In this family we find a variety of plant types, from herbs to shrubs and small trees. Among the wild flower members are the various saxifrages, miterwort, grass-of-Parnassus and alumroot. Shrubby members include the currants and gooseberries; the hydrangea grows to be a small tree. Ornamentals in the family include mock orange ( Philadelphus ) and deutzia. Of the 1,200 species in the family, a great number occur in the United States. The flower of the Saxifrage family typically has five petals, five sepals, and five or ten stamens. Beneath the perianth the stem is enlarged to form a saucer-shaped or bell-shaped base to the flower. The fruit may be a juicy berry or a dry capsule.
EARLY SAXIFRAGE
This is a plant of rocky hillsides, where the basal rosettes of toothed, ovate leaves cling close to the soil. Stout flowering stalks arise from the leaf clusters, bearing groups of small five-parted flowers. Early Saxifrage is variable in its flower colors, some plants producing white blossoms, others green ones, and still another variety with the petals replaced by stamens. Its range is from southeastern Canada to Georgia, west to Missouri; the flowering period is from April to June.
GRASS-OF-PARNASSUS
Like the saxifrages, Grass-of-Parnassus is a stemless plant with a basal rosette of leaves; these are oval or rounded, one to two inches in length. A tall stalk, up to two feet in height, bears erect solitary flowers. Each flower.
FALSE MITERWORT
Also known as Foamflower, False Miterwort is a slender plant with maple like basal leaves on long stalks. Amid these leaves rise stems, up to twelve inches in height, terminated with spire like clusters of small flowers. Each flower, about a quarter of an inch in breadth, has a bell-shaped calyx with five lobes and a corolla of five oblong petals. False Miterwort grows in rich woods from eastern Canada to North Carolina and Tennessee, and west to Michigan, where it can be found in flower from April to July.
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