Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/680

 656 SAXE-WEIMAR-EISENACH SAXIFRAGE burghausen and Saalfeld, and some smaller districts, bounded mainly by Prussia, Bavaria, Coburg, and Weimar ; area, 953 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 187,957, nearly all Protestants. Its surface is mountainous, several peaks of tbe Thuringian range rising to an elevation of nearly 3,000 ft. The Werra traverses the duchy, first TV. and then N. W. ; the other principal rivers are the Saale and Ihn. There are salt and mineral springs. The valleys are fertile. The manufactures consist principally of coarse cotton and linens, iron ware, pot- tery, and glass. The reigning duke George (born April 2, 1826) succeeded his father in 1866. The government is limited by a diet of a single chamber with 24 members. It has one vote in the federal council, and sends two deputies to the Reichstag. The principal towns are Meiningen, the capital, on the Werra, Saal- feld, Hildburghausen, Sonneberg, and Eisfeld. SAXE-WEIMAR-EISEVACII, a grand duchy of the German empire, composed of the princi- palities of Weimar and Eisenach, which are separated by Prussian Saxony and Coburg- Gotha, and of the district of Xeustadt, sep- arated from Weimar by Altenburg, and 12 smaller portions; area, 1,404 sq. in.; pop. in 1871, 286,183, of whom 9,404 were Roman Catholics, 1,120 Jews, and the rest Protes- tants. It has a diversified surface, being bro- ken by branches of the Thuringian Forest and the Hohe Rhon, and is watered by the Saale, Ilm, Gera, Werra, Nesse, and Ulster. A large portion of the soil is adapted to agriculture, and produces grain, flax, and hemp ; but the principal staple is wool. The reigning grand duke is Charles Alexander (born June 24, 1818), who succeeded his father in 1853. It has one vote in the federal council, and sends three deputies to the Reichstag. The local legislature or diet consists of one chamber with 81 members. The chief towns are Weimar, the capital, Jena, Apolda, Neustadt, and Weida. SAXIFRAGE (Lat. saxifruga, from saxum, a rock, and frangere, to break), a plant, many species of which grow in the crevices of rocks, and were once supposed to disintegrate them ; hence, according to the doctrine of signatures, the plants at one time were regarded as able to break up and remove stone in the bladder. The genus saxifraga gives its name to a fam- ily, the taxifragacea, which with the additions made by recent revisions is very large ; it may be briefly described as very near rosacece, but generally without stipules, and with albumi- nous seeds. Saxifraga comprises about 160 species, found in temperate and arctic regions, and especially in alpine situations ; nearly all are perennials, often with their radical leaves in a cluster ; the usually small perfect flowers in a panicle or corymb, with a five-cleft calyx, five petals, and ten stamens; ovary of two more or less united carpels, with two styles, and frequently cohering with the calyx, ripen- ing into two many-seeded follicles. The early or Virginian saxifrage (S. Virginiensis) is in Early Saxifrage (Siuci- fraga all the northern states one of the earliest and most abundant of spring flowers, especially on dry hills and growing in the clefts of rocks with a warm exposure ; it has a tuft of thiek- ish obovate leaves, tapering into a broad pe- tiole, and scollop-toothed on the margin ; from the centre of the cluster rises a flower stem 4 to 8 in. or more high, at the top of which is a dense clustered cyme, which later becomes an open loose panicle ; the differ- ence in appearance be- tween the plant when it begins to flower and later in the season has caused it to be described under several different names ; the flowers are white, sometimes tipped with purple, and occasional specimens have double flowers. This species ex- tends from Canada to the mountains of Geor- gia and west to Oregon, blooming from April to June. Some few alpine species are found only on Mt. Washington and other northern peaks. The swamp saxifrage (S. Penntyfaanica) is a coarse species found in wet places, with flow- er stalks 1 to 2 ft. high, but without beauty ; and several others are found in the eastern states. In the arctic and subarctic portions of the continent there are several interest- ing species, and some are peculiar to the Rocky mountains and other western ranges. In England the climate allows of the cultivation of a large number of al- pine species, which will not grow here on account of our hot summers. The most common in American gardens are the thick-leaved saxifrage (S. crassi- folia) from Siberia, and several similar species, with fleshy, nearly evergreen leaves, 6 to 7 in. long ; in very early Thick leaved Saxifrage (Sari- fraga crassifoliu). spring they throw up a thick stalk, about a foot high, with a large cluster of bright rose- colored flowers, which is compact at first, but spreads later into an ample cyme ; they bloom so early that they are apt to be caught by late frosts. Saxifraga umbrota is a favorite plant