Saxifrage Family. — Saxifragaceæ
| Early Saxifrage. | Saxifraga Virginiensis. |
| Rock-Breaker. |
Found blossoming in April and May, in rocky grounds and hillsides.
The leaves and flowering stems, from 4 to 9 inches in height, rise from the root.
The small oval leaves have rounded tips, short broad foot-stems, and scalloped edges; their texture is thick and smooth, and their color a vigorous green. They form a close round tuffet upon the ground.
The small flowers have 5 long white petals and 10 yellow stamens apiece; their light green calices are 5-parted; and they grow in open clusters on the summit of a thick, round, and downy stem, which rises from the middle of the leafy rosette.
The buds appear already formed, early in the spring; as soon as the snow leaves the ground they appear as a small, round green ball well settled down in the middle of the leaf-tuffet; this bunch of buds pushes itself boldly up, on its thick stem, which is still quite short when the flowers begin to open. As the stem lengthens the clustered flowers become less dense until, finally, it reaches its full height, and the blossoms, fully expanded, spread loosely apart; they remain in perfection a long time—two or three weeks. The roots of this hardy plant, pushing in among the crevices of the rocks, fracture them by their vigorous growth; this gives it the name of Saxifrage or Rock-Breaker.
| Mitre-Wort. | Mitella diphylla. |
| Bishop’s Cap. |
Found on moist banks and in light woods in May.
Leaves and flowering stems, to the height of 8 to 15 inches, or more, spring from the root.
The leaf is somewhat triangular in shape, with a pointed tip and deeply heart-shaped base; 3- to 5-lobed, each lobe being slightly cut into 3 or 5 notches, the ribs and veins noticeable, the texture thin and loose, and hairy on both sides, the underside being also glossy; in color a full green. The leaf is borne singly on a long very hairy stem, which is tinged with red near the foot. Small, very short-stemmed leaves also occur in single pairs upon the flower-stems.
The flower is small, exquisitely shaped, with its 5 white petals cut into little branching threads in the semblance of a snow crystal; the 10 little yellow stamens just show within their hollow center; the yellow-white cup-shaped calyx is slightly 5-parted. The flowers are set on tiny foot-stems, and arranged in a spire upon a tall, slender, somewhat hairy stem.
Several leaves and two or three flower spires rise from the earth together, each protected by purple-red sheaths. The sole occasion for its name lies in the quaint shape of the seed.
| Nancy-over-the Ground. | Tiarella cordifolia. |
| White Cool-wort (N. Y.) | |
| False Mitre-Wort. |
Found on wooded slopes, in moist nooks during May.
The root throws out slender runners, which bear leaves, and flowers on upright, 4- to 8-inch long, hairy stems.
The leaf is heart-shaped at the base, its lobes overlapping the stem, and the margin is cut and toothed irregularly into a faint semblance of a maple-seedling leaf; the edge is slightly curling, the noticeable ribs are hairy underneath, and the fibre is coarse; the color is green, often speckled with rusty spots.
The 5 small, pointed petals spread alternately with the 5 blunt-tipped calyx-parts; the flower is all pure white, except for the orange tips to the 10 stamens; the long, sharp-pointed pistil is conspicuous. These pretty feathery flowers, on their little foot-stems, are arranged in a loose spike, borne by the long, sometimes leafy, flower-stem.
Nancy spreads rapidly, carpeting the earth with its close-growing flat leaves above which the flower-spires rise alertly. The foliage turns brown and gray early in the summer.
Wild Currant. Ribes floridum.
Found in blossom in May, on the edge of thickets.
A bush, from 4 to 5 feet high, with a branching, woody stem, covered with a gray bark.
The leaf is lobed after the manner of the currant leaf, with a heart-shaped base, and toothed margin; the veins are numerous, the surface smooth, and the color a fall green. The leaves, on inch-long foot-stems, which widen at the base, and are fringed along the edges with light, weak hairs, grow in small alternate clusters on the branches.
The bell-shaped flower is 5-parted at the top, the divisions rounded and recurved; the small petals are set within the large calyx-bell, alternating with 5 tiny stamens; the color is a pale greenish-yellow. Each flower bell hangs on a short stem, with a narrow leaflet at its foot; from six to ten, or more, bells droop in a cluster, from the angles of the leaves.
The small fruit is black.
Grass of Parnassus. Parnassia Caroliniana.
Found in moist ground from July to September.
The flower-stems rise from a cluster of leaves to the height of 6 or 12 inches usually.
The leaf is rounding, often scoop-shaped or sometimes heart-shaped at the base, with an entire margin, and a thick, leathery texture; in color an opaque dull green. It is set on a long stem, and rises from the root.
The flower is like a shallow saucer, formed of 5 white petals which are much veined with hair lines of pale green; the green calyx is 5-parted; the pistil is green, and surrounded by 5 large-tipped stamens, which alternate with the petals, and a second circle of stamens without anthers,—all straw-color. It is borne singly on a long one-leafed stem.