Androsace rigida

Primulaceae

Androsace rigida

Androsace rigida

Androsace rigida

The name Androsace brings to mind pictures of high alpine cushions, clinging to the most inaccessible rock crevices, or perhaps grown to perfection as show plants. In fact the genus also includes some that make spreading mats and are easily grown outside without protection, some meadow herbs, and some annual weeds. You won't find the last group here. The majority are high alpines, making cushions or mats of tight rosettes, with short-stems flowers, singly or in small clusters.

Androsace rigida makes wide-spreading mats of rosettes of neat green foliage, with delicate, soft pink flowers in small clusters on short stems.
7 cm pot £4.00

		Androsace carnea subsp. brigantiaca has small rosettes of quite dark green leaves, with short stems bearing clusters of white flowers. It is excellent for a trough or raised bed and doesn’t need winter protection.
		Androsace carnea subsp. laggeri has short stems with heads of bright pink flowers, over loose rosettes of evergreen, linear foliage.
		Androsace carnea subsp. rosea can be woody and tifted forming loose, spreading rosettes. Flowers in umbels are open, cup-shaped, white (or pink) with yellow eyes. It is actually a subspecies of A. carnea but is a more vigorous form with larger rosettes and flowers.
		Androsace carnea SDR6357 has short-stemmed umbels of pink flowers, each with a yellow eye, over a cushion or mat of loose rosettes of evergreen, linear foliage.
		Androsace chamaejasme subsp. carinata has large creamy-white flowers, with a yellow eye, smothering the rosettes of foliage in early summer. Also called the sweet-flowered rock jasmine in its native haunts in the western parts of North America.
		Androsace fedschenkoi is a short-lived species from the eastern part of central Asia, which has lots of flowers during its long flowering season. These white flowers are borne in a loose spray on slender stems above a dense red-green basal rosette.
		Androsace geraniifolia has lobed, long-stalked leaves in a loose clump or mat, and loose umbels of quite large pink or white flowers. It is a woodland species from relatively low altitude (2000 m).
		Androsace lanuginosa 'Leichtlinii' flowers later than most, through the summer and into autumn. It makes long, trailing stems, sometimes rooting along the way, with softly hairy grey leaves. The short upright stems carry heads of flowers, in this form white with a red eye.
		Androsace laxa has rosettes of slightly hairy leaves, the outer ones much larger than the inner ones. The flowers are pink, in small clusters on short stems above the rosettes.
		Androsace sarmentosa is a name that was for a long time applied incorrectly to Androsace studiosorum. The real thing is a rather more delicate plant, with small, lax rosettes of hairy leaves, spreading by runners. The flowers are pink with a yellow eye.
		Androsace sarmentosa CC5557 makes mats of rosettes with softly hairy leaves, spreading by runners. Each rosette has a short stem with a cluster of pink, yellow-eyed flowers.
		Androsace sarmentosa 'Sherriffii' is a strong growing form of Androsace sarmentosa, with numerous rosettes bearing stems of pink flowers with a yellow eye.
		Androsace sempervivoides has small rosettes of green leaves, from which arise short stems with clusters of pink flowers. It quickly spreads by runners to give a mat of rosettes, and doesn't need winter protection.
		Androsace sempervivoides CC4622 has small rosettes of green leaves, from which arise short stems with clusters of pink flowers. It quickly spreads by runners to give a mat of rosettes, and doesn’t need winter protection. This is a collection from Nepal.
		Androsace sempervivoides CC4631 has small rosettes of green leaves, from which arise short stems with clusters of pink flowers. It quickly spreads by runners to give a mat of rosettes, and doesn’t need winter protection. This is a collection from Nepal.
		Androsace sempervivoides CC5299 has clusters of pink flowers on short stems, above rosettes of softly hairy leaves. It spreads by runners to give a mat of rosettes, and doesn’t need winter protection to live, although the flowers will be better without too much winter wet. This is a collection from Nepal.
		Androsace sempervivoides CC5317 spreads by runners to give a mat of rosettes of soft, hairy leaves, each of which produces as short stem bearing a cluster of pink flowers. This collection comes from Nepal.
		Androsace sempervivoides 'Susan Joan' is to all intents and purposes a fine form of Androsace studiosorum, with hairy rosettes, spreading rapidly by runners, with umbels of bright pink flowers.
		Androsace spinulifera SDR6733 is a beautiful plant, taller than the cushion androsaces, with hairy leaves and an umbel of bright reddish pink flowers. It has something of a reputation for being hard to grow, with the small over-wintering rosettes failing to come into growth in the spring, but we don't find this to be a problem, so long as it is given sufficient water in early spring.
		Androsace studiosorum has tight rosettes of small, hairy leaves, which produce short stems, each with a cluster of bright pink flowers with a deeper red eye. It quickly spreads by runners to give a mat of rosettes. It survives well in the open, but flowers better if protected from the worst of the winter wet. This form has been around under the names Androsace primuloides and Androsace sarmentosa.
		Androsace tangulashanensis is very compact, forming mats of fresh green rosettes. The white flowers, with a yellow eye, smother the foliage in early summer. Wonderful for growing between rockery stones.
		Androsace yargongensis is from limestone screes in Yunnan and forms dark green rosettes with white or pink flowers.