142 SAXIFK \. (SAXIFRAGE FAMILY.) 



- - Stan" my sis flit- lobes of the calyx, namely 8 or 10. 



6. M1TKI.LA. Calyx p- : .vitli the depressed ovary. Petals .small, pinnatifid. 



7. TIAi:i:U,A. Calyx nearly free from the slemler ovary. Petals entire. 



8. CIIKYS.O.SPLKN1 I'M Calyx-tube coherent with the ovary Petals none. 



SUBORDER II. ESCALLONIE^. THE ESCALLOMA FAMILY. 



Shrubs, with alternate simple leaves and no stipules. Petals usually 

 valvate in the bud. 



9. ITEA. Calyx free from the 2-celled ovary. Pod many-seeded. Stamens 5. 



SUBORDER III. HYDRANGIE2E. THE HYDRANGEA FAMILY. 

 Shrubs, with opposite simple, leaves and no stipules. 



10. HYDRANGEA. Calyx 4 - 5-toothed, the tube adherent to the imperfectly 2-celled ovary. 



Petals valvate in the bud. Stamens 8 or 10. Styles 2, diverging 



11. PJIILA DELl'II US Calyx 4 - 5-parted ; the tube adhering to the 3 5-celled ovary. Pet- 



als convolute in the bud. Stamens 20 - 40. Styles united below. 



SUBORDER.!. SAXIFRAOACE^E. TRUE SAXIFRAGE FAMILY. 



1. ASTILBE, Don. FALSE GOATSBEARD. 



Flowers dioeciously polygamous. Csilyx 4 -5-parted, small. Petals 4-5, 

 spatulatc, small, withering-persistent Stamens 8 or 10. Ovary 2-celled, almost 

 free, many ovuled : styles 2, short. Pod 2-celled, separating into 2 follicles, 

 each ripening few seeds. Seed-coat loose and thin, tapering at each end. 

 Perennial herbs, with twice or thrice ternatcly compound ample leaves, cut-lohed 

 and toothed leallets, and small white or yellowish flowers in spikes or racemes, 

 which are disi>oscd in a compound panicle. (Name composed of d privative and 

 OTtA/3/7, a br'njld surface, because the foliage is not shining.) 



1. A. dcctflldra, Don. Somewhat pubescent; leaflets mostly heart- 

 shaped; petals minute or wanting in the fertile flowers; stamens 10. Rich 

 woods, Alleghanies of S. \V. Virginia and southward. July. Plant imitating 

 Spiriva Arum-us, but coarser, 3-5 high. 



2. SAXIFRAGA, L. SAXIFRAGE. 



Calyx free from, or cohering with, the base of the ovary, 5-clcft or parted. 

 Petals "), entire, commonly deciduous. Stamens 10. Styles '2. I'od lM> 

 2-cclled, opening down or between the beaks ; or sometimes 2 almost separate 

 follicles. Seeds numerous, with a close coat, Chiefly perennial herbs, with 

 the root-leaves clustered, those of the stem mostly alternate. (Name from 

 saxum, a rock, andy/vw/o, to break ; many species rooting in the cr-f'ts of ro<-ks.) 

 # 8tem prottrate, /(fy: leaves opposite: calyx fnc from tin- pod. 



1. S. oppositifolia, L. (MOUNTAIN SAXIFKAOE.) Leaves thick 

 and fleshy, ovate, keeled, ciliate, imbricated on the sterile branches (l"-2" 

 long); flowers solitary, large; petals purple, obovnte, much longer than the 

 5-clcft free calyx. Hocks, \Villoughby Mountain, Vermont ( \\ r <x*l), and north- 

 ward. (Eu.) 



