Unidentified Saxifrage

[Martinr]

Hi experts, the two photos below were taken in the Dolomites, above the Pordoi Pass, on the path to the Forc del Pordoi. All my attempts to positively identify it using my various books have failed!

Help!

[Peter Maguire]

? Saxifraga exerata, perhaps slightly past it's best, hence the darker flowers. Still a nice plant though.

[adrian young]

Hi Martin
Your Pordoi sax looks like S.facchinii,
this is endemic to that area.
It is not common in cultivation

[Martinr]

Thanks, I went down both those roads!

All the descriptions I have of S facchinii suggest the flowers should be on extremely short stems on or amongst the foliage. I'm also not sure it should sport such red stems.

For S exarata I would have expected more substantial petals.

No wonder I have a headache

[Kees Jan]

if it is not facchinii (I can't tell) I would say it it looks more like exarata ssp. moschata than exarata ssp. exarata, although I think that would be somewhat unusual on dolomitic limestone.

[tonyg]

if it is not facchinii (I can't tell) I would say it it looks more like exarata ssp. moschata than exarata ssp. exarata, although I think that would be somewhat unusual on dolomitic limestone.

I am no expert but I have seen similar in Switzerland and would call them exerata ssp moschata.  This was my first thought on seeing the photo ... before I read the above quote!

[Martinr]

You're not helping my headache

Thanks all. I think I'll note it as S. exarata (?) and move on to my next puzzle