214 



PARNASSIACEAE. 



Vol. II. 



6. Parnassia asarifolia Vent. Kidney- 

 leaved Grass-of-Parnassus. 

 Fig. 2150. 



Parnassia asarifolia Vent, Jard. Malm. pi. 5p. 

 1803. 



Scape io'-2o' high, bearing a clasping 

 nearly orbicular leaf at about the middle. 

 Basal leaves long-petioled, orbicular or 

 much broader than long, rounded, broadlj' 

 kidney-shaped at the base, often 2'-^' wide; 

 flower about l' broad ; calyx-lobes oval, 

 much shorter than the strongly veined 

 elliptic petals, which are rather abruptly 

 narrowed into a claw; staminodia 3 in each 

 set, slender, about the length of the sta- 

 mens, or somewhat shorter, distinct to the 

 base. 



In wet places, mountains of Virginia, West 

 Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. 

 July-Sept. 



Family 47. SAXIFRAGACEAE Dumort. Anal. Fam. 36. 1829.* 



Saxifrage Family. 



Herbs with basal or alternate or opposite leaves. Flowers perfect or polygamo- 

 dioecious, solitary, racemose, cymose or paniculate. Calyx 5-lobed or 5-parted 

 (rarely 4-12-lobed or parted), free, or adnate to the ovary, usually persistent. 

 Petals usually 4 or 5, rarely none. Stamens equal in number or twice as many as 

 the petals, in apetalous species as many or twice as many as the calyx-lobes, peri- 

 gynous or epigynous ; filaments distinct. Disk generally present. Carpels i-several, 

 often 2, distinct or united, mostly fewer than the stamens ; styles as many as the 

 carpels or cavities of the ovary. Fruit a capsule or follicle. Seeds commonly 

 numerous ; endosperm generally copious, fleshy ; embryo small, terete. 



About 90 genera and 650 species, of wide geographic distribution, mainly natives of the tem- 

 perate zones, rare in the tropics. 



Large herbs ; leaves 3-ternate ; flowers polygamous. i. Astilbe. 



Small herbs ; leaves simple, entire, toothed or cleft, or 3-foliolate. 

 Placentae axial ; carpels equal or nearly so. 

 Stamens 10. 



Calyx-tube only slightly developed, unchanged at maturity ; or if slightly accrescent, then 

 flat or fiattish and plants acaulescent. 

 Leaves opposite, except sometimes on flower-stalks. 2. Antiphylla. 



Leaves alternate, sometimes all basal. 



Plants caulescent. 3. Leptasea. 



Plants acaulescent. 



Corolla essentially regular, the petals about equal in length and shape. 



4. Micranthes. 

 Corolla irregular, except sometimes that of the terminal flower, three of the 

 petals with blades of an ovate-lanceolate or sagittate type, and two of them 

 narrower and longer. 5, Hydatica. 



, , Calyx-tube well-developed, and accrescent, at maturity longer than the lobes. 



\ '■; . Plants without caudices, only producing annual flowering stems. 6. Saxifraga. 



>• Plants with perennial leafy caudices, often with offsets, the flowering stem very differ- 



ent from the caudex. 

 Leaves of the caudex with lobed blades, the margins poreless. 7. Muscaria. 

 Leaves of the caudex with serrate blades, each tooth with an encrusted pore. 



8. Chondrosea. 

 Stamens 5. 



Calyx-lobes valvate ; petals deciduous ; seeds wingless. 9. Therofon, 



Calyx-lobes imbricated; petals persistent; seeds winged. 10. Sullivantia. 



* Revised for this edition by Dr. John Kunkel Small. 



