Heuchera
(named after Johann Heinrich Heucher, 1677-1747, Professor of Medicine at Wittenburg). Alum Root. ORD. Saxifrageae. This genus comprises about twenty species of elegant hardy perennial herbs, natives of temperate North America, from Mexico almost to the Arctic regions. Flowers rather small, spicate, racemose or paniculate, bracteate, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves radical, long-petiolate, broadly cordate or orbiculate, lobed or crenate. All the species are of easy culture in any ordinary garden soil, except stiff clay, and may be readily increased by dividing the crowns during spring. Most of the Heucheras have inconspicuous flowers, but H. sanguinea is one of the handsomest of recently-introduced herbaceous plants. All are worth growing on account of their foliage, but a couple of species will be sufficiently representative of the general character of the genus. H. americana (American).* fl. reddish; thyrse elongated, panicled. Summer. l. on long petioles, somewhat five to seven-lobed, toothed. h. 1 1/2ft. North America, 1656. Plant clothed with clammy pubescence. H. caulescens (caulescent). A synonym of H. villosa. H. cylindrica (cylindrical). fl. greenish, rather large; panicle compact, cylindrical. Summer. l. cordate, deeply and roundly lobed, crenated, ciliated, truncate at the base. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Oregon, &c., 1830. (B. R. 1924.) H. glabra (glaorous). fl. white, small; panicle loose. Summer. l. cordate, acutely lobed, glabrous, unequally and-acutely toothed; lower stem ones or bracts toothed. h.1ft. North-west America, 1827. (H. F. B. A. i. 79.) H. hispida (hispid).* fl. veined with purple, more or less oblique; stamens soon exserted, longer than the spathulate petals; panicles very narrow; scapes 2ft. to 4ft. high. May to July. l. rounded, slightly five to nine-lobed. High mountains of Virginia and Carolina, 1826. Plant hispid or hirsute, with long spreading hairs (occasionally almost glabrous), scarcely glandular. SYN. H. Richardsonii.
H. Menziesii (Menzies'). A synonym of Tolmiea Menziesii. H. micrantha (small-flowered). fl. yellowish; panicle loose. Summer. l. roundish-cordate, nearly naked, bluntly lobed crenate; teeth horned. h. 2ft. North-west America, 1827, (B. R. 1302.) H. pubescens (downy). fl. pale red, variegated with yellow, large; branches of panicle short, crowded with flowers. Summer. l. somewhat acutely lobed, toothed; teeth mucronate. h. 1ft. United States, 1812. Plant covered with powdery down. SYNS. H. pulverulenta, H. ribifolia.
H. pulverulenta (powdery). A synonym of H. pubescens. H. ribifolia (Currant-leaved). A synonym of H. pubescens. H. Richardsonii (Richardson's). A synonym of H. hispida. H. sanguinea (blood-coloured).* fl. deep red, paniculate, somewhat campanulate. Summer. l. cordate, orbiculate, five to seven-lobed; lobes dentate, ciliate; petioles clothed with spreading hairs. h. 9in. to 18in. Northern Mexico, 1882. (Gn. xxvi. 360.) H. villosa (villous). fl. violet, small, loosely panicled; petals spathulate-linear, about as long as the stamens, soon twisted; scapes 1ft. to 3ft. high, villous, with rusty hairs (as are also the petioles and veins of the leaves beneath). August and September. l. acutely seven to nine-lobed. United States and Canada, 1812. SYN. H. caulescens.