THE SAXIFRAGE FAMILY 
93 
Common Golden Saxifrage. (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium, Linn.)— Flowers 
small, £ inch across, stalkless (sessile), in flat terminal clusters (cymes), surrounded by small 
leaves, which are often yellow. Sepals 4, yellow inside, green outside ; petals o ; stamens 8 ; 
styles 2. Capsule with 2 short erect beaks. Stem 2-6 inches high, fragile, juicy, branched, 
prostrate at the roots ; leaves opposite, roundish, scalloped (crenate), the lower ones on long 
stalks, and hairy. 
Common. In damp places, by the sides of ditches and streams. April — July. Perennial. 
Alternate-leaved Saxifrage. (Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Linn.)— A very 
similar plant, with deeper yellow flowers, and alternate kidney-shaped (reniform) leaves. [. Plate 43. 
Not so common. In damp places, by the sides of ditches and streams. April — July. Perennial. 
GRASS-OF-PARNASSUS. (PARNASSIA, LINN.) — Flowers large, white, solitary, on slender, 
erect flower-stalks. Sepals 5, united at the base, remaining with the fruit (persistent) ; petals 5, 
thick, veined, white ; stamens 5 perfect and 5 imperfect, the imperfect ones (staminodes) bearing 
numerous thread-like filaments, each gland-tipped ; carpels 3-4, uniting into a i-celled seedcase 
(ovary), no styles, and crowned with 4 stigmas, star-like. Fruit a capsule, 1 -celled, many-seeded, 
opening at the top by 4 valves. Herbs, growing in bogs, with mostly radical leaves, stalked, 
entire, roundish or kidney-shaped (reniform). 
Common Grass of Parnassus. (Parnassia palustris, Linn.)— The only British 
species (as just described). A most beautiful little plant, with the solitary flowers 1 inch across, 
of a solid white and strongly veined, on flower-stalks, 8-10 inches high, having one stalkless leaf 
clasping the stem ; the numerous filaments of the imperfect stamens (staminodes) spreading like a 
fan, and tipped with bright yellow glands ; the capsule round ; the flower-stems solitary or 
numerous, rather wiry, angular, and twisted ; the leaves egg-shaped (ovate), heart-shaped 
(cordate) at the base, those from the root on long stalks. [ Plate 43. 
Not common. Bogs, principally in the north. August — September. Perennial. 
GOOSEBERRY, CURRANT. (RIBES, LINN. ) — Flowers greenish, yellow, or reddish, solitary or 
in clusters in the axils of the leaves. Sepals 4 or 5, united at the base into a tube which adheres 
to the seedcase, and separating into the same number of teeth which remain with the fruit 
(persistent) ; petals the same number as the sepals, very small and scale-like ; stamens the same 
number as the sepals ; carpels 2, united into a seedcase, and separating into 2 styles, which are 
united at the base and tipped with a short stigma. Fruit a pulpy, juicy berry, 1 -celled, usually 
many-seeded, crowned with the faded calyx-teeth. Shrubs, sometimes spiny, with alternate 
lobed leaves. 
^Gooseberry. (Ribes Grossularia, Linn.)— Not a native (as just described). The 
flowers l inch across, greenish, drooping, solitary or 2-3 together in the axils of the leaves ; the 
berry small, yellowish, hairy ; 2-4 feet high, branched and bushy, with numerous spines ; the 
leaves small and round, lobed into 3-5 scalloped (crenate) segments. 
An escape from cultivation. Hedges and woods. April — May. Shrub. 
Red Currant. (Ribes rubrum, Linn.) — A similar shrub. The flowers \ inch across, 
greenish, several together in drooping or erect clusters ; the berries smaller, round, red, always in 
drooping clusters • 2-9 feet high, much branched and bushy, without prickles ; the leaves large. 
This shrub is the parent of our cultivated Red and White Currants. 
Not uncommon in woods in the north of England and in Scotland. April — May. Shrub. 
