SAXIFRAGE TRIBE 35 



fiowerless, one is surprised to see such a plate as that prefixed to Dr. Suther- 

 land's work on these lands, where large and gorgeous flowers are grouped 

 together. True it is that there are vast dreary l)arren tracts, covered only 

 with incredible quantities of lichens, making a walk over the dried and crusty 

 surface during summer a weary labour, while the eye is rarely gladdened by 

 seeing here and there some dark fir or dwarfed birch-tree. Yet there are 

 seasons and spots in which wild flowers vary the scene ; nor is the green turf 

 altogether wanting, where, as Dr. Sutherland tells us, the chubby Esquimaux 

 takes his childish pastime, rolling on the green spots which Nature has 

 provided for him, watching with his bow and arrows, and the cunning eye 

 of a sportsman, the ill-fated mouse or lemming that may have lost its hole in 

 the grassy banks, or gathering the chickweed {Ccnutium alpinum) which 

 grows among the foxtail grass. In such regions the flowers of the Purple 

 Saxifrage must aflbrd delight to the traveller. " The most beautiful plant 

 that one could see in a whole day's walking around Assistance Bay," says 

 Dr. Sutherland, "was the Spider plant (Sazifraga flageUaris), so called from 

 its striking resemblance to a large spider when it first appears above the 

 surface, before the stem begins to rise fi-om the spherical arrangement of the 

 leaves, or the flagellse begin to creep to any distance from among them to 

 the soil around. This plant was rather late of coming into flower, but the 

 poppy was still later. The Itanunciiliis frigidus had a very beautiful little 

 flower, but it did not bear comparison with those of the other two which 

 have been mentioned. The Purple Saxifrage (*S'. opposiiifolia) vied with, and 

 perhaps in the estimation of some exceeded, the spider plant in beauty ; its 

 chaste purple colour assisted this very much, but I do not think that this, 

 which is mere colour, admits of comparison with the charm which is imparted 

 to the other by its likeness to a creature so famous for its diligence." 



* * * Calyx spreading ; leaves divided. 



8. White Meadow Saxifrage (»S'. graniddta). — Root-leaves kidney- 

 shaped, with rounded lobes, stalked ; stem-leaves nearly sessile, acutely 

 lobed ; flowers panicled ; capsule partly inferior. Plant perennial. The 

 large milk-white flowers of this species are by no means uncommon during 

 May and June on hedge-banks, meadows, and pastures, especially where the 

 soil is of gravel. The root gives its name to the species, being what botanists 

 term granulated, and consisting of a number of small reddish, downy, round 

 tubers. It is a pretty plant, with slender leafy stems, ten or tAvelve inches 

 in height. A double variety is a common garden flower. 



9. Drooping Bulbous Saxifrage (*S'. cernua). — Root-leaves kidney- 

 shaped on long stalks, palmate and lobed ; flowers solitary and terminal ; 

 capsule superior. Plant perennial. This species is now almost extinct on 

 the only recorded British habitat. Its place of growth is on rocks on the 

 summit of Ben Lawers, at an altitude of 4,000 feet. It is remarkable for 

 producing small reddish bulbs in the axils of its upper leaves. The white 

 flower appears on the slender drooping stem in Jiily, but the plant rarely 

 blossoms in this country, being mostly propagated by its bulbs. 



10. Rue-leaved Saxifrage (.S'. tridadylltes). — Leaves wedge-shaped, 

 3 — 5 cleft ; stem much branched ; flowers terminal, each on a single stalk ; 



5—2 



