SAXIFRAGE FAMILY 125 



1. P. peltatum Engler. Umbrella Plant. Stout plant 1 to 4 feet high; 

 leaf-blades 1 to 2 feet broad, 9 to 15-lobed, irregularly serrate, the petioles 1 to 

 Sy2 feet high; floAvers 6 to 7 lines broad. 



Banks of rapid mountain streams, 1400 to 5600 feet: Sierra Nevada from 

 Fresno Co. to Siskiyou Co., thence south in the Coast Ranges to Humboldt Co. 

 North to central Oregon. June-July. 



Field note. — This species, the Indian Ehubarb of the pioneers, was first discovered by the 

 members of the Wilkes Expedition on the upper Sacramento River where it forms a fringe along 

 the water's edge from Horseshoe Bend down stream to Lemoine, after which it is frequent as far 

 as Pitt sta. or a few miles below. While a very remarkable plant, the genus Peltiphyllum on the 

 basis of its flower is scarcely separable from Saxifraga. The carpels are only slightly vmited 

 to the calyx and are not "halb unterstandig" as described by Engler. 



An interesting feature of the life history of the plant is to be noted : the leaves of seedlings 

 are orbicular-cordate and not peltate. Sometimes the earliest leaves of the season, arising from 

 rootstocks, are likewise not at all peltate. Yet again early leaves from the rootstock may be 

 peltate with a cleft on the lower side extending half-way to the petiole, thus exhibiting intergrade 

 states to the adult type of leaf. 



The stout fleshy petioles and scapes, with the epidermis peeled, were eaten by the native 

 tribes and, when young, regarded as a delicacy. In our journeys we have tried them and found 

 them pleasant. The great leaves were also used by the Indians as folders in which to wrap 

 newly-caught fish. 



Introduced into Europe in 1872 by the collector, Benito Eoezl, it is now widely cultivated in 

 botanic gardens. Cf. Gartenflora 21:259, t. 735 (1872). 



Logs. — Coast Eanges: headwaters of Mattole River, Jepson; North Fork of Middle Eel 

 River, opposite Red Rock, Jepson; Berry ranch, Redwood Creek, Jepson 1958; Grouse Mt., Tracy 

 4934; Martin Ranch, South Fork Trinity River, Jepson; Noble Ranch, New River, Jepson; Forks 

 of Salmon to Cecilville, Jepson; Salmon road crossing, Etna Creek, Siskiyou Co., Butler 220. 

 Sierra Nevada: Sequoia Lake near Millwood, E. P. Kelley ; Pine Ridge, Fresno Co., Kail 4" 

 Chandler; Lily Creek, Yosemite, Jepson 10,446; Hazel Green, Jepson 13,465; Towle, Placer Co., 

 Sonne; Harts Mill, Butte Co., Jepson; Rich Point, Plumas Co., Jepson; Colby, Butte Co., E. M. 

 Austin; Squaw Creek, McCloud River, Piatt; Castle Rock sta., Sacramento River, Jepson; Horse- 

 shoe Bend, Sacramento River, Jepson. Oregon: East Fork Illinois River, Jepson; Tamba Ranch, 

 Chetco River, Jepson. 



Refs. — Peltiphyllum; peltatum Engler; Engler & Prantl, Nat. Pflzf. 3=":61 (1891); 

 Jepson, Man. 457 (1925). Saxifraga peltata Torr.; Benth. PI. Hartw. 311 (1849), type loe. 

 Pine Creek, Sierra Nevada foothills, Butte Co., Eartweg 246 ; Torr. Phanerogamia of the Pacific 

 Coast, Wilkes Exped. 309, pi. 5 (1874); Jepson, Erythea 5:55 (1897), Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 269 

 (1901), ed. 2, 198 (1911); Hook. f. Bot. Mag. t. 6074 (1874). Lcptarrhena inundata Behr, 

 Proe. Cal. Acad. 1:45, 57 (1855), type loc. Placerville. 



5. BOYKINIA Nutt. 



Perennial herbs with creeping rootstocks. Stems simple, bearing a few alter- 

 nate leaves and paniculate or corymbose cymes of white flowers. Stipules present 

 or none. Calj^x-tube turbinate or subglobose or ovate, V2 to % adherent to the 

 2-celled ovar3^ Petals elliptic to linear, entire, with a short claw, deciduous. Sta- 

 mens 5, short. Styles 2. Capsule 2-beaked. Species 9, North America. (Dr. 

 Boykin of Georgia. ) 



Flowers secund ; corolla slightly irregular ; petals narrow, obtuse at apex ; ovary half inferior. — 

 Subgenus Therofon. 

 Petals cuneate-oblong or obovate, IV^ to 2 lines long, 2 to 3 times as long as the calyx-lobes; 



leaves with stipules !• -S. elata. 



Petals linear-spatulate, 1 line long, little longer than the calyx-lobes ; leaves without stipules. 



2. B. rotundifolia. 

 Flowers in terminal corymbose cymes; corolla regular; petals broad; ovary almost wholly in- 

 ferior. — Subgenus Hemieva. 

 Rootstock or caudex stout, vertical, not bulblet-bearing ; leaves incised; stipules foliaceous, 



conspicuous 3. B. major. 



Rootstock very short, vertical, crowded with bulblets; leaves with 3 nearly distinct leaflets; 

 stipules none 4. B. ranunculifolia. 



1. B. elata Greene. Brook Foam. Stem slender, erect, 1^4 to 2 feet high; 

 herbage nearly giabrous or obscurely or thinly hairy, the structures at base rusty- 



