SAXIFRAGACE^-SAXIFRAGE FAMILY 



EARLY SAXIFRAGE 



^ Saxifraga virginUnsis. 



Saxifraga, from saxum, rock and frangere, to break; many species 

 rooting in the clefts of rocks. 



One of the early wild flowers of the North, growing on exposed rocks 

 and dry hill-sides. Perennial. April, June. 



Acaulescent leaves. — In a basal rosette; obovate, narrowed into a 

 broad petiole, crenate-toothed, thickish. 



Flowers. — Dull-white, borne on a naked scape, in clustered loosely 

 panicled cymes. 



Calyx. — Five-cleft. 



Petals. — Five, imbricated in the bud. 



Stamens. — Ten. 



Ovary. — Two-celled; styles two. 



Capsule. — Two almost separate follicles. 



This little rock breaker is attractive because it presents itself 

 so early in the year; in northern Ohio it is one of the few April 

 flowers that must be sought on dry hill-sides, not in moist woods. 

 All the Saxifrages have been trained in the hard school of dry 

 or rocky homes; many of them are arctic plants. As a result there 

 are not many representatives in cultivation, and those that are in- 

 habit the rock garden rather than the border. Probably the best 

 of these is the Thick-Leaved Saxifrage, Saxifraga crassifdlia, a Si- 

 berian plant, which is a strong-growing species; the tufts of large 

 thick leaves rise from a stout rootstock. The leaves are dotted 

 with many small, punctate glands at the surface; the petiole is 

 sheathed at the base and the plant is stemless. The scape rises 

 a foot or more and bears numerous lilac or pale-purple flowers on 



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