''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 The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. 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, airplane plant, ribbon plant (a name it shares with ''Dracaena sanderiana''), and hen and chickens, is a species o ...

'' (

Agavaceae Agavoideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, order Asparagales. It has previously been treated as a separate family, Agavaceae. The group includes many well-known desert and dry-zone types, such as the agaves ...

). The broadsepal saxifrage ('' 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 (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

in a dense

rosette Rosette is the French diminutive of ''rose''. It may refer to: Flower shaped designs * Rosette (award), a mark awarded by an organisation * Rosette (design), a small flower design *hence, various flower-shaped or rotational symmetric forms: ** R ...

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 Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

, 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. Other authors often used the name for '' 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