| Classification |
| Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order Type: Eudicots-Lower Rosids
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Saxifragaceae
Family Common Name: Saxifrage Family
Genera: Astilbe, Bergenia, Heuchera, Rodgersia |
Defining Features: The family
is debated regarding the features delimiting it from other families. It
has been widely interpreted by various botanists.
Defining Morphology: Floral
Features: Flowers 4 or 5-merous and usually bisexual and actinomorphic.
Ovaries are superior to inferior with lateral or axile placentation. Nectars
are often around the base of ovary. Fruit and Seed Features: Dicotyledon.
Fruit a capsule or a cluster of follicles. Vegetative Features: Habit as
largely perennial herbs. Leaves with gland-toothed and usually alternate
and sometimes in basal rosette, simple to pinnately or palmately compound.
Leaves often lack stipules, if present, are mostly on the petiole near
the base.
Distribution: Cosmopolitan,
with the greatest diversity in the arctic, boreal and mountainous regions
of the Northern Hemisphere.
Economic Use: Important as
cultivated garden ornamentals, especially in rock gardens or in gardens
composed of native woodland plants.
Number of Genera Globally: 30
Number of Species Globally:
550
