560 



PART IV. CLASSIFICATION. 



cyclic ; stamens usually in two whorls, with obdiplostemony ; 

 ovary generally syncarpous, multilocular, with more than one 

 style or stigma ; ovules usually numerous in each loculus ; seed 

 with or without endosperm. 



Order 1. SAXIFRAGACE^E. Flowers usually 4-5-merous, epigy- 

 nous or perigynous, completely actinomorphic only when there are 

 five carpels : stamens usually in two whorls ; carpels less numer- 

 ous, usually connate below and free above ; seeds numerous, con- 

 taining endosperm. 



Tribe 1. Saxifragece. Flowers perigynous or epigynous, regular, but 

 generally with oligomery in the gynaeceum : petals with imbricate aesti- 

 vation, sometimes suppressed : two whorls of stamens, but one or other 

 of the whorls is suppressed in some genera and species : cai-pels usually 



FIG. 372. Longitudinal section of the 

 ovary of Bergenia ; g style ; n stigmata ; 

 p placentae (mag.). (After Sachs.) 



FIG. 373. Floral diagram of Parnassia 

 but the whorl of antipetalous staminodei 

 should be represented as external to th 

 whorl of stamens. 



two, diverging above (Figs. 281 D, 372) : inflorescence of racemose cymes : 

 fruit a capsule : leaves alternate. 



The British genera are Saxifraga and Chrysosplenium : Saxifraga has 

 an oblique bilocular ovary; the receptacle invests the lower connate 

 portion of the ovary : many species occur in mountainous districts, and in 

 several of them there is a deposit of carbonate of lime on the margins of 

 the leaves (see pp. 96, 203) ; only a few species, such as S. tridactylites and 

 granulata, occur in the plains : Chrysosplenium, the Golden Saxifrage, has 

 a tetramerous flower destitute of a corolla ; the two species are small 

 plants, somewhat resembling a Euphorbia, occurring in damp places. 



Tribe 2. Parnassiece. Fowers perigynous, often actinomorphic ; the five 

 stamens opposite to the petals are transformed into glandular staminodes ; 

 petals with imbricate aestivation : ovary 4-5-merous, unilocular : fruit a 

 loculicidal capsule : leaves alternate. 



