Saxifraga florulenta

[David Sellars]

Having got into trouble  with Maggie for not posting here for a while I thought I'd better rectify matters.

We are having a wonderful time in the Maritime Alps and for those who would like to see a few pics you can go to:

http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=714.0

Despite receiving some good information from Adrian Young we have not yet been able to track down Saxifraga florulenta.  We had a good look at the cliffs above Lac Fenestre and went up to the Col de Fenestre and found some good plants of Saxifraga pedemontana and Saxifraga retusa but no S. florulenta.  The next day we went to the Adus Valley and up to the col where Beryl Bland saw some plants but we had no success.  Based on information in a 1965 article in the SRGC journal by C. E. Davidson we went up to the Col de la Lombarde today, scrambled over the boulders, climbed a few rocks and cased the cliffs with a telescope.  There are probably some plants there but they are not "fairly plentiful" as indicated by Davidson. 

In her Silver Saxifrages book, Beryl Bland noted that S. florulenta may be declining from natural causes.  The heavy flowering that was noted in the 1990s may have hastened the decline as the plant is monocarpic.  Has anyone else noticed a decline recently or did we just hit the wrong cliffs?  We saw hundreds of S. retusa in the expected S. florulenta habitat and some S. pedemontana which was much consolation. Maybe we need to go to the Italian side of the Maritime Alps where I understand S. florulenta is more prolific.

[Maggi Young]

My goodness, David, what a success my note to you has been  Super photos from your trip..... I think a trip to the Italian side is called for though... it may not yield the S. florulenta but the food will be different and a pleasant change, eh?!! "Variety is the spice"... and so on 

I wonder if the effects of climate change have favoured other species more to the detriment of the S. floruenta?

[Maggi Young]

Do take a visit to the NARGS page David has given the link to, Folks.... you'll see a spread of Ranunculus that made Cliff Booker faint with pleasure and amongst other gems of the mountains, a lovely shot of Rhododendron ferrugineum in a typical postcard worthy landscape.

[David Sellars]

The Ancient King lives!  Long live the King!

Following a suggestion from Paul Kennett over at saxifraga.org, we hiked up the Gordalesque Valley today and took the trail to Lac Autier.  At less than 2 km from the parking lot at an elevation of about 2030 m we found some fine plants of Saxifraga florulenta growing on north facing cliffs right beside the path.  At least four had incipient flower spikes and we were encouraged to see some very young plants as well.

[Maggi Young]

Hurrah! Well done!
Superb rosettes - that was really rewarding... and I, for one, never felt a twinge on the trip!
The lichens on the rock in the first picture are rather attractive, too. That photo would  be a super subject for a botanic artist.

[ranunculus]

Glorious, David!

[David Sellars]

We hiked on up to Lac Autier at about 2300 m and found more Saxifraga florulenta on the cliffs at the far end of the lake. However the best plants were at the lower elevation and the easiest to access.  Here is a picture of the lake, a plant growing in a tight crack and one of the plants with a flower spike starting.  Someone should go back there in a month or so to see the flowers.

[ChrisB]

That would take a lot of painting skill Maggi.....

[Lesley Cox]

Of course I've never seen this, except as a black and white photo in an old AGS Bulletin. What a magnificent rosette and it would be a real thrill to see it in flower. You're not going back yourself David?

[David Sellars]

Lesley:

Can't really go back as it's quite a trip from Vancouver.......though I would like to/

An old SRGC Journal article by Henry Taylor recommended Valmasque in the Roya Valley as a good place for plants.  We went there the next day and found even more Saxifraga florulenta at about 2300m just before Le Lac Vert.  The plants are right beside the path at Point 97 on the 1:25,000 map on small north facing cliffs.  I stuck a Euro coin above one to give scale to the size of the rosette.  At one location there were about six plants close together. A nice specimen was well below eye level.

[David Sellars]

I posted this video of a couple of our day hikes in the Maritime Alps over at the NARGS forum and hawkeyed David Nicholson suggested I post it here.  Mostly a homage to Saxifraga florulenta with some other plants also identified.
[youtube]Q9spOQ2URnk[/youtube]

[Maggi Young]

Much appreciated, Davids S and N!!

[daveyp1970]

stunning scenery, beautiful music.

[Jlynx]

Those shots of Florulenta are awesome.  Do they have any idea how many exist in the wild?

[David Sellars]

Those shots of Florulenta are awesome.  Do they have any idea how many exist in the wild?

Saxifraga florulenta has a very restricted range along the France/Italy divide over a distance of about 50 km, growing only on north or north west facing granite cliffs in tight crevices.  Bland in "Silver Saxifrages" (2000) noted its position is precarious and that there is some evidence to suggest it may be declining from natural causes.

However in places where we found the plant it seemed to be quite vigorous and relatively common.  I looked it up on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and it turns out that it is in the lowest category "Least Concern" and its population trend is increasing! It certainly doesn't have much competition where it chooses to grow.

So even though its range is very restricted I would guess there are thousands of plants of Saxifraga florulenta in the Maritime Alps.