SAXIFKAGACEJi. (SAXIFRAGE FAMILY.) li'l 



4. S. Telephium, L. (Gakdex Okpixe or Live-fob-evur.) Stems 

 erect (2° high), stout; leaves oval, sen-ate, obtuse, toothed; cymes compound; 

 petals purple, oblong-lanceolate ; jxxJs abruptly jwiiited with a short style.. — Rocks 

 and banks, escaped from cultivation, and spontaneous in some places. (Adv. 

 from Eu.) 



5. Acke, L., the Mossy Stone-crop or Wall-Peiter, of Europe, — cul- 

 tivated for edgings, — has become spontaneous in a few places near Boston. 



S. RhodIola, a dioecious species, is indigenous in New Brunswick and 

 northward ; and therefore may grow in Maine. 



3. PfcKTIIOBUM, Gronov. Ditcu Stone-crop. 



Sepals 5. Petals rare, if any. Stamens 10. Pistils 5, united below, forming 

 a 5-angled, 5-horned, and 5-celled pod, which opens by the falling off of the 

 beaks, many-seeded. — Upright weed-like perennials (not fleshy like the rest of 

 the family), witli scattered leaves, and yellowish-given flowers loosely spiked 

 along the upper side of the naked branches of the cyme. (Name from TTtvre, 

 five, and opos, a rule or mode, probably from the quinary order of the flower.) 



1. P. MMloidcs, L. Leaves lanceolate, acute at both ends. — Wet places, 

 everywhere. July -Oct. — About 1° high, homely. 



Sempervivcm tectorum, L., is the cultivated Houbb-Lbek. 



Order 50. SAXIFRAGACEiE. (Saxifrage Family.) 



Herbs or shrubs, with the pistils mostly than the petals or division* of 



the calyx (usually 2, united below and separate or separating at the top) ; 

 and the petals with the (mostly 4-10) stamens inserted on the calyx, which is 

 either free or more or less adherent to 'he 1 -4.-cell<<l ovary. — Calyx with- 

 ering-persistent. Petals rarely none. .Stamens sometimes indefinitely 

 numerous. Pods several -many-seeded. Seeds small, anatropous, with a 

 slender embryo in fleshy albumen. — A large family, of which we have 

 three of the suborders. 



Suborder I. SAXIFRAGES. The Tkue Saxifrage Family. 



Herbs ; the petals imbricated or rarely convolute in the bud. Calyx- 

 free or partly adherent. Stipules none or adherent to the petiole. 



» Pod 2-eelled, 2-beaked, rarely 3-4-cellcd and beaked, or pods 2 or 3. 

 *- Stamens twice as many as the petals or s ipala, 10, rarely 8. 



1. ASTILBE. Flowers polygamous. Seeds few, and with a loose coat Leaves decompound. 



2. SAXIFRAGA. Flowers perfect. Pod or follicles many-seeded Seed-coat close. 



-i- h- Stamens as many as the petals or sepals, namely 5. 



3. BOYKINIA. Calyx-tube top-shaped, coherent with the ovary. Seed-coat close, rough. 



4. SULLIVANTIA. Calyx bell-shaped, nearly free from the ovary. Seeds wing-margined. 



* * Pod one-celled with 2 parietal placentae. 



+■ Stamens as many as the lobes of the calyx, namely 5. 



b. HEtJCHERA. Calyx bell-shaped, coherent with the ovary below. Petals small, entire. 



