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Taxon  Report  
Saxifraga cespitosa  L.
Tufted saxifrage
Saxifraga cespitosa is a perennial herb that is native to California, and also found elsewhere in North America and beyond.
California Rare Plant Rank: 2B.3 (rare, threatened, or endangered in CA; common elsewhere).
Siskiyou Del Norte Modoc Humboldt Shasta Lassen Trinity Plumas Tehama Butte Mendocino Glenn Sierra Yuba Lake Nevada Colusa Placer Sutter El Dorado Yolo Alpine Napa Sonoma Sacramento Mono Amador Solano Calaveras Tuolumne San Joaquin Marin Contra Costa Alameda Santa Cruz Mariposa Madera San Francisco San Mateo Merced Fresno Stanislaus Santa Clara Inyo San Benito Tulare Kings Monterey San Bernardino San Luis Obispo Kern Santa Barbara Ventura Los Angeles Riverside Orange San Diego Imperial
Observation Search
~13 records in California
yellowone or more occurrences
within a 7.5-minute quadrangle
DJJJASONAFMM

Bloom Period
Genus: Saxifraga
Family: Saxifragaceae  
Category: angiosperm  
PLANTS group:Dicot
Jepson eFlora section: eudicot

Wetlands: Equally likely to occur in wetlands and non wetlands

Habitat: meadows

Communities: Meadows and seeps

Name Status:
Accepted by JEF + CNPS

Alternate Names:
JEFSaxifraga cespitosa var. emarginata
PLANTSSaxifraga caespitosa
Information about  Saxifraga cespitosa from other sources
Nursery availability from CNPLX
Commercial availability unknown.
Jepson eFlora

Photos on Calflora

Photos on CalPhotos

Google Images

Photos on iNaturalist

ID Tips on PlantID.net

Saxifraga: from the Latin saxum, "a rock," and frango, "to break," and referring to the fact that by growing in rock crevices they appear to break rocks (contributed by Cynthia Powell)

[Wikipedia] Range, Description, Habitat, UK Protected Species: Saxifraga cespitosa, the tufted alpine saxifrage[1] or tufted saxifrage, is a flower common to many arctic heights. It appears further south in mountainous areas of the Alps, Norway, Scotland, Wales, Iceland, Siberia, western North America and Greenland. Densely tufted from a stout taproot, the plant has very short stems with withered, dead leaves at the base. The leaves have three to five lobes; both leaves and calyx exhibit trichomes in the form of glandular hair. Flowering stems range from 5?10 cm, with one or two flowers per stem. Its petals are white, twice the length of the calyx lobes. Smaller specimens, with shorter stems and smaller, yellowish-greenish petals (with uniflorous variants), are rather frequent. The tufted saxifrage grows on ledges and gravelly places. It became a protected species in the UK in 1975 under the Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act.[2] (contributed by Mary Ann Machi)


Suggested Citation
Calflora: Information on California plants for education, research and conservation, with data contributed by public and private institutions and individuals. [web application]. 2024. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database [a non-profit organization]. Available: https://www.calflora.org/   (Accessed: 04/25/2024).