AMERICAN WILD FLOWERS 



AA?) 



veined petals. Prairie star or woodland star is a midwestern 

 and Pacific coast plant with white or pink bell-shaped flowers 

 grouped in terminal clusters. Several hundred species of the saxi- 

 frages thrive in temperate regions; the name means "rock 

 breaker," a fitting appellation since the plants usually grow in the 

 crevices of rocks. Saxifrages are low growing plants with basal 



I 



Fig. 267. — In the Saxifrage Family we find grass of Parnassus (A), saxifrage (B), 



and alum root (C). 



rosettes of leaves and terminal clusters of small white flowers 

 each with a five-lobed calyx and five petals. 



The Pea Family 



The Pea Family (Leguminosae) is one of the largest, including 

 some twelve thousand species widely distributed throughout the 

 temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Most genera of 

 this family have compound leaves, an irregular flower with a 

 corolla of five petals of which the uppermost is the largest and 

 two lowermost ones are united to form a boat-shaped portion of 

 the flower (fig. 268). Partridge pea or wild sensitive plant 

 is found in sandy soils throughout the eastern states; small 



