442 



PLANTS AND MAN 



in a variety of habitats from sandy plains to rich woods and wet 



meadows. Similar species occur from the Atlantic coast to the 



Mississippi Valley, and different 

 members of the genus are found west 

 of the Rocky Mountains. Violets are 

 unusual in having both sterile and 

 fertile flowers; the familiar violet, 

 which consists of five sepals and five 

 unequal-sized petals, is sterile (fig. 

 266). The less conspicuous fertile 

 flowers bear rudimentary petals, but 

 are fertilized without the opening of 

 the flower; it is from these that seeds 

 are produced. Many of the familiar 

 violets are stemless and bear white or 

 blue flowers; those with branching 

 and leafy stems include the white 

 Canada violet of the eastern states, 

 the blue Pacific coast violet, and the 



smooth yellow violet or wild pansy found in woodlands from the 



Atlantic coast to Texas. 



Fig. 266. — Birdsfoot violet 

 is one of our most attractive 

 violets. 



The Saxifrage Family 



The flower of the Saxifrage Family {Saxifragaceae) has five 

 sepals and five petals; beneath these the stem is usually enlarged 

 to form a saucer-shaped or bell-shaped receptacle (fig. 267). 

 Alum root is a stout-stemmed plant with broad leaves and 

 terminal clusters of small white, green, yellow or purple flowers. 

 Many different species are found in our woods from coast to coast. 

 MiTREWORT is a slender plant of eastern woodlands with a pair of 

 leaves beneath the terminal cluster of small white flowers, each 

 of which resembles a tiny bell with a fringed margin. Foam- 

 flower or FALSE MiTREV\^ORT grows in rich rocky woods of 

 northeastern Utiited States; the terminal clusters of white flowers 

 do not have the fringed petals characteristic of the true mitre- 

 wort. Grass of Parnassus, found in swampy habitats of our 

 eastern and far western states, has a basal cluster of leaves above 

 which rises the flowering stalks bearing white flowers with green- 



