Calyx bell-shaped, the tube cohering at the base with the ovary, 5-cleft. Petals 5, spatulate, small, entire. Stamens 5. Styles 2, slender. Capsule 1-celled, with 2 parietal many-seeded placentæ, 2-beaked, opening between the beaks. Seeds oval, with a rough and close seed-coat.—Perennials, with the round heart-shaped leaves principally from the rootstock; those on the stems, if any, alternate. Petioles with dilated margins or adherent stipules at their base. Flowers in small clusters disposed in a prolonged and narrow panicle, greenish or purplish. (Named in honor of John Henry Heucher, a German botanist of the beginning of the 18th century.)
[*] Flowers small, loosely panicled; stamens and styles exserted; calyx regular.
1. H. villòsa, Michx. Stems (1–3° high), petioles, and veins of the acutely 7–9-lobed leaves villous with rusty hairs beneath; calyx 1½´´ long; petals spatulate-linear, about as long as the stamens, soon twisted.—Rocks, Md. to Ga., west to Ind. and Mo. Aug., Sept.
2. H. Rugélii, Shuttlw. Stems slender, ½–2° high, glandular-hirsute, as well as the petioles, etc.; leaves round-reniform, with 7–9 short and broad rounded lobes; flowers very small (1´´ long); petals linear-spatulate, twice as long as the calyx-lobes; fruit narrow.—Shaded cliffs, S. Ill. to Tenn. and N. C.
3. H. Americàna, L. (Common Alum-root.) Stems (2–3° high), etc., glandular and more or less hirsute with short hairs; leaves roundish, with short rounded lobes and crenate teeth; calyx very broad, 2´´ long, the spatulate petals not longer than its lobes.—Rocky woodlands, Conn. to N. C., west to Minn., Mo., and Miss.
[*][*] Flowers larger, in a very narrow panicle; calyx (3–4´´ long) more or less oblique; stamens short; leaves rounded, slightly 5–9-lobed.
4. H. híspida, Pursh. Stems 2–4° high; hispid or hirsute with long spreading hairs (occasionally almost glabrous), scarcely glandular; stamens soon exserted, longer than the spatulate petals.—Mountains of Va. and N. C., west to Minn. and E. Kan. May, June.
5. H. pubéscens, Pursh. Stem (1–3° high) and petioles granular-pubescent or glandular above, not hairy, below often glabrous; stamens shorter than the lobes of the calyx and the spatulate petals.—Rich woods, in the mountains, from Penn. to Ky., and southward. June, July.
8. CHRYSOSPLÈNIUM, Tourn. Golden Saxifrage.
Calyx-tube coherent with the ovary; the blunt lobes 4–5, yellow within. Petals none. Stamens 8–10, very short, inserted on a conspicuous disk. Styles 2. Capsule inversely heart-shaped or 2-lobed, flattened, very short, 1-celled with 2 parietal placentæ, 2-valved at the top, many-seeded.—Low and small smooth herbs, with tender succulent leaves, and small solitary or leafy-cymed flowers. (Name compounded of χρυσός, golden, and σπλήν, the spleen; probably from some reputed medicinal qualities.)