Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Saxifraga => Topic started by: Kees Jan on November 20, 2010, 05:17:01 PM
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Here are some pics of saxifrages in the wild. This entry is from Italy.
Sax. marginata and the annual Sax. tridactylites, Monte Sant'Angelo, Amalfi Peninsula, Italy
Saxifraga tridactylites, Monte Sant'Angelo, Amalfi Peninsula, Italy
Saxifraga rotundifolia, Monte Sant'Angelo, Amalfi Peninsula, Italy
Saxifraga rotundifolia, Monte Sant'Angelo, Amalfi Peninsula, Italy
Saxifraga rotundifolia, Monte Sant'Angelo, Amalfi Peninsula, Italy
Saxifraga bulbifera
Saxifraga granulata
Saxifraga granulata - unusual form with hairs on the petals, near the town of Monte Sant'Angelo, Gargano Peninsula
Saxifraga marginata (Monte Sant'Angelo, Amalfi Peninsula)
Saxifraga bulbifera
More pics from this trip at http://keesjan.smugmug.com/Botanical-trips/Europe/Italy-Naples-to-Gargano-spring/
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Here is a final picture from Italy: Saxifraga paniculata ssp. paniculata in bud (Monte Sant'Angelo, Amalfi Peninsula)
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great plants in wonderful settings! looking forward to more...
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Here are a few more, from Sout America this time. This is S. magellanica, photographed in Patagonia, Argentina. It grows on the cliffs behind the Araucaria araucana trees (last picture)
http://keesjan.smugmug.com/Botanical-trips/North-and-South-America/Patagonia-January-2010/
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Kees, these are wonderful images of saxifrages in the wild in their native landscape. I like the hairy petaled Saxifraga especially :)
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Yes, that S. granulata is very interesting. Also the green venation on the petals. Nice memories of Amalfi!!! It is a pity that we had no time for wandering around those cliffs :( It seems that it could have been fascinating.
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And moving on to North America: here is Micranthes (syn. Saxifraga) tolmiei photographed in Crater Lake NP last summer. This is a very distinct species with unusual succulent leaves.
More pics of the Saxifragaceae are to be found at http://keesjan.smugmug.com/Botanical-trips/North-and-South-America/Pacif-NW-Time-corrected/ (saxifrage family can be selected by searching on Saxifragaceae, using the search tool)
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Looked at all your pictures with interest! Saxifraga is one of my favorite genera of flowering plants. Although I grow some in my garden I like the wild ones best.
Here's a few from the Mountains here.
1 -3 Saxifraga aizoides (different colours)
4 Saxifraga cespitosa with a butterfly
5 Saxifraga stellaris
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Interesting colour form of S. aizoides :), in the European Alps yellow forms seem to be much more common. Also an interesting habitat with Betula nana.
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This topic deserves to be revisited ...
Saxifraga seguieri in the Dolomites
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Terrific shot Cliff :)
Don't ever remember seeing that when we were there. Don't need exact location but where did you find it?
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Hi buddy,
We have only seen it a couple of times, once at Falzarego and once, where these images were captured, on the rocks near the Mausoleum.
Love to Kentucky!!!
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Being obsessed with Sax we had to make the pilgrimage to La Brigue in the Roya Valley to see the S. cochlearis and then to Col de Tende to see the S. callosa "Bellardii".
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Adrian Young suggested we climb to the Col Lacroix to find Saxifraga valdensis. It was easy to find on the cliffs at the pass together with lots of other fine plants.
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I wonder how far and wide the seed is distributed, of S. callosa? One might expect colonies hundreds of feet below those cliffs. ::)
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Lesley:
The limestone outcrops at Col de Tende are only in one area. We did not see any limestone cliffs far below. I suspect that the fairly small area of limestone outcrops at Col de Tende limits the extent of Saxifraga callosa 'Bellardii. They only seem to grow on the vertical limestone cliffs.
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Funnily enough, I did, before my 1965 marriage, have vertical limestone cliffs in the garden. They were man-made, or more acurately, mother-and-daughter-made, about 6ft high and grew some super plants such as best plants I've ever seen of Omphalodes luciliae and many dianthus, Physoplexis comosa and small saxifragas. S. callosa though, no. At that time we lived on a farm with a limeworks down the road, and the back of the farm had great limestone outcrops which provided the stone for my first rock garden.
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Two pictures of saxifragas growing in the Juvass area of Jotunheimen in central southern Norway, at elevation of 1850 m (about 6000'). The first is a S. cespitosa, it was growing in the soil-rich pockets of the polygon field formed in this area of permafrost. The second is S. oppositifolia, growing on a big, cracked rock, about 1 m (3') above the surrounding ground. And not just any rock, this is an ultrabasic, olivin-rich peridotite/serpentinite which erodes (apparently readily) to a serpentine soil, quite hostile for most plants. It is alkaline, but poor in calcium and potassium. The S. oppositifolia doesn't seem to mind this meager diet, - and it has the place to itself. The local name of the rock is "raudberg", red rock, indicating that it also contains iron.
Knud
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Great pics from David Sellars, pleased he found S.valdensis.
It is an outstanding species that should be grown more widely.
It is not difficult outside on Tufa if you give it winter wet protection.
The Tende callosa's should not be referred to as bellardii, that
confuses matters too much, S.callosa subsp. callosa var callosa
is the correct term, then add collected Col de Tende.
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Saxifraga caesia, growing in cliff crevices in the Dolomites. Most of the crevices are so narrow they seem to be springing from solid rock.
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It was early in the bloom season in the Dolomites when we arrived so we were able to see Sax. oppositifolia in good bloom. My favorite is the patch with one little Soldanella minima in bloom at the edge. Most of them were on rock and blooming along with Thlaspi rotundifolia and soldanellas. I guess that makes them snow-melt plants.
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Also seen, Saxifraga aizoides. The orange dots were quite pale, and there is a bonus on the left, Saxifraga caesia. Both are growing along a limestone path in the Dolomites on the way to Lagazuoi.
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Anne:
It is always nice to see Saxifraga oppositifolia in the mountains. It flowers so much better in the Alps than in North America. Those are great pictures of Saxifraga caesia which I have not often seen in flower. It is a classic Sax, good hard foliage and elegant flowers.