Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Purple saxifrage

(Saxifraga oppositifolia)

galery
en

Description

Saxifraga oppositifolia, the purple saxifrage or purple mountain saxifrage, is a species of plant that is very common in the high Arctic and also some high mountainous areas further south, including northern Britain, the Alps and the Rocky Mountains. It is a low-growing, densely or loosely matted plant growing up to 5 cm (2.0 in) high, with somewhat woody branches of creeping or trailing habit close to the surface. The leaves are small, rounded, scale-like, opposite in four rows with ciliated margins. The flowers are solitary on short stalks, petals purple or lilac, much longer than the calyx lobes. It is one of the first spring flowers, continuing to flower during the whole summer in localities where the snow melts later. The flowers grow to about 13 mm (0.5 in) in diameter. It grows in all kinds of cold temperate to Arctic habitats, usually found from sea level up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft), in many places colouring the landscape. Its native habitats include tundra, arctic coastal bluffs, alpine scree, and rock crevices. Swiss botanist Christian Körner found the plant growing at an elevation of 4,505 m (14,780 ft) in the Swiss alps, making it the highest elevation angiosperm in Europe. It is even known to grow on Kaffeklubben Island in north Greenland, at 83°N 40°E, the most northerly plant locality in the world. 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 ("rock" or "stone") + frangere ("to break"). It is usually thought to indicate a medicinal use for treatment of urinary calculi (known as kidney or bladder stones), rather than breaking rocks apart. Most saxifrages are small perennial, biennial (e.g. S. adscendens) or annual (e.g. S. tridactylites) herbaceous plants whose basal or cauline leaves grow close to the ground, often in a rosette. The leaves typically have a more or less incised margin; they may be succulent, needle-like and/or hairy, reducing evaporation. The inflorescence or single flower clusters rise above the main plant body on naked stalks, petals purple or lilac, much longer than the calyx lobes. It is one of the first spring flowers, continuing to flower during the whole summer in localities where the snow melts later. The flowers grow to about 13 mm (0.5 in) in diameter.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Saxifragales
Family:Saxifragaceae
Genus:Saxifraga
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