The Saxifrage. 263 



are mostly perennial plants, with thick roots, large fleshy 

 leaves, and showy flowers, generally disposed in panicles. 

 The name Saxifraga, signifies < break stone,' in reference to a 

 supposed medicinal effect of the plants, or according to one 

 rather doubtful authority, " from their insinuating themselves 

 into the crevices of rocks, and breaking them." The parts of 

 fructification are extremely variable, the calyx being some- 

 times superior, and sometimes inferior, the stamens being in- 

 serted into the calyx in some instances, and beneath the ova- 

 rium in others. This has been the cause of dividing the genus 

 into several others, though the new genera are not usually 

 adopted. 



The Nepaul Saxifrage is one of the finest of the cultivat- 

 ed species. The flowers are large, bell-shaped, and nearly 

 white. The leaves are large, leathery, dotted all over with small 

 punctures, and fringed at the margin with a border of fine 

 short hairs. The root is horizontal and woody. It should be 

 grown in very rich garden soil, and protected from the cold, in 

 April and May, when it flowers. S. Stellaris is a pretty little 

 plant, a native of the north of Europe, and America. 



There are many other American species, some of which are 

 among the earliest flowers which blossom in our Northern 

 Spring. One of these, S. Virginiensis, opens its white petals 

 in April, among the stones of every dry, rocky hill. It is a 

 small plant, with obovale, pubescent radical leaves, and a stem 

 of six inches high, bearing a panicle of numerous small flow- 

 ers. The whole number of North American species is above 

 forty, many of which are native in Canada, Labrador, and 

 the far North. The genus contains in all, above one hundred 

 and fifty species. 



