38 
Dicotyledons with Polypetalous Flozvc?'s . 
Natural Order 
SAXIFRAGES. Tab. 30. 
D iagnosis.— Herbs with radical or alternate exstipulate cauline leaves. 
Flowers regular, pentamerous. Stamens perigynous, definite. Ovary 
2-celled, superior or inferior. Ovules indefinite. 
Distribution. —Principally confined to the North Temperate and Arctic zones and higher moun¬ 
tain ranges of the Tropics; a few extending far along the South American Cordillera. A large propor¬ 
tion of the species of the only large genus of the Order, Saxifrage ( Saxifraga ), affects rocky stations at 
alpine elevations. 
Number of British Genera, 3 ; Species, 15. 
* 
Stamens 10 or 5, subhypogynous in some species of Saxifraga, as London Pride (S. umbrosa). 
Ovary inferior, as in Rue-leaved Saxifrage (S. tridactylites); half-inferior, as in Meadow Saxifrage (S. granulatd); 
superior, as in London Pride. 
Fruit a many-seeded capsule. 
Seeds usually albuminous. 
USES, &c.—Numerous species of Saxifraga are cultivated for ornament, especially on rockwork and in cool 
borders. None are of economic importance. The Hydrangea, an ornamental Chinese shrub, in the cultivated form 
of which the lobes of the calyx are inordinately developed at the expense of the essential organs of the flower, 
belongs to a closely allied group ( Hydvangece ), usually regarded as a tribe of Saxifrages, differing from the type in 
having opposite leaves. 
