Il6 SAXIFRAGE FAMILY 



1. S. peltata Torr. Indian Rhubarb. A pubescent per- 

 ennial with creeping rootstocks, the stems (1 to 3 ft.) bearing 

 loose panicles of rose-color or nearly white flowers. Leaves 

 roundish, ^ to 2 ft. broad, coarsely lobed and irregularly 

 toothed, with a short-funnelform cavity over the insertion 

 of the long petiole. Petals about %. in. long. (Peltiphyllum 

 peltatum Engl.) — Along rocky margins of streams at middle 

 and lower altitudes, the flowers appearing before the leaves. 

 Locally noted at Little Crane, Moss, and Grouse creeks. 



2. S. punctata L. A glabrous or slightly pubescent plant, 

 1 to 2 l / 2 ft. high, from a creeping root- 

 stock, the numerous flowers in a widely 

 branched open panicle. Leaves orbicu- 

 lar, 1 to 2 l / 2 in. across, equally and 

 deeply toothed, on petioles 1 to 8 in. 

 long. Petals oval, obtuse, narrowed to 

 a claw, white, with a pair of greenish- 

 yellow dots at base. 



In this Saxifrage we have one of the 

 cleanest and most pleasing plants in the 

 mountains. The broad, smooth leaves, 

 round as a cart-wheel, have a whole- 

 some appearance and the modest, white 

 flowers are daintily clustered in the loose panicle. It grows 

 in partial shade on moist, mossy banks, where its ample 

 foliage is displayed without fear of the hot sun. A thrifty 

 colony was noted in a shady glade just below Glacier Point, 

 where it is hoped that it may long continue to cheer the 

 passing wayfarer. Such groups are not uncommon in simi- 

 lar places at 6000 to perhaps 9000 ft. alt. 



3. S. bryophora Gray. A delicate fibrous-rooted annual, 

 2 to 8 in. high, the white flowers solitary and terminal on the 

 widely spreading branchlets which also bear numerous bud- 

 like bulblets on deflexed "pedicels." Leaves nearly sessile, 

 spatulate-oblong, acute, entire, ^ to 1 in. long. Petals ovate, 

 abruptly contracted to a claw, white, with a pair of yellow 

 spots at base, & in. long. 



The specific name, bryophora, signifies a "moss bearer" 

 and was applied to this species because of the bulblets which 

 are borne along the branches and resemble small moss plants. 

 These stem-grown bulbs, which are really modified buds, 

 fall to the ground and give rise to new plants, thus providing 

 the species with an unusual method of reproduction. This 

 Saxifrage grows in open, gravelly, but moist soil of the 



