258 SAXIFRAGACEiE. Tiarella. 



4. TIARELLA. Linn.; Lam. ill. t. 313; Endl. gen. i64.3. MITRE-WORT. 



[ From tiara, a kind of head-dress or mitre ; in allusion to the form of the capsule.] 



Calyx campanulate, nearly free from the ovary, 5-parted, valvate. Petals 5, entire. Stamens 

 10 : filaments exserted. Styles 2 : stigmas simple. Capsule membranaceous, 1-celled, 

 with 2-parietal placentae, 2-valved, the valves very unequal. Seeds few^, near the base of 

 the capsule, smooth and shining. — Perennial herbs, with simple cordate or trifoliolate in- 

 cised and serrate leaves. Flowers small, paniculate or racemose, white. Bracts minute. 



1. Tiarella cordifolia, Linn. Heart-leaved Mitre-wort. 



Leaves simple, cordate, acutely lobed, and unequally dentate with mucronate teeth, strigose- 



ly hairy, pubescent underneath ; scape naked ; raceme simple ; petals oblong, clawed. — 



Linn. sp. l.p. 405 ; Lam. ill. t. 313 f. 1 ; Michx.fl. 1. p. 271 ; Bot. mag. t. 1589 ; Pursh, 



fl. 1. ;j. 313 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 445 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 178 ; DC. prodr. 4. p. 50 ; Torr. ^ 



Gr. jl. N. Am. 1. p. 587. 



Stolons creeping, leafy. Radical leaves on long petioles, 2-3 inches in diameter. Scape 

 6-12 inches high, sometimes with a small leaf about the middle, roughish-pubescent. 

 Raceme many-flowered; the pedicels 4-6 lines long. Segments of the calyx white, obovate- 

 oblong, obtuse. Petals white, spreading, as long as the calyx. Stamens longer than the 

 petals. Ovary of 2 unequal carpels, which are distinct at the summit and attenuated into 

 short styles, opening by the inner suture at a very early period. Capsule elongated : valves 

 oblong, very unequal, erect, or very slightly diverging. Seeds black and shining, with a 

 prominent raphe. 



Shady moist woods, and in swamps ; northern and western part of the State. May - June. 



5. CHRYSOSPLENIUM. Toum. ; Endl. gen. 4638. golden saxifrage. 



[ From the Greek, ckrysos, gold, and spkn, the spleen ; a figurative name, given in allusion to the supposed medicinal 



virtues of the genus.] 



Calyx-tubc cohering with the ovary, 4 - 5-lobed ; the lobes colored inside. Petals none. 

 Stamens 8-10, inserted on the margin of a toothed disk that surrounds the ovary. Styles 

 2, distinct, short, tapering. Capsule with 2 short spreading beaks, 1-celled with 2 parietal 

 placentce at the base, 2-valved at the summit. Seeds numerous, spherical. — Annual or 

 perennial, smooth, subaquatic, and mostly prostrate plants, with somewhat fleshy alternate 

 or o])positc crenate leaves, and small yellowish-green flowers. 



1. Chrysosplenium Americanum, Schtvein. Golden Saxifrage. 



Stems prostrate, dichotomous above ; leaves opposite, the upper ones often alternate. 



