/^/V [ 5 ° I ]
D E C A N D R I A Digynia.
Gen. Char. Cal. five-cleft. Petals five. Cap/, with
. two beaks, one cell, and many feeds.
Spec. Char. Stem-leaves wedge-flhaped, three or five-
cleft, alternate; the uppermoft undivided. Stem
eredl, panicled.
Syn. Saxifraga tridactylites. Linn. Sp. P I. 57 8. Hudf.
182. With. 406. Relb. 166. Sibth. 138. Curt.
L ond .fa fc. 2. t. 406. Dickf. H . S icc.fa fc. 8. 10.
L igh tf. 224.
S. verna annua humilior. Ran Syn. 3 54 .
C o m m o n in moft p a rts o f E n g lan d on wa lls, th a tc h e d
ro o fs, an d d ry b a rre n plac es, b u t ra re in S c o tla n d ; it fucceeds
th e Draba verna in th e fame fitua tions, flowering in May, a fte r
w h ic h it becomes fu n b u rn t o f a blood red o r mahogany co lour,
foon fheds its feed, an d w ith e rs away. W h e n it' h ap p en s to
g row in fhady plac es, it is g re e n e r, more {lender, an d lo n g e r
lived.
R o o t a n n u a l, fmall, and en tire ly fibrous. Stem v a rious in
h e ig h t and lu x u ria n c e , ere<£t, ro u n d , leafy, a little z ig z ag ,
m u c h branched above in a panicled m an n e r. T h e whole h e rb is
c lo th e d w ith p ro je c tin g vifcid h a irs. Leaves p a lma te in th re e
fegm en ts, o r p ed a te in five, tap e rin g d own in to a wedg e-fh ap ed
ba fe , th e ir m a rg in e n tire , th e ir fubftanc e tum id and fle fh y ;
th e u p p e rm o ft o f all are lan c eo la te an d un d iv id ed . F low e rs
fm a ll, w h ite , o n u p rig h t fo lita ry flower-ftalks. Calyx u rn -
fh ap ed , w ith fmall te e th . P e ta ls obovate, fcarcely exceeding
th e c a ly x . Sty les g re a tly divaricated.
Some have tak en th is fo r th e Paronychia o f D io fc o rid e s ; b u t
i f th e p o in t we re w o rth th e pa ins o f a n e x am in atio n , th e re are
m an y p lan ts th a t agree b e tte r w ith his fh o rt an d lame a c co u n t.
H is Paronychia was ufed to cu re -w h itlow s. H e n c e th is faxi-
frag e has b e en called w h itlow -g ra fs, a n am e m o re commonly
giv en to Draba verna.