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Rue-Leaved Saxifrage is a
native
annual plant of the UK, typically found growing in rocky areas, walls and roadsides, to a mature height of up to 15cm.
Rue-Leaved Saxifrage is named after the similarity of its roundly-lobed leaves with those of the Rue. The name 'Saxifrage' comes from the Latin for 'rock' and 'break', thought to allude to its traditional medicinal use to treat kidney stones. There may also be an association with the habit, shared by several species of saxifrage, of growing in rocky places and rock crevices. In the case of this plant, it is equally at home in a rocky landscape or an urban environment, growing in walls and pavements. Rue-Leaved Saxifrage is an attractive and unusual looking, short, branching plant that emerges from a rosette of leaves. It has red stems and green leaves that turn red in the sun. The leaves are fleshy, with three lobes at the end of an elongated base. It bears its flowers singly at the end of long stems. The whole plant is covered in sticky glandular hairs.
Botanic classification and naming: Rue-Leaved Saxifrage is a member of the Saxifrage (Saxifragaceae) family. The genus name
'Saxifraga' identifies the plant as a Saxifrage and its species name 'tridactylites' means 'three-fingered (leaves)'.
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