SAXIFRAGACE.E, (SAXIFBAGE FAMILY.) 145 



4. SAXIPRAGA, L. Saxifrage. 



Calyx free, or cohering with the base of the ovary, deeply 5-cleft. Petals 

 5, commonly deciduous. Stamens 10. Styles 2. Capsule 2-celled, 2-beaked 

 opening between the beaks. Seeds numerous, smooth. — Lowest leaves 

 clustered. 



* Stems leaf I/. 



1. S. leucanthemifolia, Michx. Hairy and clammy; leaves spatulate, 

 coarsely toothed, tajjering into a long winged petiole; tlie upper ones linear; 

 panicle diffuse ; petals clawed, unecpial, white, the .3 larger ones spotted with 

 yellow. — Mountains of North Carolina. July. — Stem 10' - 20' high. 



* * Ste/iis naked , scape-like. 



2. S. erosa, Pursh. Leaves oblong, tapering to the base, sharply toothed ; 

 scape clammy-pubescent ; panicle long, slender, loosely flowered ; sepals re- 

 flexed, nearly as long as the oval white petals ; stigmas sessile. — Shady 

 banks of streams on the mountains of North Carolina. July. — Scape l°-3° 

 high. Leaves 8'- 12' long. 



3. S. Virginiensis, Michx. Pubescent ; leaves somewhat fleshy, obo- 

 vate, crenately toothed ; scape clammy ; panicle cymose, dense-flowered ; 

 sepals erect, not half as long as the oblong obtuse white petals ; styles short. 



— Rocks on the mountains of Georgia and Carolina. April - May. — Scape 

 4'- 12' high. 



4. S. Careyana, Gray. Smooth or pubescent ; leaves broadly ovate, 

 crenately or sharply toothed, abruptly contracted into a slender petiole ; 

 scape slender; panicle loosely flowered; sepals spreading, half as long as the 

 lanceolate-oblong, white, faintly spotted petals; filaments filiform. — Moi.st 

 shady rocks, on the high mountains of North Carolina. June. — Plant 6' 

 high. 



5. S. Caroliniana, Gray. Glandular-pubescent ; leaves all radical, del- 

 toid or ovate, coarsely toothed, abruptly contracted into a margined petiole ; 

 bracts of the scape few ; panicle diffuse ; petals ovate, white, with 2 pale 

 spots below the middle, twice the length of the reflexed sepals; filaments 

 club-shaped; carpels turgid, free from the calyx, at length widelv spreading. 



— Damp sliady places on the mountains of North Carolina. May - June. — 

 Scape 6'- 12' high. 



5. ASTILBE, Hamilton. 



Flowers polygamo-dicecious. Calyx campanulate, .'5-parted, nearly free from 

 the ovary. Petals 5, spatulate, withering-persistent. Stamens 10, exserted, 

 Styles 2. Capsule 2-celled, few-seeded. Seed-coat loose and thin. — Perennial 

 herbs, with ternately compound leaves, and small yellowish white flowers, in 

 panicled racemes. 



1. A. dccandra, Don. Stem 3° -.5° high; leaves twice or thrice ter- 

 nately compound ; tlie leaflets mostly cordate-ovate, sharply lobed and toothed 

 Stigmas of tlie sterile flowers and the stamens and petals of the fertile ones 

 smaller or rudimentary. — Banks of streams among the mountains of Georgia 

 and North Carolina. June -August. 



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