172 SAXIFRAGACE^E. (SAXIFRAGE FAMILY.) 



with 2 parietal many-seeded placentae, 2-beaked, opening between the beaks. 

 Seeds oval, with a rough and close seed-coat. Perennials, with the round 

 heart-shaped leaves principally from the rootstock ; those on the stems, if any, 

 alternate. Petioles with dilated margins or adherent stipules at their base. 

 Flowers in small clusters disposed in a prolonged and narrow panicle, greenish 

 or purplish. (Named in honor of John Henry Heucher, a German botanist of 

 the beginning of the 1 8th century.) 



* Flowers small, loosely panicled ; stamens and styles exserted ; calyx regular. 



1. H. vi!16sa, Michx. Stems (1-3 high), petioles, and veins of the 

 acutely 7 - 9-lobed leaves villous with rusty hairs beneath ; calyx 1" long ; pet- 

 als spat, ul ate-linear, about as long as the stamens, soon twisted. Rocks, Md. to 

 Ga., west to Ind. and Mo. Aug., Sept. 



2. H. Rug^lii, Shuttlw. Stems slender, - 2 high, glandular-hirsute, as 

 well as the petioles, etc. ; lea ves round-remform, with 7-9 short and broad 

 rounded lobes ; flowers very small (V long) ; petals linear-spatulate, twice as 

 long as the calyx-lobes ; fruit narrow. Shaded cliffs, S. 111. to Tenn. and N. C. 



3. H. Americana, L. (COMMON ALUM-ROOT.) Stems (2-3 high), 

 etc., f/landu/ar and more or less hirsute with short hairs , leaves roundish, with 

 short rounded lobes and creuate teeth ; calyx verj broad, 2" long, the spatulate 

 petals not longer than its lobes. Rocky woodlands, Conn, to N. C., west to 

 Minn., Mo., and Miss. 



* * Flowers larger, in a very narrow panicle ; calyx (3 - 4" long) more or less 



oblique ; stamens short ; leaves rounded, slightly 5 - 9-lobed. 



4. H. hispida, Pursh. Stems 2-4 high; hispid or hirsute with long 

 spreading hairs (occasionally almost glabrous), scarcely glandular; stamens 

 soon exserted, longer than the spatulate petals. Mountains of Va. and N. C., 

 west to Minn, and E. Kan. May, June. 



5. H. pubdscens, Pursh. Stem (1 - 3 high) and petioles granular- 

 pubescent or glandular above, not hairy, below often glabrous; stamens shorter 

 than the lobes of the calyx and the spatulate petals. Rich woods, in the moun- 

 tains, from Penn. to Ky., and southward. June, July. 



8. CHRYSOSPLENIUM, Tourn. GOLDEN SAXIFRAGE. 



Calyx-tube coherent with the ovary; the blunt lobes 4-5, yellow within. 

 Petals none. Stamens 8-10, very short, inserted on a conspicuous disk. 

 Styles 2. Capsule inversely heart-shaped or 2-lobed, flattened, very short, 1- 

 celled with 2 parietal placentae, 2-valved at the top, many-seeded. Low and 

 small smooth herbs, with tender succulent leaves, and small solitary or leafy- 

 cymed flowers. (Name compounded of xpwds, golden, and crirX^v, the spleen ; 

 probably from some reputed medicinal qualities.) 



1. C. Americanum, Schwein. . Stems slender, decumbent and forking; 

 leaves principally opposite, roundish or somewhat heart-shaped, obscurely cre- 

 nate-lobed ; flowers distant, inconspicuous, nearly sessile (greenish tinged with 

 yellow or purple). Cold wet places, N. Scotia to N. Ga., west to Minn. 



2. C alternifdlium, L. Stems erect; leaves alternate, reniform-cordate, 

 doubly crenate or somewhat lobed; flowers corymbose. Decorah, Iowa, west 

 to the Rocky Mts., and north through Brit. Amer. (Eu., Asia.) 



