SAXIFRAGACE.E. (SAXIFRAGE FAMILY.) 1G9 



Tribe IV. KIB£SIEJEI. Shrubs. Leaves alternate and simple, with sti]mles adiiate 



to the petiole or wanting. Fruit a berry. 

 14. Kibes. Calyx-tube arlnate to the 1-celled ovary. Placentas 2, parietal, niaiiy-secfled. 



1, ASTILBE, Don. False Goatsbeard. 



Flowers dioeciously polygamous. Calyx 4-5-parted, small. Petals 4-5, 

 spatulate, small, withering-persistent. Stamens 8 or 10. Ovary 2-celletl, almost 

 free, many-ovuled ; styles 2, short. Capsule 2-celled, separating into 2 follicles, 

 each ripening few seeds. Seed-coat loose and thin, tapering at each end. — 

 Perennial herbs, with twice or thrice ternately-compound ample leaves, cut-lobed 

 and toothed leaflets, and small white or yellowish flowers in spikes or racemes, 

 which are disposed in a compound panicle. (Xame composed of d- privative 

 and (tt'lA^t), a bright surface, because the foliage is not shining.) 



1. A. decandra, Don. Somewhat pubescent (-3-5° high); leaflets 

 mostly heart-shaped ; petals minute or wanting in the fertile flowers . stamens 

 10. — Rich woods ; mountains of S. W. Va. to X. C and Ga. Closely imitating 

 Spiraea Aruncus, but coarser. 



2. SAXIFRAGA, L. Saxifrage. 



Calyx either free from or cohering with the base of the ovary, 5-cleft or 

 parted. Petals 5, entire, imbricated m the bud, commonly deciduous. Sta- 

 mens 10. Styles 2. Capsule 2-beaked, 2-celled, opening down or between the 

 beaks, or sometimes 2 almost separate follicles. Seeds numerous, with a close 

 coat. — Chiefly perennial herbs, with the root-leaves clustered, those of the stem 

 mostly alternate. (Name from saxum, a rock, 2in(\. f rang o, to break; many 

 species rooting in the clefts of rocks.) 



* Stems prostrate, in ttifts, leaf if ; leaves opposite ; caljjx free fram the capsiiij. 



1. S. oppositif61ia, L. (Mountain Saxifrage.) Leaves fleshy, ovate, 

 keeled, ciliate, imbricated on the sterile branches (1-2" long): flowers soli- 

 tary, large : petals purple, obovate, much longer than the 5-cleft-calyx. • 

 Rocks, Willoughby Mountain, Yt., and northward. (Eu.) 



* * Stems ascending ; leaves alternate , calijx coherent below with the capsule. 



2. S. rivularis, L. (Alpine Brook-S.) Small, stems weak, 3 -.5 

 flowered; lower leaves i-ounded, 3- 5-1 obed, on slender petioles, the upper lan- 

 ceolate; petals white, ovate — Alpine region of the White Mts., to Lab (Eu.) 



3. S. aizoides, L. (Yellow Molntain-S.) Low (3-5' high), in tufts, 

 with few or several corymbose flowers; leaves linear-lanceolate, entire, fleshy, 

 distantly spinulose-ciliate ; petals yellow, spotted with orange, oblong. — N. Yt. 

 to S. W. New York, N. Mich., and northward. June. (Eu.) 



4. S. tricuspidata, Retz. Stems tufted (4 - 8' high), naked above ; flow- 

 ers corymbose , leaves oblong or spatulate, with 3 rigid sharp teeth at the summit ; 

 petals obovate-oblong, yellow. — Shore of L. Superior, and northward. (Eu.) 



* * * Leaves clustered at the root ; scape many-flowered, erect, clammy-pubescent. 



•*- Petals all alike. 



5. S. Aizoon, Jacq. Scape 5-10' high, leaves persistent, thicJc, spatulate, 

 with white cartilaginous toothed margins; calyx partly adherent; petals ob- 



