Authors: L.
Widespread and variable this species is largely represented in gardens by A.v. var. typica. This is tufted or small mat-forming with rosettes of rounded form to 1.5cm across. Leaves linear to broadly elliptic, silky hairy beneath, particularly at the tips. Flowers 6-10mm in diameter, white with a yellow eye, sometimes aging pink with a red eye, in compact umbels on stems to 3cm in height. Europe and Asia, in limestone mountains generally above 1500m, on rocky slopes sometimes with grasses. i s16 2 A.v. var. arachnoidea has a more compact habit and woollier rosettes. A.v. var. taurica (syn. A. taurica) is always pink with a red eye. A.v. var. jacquemontii. This distinct variety merits a detailed description, being stoloniferous and more widely mat-forming. Stolons red and silky hairy. Winter rosettes dense and globular, 5-10mm across; summer rosettes spreading, to 1.5cm wide. Leaves elliptic, grey-green and densely silky hairy, sometimes with red glands at the tips. A few longer, narrower leaves also form at the base of each red-flowering stem. Flowers a little larger than var. typica, red-purple with a greenish-yellow eye, in compact umbels on stems 2-4cm in height. Indian Himalaya above 3580m. A desirable plant which thrives outside in a raised scree bed, ideally with a pane of glass to keep off winter wet. [Pl.25]
a, A. lactea; b, A. rotundifolia; c, A. sarmentosa; d, A. villosa;
