Saxifrage Family [Saxifragaceae] |
status
flower
inner
morph
petals
stem
sex
gyno-sex
dioecious
26th May 2015, Monks Dale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Typical meadow setting amidst Buttercup, Lesser Trefoil, Mouse-ear, Crosswort, Speedwell mand allsorts, but no Liquorice. |
12th May 2009, Monks Dale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Grows amidst grass in limestone areas. |
26th May 2015, Monks Dale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
26th May 2015, Monks Dale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
8th May 2009, River Kent, Sizergh, Lancashire. | Photo: © RWD |
Flowering stems have a single flower atop. Basal leaves roundish kindney-shaped, with rounded lobes. |
27th May 2005, Chinley, Derbyshire | Photo: © RWD |
About eight inches high, mostly without stem leaves, but with a compact basal rosette of kidney-shaped leaves. |
27th May 2005, Chinley, Derbyshire | Photo: © RWD |
Five white petals, splayed out into a funnel. Greenish centre. |
27th May 2005, Chinley, Derbyshire | Photo: © RWD |
White petals with rounded ends. Green veins on petals become less distinct towards the tip of the petals. |
4th May 2011, Lathkilldale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Petals not fully un-folded, still over-lapping. Ten stamens with yellow pollen; two parts of the stigma yet to develop. Feint green veins on petals. |
26th May 2015, Monks Dale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
26th May 2015, Monks Dale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
18th May 2008, Lancaster-Morecambe Cycletrack | Photo: © Joy Ahmad |
Fully developed flowers have greeny-yellowish veins near the centre, and with both the petals splayed out, curving over backwards slightly. This is a bisexual flower, with 10 stamens (some of the anthers have dropped off) and two discoidal whitish styles. |
4th May 2011, Lathkilldale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Petals become funnel-shaped when fully grown. Five sepals first reddening then browning at the tips. Sepals and stems covered in short hairs. |
26th May 2015, Monks Dale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
A short bract beneath the 'armpit' of each branch. |
18th May 2008, Lancaster-Morecambe Cycletrack | Photo: © Joy Ahmad |
Has many sticky glandular hairs (the tiny dark blobs at the end of the hairs exude a sticky substance). This specimen has un-usually widely-spaced petals. |
26th May 2015, Monks Dale, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Stems round, stickily-hairy and with two short. A bisexual specimen turning to fruit having lost its petals. Typical ovary in the centre with two styles in the characteristic (for this flower) U-shaped space between them). Five pointed hairy sepals. |
8th May 2009, River Kent, Sizergh, Lancashire. | Photo: © RWD |
Kidney shaped basal leaves are hairy and with several rounded lobes, largest in the middle. |
Some resemblance to : Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) but that has cleft petals and can be taller.
Not to be semantically confused with : Greater Burnet-Saxifrage (Pimpinella major) or
This plant is gynodioecious meaning there are female plants, and bisexual plants, which accounts for some differences in the flowers on different plants. It's actual sexuallity is quite complicated with many permutations and half-way houses. See Sex. That said, your Author has been singularly unable to find any photos of the female-only plant amongst his vast collection. It grows from 10-30cm high in old grasslands such as churchyards, grassy banks, verges avoiding very acidic soils. The stems are near-leafless, but just under the armpits of any stem leaves may be found bulbils. The leaves die off after flowering. Each stem grows from a small compact cluster of half-round basal leaves with round teeth and scattered hairs. The single stem branches with up to 3 to 12 flowers in a loose cluster. The stems are densely covered in shorter sticky glandular hairs.
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Saxifraga | granulata | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Saxifragaceae |
Saxifraga (Saxifrages) |
Saxifrage Family [Saxifragaceae] |