Information is from Vascular Plant Families, James Payne Smith, Jr., Mad River Press, and Plants of the Chicago Region, Floyd Swink and Gerould Wilhelm, Indiana Academy of Science.
Family Overview - The Rosales
Saxifragaceae - the Saxifrage Family
Diversity and Distribution: Chiefly of the cooler and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere; a few are southern hemisphere. About twenty genera are native to the U.S., more species occurring in the West than any other part of the country. Several are cultivated as ornamentals. Here we are following Smith in excluding Ribes, currants and gooseberries (Grossulariaceae), and Hydrangea (Hydrangeaceae). These woody plants are included by some authors (such as Swink and Wilhelm) in the Saxifragaceae. Eight genera with ten species are native to the Chicago region; these include: Saxifraga and other genera of Saxifrages, Heuchera - Alumroot, Mitella - Mitrewort, and Parnassia - Grass of Parnassus.
Floral structure:
| Significant features: Perennial herbs with alternate, basal leaves and typically scapose inflorescences (no well developed leaves on flowering stems). 5-merous flowers. The ovary is borne within a hypanthium, perigynous. The family closely resembles the Rosaceae but differs by lacking stipules, having 5 to 10 stamens, having 2 to 5 imperfectly united carpels, axillary placentation, and abundant endosperm in the seed. Fruit is a capsule. | 
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Images from Hawaii |