SAXIFRAGACE^ 145 



3-lobed. Flowers small, white, single, oil longish pedicels. Calyx- 

 segments barely half as long as the petals. 



Rocks, walls, and stony hillsides ; common. Seen as high as 

 7000 feet in Switzerland. April to July. 



Distribution. — Europe from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle, 

 Russian Asia. British. 



Saxifraga stellaris L. (Plate XIV.) 



Stem erect, 1-4 inches high, leafless, with exception of the bracts, 

 bearing a 3 or more-flowered cymose corymb, covered, like the 

 whole plant, with scattered glandular hairs. Leaves forming a loose 

 rosette, grass-green, wedge-shaped or obovate, coarsely serrate near 

 the apex. Calyx with revolute teeth. Petals lanceolate, rather 

 acute and small, expanded like a star, white, with 2 yellow spots at 

 the base ; anthers vermilion-red. 



Damp shady rocks, and exposed mountain tops and Cols near 

 the snow ; 4000-8500 feet ; common on primary rocks. July, 

 August. It grows at the extreme summit of Ben Nevis, the highest 

 point in the British Isles. 



Distribution. — Mountains of Central and Northern Europe as far 

 as the Arctic Circle ; Alps, Pyrenees, Vosges, Cevennes, Siberia, 

 N. America, British Isles. 



5. stellaris var. robusta Engler (S. Engleri Dalla Torre) appears 

 to be a strong form of 5. stellaris with unequal petals, found in 

 Switzerland and Tyrol. We have such a form also from Norway, 

 with very thick and large leaves. 



Saxifraga cuneifolia L. (Plate XIV.) 



Stem 4 inches to a foot high, very brittle. Shoots in a series of 

 rosettes one above the other. Leaves roundish-obovate, wedge- 

 shaped or spathulate, very obtuse, wavy-crenate, quite glabrous, 

 with cartilaginous margin. Leaf-stalk flat, wedge-shaped, glabrous. 

 Inflorescence paniculate. Calyx-teeth recurved. Petals milk-white, 

 with 2 coalescent yellow spots. Filaments broader upwards. 



Damp, shady woods and rocks, and steep rocky dechvities of the 

 lower Alps ; 3000-6500 feet ; local ; but sometimes covering 

 rocks and banks in woods with enormous mats. June, July. 

 , Distribution. — Carpathians, Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; 

 Cevennes, Pyrenees, Corbieres, Spain, Apennines. 



A very useful plant for covering rocks or unsightly banks or old 

 walls in the shadier parts of the rock-garden. 



Saxifraga aspera L. 



Stem with prostrate, tufted branches. Leaves on fertile stem, 

 and barren shoots spreading, stem-leaves rigid, hnear-lanceolate, 

 with stiff cilia, entire. Stem 3-7 flowered, about 6 inches high. 

 Flowers pale yellow. Calyx patent. Anthers yellow. 



