Saxifraga. SAXIFRAGACE;E. 671 



than of S. stellaris. We have not boen able to rompare tlio Amcriran plant 

 with tlie European S. leucantlicinilblia (S. Clusii, Ci'ouan.), wliicli appears 

 from the description to be llie same. 



§ 7. Caudex above the ground none : stem {scape) annual, leafless : floivers 

 small, glomerate or cymose : calyx adherent to the ovary at Oie base: petals 

 scarcely unguiculatc : filaments short, subulate. — Micrantties, Tausch. 



■^ 28. S. 7iivalis (Linn.) : leaves ovate or obovatc, coriaceous, crenatc, atten- 

 uate into a broad petiole ; scape naked ; flowers cajiitate, sessile ; the capitu- 

 lum sometimes branched ; ovary half inferior ; segments of the calyx erect, 

 obtuse ; petals persistent, obovate, scarcely twice the lengtli of the calyx. 

 Hook. 



a. flowers in a dense head. Hook. — S. nivalis, Linn. ! spec. I. p. 401 (excl. 

 syn. Gronov. .') ; Engl. hot. t. 440 ; Pursh,fl. \.p. 310 ; 7^. Br. ! in Parry's 

 2nd voy. suppl. p. 275 ; Scringe! in DC prodr. 4. p. 38; Hook.! fl. Bor.- 

 Am.l.p. 248. 



0. heads loose, branched. Hook.fl. Bor.-Am. I. c. 



Arctic America, from Greenland ! Labrador and Melville Island ! to Una- 

 laschka. Also on the Rocky Mountains (Drummond) to lat. 41°, Dr. James! 

 Canada, Pursh. — Hooker remarks that the American specimens often ap- 

 proach so closely to some of the varieties of the succeeding species that it is 

 difficult to distinguish them. Flowers white. Capsules deep purple. 



- '29. S. Vir gini ensis {Michx.) : leaves oblong or ovate, or spatulate-obovate, 

 thickish but scarcely coriaceous, crenately toothed, attenuate into a broad pe- 

 tiole ; scape mostly naked, panieulately branched at the summit ; flowers in 

 dense, or at length open, cymose clusters ; calyx adhering to the base of the 

 ovary only ; the segments erect, obtuse, not half the length of the oblong ob- 

 tuse petals ; carpels (purple) united at the base only, at length divaricate. — 

 Michx.! fl. \.p. 269; Pursh, fl. I. p. 310 ; Don, Saxifr. I. c. p. 386; Ell. 

 sk. \.p. 311 ; Torr. ! fl. 1. p. 444 ; Hook.fl. Bor.-Am. \.p. 248 ; Darlingt. 

 fl. Cest.p. 270. S. Virginica, Pers. ; Nutt. gen. 1. p. 285. S. vernalis, 

 Willd.! hort. Berol. t. 43; Bigel. fl. Bast. ed. 2. p. 177; Hook.! I. c. 

 S. nivalis, Muhl. cat.! P. elongata, Stcrnb. Saxifr. p. 9. t. 4. 



On rocks and dry hills, Canada ! to the Mountains of Georgia : west to 

 the Mississippi. Also on the Saskatchawan, Richardson! and along the 

 Oregon River, Douglas, ex Hook. April-June.— Scape 4-12 inches high, 

 viscous-pubescent or a little glandular. Bracts linear, the lower ones some- 

 times leaf-like. Petals white, sometimes, as well as the calyx-segments, 

 ti]iped with purple. — We perceive no essential difference between the S. 

 Virginicnsis & S. vernalis of Hooker. When the plant commences to flow- 

 er, the cymose clusters are short and dense ; but in their farther deyelope- 

 ment these clusters assume that form of centrifugal inflorescence which we 

 perceive in Penthorum sedoides and other Crassulacea;, as also in Hyperi- 

 cum angulosum (See p. 1C4 of this volume). We have sometimes observed 

 a 6-cleft calyx, 6 petals, and 12 stamens. 



30. S. Pennsylvanica (Linn.) : leaves oblanceolate or oval, attenuate 

 / into a short riiargined petiole, obsoletely denticulate, slightly pubes- 

 cent ; scape naked, striate, viscous-pubescent; cymes in a large oblong 

 panicle, at length rather loose ; the flowers pedicellate ; segirients of the 

 calyx triantrular-lanceolate, recurved, scarcely as long as the linear-lanceo- 

 late 1-nerved petals ; the tube adherent to the base of the ovary only; stig- 

 mas globose, subsessile ; ovary at first depressed ; carpels at length distinct 

 above, divertrent.— Li?m. .' s])ec. 1. p. 399 (excl. syn. Pluk.) ; Michx. ! fl. 1. 

 ^.269; Pursh! fl. I p. 211; Don! Saxifr. I.e. p. 384; Torr.! fl. 1. p. 



