The Mossy Saxifrage.
Several of the Saxifrages grow in rocky and stony places, and four or five species are sufficiently common to demand a notice here. The flowers of this group have a calyx of five sepals that is either quite free or more or less adherent to the ovary; a corolla of five petals; ten stamens, attached with the petals at the base of the calyx; and a two-celled ovary, with two distinct styles, containing several seeds.
Our first species is the London Pride, None-so-Pretty, or St. Patrick's Cabbage (Saxifraga umbrosa), a native of Irish mountains which has been introduced into Britain as a garden flower, and has now become established as a wild flower in many parts. Its flowering stem grows from six to twelve inches high; and the small white or pink flowers bloom during June and July.
The Ivy-Leaved Toadflax.
The Starry Saxifrage (S. stellaris) is a somewhat similar plant, but much smaller, rarely exceeding six inches in height. It is frequent on wet rocks in the North, flowering in July and August. Its leaves are sessile, oblong or obovate, tapering towards the base, thin, and arranged in spreading rosettes; and the stem is leafless with the exception of little bracts at the base of the pedicels. The starlike flowers, larger than those of the last species, are white, with two yellow spots on each petal, and are arranged in a loose panicle on spreading pedicels. The calyx is adherent to the ovary only at the base, with its segments turned down on the pedicels; and the petals are narrow and spreading.
Another Northern species—the Yellow Mountain Saxifrage (S. aizoides)—is abundant on the wet rocks of mountainous districts, flowering from June to September. It is a tufted plant, with branched, decumbent, leafy stems, about six inches long; and crowded, narrow, fleshy leaves, about half an inch long, fringed with hairs at the base. The flowers are yellow, in a loose panicle. The calyx is yellow, like the petals, but much shorter, and erect; and the ovary is adherent to the short tube of the calyx to about half way up.
The Rue-leaved or Three-fingered Saxifrage (S. tridactylites) is a small species, rarely exceeding four or five inches in height, common on walls in most parts of Britain, flowering from April to July. The whole plant is usually more or less tinged with red, and its erect stem is covered with fine glandular hairs. The radical leaves are very small, stalked, and undivided; those of the upper part of the stem are also small and entire, but sessile; and the intermediate leaves, lower on the stem, are palmately divided into three or five narrow segments. The small white flowers are placed singly on rather long terminal and axillary stalks; and the hairy calyx, which adheres to the ovary, has five blunt lobes less than half the length of the petals.
