SAXIFRAGACE^E. (saxifrage family.) 1G7 



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

 the size. 



2. P. palustris, 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. Carolini&na, 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'- U' broad. 



4. P. asarifolia, 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 diceciously polygamous. Calyx 4-5-parted, small. Petals 4-5, 

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

 free, many-oVuled : styles 2, short. Pod 2-cclled, 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 

 oti'A/3?7, 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. — Rich 

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

 Spiraea Aruneus, but coarser, 3° - 5° high. 



7. SAXIFEAGA, L. Saxifrage. 



Calyx cither free from or cohering with the base of the ovary, 5-clcft 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. oppositifdlia, 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 ascend! ug, leafy : stem-leai<es alternate : calyx coherent below with the pod. 

 ■*- Petals all alike. 



2. S. rivularis, L. (Alpine Brook-S.) Small; steins weak, 3-5- 



