Saxifrage ( Saxifraga ) is a plant genus in the family Saxifragaceae (Saxifragaceae). The genus includes around 450 to 480 species, some of which are very difficult to distinguish.
The botanical genus name Saxifraga is derived from herba saxifraga and saxifragus ("stones breaking") from saxum for stone and frangere for break.
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The common German name Steinbrech (from Middle High German feminine "steinbrëche", related to Saxifraga granulata ) is literally translated from Latin. The name of the genus goes back to Pliny the Elder (quia saxa frangit = because it breaks the rocks). From the place of growth in crevices in the rock it was wrongly concluded that the plant had broken off the rock.
Another interpretation of the name is the fact that, according to the doctrine of signatures, the plants were used as a remedy for kidney and urinary stones . Other, similar interpretation of the name: Saxifrage originally refers to the nodular saxifrage ( Saxifraga granulata ), whose herbs and flowers as well as the small, hard brood onions (also based on the medieval doctrine of signatures) were used as a remedy for bladder stones.
The following saying comes from the 15th century: "If you take the herb's root in wine, it pronounces the stain in the platern (= urinary bladder )".
As saxifraga or saxifrage , however, were formerly also other "stone-breaking" plants such as lesser saxifrage and (especially as "purple saxifrage") Small meadowsweet and some Asplenium referred.
Illustration of two saxifrage species: Left: nodular saxifrage ( Saxifraga granulata ) and right: panicle saxifrage ( Saxifraga paniculata )
description
Vegetative characteristics
Saxifrage species are rarely one to two-year-old, mostly herbaceous plants . Often they are leaf succulents , many grow as cushion plants, many species form evergreen, basal leaf rosettes and many species are deciduous with leaves that are distributed on the stem . The mostly alternate, stalked or sessile leaves are simple. Leaf margin is lobed or toothed. Stipules are missing.
Generative characteristics
Mostly in panicle , racemose or zymous inflorescences a few to many flowers stand together. The mostly hermaphrodite, mostly radial symmetry , very rarely zygomorphic flowers are usually five-fold. There are usually five (rarely four, seven or eight) sepals present; at most they have grown together at their base. The mostly five (rarely four) free petals are white, yellow to orange or red to purple. There are two circles with five (rarely four) free stamens each. The two lower to mostly upper carpels are only partially fused, with free ends pointing apart.
This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.
This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.
Saxifrage species are typical rock plants and debris colonists. In the alpine heights , they are also often found on raw and initial soils (including rendzines ).
Some species can thrive even at extreme altitudes. Sun holds Gegenblättrige saxifrage ( Saxifraga oppositifolia ) the current altitude record in the Alps with 4507 meters at the Dom in Valais .
Systematics and distribution
The genus Saxifraga was established by Carl von Linné in 1753 .
Saxifrage species mainly thrive in temperate and cold climates. There are around 40 species in the Alps .
The genus is divided into 12 sections and contains 450 to 560 species:
Creeping saxifrage or Jew's beard ( Saxifraga stolonifera Curt. ), Homeland: from the Himalayas to Japan, in Switzerland and Italy in places naturalized
Saxifraga sect. Heterisia (AMJohnson) Small : It contains only one species:
Onion saxifrage ( Saxifraga bulbifera L. ): It occurs in Europe in south-east Europe, in south-east and south-central Europe as well as in south Europe.
Saxifraga × arendsii, Einsiedeln, Canton Schwyz, Switzerland
Saxifraga × arendsii
Saxifraga × arendsii
swell
Individual evidence
↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. Birkhäuser, Basel / Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-7643-0755-2 , p. 330 f.
^ Eberhard Stübler: Leonhart Fuchs and the pharmacognosy. In: Contributions to the Württemberg pharmacy history II (1953–55). No. 2, 1953, pp. 37-40, here: p. 39.
^ Jörg Mildenberger: Anton Trutmanns 'Pharmacopoeia'. Part II: Dictionary. I – V, Würzburg 1997 (= Würzburg medical historical research , 56), Volume IV, p. 1863 f.
↑ Jerry Stannard: Identification of the plants, described by Albertus Magnus, 'De vegetabilibus', lib. VI. In: Res publica Litterarum 2, 1979, pp. 281-318, here: p. 311.
↑ Hans-Joachim Poeckern: The Simplicien in the Nuremberg Dispensatory of Valerius Cordus from 1546 and their explanation in the italic footnotes, with special consideration of the Dioscurides notes and plant descriptions of Valerius Cordus. Mathematical and scientific dissertation, Halle an der Saale 1970, pp. 168 and 176.
↑ Jürg Blome: Technical nomenclature investigations into one of the oldest illustrated herbal books in Central Europe. (Short version of the dissertation: transcription, translation and systematic-botanical processing of the herbal book manuscript 'Circa instans' (Mscr. K II 11) from the last quarter of the 14th century, kept in the Basel University Library. Basel 1978) In: “gelêrter der arzeniê, ouch apotêker ”. Contributions to the history of science. Festschrift for the 70th birthday of Willem F. Daems. Edited by Gundolf Keil, Horst Wellm Verlag, Pattensen / Hanover; now at Königshauser and Neumann, Würzburg, 1982 (= Würzburg medical-historical research, 24), ISBN 3-921456-35-5 , pp. 551–588, here: p. 561.
↑ Jaakko Jalas, Juha Suominen, Raino Lampinen, Arto Kurtto: Atlas florae europaeae . Volume 12 (Resedaceae to Platanaceae). Helsinki 1999. ISBN 951-9108-12-2 , page 133.
↑ Walter Erhardt , Erich Götz, Nils Bödeker, Siegmund Seybold: The great zander. Encyclopedia of Plant Names. Volume 2. Types and varieties. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7 .
Jaakko Jalas, Juha Suominen, Raino Lampinen, Arto Kurtto: Atlas florae europaeae. Volume 12, Resedaceae to Platanaceae. Helsinki 1999, ISBN 951-9108-12-2 , pp. 128-216.
Klaus Kaplan in Gustav Hegi : Illustrated flora of Central Europe. Volume IV, Part 2 A, 3rd edition, pages 130-223. Blackwell Wissenschaftsverlag Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-8263-3016-1 .