64 MINNESOTA STUDIES IN PLANT SCIENCE 



The following collections from Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams approach 

 Saxifraga stellaris in their leaf characters : 



Var. stellariformis var. nov.. Caulescens, scape tenui, inilorescentiae 

 ramis filiformibus floras paucos atque bulbillos gerentibus, foliis grosse 

 paucidentatis sparsim pubescentibus ad basim attenuate contractis. 



Thomas Howell, Mt. Hood, Oregon, August, 1881 (UMH) ; caulescent, 

 scapes slender, branches of inflorescence filiform, few-flowered, producing 

 flowers and bulblets. Leaves broad in proportion to length, thin, coarsely 

 few-toothed, or with a few apical teeth, sparsely pubescent, cuneately con- 

 tracted below into slender petiole-like bases, mostly equalling or exceeding 

 the blades. 



Howell's specimen is the nearest approach to ^. stellaris of any plant 

 found in the western material examined, except for the form of the scape, 

 which appears to be typical ferruginea. A more extensive collection is 

 needed here. 



Var. nivea var. nov. Scapus 5-10 cm. longus crassus, inflorescentia 

 flores magnos atque bulbillos gerens, foliis ad 1.5 longis ad scaporum basis 

 dense aggregatis apice grosse 2-4-dentatis glabris vel sparsim pubescentibus. 



Snow-line, Mt. Adams, warm, moist, sandy slopes, August 10, 1882, 

 L. F. Henderson, No. 288, as S. stellaris (MBG 84387) ; scapes short, 

 stoutish, 5-10 cm., inflorescence bulblet and flower-bearing, the flowers 

 large in proportion to the size of the plants. Leaves short, 1.5 cm. and less, 

 crowded at the base of the scape, thick with 2-4 coarse apical teeth, glabrous 

 in one or two specimens, scantily pubescent in the others. The smaller 

 plants show a strong similarity to other small forms of S. ferruginea, how- 

 ever. 



Saxifraga foliolosa R. Br., Chlor. Melv. 17. 1823. 



Saxifraga stellaris comosa Poir. in Lam. Encyc. 6:680. 1804. (Unveri- 

 fied.) 



Saxifraga stellaris prolifera Cham., in Lit., ex Engler, Monogr. Saxifr. 

 133, 1872, as syn. 



Saxifraga stellaris foliolosa Turcz., Lac. Baic. 496. 



Saxifraga comosa Britton, Mem. Torr. Bot. Club 5:178. 1894. 



Spatularia foliolosa (R. Br.) Small. N. Am. Fl. 22:2:158. 1905. 



The leaves of the specimens examined are smaller than those of the 

 European specimens of Saxifraga stellaris L. The rigid erect scapes and 

 stiff branches of the inflorescence are quite characteristic of this species. 

 Only a single specimen of those examined possessed a terminal flower 

 (Plate XIX). 



Distribution. — According to Small : "Circumboreal, southward to the mountains 

 of Maine; also in Europe and Asia." (f.c.) . According to Engler I.e.: "In der polar 

 rcsrion ziemlich verbreitet." 



