190 SAXIFRAGACE^. peltiphyllum. 



SAXIFRAGA. 



petiole which is dilated and sheathing at base ; cauline similar: petals 

 linear, 1-2 lines long, scarcely longer than the calyx, white: carpels 

 becoming 4-6 lines long;, purplish, but slightly divergent. In high moun- 

 tain marshes, Alaska to Washington and the Rocky Mountains. 



2 PELTIPHYLLUM Engler Nat. Pfl. ill, Abt. 2, 61. 



Coarse perennial herbs with peltate leaves and rather large 

 flowers in paniculate cymes on scapes that appear before the 

 leaves. Calyx flat, deeply 5-cleft, the very short tube adherent 

 to the base of the ovary. Petals 5, entire, deciduous. Stamens 

 10, persistent, inserted at the base of the calyx ; anthers 2-celled. 

 Carpels 2, distinct, becoming many-seeded follicles with pla- 

 centae on the margin. Stigma capitate. Seeds angular, obconic 

 with a loose testa. 



P, peltatum Engler 1. c. Saxifraga pellata Torr. Rootstock large 

 and creeping, 1-3 inches in diameter, branching ; scapes and leaves from 

 the ends of scaly branchlets: leaves centrally peltate, at length 6-18 

 inches in diameter, orbicular, 9-14-lobed and sharply serrate, on stout 

 petioles, 2-4 feet high: scapes rather stout, at length equalling the leaves, 

 striate, more or less hispid witli brownish hairs; flowers numerous, in 

 rather large paniculate cymes ; calyx-lobes oblong, obtuse, 2 lines long, 

 much longer than the shallow tube; petals round-oval to obovate, 3-4 

 lines long, white or pinkish, tardily deciduous; filaments subulate with a 

 broad flat base: mature follicles turgid, 3-4 lines long, dehiscent to the 

 base. In mountoin streams, central Oregon to California. 



3 SAXIFRAGA L. Gen. n. 559. 



Herbs with alternate simple leaves, their petioles commonly 

 sheathing at base, and usually rather small flowers in one to 

 many-flowered cymose thyrsoid or panicled clusters. Sepals 5, 

 united at base or nearly distinct, valvate in the bud. Petals 5, 

 inserted on the tube of the calyx, entire. Stamens 10, inserted 

 with or below the petals on the base of the calyx, or between it 

 and a fleshy disk: anthers 2-celled, opening longitudinally. 

 Carpels 2-beaked, rarely 3-6-beaked, as many-celled below, 

 many-seeded, opening by a roundish hole between the diverging 

 beaks. Seeds numerous, smooth or rugose, not winged, the 

 testa mostly thin and conformed to the nucleus. 



§ 1 Hirculus Tausch Hort. Canal, i. Caudex perennial, 

 leafy: leaves flat, mostly persistent, often bristly ciliate, the 

 margins not punctate nor cartilaginous: flowering stems annual, 

 leafy : sepals united at the base, slightly coherent with the base 

 of the ovary : cilia of the leaves not articulated. 



S. bronchialis L. Sp. 572. Stems ascending, slender, producing 

 short branchlets: leaves somewhat coriaceous, narrowly lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate-cuspidate, sessile with a broad base, finely ciliate, 2-3 lines long, 

 crowded on the short branches: flowering stems 1-4 inches high ; flowers 

 solitary or few in an open corymb, on slender pedicels; sepals lanceolate, 

 sub-mucronate, spreading; petals obovate-oblong, white marked with 

 orange spots; capsule opening only halfway down, there diverging at 

 risrht angles. Alaska to Mt. Adams, Washington, and the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. 



