Friday, 12 March 2021

Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage

 


Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium) grows as a gold-speckled pale green mat on the banks of small streams in shady places on rocks and in woods, throughout Great Britain. It varies in size from comparatively large specimens in lush, damp surroundings to small, dense tufts in more open, drier areas.

Plants grow up to 6 inches (15 cm) high, with flowering stems standing out from a low, sprawling mass of leafy shoots that take root at intervals. The rounded leaves, which are usually bluntly toothed, thin and crisp, grow as opposite pairs (hence the plant’s name). The stalks are about the same length at the blades.

Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage flowers from April to July. The flowers have four sepals but no petals. A raised, lobed disc surrounds the styles. The fruit opens by splitting along the inner edge.

The leaves were formerly eaten as a vegetable. It was once thought that their shape resembled that of the human spleen (hence the “splenium” part of the Latin name) and – to the medieval mind – that meant that they were designed by God to provide cures for diseases of that organ (this is referred to as the “doctrine of signatures”). Infusions of the plant were therefore drunk, as well as the leaves being eaten.

There is a related plant – alternate-leaved golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium alternifolium) that has kidney-shaped leaves growing alternately. The stalks and flower stems are longer, and it does not have creeping stems so does not form mats. It is, however, more robust than opposite-leaved golden saxifrage and grows further inside crevices in mountainous regions.

© John Welford

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