Saxifraga cernua, the drooping saxifrage, nodding saxifrage or bulblet saxifrage, is a flower common all over the High Arctic. It stretches further south in mountainous areas of the Alps, Norway, Iceland, Siberia and Alaska.

Saxifraga cernua
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Saxifragaceae
Genus: Saxifraga
Species:
S. cernua
Binomial name
Saxifraga cernua

It grows to 10–20 cm tall and the stem has 3–7 leaves. The basal and lower stern leaves are kidney-shaped, 3–5 lobed on long petioles. The flowers are mostly single and terminal. Petals are white and are much longer than the sepals. The plant reproduces by means of brownish-red bulbils in the axils of the upper stem leaves. Flowers bloom June to August.[1]

This plant grows in moist sandy and mossy places, on ledges and in snow beds.[2]

It became a protected species in the UK in 1975 under the Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org.
  2. ^ "Saxifraga cernua in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org.
  3. ^ "Caithness CWS - Caithness Field Club - Annual Bulletins - 1975 - October - Conservation".
 
Saxifraga cernua