Keywords: Saxifrage michauxii chromolithograph.jpg Micranthes petiolaris Saxifraga petiolaris chromolithograph print from the 1894 edition of Wild Flowers of America prepared by Botanical Fine Art Weekly Published by G H Buek Co NY Scan of original 1894 Botanical Fine Art Weekly PD Text from the reverse side of the plate PLATE 248 MICHAUX'S SAXIFRAGE SAXIFRAGA MICHAUXII LEUCANTHEMIFOLIA SAXIFRAGE FAMILY Perennial; with a short rootstock; stem erect hairy much branched; root-leaves rosulate on long hirsute petioles obovate or spatulate stem-leaves short-petioled uppermost bract-like all coarsely laciniate-toothed; flowers in open compound cymes; petals five white three of them heart-shaped at base the other two narrowed; fruit two divergent follicles Saxifrages are not very well-known plants though abundant in temperate regions in every part of the World That is there is very little of poetry and sentiment associated with them--they have missed the written word that gives fame her wings One European species is in the language of flowers the symbol of affection Doubtless because this kind makes its home on mossy rocks nestling in the clefts this idea has become associated with it Why not give the same meaning to our own rock-growing species Weighty if unacknowledged is the debt of America to the explorers the men of science of France Of this debt the plant before us serves as a remembrancer Saxifraga Michauxii is named after the sturdy French collector and traveler whose name is so intimately connected with North American plant-lore A large proportion of our native plants received names at the hands of this old voyageur Especially is this the case with the flora of the mountain region of the South Michaux himself named this Saxifrage Leucanthemifolia; but as that name had already been given to another species this one has been recently entitled Saxifraga Michauxii It is a small plant growing in cool springy places in the mountains from Georgia to Virginia and straying northward The leaves are deeply cut though the resemblance to those of the White-weed which Michaux saw when he named the plant Leucanthemifolia is not very striking The flowers are white rather large for a Saxifrage PD-old Micranthes petiolaris Chromolithographs |