500 SAXIFEAGACEAE 



in the ovary. Ovules numerous, anatropous. Fruit a capsule or follicle. Seeds 

 commonly numerous, with copious fleshy endosperm. Embryo terete. 



Leaves with simple blades: flowers perfect. 



Placentae parietal, sometimes nearly basal: ovary 1-celled. 



Flowers solitary and axillary to leaf-like bracts, or 2-4 in corymbs each with a leaf-like 

 bract. 

 Sepals, and petals, 5: stamens 10: gynoeeium 3-carpellary: annuals. 1. Lepuropetalon. 

 Sepals, and petals, 4: stamens 4-8; gynoeeium 2-carpellary: per- 

 ennials. 2. Chrysosplenium. 

 Flowers in elongated racemes or panicles. 

 Gynoeeium of 2, or 3, equal carpels. 



Petals pinnately cleft or pinnatifid. 3. Mitella. 



Petals entire or toothed. 4. Heuchera. 



Gynoeeium of 2 very unequal carpels. 5. Tiarella. 



Placentae axile: ovary 2-celled. 



Stamens 5: ovary almost all adnate to the hypanthium. 6. Therophon. 



Stamens 10: ovary adnate to the hypanthium only at the base. 



Corolla regular, the petals essentially similar. 7. Micranthes. 



Corolla irregular, the petals of 2 kinds. 8. Hydatica. 



Leaves with 3-ternate blades: flowers polygamous. 9. Astilbe. 



1. LEPUROPETALON Ell. 



Annual diminutive terrestrial herbs. Leaf -blades entire. Petals white. Stamens 

 10. Styles 3. 



1. Lepuropetalon spathul^tuxn (Muhl.) Ell. Plants glabrous, in patches 1-15 

 cm. wide: leaf -blades spatulate, 2-6 mm. long: sepals ovate, about 1 mm. long: 

 petals broad: follicles short-beaked. 



In clay soil, South Carolina and Georgia to Texas and Mexico. Spring. 



2. CHRYSOSPLENIUM L. 



Perennial (ours) semiaquatic herbs. Leaf-blades crenate or lobed. Petals want- 

 ing. Stamens mostly 4-8. Styles 2. 



1. Chrysosplenium Americ^num Schwein. Plants decumbent, 2-20 cm. long : 

 leaf -blades suborbicular to orbicular-reniform, 4-20 mm. broad: sepals 4, yellowish or 

 purplish within: fruit about 3 mm. long. 



In brooks and wet shaded soil, Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan, Georgia and Minnesota. 

 Spring. Golden Saxifrage. Watek-caepet. 



3. MITELLA L. 



Perennial herbs with lateral flowering branches. Leaf -blades lobed and toothed. 

 Flowers in racemes. Sepals equal. Petals pectinately pinnatifid. Stamens 10: fila- 

 ments very short. Styles very short. Capsule abruptly narrowed near the apex. 



MiTREWORT. 



1. Mitella diphylla L. Plants 2-4 dm. tall: leaf -blades ovate to orbicular- 

 ovate in outline, 3-5-lobed, 3-8 cm. long: sepals ovate, 1-1.5 mm. long, acute: petals 

 2.5-3 mm. long: capsules 2-beaked at the apex, about 3 mm. long. 



In woods, Quebec to Minnesota, North Carolina and Missouri. Spring. Bishop's Cap. 



4. HEUCHERA L. 



Perennial herbs with lateral flowering branches. Leaf -blades toothed and usually 

 lobed. Flowers in panicled cymes. Sepals often unequal. Petals entire or toothed. 

 Stamens 5: filaments elongated. Styles slender. Capsules gradually narrowed into 

 slender elongated beaks. Alum-root. Eock Geranium. 



Flowers essentially regular, the upper sepals sometimes slightly larger than the lower. 

 Petals much exceeding the calyx, with long very slender claws and long blades. 



Leaves, at least the larger ones, with low rounded lobes: panicle-branches filiform or 

 capillary. 

 Sepals acute or acutish, ovate, much shorter than the hypanthium 



during anthesis: petioles villous. 1. H. parviflora. 



Sepals obtuse, broadly ovate, as long as the hypanthium during 



anthesis or nearly so: petioles puberulent. 2. H. puberula. 



Leaves, at least the larger ones, with prominent angled lobes: panicle- 

 branches slender. 



