow eye. It is sensitive to winter wet.
Androsace villosa var. jacquemontii

References
  1. Beckett, K., ed. (1993), Encyclopaedia of Alpines : Volume 1 (A–K), Pershore, UK: AGS Publications, ISBN 978-0-900048-61-6, pp. 78–79
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