SAXIFRAGACILE. 127 



_ — _ — . ■ — ■ ■ ^ 



tips of the lobefl of the ovary. Fbuit a capsule or berry with numerous small 



■tad*. 



seeds. 



Sub-order I. SAXIFRAGES. 



Herbs; the petal* imbricated (rarely convolute) in the bud; capsule %beaited ; 

 6aiy*frc<i or partly adherent; petah 5 (rarely 4 to 6). 



SAXIFRAGA. Linn. 



Lai laxum, a rock, and frago, to break; in allusion to the root penetrating the 

 crevices of rocks and stones. 



Calyx deeply 5-cleft. Petals 5, entire, with short claws. 

 Stamens 10. Styles 2. Capsule 2-beaked, 2-celled, 

 many-seeded, opening between the beaks or sometimes 2 

 almost separate follicles. — Chiefly perennial herbs, with clus- 

 tered root-leaves, the stem leaves alternate, and yellow white 

 and greenish flowers. 



1. S. Virginiensis, Michx. Virginian Saxifrage. 



Pubescent; leaves obovate or spatulate-obovate, often obtuse crenate-dentaUv 

 tapered at the base into a broad petiole; flowers in a clustered cyme which at 

 length becomes open and loosely panicled; petals oval, twice as long as the calyx 

 capsules 2, united at the base, divergent. 



Exposed rooks and hilly places; common. April — June. Scape 4 to 12 inches 

 high. Leaves in a radical spreading tuft. Flowers white, with a tinge of purple. 

 A well known and pretty species, flowering in early spring. 



2. S. Pennsylvania, Linn. Swamp Saxifrage. 



Pubescent; leaves oblanceolate or oval, narrowed at the base into a short and 

 broad petiole, obscurely toothed; cymes in a large oblong panicle, at first clustered ; 

 flowers pedicellate ; petals lance-linear, about the length of the nearly free recurved 

 oalyx lobes; filaments awl-shaped. 



Wet grounds ; common. May, June. A homely species 1 to 3 feet high. Leaves 

 4 to 8 inehes long, all radical. Flowers small, greenish-yellow. Capsules at length 

 divergent. 



2. S. EROSA, Pursh. Lattice Sarfrage. 



^cs ail radical oblong or oblanceolate, obtuse, sharply-toothed, tapering into 

 a short winged petiole; scape slender; panicle elongated, loosely flowered; pedictlt 

 Blender; calyx reflcxed, 3-nerved, free from the ovary nearly as long as the oval 

 obtuse petals ; filaments club-shaped. 



Cold mountain brooks, near Bethlehem. Mr. WAle. June. Boot fibrous. Stem 

 12 to 30 inches high. Leaves 8 to 12 inches long. FcUls email, white, with a 

 yellowish spot near the base. 



2. HEUCHERA. Linn. 



In honor of John Henry Heucher, a German botanist. 



Calyx bell-shaped, cohering at the base with the ovary* 

 deleft. Petals 5, spatulate, small, entire, erect. Stamens 

 », inserted alternately with the petals into the throat of the 

 *alyx. Styles 2. Capsule l-celled ; with 2 parietal many^ 



