SAXIFRAGACE.E. (SAXIFRAGE FAMILY.) 165 



* * Racemes 4 - ^-flowered, slender, nodding. 



4. R. laciistre, Poir. Young stems clothed with bristly prickles, and 

 with weak thorns ; leaves heart-shaped, 3 - 5-parted, with the lobes deeply cut ; 

 calyx broad and flat ; stamens and style not longer than the petals ; fruit bristly 

 (small, unpleasant). — Cold woods and swamps, New England to Wisconsin 

 and northward ; south to Pennsylvania. June. 



§2. RIBESIA, Berl. (Currant.) Stems neither prickly nor thorny: flowers 

 (greenish) in racemes : berries never -prickly. 



5. R. prostratum, L'Her. (Fetid Currant.) Stems reclined ; leaves 

 deeply heart-shaped, 5- 7-lobed, smooth ; the lobes ovate, acute, doubly serrate ; 

 racemes erect, slender ; calyx flattish ; pedicels and the (pale red) fruit glandular- 

 bristly. — Cold damp woods and rocks, from N. England and Penn. northward. 

 May. — The bruised plant and berries exhale an unpleasant odor. 



6. R. floridum, L. (Wild Black Currant.) Leaves sprinkled with 

 resinous dots, slightly heart-shaped, sharply 3- 5-lobed, doubly serrate ; racemes 

 drooping, downy ; bracts longer than the pedicels; calyx tubular-bell-shaped, smooth; 

 fruit round-ovoid, black, smooth. — Woods: common. May. — Much like the 

 Black Cuirant of the gardens, which the berries resemble in smell and flavor. 

 Flowers large, whitish. 



7. R. rubrum, L. (Red Currant.) Stems straggling or reclined; 

 leaves somewhat heart-shaped, obtusely 3 - 5-lobed, serrate, downy beneath 

 when young ; racemes from lateral buds distinct from the leaf-buds, drooping ; calyx 

 flat (green or purplish) ; fruit globose, smooth, red ; on our wild plant apt to turn 

 upwards in the drooping raceme : the veins of the leaves are whitish beneath 

 (whence the name R. albinervium, Michx.) : but apparently not distinct from 

 the garden Red Currant of the Old World. — Cold bogs and damp woods, New 

 Hampshire to Minnesota and northward. May, June. (Eu.) 



R. aureum, Pursh, the Buffalo or Missouri Currant, remarkable 

 for the spicy fragrance of its yellow blossoms in early spring, is widely culti- 

 vated for ornament. Its leaves are convolute (instead of plaited) in the bud. 



2. I TEA, L. Itea. 



Calyx 5-cleft, free from the ovary or nearly so. Petals 5, -aneeolate, much 

 longer than the calyx, and longer than the 5 stamens. Pod oblong, 2-grooved, 

 2-celled, tipped with the 2 united styles, 2-parted (septicidal) when mature, 

 several-seeded. — Shrubs, with simple, alternate, petioled leaves, without stip- 

 ules, and small white flowers in simple racemes. (Greek name of the Willow.) 



1. I. Virginiea, L. Leaves deciduous, oblong, pointed, minutely ser- 

 rate ; seeds oval, flattish, with a crustaceous coat. — Wet places, New Jersey 

 and southward, near the coast. June. 



3. HYDRANGEA, Gronov. Hydrangea. 



Calyx-tube hemispherical, 8-10-ribbed, coherent with the ovary; the limb 

 4 - 5-toothed. Petals ovate, valvate in the bud. Stamens 8- 10, slender. Pod 

 crowned with the 2 diverging styles, 2-celled below, many-seeded, opening by a 

 hole between the styles. — Shrubs, with opposite petioled leaves, no stipules, 



