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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.

In April we notice that the seams in the rocky cliffs and hillsides 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.