DECANDRIA Digynia.
Gen. Char. Cal. 5-cleft. Petals 5. Caps, "with 2
beaks, 1 cell, and many seeds.
Spec. Char. R a d i c a l le a v e s a g g r e g a t e , t h i n , l in e a r -
l a n c e o l a t e , u n d i v id e d o r t h r e e - c l e f t , t r i p l e - r i b b e d .
S t em n e a r l y n a k e d , w i t h v e r y f ew f lo w e r s .
Svn. Saxifraga moschata. M urray in L inn. Syst.
Veg. ed. 14. 414. Sm. F l. B rit. 455. H ull. ed. 2.
124. With. 406.
S . c a e s p ito s a . Huds. 1 8 1 ?
S . n . 9 8 5 . H all. Hist. v. 1 . 4 2 1 .
^i/S H E T H E R th e p la n t fo u n d b y H u d so n on mounta ins
above Am b lesid e , W e s tm o re la n d , (w h ic h s p o t we h a v e e x a m
in e d in v a in ,) be th e moschata, as W ith e r in g su p p o sed , or
n o t, we a re now a u th o riz e d in a dm ittin g th is c u rio u s species as
a B ritish n a tiv e , M r . Don o f C am b rid g e h a v in g g iv en u s sp e cim
en s from his g a rd e n , th e p a re n t roots o f w h ic h he received
from th e H ig h la n d s o f S c o tla n d . J a c q u in ’s fig u re, Misc. v. 2.
t. 21. f . 1, is so b a d , th a t we de cline q u o tin g i t, ra th e r su p p
o sin g i t to rep re sen t one o f several e x o tic species k n ow n to us,
b u t h ith e rto n o t well e x p la in e d in books. N e ith e r is H a lle r’s
p la te , It. Helvet. t. 1, v e ry g o o d .
T h is little species forms p e ren n ia l tuffs, a n d flowers in M ay
o r J u n e . T h e whole h e rb is g lu tin o u s, a n d h a s a n a roma tic
m u s k y smell in w a rm w e a th e r. T h e leaves are m u c h th in n e r
th a n th o se o f S. ccespitosa, t. 7 9 4 , g en e ra lly u n d iv id e d , a few
o f th em sometimes th re e -c le ft; th e m a in rib o f e a c h sending
off, b e y o n d its m id d le , tw o la te ra l rib s. T h e stems a re ab o u t
tw o in ch e s h ig h , b e a rin g b u t few leav es, a n d from tw o to five
flowers, whose g e rm e n is in fe rio r, an d whose p e ta ls, stamens,
a n d styles a re b u if-c o lo u re d , w ith a re d d ish tin g e . T h e petals
a re n e a rly ob o v a te , th re e -rib b e d a b o y e th e ir base,