Chrysosplenium.] SAXIFRAGES. 143 



Banks of streams and wet places, from Argyll and Elgin to Kent and Devon ; 

 ascends to near 3,200 ft. in the Highlands ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; 

 fl. April-June. — Perennial. Stems Z-4k in., tufted, glabrous above, clothed 

 below with soft white hairs. Radical leaves f-2 in. diam., long-petioled, 

 reniform, crenate ; cauline few. Flowers £ in. diam., 4-merous, yellow, in 

 compact leafy cymes, homogamous. Calyx-lobes obtuse, spreading. Capsule 

 almost inferior, beaks short. Seeds smooth. — Distrib. Europe (Arctic), 

 N. and W. Asia to the Himalaya, N. America. 



2. C. oppositifo'lium, L. ; stem creeping below, leaves opposite. 

 Marshy and shady places, from Orkney to Cornwall and Kent ; ascends to 

 3,300 ft. in the Highlands ; Ireland; Channel Islands ; fl. May-July.— Size 

 and general habit of C. alternifo'lium, but stem more leafy, branched, 

 creeping and rooting at the base ; leaves §-1 in. diam., nearly orbicular, 

 suddenly contracted into a short broad petiole; cauline many. Flowers 

 proterogynous. — Distrib. Europe, Siberia. 



3. PARNAS'SIA, L. GRASS OF PARNASSUS. 



Slender, simple, glabrous, erect, perennial herbs. Leaves chiefly radical, 

 quite entire, exstipulate. Flower solitary, large, yellow or white. Calyx- 

 tube short, free or adnate to the base of the ovary ; lobes 5, imbricate, 

 persistent. Petals 5, thickish, persistent. Stamens 5, hypogynous or 

 perigynous, alternating with 5 large scales. Ovary superior or ^-inferior, 

 1-celled ; style short or 0, stigmas 3-4 opposite the parietal plaeentas ; 

 ovules many. Capsule membranous, loculicidally 3-4-valved, many- 

 seeded. Seeds small, testa lax, albumen scanty. — Distrib. Arctic and 

 temp, regions from S. India northwards ; species 12. 



P. palus'tris, L. ; leaves ovate-cordate, stamens hypogynous. 

 Wet moors and bogs, from Dorset and Surrey to Shetland ; ascends to 

 2,700 ft. in the Highlands ; Ireland ; fl. Aug.-Sept. — Glabrous. Radical 

 leaves 1-2 in., ovate cordate ; petiole slender 2-3 in. Stem slender, angular, 

 twisted, with one sessile leaf about the middle. Flower %-l in. diam., 

 honeyed, proterandrous. Sepals nearly free, obtuse. Petals coriaceous, 

 with strong veins. Stamens incurving and anthers ripening in succession. 

 Scales obovate, fringed with a comb of capitellate filaments, and with 

 2 glands on the surface facing the ovary. Ovary ovoid, superior ; stigmas 4. 

 — Distrib. Europe, N". Africa, N". and W. Asia to W. Tibet, N. America. 



4. RI'BES, L. Currant, Gooseberry. 



Shrubs, often glandular and spinous, buds scaly. Leaves alternate, 

 entire or lobed, plaited or convolute in bud ; stipules 0, or adnate to the 

 petiole. Flowers solitary or racemose, white red yellow or green, often 

 unisexual, honeyed ; pedicels bracteate (often minutely), 2-3-bracteolate. 

 Calyx-limb tubular or campanulate, 4-5-fid, imbricate or subvalvate in 

 bud. Petals small and stamens 4-5, inserted in the throat of the calyx. 

 Ovary inferior, 1-celled ; styles 2 ; ovules few or many, on 2 slender 

 parietal placentas. Berry ellipsoid or globose, 1-celled, few- or many- 



