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Saxifraga oppositifolia L.

Purple mountain saxifrage (en), Saxifrage glanduleux (fr), Saxifrage à feuilles opposées (fr), Saxifrage glanduleuse (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Saxifragales > Saxifragaceae > Saxifraga

Characteristics

Plants many branched, ca. 6 cm tall, with shoots forming mats or cushions. Flowering stem brown pilose. Shoot leaves decussate, imbricate, aggregated into a rosette, gemmiferous at leaf axils, subobovate, 3.5-4 × 1.6-2.3 mm, subleathery, both surfaces glabrous, chalk gland 1, margin pilose, apex obtuse. Cauline leaves opposite, remote, subobovate, 4.2-4.5 × 2.6-2.9 mm, subleathery, both surfaces glabrous, chalk gland 1, margin pilose, apex obtuse. Flower solitary; pedicel ca. 3 mm, brown pilose. Sepals erect, ovate to elliptic-ovate, ca. 5 × 3 mm, leathery, both surfaces glabrous, veins 6 or 7, partly or fully confluent at apex, margin pilose, apex obtuse. Petals purple, narrowly obovate-spatulate, ca. 1.2 × 0.5 cm, ca. 7-veined, base gradually narrowed into a claw ca. 3.5 mm, apex retuse. Stamens ca. 7 mm. Ovary subellipsoid, ca. 2.7 mm, with an obscure nectary disc; styles ca. 6.5 mm. Fl. Jul-Aug. 2n = 26, 52.
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Plants mat-or cushion-forming (with trailing, ± woody stems), not stoloniferous, rhizomatous. Leaves cauline (marcescent, crowded), opposite (rarely alternate); petiole absent; blade oblong to ± broadly obovate, unlobed, 2-5 mm, leathery, margins entire, bristly-ciliate, with 1(-3) lime-secreting hydathodes (in pit, secretion obvious), apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences solitary flowers, ebracteate, 1-5 cm, glabrate or sparsely purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. Flowers: sepals erect, ovate, margins stiffly ciliate or not, surfaces hairy, stipitate-glandular, or glabrous; petals purple to pink, rarely white, often drying violet, not spotted, obovate to elliptic, (2-)5-12(-20) mm, longer than sepals; ovary ± superior. Capsules ± folliclelike.
Densely matted from a branching caudex, the flowering stems 2–10 cm; lower lvs closely imbricate, opposite, obovate to spatulate, 3–6 mm, ciliate; cauline lvs similar, few; fl solitary, erect, usually purple, 1 cm wide; 2n=26, 52. Circumboreal, s. in rocky places to e. Que., n. Vt., n. N.Y., and Wyo. June, July.
A herb.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread barochory
Mature width (meter) 0.1 - 0.5
Mature height (meter) 0.06 - 0.12
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a temperate plant.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity 4-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 6-10

Usage

Uses -
Edible flowers leaves
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings.
Mode cuttings
Germination duration (days) 15 - 60
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 22
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Saxifraga oppositifolia habit picture by Daniel Barthelemy (cc-by-nc)
Saxifraga oppositifolia habit picture by Daniel Barthelemy (cc-by-nc)
Saxifraga oppositifolia habit picture by Daniel Barthelemy (cc-by-nc)

Leaf

Saxifraga oppositifolia leaf picture by Pietro Brignoli (cc-by-sa)
Saxifraga oppositifolia leaf picture by Francois Mansour (cc-by-sa)
Saxifraga oppositifolia leaf picture by Jacques Zuber (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Saxifraga oppositifolia flower picture by LR Saray (cc-by-sa)
Saxifraga oppositifolia flower picture by Daniel Barthelemy (cc-by-nc)
Saxifraga oppositifolia flower picture by Martina Šmídová (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Saxifraga oppositifolia fruit picture by Yoan MARTIN (cc-by-sa)
Saxifraga oppositifolia fruit picture by Yoan MARTIN (cc-by-sa)
Saxifraga oppositifolia fruit picture by Fabien Anthelme (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Saxifraga oppositifolia world distribution map, present in Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Switzerland, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greece, Greenland, Croatia, Iceland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Mongolia, Norway, Nepal, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Tajikistan, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30041728-2
WFO ID wfo-0000493622
COL ID 79R6Y
BDTFX ID 60917
INPN ID 121132
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Saxifraga oppositifolia f. oppositifolia Saxifraga caerulea Saxifraga czekanowskii Antiphylla oppositifolia Evaiezoa oppositifolia Saxifraga asiatica Saxifraga meridionalis Antiphylla caerulea Saxifraga x hegetschweileri Saxifraga latina Saxifraga vaccarii Antiphylla asiatica Saxifraga biflora subsp. epirotica Saxifraga oppositifolia var. meridionalis Saxifraga meridionalis var. latina Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. oppositifolia Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. asiatica Saxifraga oppositifolia

Lower taxons

Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. murithiana Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. amphibia Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. speciosa Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. blepharophylla Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. rudolphiana Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. smalliana Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. paradoxa Saxifraga oppositifolia subsp. ajanica
WorldFloraDB 2024