160 
xxxvii. saxifragaceje. [ Saxifraga. 
axile placenta , or 1 -celled with parietal placentas. Capsule 
2-vaIved. Seeds numerous. Albumen fleshy. — Small, mostly 
herbaceous plants, frequent in northern and alpine regions. 
1. Saxifraga. Petals 5, ovary 2-celled. 
2. Chrysosplenium. Petals 0 , ovary 1-celled. 
1 Saxi'fkaga Linn. Saxifrage. 
Cal. superior, or inferior, or half-inferior, in 5 segments. 
Pet. 5 Stam. 10 or sometimes 5. Ovary 2-celled. Caps, with 
2 beaks, 2-celled, many-seeded. — Named from saxum, a stone , 
and frango , to break ; in allusion to the supposed medicinal 
virtues of this plant ; or, perhaps, to its roots penetrating the 
crevices of rocks, among which the different species generally 
grow. 
* Flowering-stems erect, leafless. Flowers panicled. Cal. usual!;/ re- 
flexed. Caps, superior or nearly so. 
f Filaments enlarged upwards. 
1. S. Geum L. (Kidney -shaped S.) ; leaves rotundate-reniform 
crenate or sharply toothed, footstalks hairy linear convex beneath 
channelled above, scape panicled, capsules superior. — a. leaves 
hairy on both sides. E.B.S. t. 2893. — /3. leaves glabrous on 
both sides. E. B. t. 1561. 
Mountains in the south-west of Ireland. If. 6. — This species has 
the margin of the teeth cartilaginous, but less so than the following. 
Our a. has the leaves hairy and sharply toothed; hut they vary 
much in these respects and in size. Between this and the next there 
are several intermediate forms about Killarney, not quite agreeing 
with either, two of which may be noticed — 1. X. elegans Mackay 
( E . B. S. t. 2892.), leaves round and approaching in form to S. 
Geum, but with the petiole shorter and broader, and although convex 
beneath, it is flat above as in S. umbrosa. Turk Mountain and 
Connor Hill. — 2. S.hirsuta L. (E. B. t. 2322.) ; leaves deep green 
slightly hairy oval longer than broad scarcely cordate at the base, and 
the petiole as in X. Geum. Gap of Dunloe, Connor Hill, and 
Hungry Hill. Whether these ought to be considered as varieties 
of the present species, or as hybrids between the two, or as inter- 
mediate states uniting them into one, or as distinct species from 
both, requires more observations than can be made from specimens 
obtained from only a few stations, and these all confined to one 
country. 
2. S. umbrdsa L. (London- Pride, or None-so-pretty); leaves 
roundish oval with cartilaginous crenatures sharp teeth or 
serratures tapering gradually into a broad flat footstalk, scape 
panicled, capsule superior. — a. leaves obovate-oblong crenate or 
toothed spreading. E. B. t. 663. — j3. leaves roundish sharply 
