468  Structure  of  Heuchera  Americana.  {AoctoberPi8Mrm' 
from  4  to  6  inches  long  ;  lamina  2^  to  3  in.  long  by  to  2j£  in. 
wide,  membraneous  in  texture  and  palmi-reticulate  ;  flowers  with  a 
campanulate,  regular  calyx,  whose  base  adheres  to  the  base  of  the 
ovary  and  whose  margin  is  five-cleft ;  petals  small  spatulate,  entire, 
white,  not  longer  than  the  calyx  lobes,  and  alternating  with  them, 
Fig.  2. 
being  borne  on  the  disk  which  lines  the  calyx-tube ;  stamens  five, 
exserted  alternate  with  the  petals;  styles  two,  filiform  and  also  ex- 
serted  ;  ovary  one-celled  with  two  marginal  placentae ;  fruit  a  one- 
celled,  two-beaked  capsule  dehiscing  longitudinally  between  the 
beaks ;  and  seeds,  numerous,  small,  oval,  anatropous,  with  a  rough- 
ened testa,  albuminous,  and  with  an  axile  embryo. 
Fig.  3- 
The  plant  is  not  uncommon  in  rocky  wooded  regions  from  Con- 
necticut to  North  Carolina,  and  as  far  west  as  Minnesota  and  Illi- 
nois. By  reason  of  the  powerfully  astringent  properties  of  the  root 
the  latter  is  popularly  called  Alum  Root.  It  has  been  much  used 
by  the  Indians,  and  more  or  less  in  domestic  practice,  in  medicine 
