278 LXV.. SAXIFRAGACEZ. SaXIFRAGA. 
suffruticose plant, native of the Ek. Indies. Lws. opposite, unequally 
pinnate, part of them sometimes simple. ls. greenish-purple. 
B. catycinum. Salisb—Not uncommon in house cultivation, requiring but 
little water, in a well-drained pot of rich loam. Stem thick, green, about 2f 
high. Leaves 3—5-foliate, with thick, oval, crenate leaflets. Flowers in a 
loose, terminal panicle, pendulous, remarkable for the large, inflated calyx, and 
the long, tubular, exserted corollas—This plant is distinguished in vegetable 
physiology.—See Fig. 10, 1, and § 88, a. 
5. PENTHORUM. 
Gr. mevreé, five; onaccount of the 5-parted, angular capsule. 
Calyx of 5 sepals united at base; petals 5 or 0; capsules of 5 
united carpels, 5-angled, 5-celled and 5-beaked ; seeds 00, minute.— 
U Erect (not succulent) herbs. Lvs. alternate. F'ls. yellowish, cymose. 
P. sepdipes. Virginia Stone-crop. 
St. branched and angular above; dvs. nearly sessile, lanceolate, acute at 
each end, unequally serrate; fis. in unilateral, cymose racemes.—A hardy 
plant of little beauty, in moist situations,Can. and U.S. Stem 10—16’ high, 
with a few, short branches. Leaves 2—3’ by 4—1’, membranaceous, smooth, 
sharply and unequally serrate. Racemes several, recurved at first, at length 
spreading, with the flowers arranged on their upper side, constituting a corym- 
bose, scentless, pale yellowish-green cyme. Pet. generally wanting. Jl—Sept. 
/-Orver LXV. SAXIFRAGACEH #.—Saxirracss, 
Herbs or shrubs. Lvs. alternate or opposite, sometimes stipulate. 
Cal.—Sepals 4 or 5, cohering more or less, persistent. 
Cor.—Petals as many as the sepals, inserted between the lobes of the calyx. 
Sta.5—10. Anthers 3-celled, opening longitudinally. 4 
Ova. inferior, usually of 2-carpels, cohering at. base, distinct and divergent above. 
Fr. generally capsular, 1—2-celled, many-seeded. 
Genera 38, species 440, native of temperate and frigid climes in both continents, As.a tribe their roots 
are astringent. Several species are among our most ornamental, cultivated plants. 
Conspectus of the Genera. 
Capsule 2-celled. Piaeire: 
Stamens 10. eer 1-celled. pss” in oe Shee ae 
f Capsule 2-celled. ED ee tA} 8 : . Sullivantia. 
pecs Stamens 5. ¢ Capsule 1-celled. + © » 2  \« euchera. 
Petals 5, 0pectinately pinnatifid. .  . . .. «.« « « « « JMétella, 
Herbs. petals 0. Leaves opposite. Aquatic,depressed.. . . . «. «. Chrysosplentum. 
i re valvate in estivation. . . . . . «| Hydrangea. 
Pres opposite. ? Petals convolute in xstivation. - - - « « Philadelphus. 
Shrubs. ? Leaves alternate. hls ie ae wee A ere er 
SusorpeR 1l. SAXIFRAGE ZE. 
Petals imbricate in eestivation; carpels united, the summits dis- 
tinct, forming a beaked capsule. Herbs. 
1.SAXIFRAGA. 
Lat. saxwm, arock, frangere, to break; often growing in the clefts of rocks. 
Sepals 5, more or less united, often adnate to the base of the ova- 
ry ; petals 5, entire, inserted on the tube of the calyx ; stamens 10 ; 
anthers 2-celled, with longitudinal dehiscence ; capsule of 2 connate 
carpels, opening between the 2 diverging, acuminate beaks (styles) ; 
seeds 00.—% Brey: 
1. S. Vireintensis. Michx. (S. Virginica. Bw.) Early Sazifrage. - 
Las. mostly radical, spatulate-obovate, crenately toothed, pubescent, short- 
er than the broad petiole; scape nearly leafless, paniculately branched above; 
fis. many, cymose ; cal. adherent to the base of the ovary; pet. oblong, much 
exceeding the calyx.—An early and interesting plant, on rocks and dry hills, 
Can. and U.S. Scape 4—12’ high, pubescent, annual. Leaves rather fleshy, 
9—13” by 6—12". Flowers in rather dense clusters, white or tinged with pur- 
ole, in early spring. 
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