2l8 



SAXIFRAGACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



i. Micranthes nivalis (L.) Small. Clustered Alpine 

 Saxifrage. Fig. 2156. 



Saxifraga nivalis L. Sp. PI. 401. 1753. 



Micranthes nivalis Small, N. A. Flora 22 2 : 136. 1905. 



Seldom over 6' high. Scape viscid, naked, or bracted at 

 the base of the capitate sometimes branched inflorescence ; 

 leaves ovate or oval, narrowed into a margined petiole, 

 thick; flowers white, 3" -5" broad, in a compact cluster; 

 calyx-lobes ovate or oblong, spreading, obtuse, about one- 

 half the length of the oblong or oblong-ovate petals; ovary 

 half-inferior; follicles deep purple, divergent. 



Labrador and arctic America, south in the Rocky Mountains 

 to Arizona. Also in northern and alpine Europe and Siberia. 

 Summer. Said to flower beneath the snow. 



2. Micranthes texana (Buck!) Small. 

 Saxifrage. Fig. 2157. 



Texan 



Saxifraga texana Buckl. Proc. Acad. Phila. 1861 : 455. 



1862. 

 Micranthes texana Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 501. 1903. 



Scape sparingly pubescent up to the inflorescence, 

 2*-7' high. Leaves ovate to obovate, narrowed into 

 broad petioles, entire or shallowly toothed, \'-2\' long; 

 inflorescence with the branches ending in congested 

 cymules; flowers white, regular, 2" -3" broad; calyx- 

 lobes erect, broadly oblong to ovate, somewhat shorter 

 than the suborbicular or obovate petals; follicles erect 

 or nearly so. 



On hillsides or in sandy barrens, Missouri and Texas. 

 March-April. 



3. Micranthes virginiensis (Michx.) Small. Early Saxifrage. Fig. 2158. 



Saxifraga virginiensis Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 260. 



1803. 

 Micranthes virginiensis Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 501. 



1903. 



Scape viscid-pubescent, 4'-i2' high, naked, or 

 with a few bracts at the base of the pedicels. 

 Leaves obovate, or oval with a spatulate base, 

 narrowed into a margined petiole, dentate or 

 crenate, obtuse or acutish at the apex, i'-3' 

 long or longer; inflorescence cymose, at length 

 loose and paniculate with the lower peduncles 

 elongated; flowers white, regular, 2"-$" broad; 

 calyx-lobes erect, triangular or triangular-ovate, 

 much shorter than the oblong-spatulate, obtuse 

 petals ; ovary nearly free from the calyx ; carpels 

 nearly separate, the follicles at length widely 

 divergent. 



In dry or rocky woodlands, New Brunswick to 

 Minnesota, south to Georgia and Tennessee. As- 

 cends to 3500 ft. in Virginia. March-May. Forms 

 with 15 stamens occur on New York Island, and 

 with green petals in Essex Co., Mass. Spring-saxi- 

 frage. May-flower. Sweet wilson. Everlasting. 



