GENUS 3. 



SAXIFRAGE FAMILY. 



217 



2. Leptasea aizoides (L.) Haw. Yellow 

 Mountain Saxifrage. Fig. 2154. 



TSaxifraga autumnalis L. Sp. PI. 402. 1753. 

 Saxifraga aizoides L. Sp. PI. 403. 1753. 

 Leptasea aizoides Haw. Saxifr. Enum. 40. 1821. 



Tufted, glabrous, stems leafy, 2'-6' high. Leaves 

 alternate, linear, thick, fleshy, mucronate-tipped, 

 narrowed at the base, sessile, 4"-9" long, i"-ij" 

 wide, the margins often sparingly ciliate; flowers 

 several, corymbose, 4"-7" broad; pedicels rather 

 slender; petals oblong, yellow and sometimes spot- 

 ted with orange, exceeding the ovate-oblong calyx- 

 lobes ; carpels abruptly acuminate ; base of the cap- 

 sule adnate to the calyx ; seeds minutely rugose. 



On wet rocks, Newfoundland and Labrador to Ver- 

 mont and western New York, west through arctic 

 America to the Rocky Mountains, south to Michigan. 

 Also in alpine and arctic Europe and Asia. Summer. 

 Also called sengreen saxifrage. 



3. Leptasea tricuspidata (Retz.) Haw. Three-toothed 

 Saxifrage. Fig. 2155. 



Saxifraga tricuspidata Retz, Prodr. Fl. Scand. Ed. 2, 104. 1795. 

 Leptasea tricuspidata Haw. Saxifr. Enum. 39. 1821. 



Tufted, flowering stems strict, erect, 2'-8' high, the leaves 

 densely clustered at the base, oblong or oblong-spatulate, 

 parchment-like, 4"~7" long, sharply 2-3-dentate at the apex, 

 narrowed at the base, sessile, the margins ciliate with short 

 hairs ; scapes bracted ; flowers several, corymbose, yellow, 4"- 

 5" broad ; sepals ovate, coriaceous, obtusish, much shorter than 

 the oblong-obovate or narrowly oblong petals; capsule tipped 

 with the diverging styles, its lower part adnate to the calyx. 



In rocky places, Newfoundland and Labrador to Hudson Bay, 

 west through arctic America to Alaska, south to Lake Superior 

 and in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Also in arctic Europe. 

 Summer. 



4. MICRANTHES Haw. Syn. PI. Succ. 320. 1812. 



Perennial herbs, with short leafy caudices and solitary or clustered scapes, and basal 

 entire or toothed leaves, the flowers in terminal compact or open compound cymes. Calyx- 

 lobes 5, erect or reflexed. Corolla white or mainly so, essentially regular, the petals clawless 

 or rarely clawed. Stamens 10; filaments subulate or clavate. Ovary slightly inferior, the 

 carpels slightly united. Follicles spreading or with spreading tips. [Greek, small-flower.] 



About 65 species, natives of the north temperate and boreal parts of both hemispheres. Type 

 species: Micranthes semipubescens Haw. * 



Filaments subulate or filiform-subulate ; petals not yellow-blotched. 

 Cymules wholly or mainly aggregated into a head ; follicles red. 

 Cymules in pyramidal or corymb-like panicles ; follicles green. 



Corolla white ; petals broad ; calyx-lobes not reflexed at maturity. 



Cymules permanently compact ; petals not twice exceeding the calyx. 



2. M. texana. 

 Cymules ultimately lax ; petals more than twice exceeding the calyx. 



3. M. virginiensis. 

 Corolla greenish ; petals narrow ; calyx-lobes reflexed at maturity. 4. M. pennsylvanica. 



Filaments clavate ; petals yellow-blotched. 



Leaves with elongated blades. 5. M. micranthidifolit 



Leaves with short or suborbicular blades. 



Leaf-blades narrowed at the base ; neither cordate nor of an orbicular type. 



6. M. caroliniana. 

 Leaf-blades cordate at the base, orbicular or nearly so. 7. M. Geum. 



i. M. nivalis. 



