01 April 2009

Purple saxifrage

The first alpine flower to appear on the hills in Scotland is Saxifraga oppositifolia, the Purple Saxifrage.

These photos were taken today, 1st April, at about 550-600m above sea-level.

Purple saxifrage likes to grow on steep and often wet calcareous ledges, usually at high altitudes.

We wondered what would pollinate the flowers so early in the year, but during our time there, we saw two bees which seemed to be visiting the flowers.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice information,but try writing more information about the Purple Saxifrage!
PLEASE!!!!

Fred and Sarah said...

If you want more information about this plant, try the Wikipedia article at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxifraga_oppositifolia

You can find a map showing the UK distribution of Purple Saxifrage at
http://tinyurl.com/yfkm39u

The UK based Saxifrage Society
http://www.saxifraga.org/
has a section of its site devoted to Purple Saxifrage at
http://www.saxifraga.org/plants/saxbase/taxon.asp?Taxon=966

Anonymous said...

This plant is so amazingly beautiful. I just wish there was more information as far as the plant reproduction... Thank you for your picture!

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