184 NAT. ORDER. SAXIFRaGE^. ,. 



granulata. The bulbs or tubercles of sudi roots answer an impor- 

 tant purpose in vegetation, by supplying the plants with nourish- 

 ment and moisture, and thereby enabling them to resist the effects 

 of that drought to which the dry soils they inhabit peculiarly ex- 

 pose them. 



Scdum Tekphiwn, one of the species, is admitted in the Materia 

 Medica in the foreign pharmacopoeias ; it has not the acrid characters 

 of the various species here figured, but on the contrary is bland and 

 mucilaginous. It is said to be diuretic, and, according to Dr. With- 

 ering, is used with success to cure the piles. Simper viv am tectorum 

 (common house-leek) which is nearly allied to the Tdcphium in bo- 

 tanical affinity, likewise abounds with a mucilaginous juice, said to 

 be an useful application to burns, creeping ulcers, and in apthous 

 cases. Cactus Opuntia (common Indian fig) and Portulaca oheracea 

 (garden purslane) both of this natural order, afford a simular juice, 

 which also has been applied to medical purposes. 



Propagation and Culture. Sa.xifraga is a most extensive genus of 

 pretty alpine plants, the greater part of which are well adapted for 

 rock-work, or to be grown on the sides of naked banks to hide the 

 surface. Many of the more rare and tender kinds require to be 

 grown in pots, in light sandy soil, and placed among other alpine 

 plants, so that they may be protected by a frame in winter. The 

 species belonging to sections Micranthes and Hirculus grow best in 

 a peat soil, which should be kept rather moist. The species be- 

 longing to the section Porphjreon are so very pretty little plants as 

 to be worth growing in pots for ornaments, being clothed with ele- 

 gant little red flowers early in the spring. A mixture of peat and 

 sand suits them well. The varieties are all well suited to ornament 

 the borders of flower-gardens. 



