Saxifragaceae (redirected from saxifrage family)

Saxifragaceae [‚sak·sə·frə′gās·ē‚ē]

(botany)

A family of dicotyledonous plants in the order Rosales which are scarcely or not at all succulent and have two to five carpels usually more or less united, and leaves not modified into pitchers.

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Saxifragaceae 

a family of dicotyledonous plants. They are herbs, generally with simple leaves, usually exstipulate. The flowers are solitary or, more often, in clusters; they are regular or, less frequently, irregular. The flowers are almost always bisexual. There are usually five sepals, five to ten petals (sometimes they are absent), and five to ten stamens (rarely three). The ovary is superior, half-inferior, or inferior; the fruit is a capsule. There are approximately 35 genera (600 species), growing primarily in the cold and temperate belts of the northern hemisphere, often in the mountains. In the USSR there are five genera (more than 100 species). Formerly, plants of the families Hy-drangeaceae and Grossulariaceae, as well as some other groups of plants, were included in the family Saxifragaceae. They are now generally considered to be separate families. The tannin-containing plants of the genus Bergenia have commercial value. Species of the genera Astilbe, Saxífraga, Chrysosplenium, Hendiera, and Rodgersia are used as ornamentals.

REFERENCES

Flora SSSR, vol. 9. Moscow-Leningrad, 1939.
Takhtadzhian, A. L. Sistema ifilogeniia tsvetkovykh rastenii. Moscow-Leningrad, 1966.