Mossy saxifrage

 

Mossy saxifrage (Saxifraga hypnoides) is a plant that, although it can occasionally be found growing wild in lowland sites in the United Kingdom, generally prefers hills and mountains, notably in Snowdonia, the Pennines, the Lake District and Scotland, sometimes as high as 4000 feet (1220 m) above sea-level. An alternative name is Dovedale moss, which refers to a location in the Peak District.

It can assume widely diverse forms, depending on its environment. In very moist sites it may be long and trailing, but in drier or more exposed areas it will form a wide, creeping mat. It usually grows on mountain ledges and scree, if the soil is non-acid, and on open, grassy hillsides.

Mossy saxifrage can grow to between 2 and 8 inches (5-20 cm) in height. The leafy lower shoots spread in a tangled mat, while the flowering stems carry little foliage. A notable feature is that some of its branches are barren and others fertile, carrying attractive white flowers (between May and July) in groups of 1 to 5. The flower buds are often tipped with pink. The sepals do not bend back but remain upright. When ripe, the fruits split at the top.

This is a wildflower that has also found a home as a garden plant, its creeping nature and showy, white flowers making it a popular edging plant for herbaceous borders and a fill-in plant in rockeries.

© John Welford