Saxifraga cespitosa

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Saxifraga cespitosa
Saxifraga cespitosa 4759.JPG
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Saxifragaceae
Genus: Saxifraga
Species:
S. cespitosa
Binomial name
Saxifraga cespitosa
L.
Synonyms

Saxifraga caespitosa(orth. var.)

Saxifraga cespitosa, the tufted alpine saxifrage [1] or tufted saxifrage, is a flower common to many arctic heights. It appears further south in mountainous areas of the Alps, Norway, Scotland, Wales, Iceland, Siberia, western North America and Greenland.

Densely tufted from a stout taproot, the plant has very short stems with withered, dead leaves at the base. The leaves have three to five lobes; both leaves and calyx exhibit trichomes in the form of glandular hair. Flowering stems range from 5–10 cm, with one or two flowers per stem. Its petals are white, twice the length of the calyx lobes. Smaller specimens, with shorter stems and smaller, yellowish-greenish petals (with uniflorous variants), are rather frequent.

The tufted saxifrage grows on ledges and gravelly places.

It became a protected species in the UK in 1975 under the Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act. [2]

Related Research Articles

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Saxifraga is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 440 species of holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages or rockfoils. The Latin word saxifraga means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin saxum + frangere. It is usually thought to indicate a medicinal use for treatment of urinary calculi, rather than breaking rocks apart.

<i>Saxifraga cernua</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Saxifraga flagellaris</i> Species of saxifrage

Saxifraga flagellaris, the whiplash saxifrage or flagellate saxifrage, is a plant native all over the high arctic and some areas of northern Rocky Mountains, and Norway. It is not very common. It is also known as spider saxifrage or "spider plant", though the latter name more commonly refers to the unrelated Chlorophytum comosum (Agavaceae).

<i>Saxifraga oppositifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Oxytropis campestris</i> Species of plant

Oxytropis campestris, the field locoweed, is a plant native to Northern Europe, the mountains of Central & Southern Europe, the Northwestern United States and all of Canada, sometimes grown as an ornamental plant.

<i>Saxifraga paniculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Saxifraga paniculata is an alpine species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family, with native distribution in the temperate northern hemisphere. Common names include alpine saxifrage, encrusted saxifrage, lifelong saxifrage, lime-encrusted saxifrage, livelong saxifrage, white mountain saxifrage, and silver saxifrage.

<i>Primula pauciflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Primula pauciflora, the pretty shooting star, few-flowered shooting star, dark throat shooting star or prairie shooting star, is a species of flowering plant in the primula family Primulaceae. It is a widespread and very variable species, native to western North America, from Subarctic America to Mexico, often in xeric and desert habitats. It is found in the Great Basin Deserts and Mojave Desert. Its synonyms include Dodecatheon pauciflorum and Dodecatheon pulchellum.

<i>Lithophragma glabrum</i> Species of flowering plant

Lithophragma glabrum is a slender perennial western North American mountain plant in the Saxifrage family (Saxifragaceae), known by the common names bulbous woodland star, bulbiferous prairie-star, smooth woodland star, and smooth rockstar.

<i>Lithophragma parviflorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Lithophragma parviflorum is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known by the common name smallflower woodland star. It is native to much of western North America from British Columbia to California to South Dakota and Nebraska, where it grows in several types of open habitat. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing erect or leaning with a naked flowering stem. The leaves are mainly located low on the stem, each cut into three lobes or divided into three lobed leaflets. The stem bears up to 14 flowers, each in a cuplike calyx of red or green sepals. The five petals are bright white, up to 1.6 centimeters long, and usually divided into three toothlike lobes.

<i>Minuartia stricta</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia stricta is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names bog stitchwort, Teesdale sandwort and rock sandwort. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout much of the northernmost Northern Hemisphere from the lower Arctic into the alpine climates of mountainous areas in temperate Eurasia and North America. It grows in several types of habitat, including meadows, marshes, heath, beaches and bars, and arctic and alpine tundra.

<i>Micranthes bryophora</i> Species of flowering plant

Micranthes bryophora is a species of flowering plant known by the common name bud saxifrage. It is native to the western United States, where its two varieties are geographically separated. The more common var. bryophora is endemic to the mountains of California, and the rare var. tobiasiae is known only from the Payette National Forest of western Idaho.

<i>Saxifraga rivularis</i> Species of saxifrage

Saxifraga rivularis is a species of saxifrage known by several common names, including highland saxifrage, weak saxifrage, alpine brook saxifrage, and pygmy saxifrage.

<i>Silene douglasii</i> Species of flowering plant

Silene douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name Douglas's catchfly.

<i>Silene grayi</i> Species of flowering plant

Silene grayi is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name Gray's catchfly. It is native to the mountains of Oregon and northern California, including the Klamath Mountains, where it grows in chaparral, mountain forests, and the talus of high slopes in alpine climates. It has been observed to occur in a plant association with oceanspray, littleleaf silverback, and Gray's bedstraw. It is a perennial herb producing a decumbent or erect stem up to 20 or 30 centimeters long from a woody, branching caudex. The base of the plant is covered in tufts of leaves. These basal leaves are lance-shaped to nearly spoon-shaped, fleshy, and up to 4 centimeters long. Smaller, narrower leaves occur farther up the stems. Each flower has a tubular calyx of fused sepals lined with ten green or red veins and covered in glandular hairs. It is open at the tip, revealing five pink or purple petals. The petal tips and appendages are divided into narrow lobes.

<i>Silene lemmonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Silene lemmonii is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name Lemmon's catchfly.

Silene nuda is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names western fringed catchfly and sticky catchfly.

<i>Saxifraga aspera</i> Species of saxifrage

Saxifraga aspera is a species of saxifrage known by the common name of rough saxifrage. In German it is known as Rauhhaariger Steinbrech. It is placed in section Trachyphyllum of the genus Saxifraga. There are two subspecies, Saxifraga aspera subsp. aspera and Saxifraga aspera subsp. micrantha. It is a plant of the pan-Arctic tundra and is also found in Europe at moderately high altitudes in the Alps, Pyrenees and northern Apennines.

<i>Saxifraga bryoides</i> Species of saxifrage

Saxifraga bryoides is a species of saxifrage known by the common name of mossy saxifrage. In German it is known as Moosartiger Steinbrech. It is an inhabitant of the Arctic tundra but it also grows in the Alps and other European mountain ranges at high altitudes.

<i>Micranthes occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Micranthes occidentalis, commonly known as western saxifrage, is a species of flowering plant native to North America..

References

  1. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Saxifraga caespitosa". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  2. "Caithness CWS - Caithness Field Club - Annual Bulletins - 1975 - October - Conservation".