[Sidenote: =Modesty=
_Whípplea modésta_
=White
Spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
The only kind, a pretty little under-shrub, with many woody stems,
spreading and trailing on the ground, the branches clothed with more
or less hairy leaves, with three veins, and bearing clusters of very
small flowers, with a pleasant honey-like fragrance. They usually have
ten stamens, the ovary is partially inferior, with from three to five
styles; sepals whitish; petals white, becoming greenish. The low masses
of green foliage, spotted with white flower clusters, are a pretty
feature of the Coast Range forests and thickets, especially among
redwoods.
There are several kinds of Mitella, perennials, of North America and
Asia.
[Sidenote: =Bishop's Cap, Mitrewort=
_Mitélla ovális_
=White
Summer
Northwest and Utah=]
An inconspicuous little plant, of mountain woods, with pretty leaves
and tiny flowers. The slender, hairy, leafless stem, about ten inches
tall, springs from a cluster of root-leaves, smooth on the upper side,
except for a few bristly hairs, with bristly hairs on the under veins
and on the long, slender leaf-stalks. The flowers grow in a graceful,
one-sided spray and have a five-lobed, green calyx, five minute petals,
five stamens with short filaments, and a roundish ovary, almost wholly
inferior. The petals have pretty little bits of feathery fringe between
them, which make the little flowers look like tiny snow crystals in
shape, when we examine them closely.
There are several kinds of Spatularia, perennials, sometimes with
bulblets; leaves from the root, mostly toothed; flowers white, in open
clusters; sepals five; petals all clawed, the three upper differing
from the two lower; ovary chiefly superior.
[Sidenote: _Spatulària Brunoniàna
(Saxifraga Nutkana) (Saxifraga Bongardi)_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]
A beautiful plant, with such slender stems and branches that, at a
distance, the little white flowers look like specks of foam. The
hairy, reddish stems, from a few inches to over a foot tall and
very branching, spring from clusters of thickish, stiffish, hairy
root-leaves and bear dozens of flowers, about three-eighths of an inch
across, with white petals, spotted with yellow or red at the base and
slightly irregular, the three upper petals being narrower than the two
lower. The anthers are orange; ovary white or pinkish; calyxes and buds
purplish-red. This grows among rocks in mountains.
[Illustration: Spatularia Brunoniana (small part of cluster).
Modesty--Whipplea modesta.