328 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



MHella nttda. 



Mitelld (figs. 369, 370) lias ten or five stamens, 2 with five trifid 

 or pinnatifid petals. But the floral receptacle is everted and 



shallow, SO that the Mitella (Mitellopsis) pentandra. 



gynseceum is almost 



completely superior. 



The parietal multiovu- 



]ate placentas are also 



those of a Saarifraga. 



The genus comprises 



four American species, 



and one from Eastern 



Asia. 3 They have the 

 vegetative organs of Tellima, with flowers in slender elongated 

 racemes. Heuchera* has five or six perigynous stamens, and entire 

 petals 5 or no corolla. But the gyna?ceum and fruit are half- 

 inferior. 6 There are some twenty species, 7 all North American. 

 Tiarettc? has the same habit, vegetative organs, and inflorescence : 

 but the receptacle is scarcely concave ; the gynseceum and fruit are 



Fig. 369. 

 Flower (f). 



Fig. 370. 

 Flower (f). 



1 T., Inst., 241, t. 126.— L., Gen., n. 561 — 

 GiEKTN., Fruct., i. 208, t. 44. — Lamk., Diet., iv. 

 195 ; Suppl., iii. 710 ; III., t. 373.— DC, Prodr., 

 iv. 49.— E.ndl., Gen., n. 4641.— E. H., Gen., 

 63S, n. 13. 



2 In the latter ease the stamens that disappear 

 are sometimes the oppositipetalous, sometimes the 

 alternipetalous (fig. 370). The pentanclrous species 

 are made by some authors into a distinct genus, 

 Mitellopsls (Meissn., Gen., 136 ; Comm., 100. — 

 Endl., Gen., n. 4640. — ? Oreantkus Rafis., in 

 Ser. Bull. Bot., i. 216.— Drummondia DC, 

 Prod;:, iv. 49). 



3 Hook., Fl. Bor.-Amer., i. t. 82; in Bot. 

 Mag., t. 2933.— Lixdl., in Bot. Beg., t. 166.— 

 TORH.& Gkay., Fl. N.-Amer.,l 585.— A. Okay, 

 Man., cd. 2, 145. — Chapm., Fl. S. Unit. Stales, 

 154.— W alp., Pep., ii. 370 (Mitellopsis), 371. 



4 L., Gen., n. 320.— J., Gen., 308.— Gjeets., 

 Fruct., i. 177, t. 362.— Lamk., Diet., iii. 127 ; 

 Suppl., iii. 49; III., t. 184.— DC, Prodr., iv. 51. 

 — ESDI., Gen., n. 4639.— B. H., Gen., 638, n. 

 14. 



s In Ft. americana L. (Spec., 328) the margins 

 of the petals are a little ciliate. The petals are 

 purple and spathulate in H. glabra DC, while 

 and revolute, with a very slender claw in H. 

 They form long linear straps in II. 



miearntha. 



liimalayensis. 

 ipetalous. 



.H". cylindrica is often hex- 



6 In several species, like H. americana, we 

 pretty often find developed under culture, besides 

 the five unequal alternipetalous stamens, a sixth 

 exactly in front of a petal. Here, and in H. 

 cylindrica, the ovary is normally gaping at the 

 apex, for the carpellary leaves become quite 

 independent above the placentas. M. cylindrica 

 has unequal sepals, and no corolla. The anthers 

 are tetragonal, and dehisce laterally, but the 

 insertion of the filament is dorsal. The disk is 

 very thin. In H. micrantha the inflorescence is 

 a raceme of biparous cymes, becoming uniparous 

 at the apex. The stamens have basifixed anthers 

 and a quite lateral dehiscence. The disk, very 

 thin in most of the species, is here represented 

 by a yellow epigynous glandular layer. The petals, 

 tapering greatly at the base, become revolute in 

 anthesis. The ovary is half inferior, but the 

 placentas do not extend beyond the level of the 

 base of the carpellary leaves. 



7 Hook., Fl. Bor.-Amer., i. t. 79.— Tork. 

 & Geat, FL N.-Amer., i. 577.— Bot. Peg., t. 

 1302, 1924.— Walp., Pep., ii. 369; Ann. \., 

 337; iii. 897; v. 29; vii. 900. 



8 L., Gen., n. 560.— J., Gen., 309.— Lamk., 

 Diet., vii. 657; III., t. 378.— DC, Prodr., iv. 

 50 (part.).— Endl,, Gen., n. 4643.— B. H., Gen., 

 637, n. 11.—? Blondea Neck., Elem., n. 786 

 (ex Endl., nee Rich.). 



