92 WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
shaped (reniform), lobed or deeply scalloped, the root and lower leaves on long stalks. The root 
with numerous, small, round, downy brown bulb \Plate 43. 
Not uncommon. Meadows and dry banks. April — June. Perennial. 
Alpine Brook Saxifrage. (Saxifraga rivularis, Linn.)— A similar but much smaller 
species, with smaller flowers, solitary, or 2 or 3 terminating a stem 2-3 inches long, with entire or 
2-cleft bracts at the base of the cluster ; the stems 1-3 inches long, prostrate ; and the root-leaves 
deeply 3-5-lobed. The root rarely bearing bulbs. 
Very rare. Damp alpine rocks on Highland mountains. August. Perennial. 
Drooping Bulbous Saxifrage. (Saxifraga cernua, Linn.)— A very similar plant to 
the last, differing in having a larger, solitary, drooping flower, and scaly bulbs in the axils of the 
leaves. 
Very rare, nearly extinct. On the summit of Ben Lawers. June — August. Perennial. 
Tufted Alpine Saxifrage. (Saxifraga csespitosa, Linn.)— Flowers f inch across, 
white, 1-5 in a loose terminal cluster, on stems 2-4 inches high, bearing few leaves. Sepals 5 ; 
petals 5; stamens 10; styles 2. Capsule with 2 short erect beaks. Leaves in tufted rosettes, 
forming bright green cushions, oblong, usually broader at the tip, and 3-5-lobed into blunt 
segments. The whole plant covered with short, gland-tipped hairs. 
Very rare. Alpine rocks on Scotch, Welsh, and Irish mountains. May — July. Perennial. 
Sternberg’s Saxifrage. (Saxifraga Sternbergii, Willd.) — A similar plant, more 
thickly covered with gland-tipped hairs, and with tufts of leaves lobed into 3-4 lance-shaped, 
pointed, fringed segments. 
Very rare. Ireland. July. Perennial. 
Palmate-leaved Mossy Saxifrage. (Saxifraga dieipiens, Ehrh.) — A closely allied 
plant, with tufts of leaves lobed into 3-7 abruptly pointed segments. 
Very rare. Alpine rocks on mountains in Carnarvonshire. June — July. Perennial. 
Saxifraga grcenlandiea, Linn. — Another closely allied plant, with few flowers, and 
broader leaves, more densely tufted. 
Very rare. Ben Lawers. July — August. Perennial. 
Hairy Saxifrage. (Saxifraga hirta, Haw.) — Flowers large, white, 2-4 together, on 
stems 3-6 inches high, bearing few leaves. Sepals 5, abruptly pointed (subulate) ; petals 5, 
oblong, 3-veined; stamens 10; styles 2. Leaves in tufts, cut into 3-5 fine, bristle-pointed 
lobes. 
Very rare. Mountains in Kerry and Tipperary. July — August. Perennial. 
Mossy Saxifrage. (Saxifraga hypnoides, Linn.) — Flowers inch across, white, 
1-8 in a loose cluster, terminating a stem 2-8 inches high, bearing few leaves. Sepals 5, narrow, 
more or less pointed ; petals 5, white ; stamens 10 ; styles 2. The flowering stems erect, the barren 
stems prostrate, sometimes 2-3 inches long, sometimes in dense tufts ; the leaves entire or 3-cleft, 
fringed with slender, glandular hairs. 
Rare. Mountain districts in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. July — August. Perennial. 
GOLDEN SAXIFRAGE. (CHRYSOSPLENIUM, LINN.)— Flowers minute, yellow, in short, 
leafy clusters, the central flower opening first (cymes). Sepals 4, rarely 5, united at the base, 
yellow; petals o; stamens 8, rarely 10, always double the number of petals; carpels 2, united 
into a r-chambered seedcase (ovary), with 2 styles. Fruit a i-celled capsule, many-seeded, open- 
ing at the top by 2 valves. Small, fleshy herbs, with stems usually creeping at the base, then 
erect, and stalked, scalloped (crenate) leaves, opposite or alternate. 
