278 LXV. SAXIFRAGACE.E. SAXIFRAGE 



sujfruticose, plant, native of the E. Indies. Lvs. opposite, unequally 

 pinnate, part of them sometimes simple. Fls. greenish-purple. 



B. CALYdNUM. Salisb. Not uncommon in house cultivation, requiring but 

 little water, in a well-drained pot of rich loam. Stem thick, green, about 2f 

 high. Leaves 3 5-foliate, with thick, oval, crenate leaflets. Flowers in a 

 loose, terminal panicle, pendulous, remarkable for the large, inflated calyx, and 

 the long, tubular, exserted corollas. This plant is distinguished in vegetable 

 physiology. See Fig. 10, 1, and 88, a. 



5. PENTHORUM. t 



Gr. wire, five ; on account of the 5-parted, angular capsule. 



Calyx of 5 sepals united at base ; petals 5 or ; capsules of 5 

 united carpels, 5-angled, 5-celled and 5-beaked ; seeds 00, minute. 

 ^ Erect (not succulent) herbs. Lvs. alternate. Fls. yellowish, cymose. 



P. SEDOIDES. Virginia Stone-crop. 



St. branched and angular above ; Ivs. nearly sessile, lanceolate, acute at 

 each end, unequally serrate ; fls. in unilateral, cymose racemes. A hardy 

 plant of little beauty, in moist situations, Can. and U. S. Stem 10 16' high, 

 with a few, short branches. Leaves 23' by 1', membranaceous, smooth, 

 sharply and unequally serrate. Racemes several, lecurved at first, at length 

 spreading, with the flowers arranged on their upper side, constituting a corym- 

 bose, scentless, pale yellowish-green cyme. Pet. generally wanting. Jl Sept. 



ORDER LXV. SAXIFKAGACEyE. SAXIFRAGES. 



Herbs or shruls. Lvs. alternate or opposite, sometimes stipulate. 



Cal. Sepals 4 or 5," cohering more or less, persistent. 



Cor. Petals as many as the sepais, inserted between the lobes of the calyx. 



Sta. 510. Anthers 3-celled, opening longitudinally. 



Ova. inferior, usually of 2-carpels, cohering at Dase, distinct and divergent above. 



Fr. generally capsular, 1 2-celled, many-seeded. 



Genera 38, species 440, native of temperate and frigid climes in both continents. As a tribe their rocti 

 are astringent Several species are among our most ornamental, cultivated plants. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



{ Capsule 2-celled Saxifraga. \ 



( Stamens 10. ( Capsule l-celled Tiarella. 5 



< Capsule 2-celled. Siillivantia. Z 



$ entire. ( Stamens 5. Capsule l-celled Heuchera. 3 



$ Petals 5, (. pectinately pinnatifid . . . . MiteUa. 4 



Herbs. ( Petals 0. Leaves opposite. Aquatic, depressed Chrysosplentum. 6 



$ Petals valvate" in aestivation Hydrangea. 8 



$ Leaves opposite. (. Petals convolute in aestivation Philadelphia. 9 



Phrubs. ( Leaves alternate Itea. 7 



SUBORDER 1. SAXIFRAGES. 



Petals imbricate in aestivation ; carpels united, the summits dis- 

 tinct, forming a beaked capsule. Herbs. 



1. SAXIFRAGA. 



Lat. saxum, arock,frangere, to break; often growing in the clefts of rocks. 



Sepals 5, more or less united, often adnate to the base of the ova- 

 ry ; petals 5, entire, inserted on the tube of the calyx ; stamens 10 ; 

 anthers 2-celled, with longitudinal dehiscence ; capsule of 2 connate 

 carpels, opening between the 2 diverging, acuminate beaks (styles) ; 

 seeds 00.^ 



1. S. VIRGINIENSIS. Michx. (S. Virginica. BW.} Early Saxifrage. 



Lvs. mostly radical, spatulate-obovate, crenately toothed, pubescent, short- 

 er than the broad petiole ; scape nearly leafless, paniculately branched above ; 

 fts. many, cymose; cal. adherent to the base of the ovary; pet. oblong, much 

 exceeding the calyx. An early and interesting plant, on rocks and dry hills, 

 Can. and U. S. Scape 4 12' high, pubescent, annual. Leaves rather fleshy, 

 9 13" by 6 12". Flowers in rather dense clusters, white or tinged with pur- 

 ole, in early spring. 



