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 2-4 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 

 3,300ft. 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 f-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 placentas ; 

 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 |-1 in. diam., 

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

 with strong veins. Stamens incurving and anthers ripening iu 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 BBS, 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- 



