188 SAXIFRAGES. 



sides : fl. as in the last, but petals longer, scarcely unguiculate, and 

 stamens with petaloid-dilated filaments : capsule inflated-ovate. — From 

 Sonoma Co., northward in the Coast Range. 



4 S. jestivalis, Fisch. Ind. Sem. Petr. ii. 37 (1835) : S. argufa, Don.' 

 Saxifr. 356 ? (1822) : S. punctata of Bot. Calif., not Linn. Scape and 

 leaves from a short thick creeping rootstock, glabrous or pubescent, deep 

 green or reddish, sHghtly fleshy : leaves on long petioles, reniform or 

 round-cordate, equally and deeply dentate ; petioles scarcely dilated 

 except at the insertion : panicle narrow : petals oval, obtuse, unguicu- 

 late, white, with a pair of yellow sjjots at base of blade : some of the 

 dilated filaments antherless and petaloid : capsule oblong. — Margins of 

 alpine brooks in the high Sierra, and common far northward ; variable in 

 size, mostly larger than other species of the group. 



* * Stems short, cespiiose, very leafy; leaves evergreen. 



5. S. ledifolia, Greene, Pittonia, ii. 101 (1890) : S. Tolmiei, Gray, Bot. 

 Calif, i. 195, not T. & G. Branches stoutish, ascending, very leafy : 

 leaves spatulate-oblong, obtuse, entire, 6—8 lines long : peduncles 

 terminal at the ends of leafy shoots, stout, 3 — 4 in. high, cymosely 5 — 15- 

 flowered : calyx nearly free from the ovary, the almost distinct sepals 

 erect : petals lanceolate, white, twice the length of the sepals : filaments 

 dilated at summit : capsule large, purplish. — Moist open ground on 

 alpine summits of the Sierra Nevada. Aug., Sept. 



* * * Stout slemless riparian herb; leaves broad, peltate. 



6. S. peltata, Torr. in Benth. PI. Hartw. 311 (1849), and Bot. Wilkes 

 Exp. 309. t. 5 (1862) ; Hook. f. Bot. Mag. t. 6074. Leptarrhena immdala, 

 Behr, Proc. Calif. Acad. i. 45 & 57 (1855). Scape (vernal) and leaves 

 (appearing later) from stout horizontal rootstocks 1 — 3 in. thick ; 

 peduncles and petioles 1 — 3 ft. high : blade of leaf orbicular, centrally 

 peltate, 6 — 14 in. broad, 9 — 14-lobed, membranaceous, with a short- 

 funuelform concavity over the insertion upon the petiole : fl. cymose- 

 panicled, large, rose-color or nearly white : calyx 5-parted, nearly free 

 from the ovary, the segments spreading in fruit : petals round-oval, 2- -3 

 lines long, persistent and at length larger : filaments subulate : follicles 

 distinct, divergent, turgid-ovate. — Along rocky margins of rivers and 

 streams in the foothills and at middle elevations in the Sierra Nevada ; 

 the rootstocks mostly submersed ; scapes and flowers appearing in 

 spring, the leaves some weeks later. One of the largest and most 

 remarkable of saxif rageous herbs ; the fleshy rhizomes said to be pala- 

 table and nutritious insomuch as to have been in requisition for food 

 with the aborigines of the mountain districts. Apr. — June. 



* * * * Slemless; root conn-like; calyx canipanulale, free from the ovary. 



7. S. Parryi, Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 69. t. 25 (1859). Scapes 

 (autumnal) and leaves (vernal) 2 — 6 in. high, slender, pubescent ; leaf- 



