''Saxifraga flagellaris'', the whiplash saxifrage or flagellate saxifrage, is a plant native all over the Eurasian Arctic Coast, Siberia, Far East, Caucasus and some areas of northern Rocky Mountains. It is not very common. It is also known as spider saxifrage or "spider plant", though the latter name more commonly refers to the unrelated ''

Chlorophytum comosum ''Chlorophytum comosum'', usually called spider plant or common spider plant due to its spider-like look, also known as spider ivy, ribbon plant (a name it shares with '' Dracaena sanderiana''), and hen and chickens is a species of evergreen pere ...

'' ( Agavaceae). The

broadsepal saxifrage ''Saxifraga platysepala'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Saxifragaceae. Its native range is Subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid ...

('' S. platysepala'') was formerly included in the present species, then made a separate species, and later again made a subspecies, Saxifraga flagellaris ssp. platysepala—broadsepal saxifrage (http://www.cbif.gc.ca/pls/itisca/next?v_tsn=24270&taxa=&p_format=&p_ifx=&p_lang=). The species found in Greenland, Svalbard, Alaska etc. is Saxifraga flagellaris ssp. platysepala—broadsepal saxifrage. The stems are single, erect and leafy, growing to 3–10 cm tall. The basal

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

in a dense rosette from which long, filiform runners radiate ending in a small, rooting offset; they also have glandular hairs on the margins. Each stem usually has one terminal flower, rarely two, with golden yellow petals, much longer than the calyx lobes. The whole plant is more or less red. It grows in moist places, on gravel or in moss carpets. It is not in any danger of extinction, but is yet very rare. ''Saxifraga flagellaris'' was described by

Willdenow Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was al ...

. Other authors often used the name for ''

Saxifraga platysepala ''Saxifraga platysepala'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Saxifragaceae. Its native range is Subarctic. References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17781629 Saxifraga, platysepala ...

'' (broadsepal saxifrage). Image:Warming-Skudbygning-Fig6-Saxifraga-flagellaris.jpg, ''Saxifraga flagellaris'' ssp. ''platysepala'': A flowering plant with some of its runners, a leaf from a layer rosettea leaf from the flowering stem ( Warming 1884)

References

flagellaris Flora of the Arctic Flora of Norway Flora of Canada {{Saxifragaceae-stub