Foam-flower. False Mitre-wort.
Tiarella cordifolia. Saxifrage Family.
Stem.—Five to twelve inches high, leafless, or rarely with one or two leaves. Leaves.—From the rootstock or runners, heart-shaped, sharply lobed. Flowers.—White, in a full raceme. Calyx.—Bell-shaped, five-parted. Corolla.—Of five petals on claws. Stamens.—Ten, long and slender. Pistil.—One, with two styles.
Over the hills and in the rocky woods of April and May the graceful white racemes of the foam-flower arrest our attention. This is a near relative of the Mitella or true mitre-wort. Its generic name is a diminutive from the Greek for turban, and is said to refer to the shape of the pistil.
Early Saxifrage.
Saxifraga Virginiensis. Saxifrage Family.
Scape.—Four to nine inches high. Leaves.—Clustered at the root, somewhat wedge-shaped, narrowed into a broad leaf-stalk. Flowers.—White, small, clustered. Calyx.—Five-cleft. Corolla.—Of five petals. Stamens.—Ten. Pistil.—One, with two styles.
PLATE VII
FOAM-FLOWER.—T. cordifolia.
In April we notice that the seams in the rocky cliffs and hill-sides begin to whiten with the blossoms of the early saxifrage. Steinbrech—stonebreak—the Germans appropriately entitle this little plant, which bursts into bloom from the minute clefts in the rocks and which has been supposed to cause their disintegration by its growth. The generic and common names are from saxum—a rock, and frango—to break.
Mitre-wort. Bishop’s Cap.
Mitella diphylla. Saxifrage Family.
Stem.—Six to twelve inches high, hairy, bearing two opposite leaves. Leaves.—Heart-shaped, lobed and toothed, those of the stem opposite and nearly sessile. Flowers.—White, small, in a slender raceme. Calyx.—Short, five-cleft. Corolla.—Of five slender petals which are deeply incised. Stamens.—Ten, short. Pistil.—One, with two styles.