SWAMP SAXIFRAGE 



Saxifraga pennsylvanica L. 



May In tlie sandstone canyon at Starved Eock there 



Sandstone canyons. is a l)o<;fry spot, thiMc whi'iv the diip from the 

 swamps and bogs clifrs moves (lown the shipe and stops in that sat- 

 urated place where tlie dt-ep mosses <;row and the 

 swamp saxifrage l)looms in sjjring. Tlie snn spends only a short part of 

 the day in the canyon; the walls are steep. Pines stand tall on the hill- 

 top; harebells cling to the rocks, and lilueherries witli small white hells 

 blossom in the ^lay warnith. 



In that boggy sjjot. the swamp saxifrage .<ends np its lettuce-green 

 leaves. They grow in a broad rosette above the wet dark nmck. sliiniug 

 pale green, hnig-oval ta|)ered leaves with an inlinite look of freshness. 

 From tho center si)iing ii|) one or moi'e stout, downy pale stems topped 

 with a tight clii-'^ter of 1)U(1>. Tlien in late May they open a.«^ tiny, greenish- 

 white, five j)etaled. starry llowers with a slight fragrance. There in the 

 hidden canyon wliei-e the soil of the canyon lloor is a miniature bog, the 

 swamp saxifrage blossoms and makes its .<eeds. 



It is not C'onnnon in Illinois, its cho.<en haunt is not a connnon one 

 in this ])rairie state. Yet there are tho.<e sjjecial. hidden ])laces where 

 u more northern habitat remains after it long ago left our territory. In 

 tlie deep canyons of certain state ))ark areas there are these relict plants, 

 such as the white |)ines which by rights should have retreated northward 

 at the proper time in post-glacial history. The swamj) .saxifrage, whose 

 more common habitat is much furtlier north and not in jirairie country, 

 is one of the plants remaining in .-iecret spots in northern Illinois. 



8G 



