504 ON SEEDLINGS 



form may be described as ovate, obtuse, entire, shortly petiolate, 

 showing a midrib more or less distinctly, or without any dis- 

 cernible venation in the fresh state. Species agreeing with 

 this type are Saxifraga greenlandica, S. Stracheyi (fig. 827), 

 Eodgersia podophylla (fig. 826), Mitella Breweri, and Escal- 

 lonia Berteriana (fig. 829). A slight divergence from this 

 is met with in Saxifraga rotundifolia having minute oblong- 

 spathulate cotyledons, and in Heuchera Drummondi with 

 minute, narrowly oblong cotyledons. 



Saxifraga greenlandica is one of the mossy-leaved types 

 with cuneate and divided or palmate leaves. The first four 

 are spathulate and entire, followed by two which have each 

 one lateral tooth, and by seven others which are cuneate and 

 trifid. The first leaf of S. Stracheyi is oval and glabrous, while 

 the second is larger and ciliate, and the third obsoletely serrate. 

 The ultimate leaves are obovate, dentate-serrate, and very 

 large. Eodgersia podophylla shows a more striking evolution. 

 The first leaf is cordate with a few distant serratures, the 

 second and third are roundly cordate, shallowly five-lobed and 

 serrate. The ultimate form is peltate, and five-partite with 

 obovate or cuneate, serrated segments, trifid near the apex, 

 sometimes of immense size, and resembling a compound leaf. 

 The first three leaves of Mitella Breweri are suborbicular, 

 tapering to the base, and glandular-ciliate ; while the ultimate 

 form is suborbicular, shallowly five-lobed, crenate, deeply 

 cordate at the base with overlapping auricles and a palmate 

 venation. The first two or three leaves of Saxifraga rotundi- 

 folia are roundly cuneate and entire, followed by a number of 

 obsoletely trifid ones. The ultimate form is reniform or rotund 

 with an open sinus, dentate and showing numerous veins 

 radiating from the base of the lamina. A very gradual 

 evolution of the leaves is shown by Heuchera Drummondi. 

 Sometimes as many as six of the primary leaves are roundly 

 spathulate, and succeeding ones become larger by degrees, and 

 finally assume a form similar to that of Mitella Breweri. A 

 shrubby type is represented by Escallonia Berteriana having 

 the first five leaves cuneate. 



A shrubby type with much larger and more highly developed 

 cotyledons is represented by Eibes saxatile (fig. 381) and B. 



