SAXIFRAGACEJG. 305 



Perennials, with the radical leaves larger, and 

 longer stalked. 

 Lower leaves rounded or palmate. Flowers 

 solitary or panicled. 

 Lowland plant. Stem erect. Lower leaves 



crenate 6. Meadow S. 



High alpine plants. Stems weak. Lower 

 leaves angular or deeply lobed. 

 Petals at least twice as long as the calyx . 7. Drooping S. 

 Petals scarcely exceeding the calyx ... 8. Brook S. 

 Radical leaves ovate, toothed. Stem almost 

 leafless, with a terminal head of small 



flowers 10. Alpine S. 



Annual, with narrow leaves, entire or three-lobed 9. Rue-leaved S. 

 Calyx free, icith reflexed divisions. 



Flowers white. Leaves thin, angular or acutely 



toothed 11. Star S. 



Flowers pink. Leaves thick and leathery, crenate. 



Leaves obovate, narrowed at the base . . . 12. London-pride S. 

 Leaves orbicular, cordate or rounded at the 



base 13. Kidney S. 



The large, somewhat coarse Siberian thick-leaved Saxifrage (S. crassi- 

 folia) is common among herbaceous plants in our gardens. The Chinese 

 S. sarmentosa, with long, hanging runners, is often grown in pots in 

 cottage windows ; and several species from the great European moun- 

 tain-ranges, form a great proportion of all cultivated collections of 

 alpine plants. 



1. Purple Saxifrage. Saxifraga oppositifolia, Linn. 

 (Fig. 372.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 9.) 



Stems perennial, creeping, very much 

 branched, forming low, straggling tufts, 

 of several inches in diameter, seldom 

 rising above an inch from the ground. 

 Leaves crowded, small, opposite, obovate, 

 and ciliate. Flowers rather large, hand- 

 some, and purple, often so crowded as 

 almost to conceal the foliage, although 

 growing singly on very short erect 

 branches. Calyx- tube adhering to the 



ovary and capsule up to more than half its length ; the se 

 ovate, green, erect or spreading, not half so long as the petals 



Fig. 372. 



gments 



