Saxifraga globulifera

Saxifraga globulifera is a flowering plant of the genus Saxifraga and the family Saxifragaceae.[1]

Saxifraga globulifera
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Saxifragales
Family:	Saxifragaceae
Genus:	Saxifraga
Species:	S. globulifera
Binomial name
Saxifraga globulifera Desf.

Habitat

The plant grows in southern Spain on limestone rocks and cliffs.[2] The Gibraltar Saxifrage, a variety, is an endemic plant in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve in Gibraltar.[3] An 1838 survey of plants in the region said that the plants found in Spain did not differ in any respect from plants found in the Atlas mountains across the strait of Gibraltar.[4] Sir William Jackson Hooker wrote of the plants he found in 1844 on the Sierra de Mijas, to the north of the road from Málaga to Gibraltar. He found Saxifraga globulifera in the clefts of rock on the south side of the mountain, as well as other plants that grow on Mount Atlas.[5]

Description

In 1827 the plant was described as follows:

Stem bulbiferous; leaves nerved, the lower ones spatulate, quite entires, the upper ones palmate three of five-cleft, in the flowering branch remote, linear.—This has the appearance of the preceding [Saxifraga hypnoides, mossy saxifrage], and is scarcely distinct from it.—Found on the top of Mount Atlas.[6]

The leaves are glandular-hairy, 5 to 15 millimetres (0.20 to 0.59 in) long. They have semi-circular outlines with three or more lobes. Stems 7 to 12 centimetres (2.8 to 4.7 in) tall bear from three to seven small, white-petaled flowers.[2]

See also

• List of plants in the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens

References

Citations

1. Saxifraga globulifera Desf. The Plant List.
2. Saxifraga globulifera - Alpine Garden Society.
3. Perez & Bensusan 2005, p. 9.
4. Webb 1838, p. 45.
5. Hooker 1845, p. 391.
6. Encyclopaedia Londinensis.

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Londinensis, or, Universal dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature. 1827. p. 713. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
• Hooker, Sir William Jackson (1845). London journal of botany. H. Baillière. p. 391. Retrieved 2012-10-21.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Perez, Charles; Bensusan, Keith (2005). "A Guide to The Upper Rock Nature Reserve" (PDF). The Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society. Retrieved 2012-10-12.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• "Saxifraga globulifera". Alpine Garden Society. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
• "Saxifraga globulifera Desf". The Plant List. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
• Webb, Philip Barker (1838). Iter hispaniense: or, A synopsis of plants collected in the southern provinces of Spain and in Portugal, with geographical remarks, and observations on rare and undescribed species. p. 45. Retrieved 21 October 2012.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)