''Saxifraga cespitosa'', the tufted alpine saxifrage 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 North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and Greenland. Densely tufted from a stout taproot, the plant has very short stems with withered, dead

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 ...

at the base. The leaves have three to five lobes; both leaves and

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

exhibit trichomes in the form of glandular hair. Flowering stems range from 5–10 cm, with one or two flowers per stem. Its

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s 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. File:tuftedsaxifrage-1.jpg, Tufted saxifrage File:tuftedsaxifrage-2.jpg, Tufted saxifrage File:tuftedsaxifrage-3.jpg, Tufted saxifrage File:tuftedsaxifrage1-1.jpg, Tufted saxifrage File:Saxifraga cespitosa - Tuftedsaxifrage2-1.jpg, Smaller yellowish var. File:tuftedsaxifrage3-1.jpg, Smaller yellowish var. File:Saxifraga cespitosa - Tuftedsaxifrage4-1.jpg, Smaller var.

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* * cespitosa Flora of the Arctic Alpine flora Flora of Alaska Flora of Finland Flora of Russia Flora of Norway Flora of Siberia Flora of Iceland Flora of Switzerland Flora of the Alps Flora of Greenland Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Saxifragaceae-stub