SAXIFRAGACE^E 145 



3-lobed. Flowers small, white, single, on longish pedicels. Calyx- 

 segments barely half as long as the petals. 



Rocks, walls, and stony hillsides ; common. Seen as high as 

 7000 feet in Switzerland. April to July. 



Distribution. Europe from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle, 

 Russian Asia. British. 



Saxifraga stellaris L. (Plate XIV.) 



Stem erect, 1-4 inches high, leafless, with exception of the bracts, 

 bearing a 3 or more-flowered cymose corymb, covered, like the 

 whole plant, with scattered glandular hairs. Leaves forming a loose 

 rosette, grass-green, wedge-shaped or obovate, coarsely serrate near 

 the apex. Calyx with revolute teeth. Petals lanceolate, rather 

 acute and small, expanded like a star, white, with 2 yellow spots at 

 the base ; anthers vermilion-red. 



Damp shady rocks, and exposed mountain tops and Cols near 

 the snow ; 4000-8500 feet ; common on primary rocks. July, 

 August. It grows at the extreme summit of Ben Nevis, the highest 

 point in the British Isles. 



Distribution. Mountains of Central and Northern Europe as far 

 as the Arctic Circle ; Alps, Pyrenees, Vosges, Cevennes, Siberia, 

 N. America, British Isles. 



S. stellaris var. robusta Engler (S. Engleri Dalla Torre) appears 

 to be a strong form of S. stellaris with unequal petals, found in 

 Switzerland and Tyrol. We have such a form also from Norway, 

 with very thick and large leaves. 



Saxifraga cuneifolia L. (Plate XIV.) 



Stem 4 inches to a foot high, very brittle. Shoots in a series of 

 rosettes one above the other. Leaves roundish-obovate, wedge- 

 shaped or spathulate, very obtuse, wavy-crenate, quite glabrous, 

 with cartilaginous margin. Leaf-stalk flat, wedge-shaped, glabrous. 

 Inflorescence paniculate. Calyx-teeth recurved. Petals milk-white, 

 with 2 coalescent yellow spots. Filaments broader upwards. 



Damp, shady woods and rocks, and steep rocky declivities of the 

 lower Alps ; 3000-6500 feet ; local ; but sometimes covering 

 rocks and banks in woods with enormous mats. June, July. 



Distribution. Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; 

 Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corbieres, Spain, Apennines. 



A very useful plant for covering rocks or unsightly banks or old 

 walls in the shadier parts of the rock-garden. 



Saxifraga aspera L. 



Stem with prostrate, tufted branches. Leaves on fertile stem, 

 and barren shoots spreading, stem-leaves rigid, linear-lanceolate, 

 with stiff cilia, entire. Stem 3-7 flowered, about 6 inches high, 

 Flowers pale yellow. Calyx patent. Anthers yellow. 



