SAXIFRAGACE^. (SAXIFRAGE FAMILY.) 167 



and westward. July. More slender than the next, and the flower only half 

 the size. 



2. P. palllstris, L. Petals sessile; rather longer than the calyx, few- 

 veined ; sterile filaments 9-15 in each set, slender ; leaves heart-shaped. Shore 

 of Lake Superior, and northward. Aug. Stalks 3'- 10' high. Flower nearly 

 1' broad. (Eu.) 



3. P. Caroliniana, Michx. Petals sessile, more than twice the length 

 of the calyx, many-veined ; sterile filaments 3 in each set, stout, distinct almost to 

 the base. Wet banks, New England to Wisconsin and southward, especially 

 along the mountains. July -Sept. Leaves thickish, ovate or rounded, often 

 heart-shaped, usually but one on the stalk, and that low down and clasping. 

 Stalk 9' - 2 high. Flower 1 ' - 1 ' broad. 



4. P. asarifblia, Vent. Petals abruptly contracted into a claw at the base ; 

 sterile filaments 3 in each set ; leaves rounded kidney-shaped : otherwise as in the 

 foregoing. High Alleghanies of Virginia and southward. 



6. ASTILBE, Don. FALSE GOATSBEARD. 



Flowers dioeciously polygamous. Calyx 4-5-parted, small. Petals 4-5, 

 spatulate, small, withering-persistent. Stamens 8 or 10. Ovary 2-celled, almost 

 free, many-ovuled : styles 2, short. Pod 2-celled, separating into 2 follicles, 

 each ripening few seeds. Seed-coat loose and thin, tapering at each end. 

 Perennial herbs, with twice or thrice ternately-compound ample leaves, cut-lobed 

 and toothed leaflets, and small white or yellowish flowers in spikes or racemes, 

 which are disposed in a compound panicle. (Name composed of a privative and 

 oriA/377, a bright surface, because the foliage is not shining. ) 



1. A. decandra, Don. Somewhat pubescent; leaflets mostly heart- 

 shaped; petals minute or wanting in the fertile flowers; stamens 10. Kich 

 woods, Alleghanies of S. W. Virginia and southward. July. Plant imitating 

 Spiraea Aruncus, but coarser, 3 - 5 high. 



7. SAXtFRAGA, L. SAXIFRAGE. 



Calyx either free from or cohering with the base of the ovary, 5-cleft or 

 parted. Petals 5, entire, imbricated in the bud, commonly deciduous. Stamens 

 10. Styles 2.' Pod 2-beaked, 2-celled, opening down or between the beaks ; or 

 sometimes 2 almost separate follicles. Seeds numerous, with a close coat. 

 Chiefly perennial herbs, with the root-leaves clustered, those of the stem mostly 

 alternate. (Name from saxum, a rock, and frango, to break ; many species 

 rooting in the clefts of rocks.) 



* Stems prostrate, in tufts, leafy: leaves opposite : calyx free from the pod. 

 1. S. oppositifblia, L. (MOUNTAIN SAXIFRAGE.) Leaves fleshy, 

 ovate, keeled, ciliate, imbricated on the sterile branches (l"-2" long) ; flowers 

 solitary, large ; petals purple, obovate, much longer than the 5-cleft-calyx. 

 Rocks, Willoughby Mountain, Vermont, and northward. (Eu.) 

 * * Stems ascending, leafy : stem-leaves alternate : calyx coherent below with the pod. 



2. S. rivularis,L. (ALPINE BROOK-S.) Small; stems weak, 3-5- 

 flowered ; lower leaves rounded, 3 - 5-lobed, on slender petioles, the upper lance- 



