#85 Purple Saxifrage by Ann Cripps
Meet Ann Cripps, botanist and member of Wharfedale Naturalists!
Ann is an amateur botanist who has had a fascination with wild plants for a long time but not been able to name many apart from a particular obsession with the Sundew! Soon after retirement eight years ago she did a field studies course which used the whole flowering season to introduce the process of identifying wildflowers. Since then, she has become a member of the very active botany group of Wharfedale Naturalists and continues to learn from the highly experienced and knowledgeable members of the group. She has become a volunteer at the nearby Denton Hall where a rewilding project is taking place. Tasks have included a survey of plants on the moorland followed by placing and monitoring dipwells prior to planting sphagnum mosses. She is also a regular in the walled garden which is slowly being reclaimed! When not out with wild plants she has a garden and an allotment which keep her outside most of the time along with her cocker spaniel who is a bit impatient with time spent poring over small growing things.
Recent holidays with a botanical theme have included the wide range of orchids in Kent and the unique plants of The Burren in western Ireland.
Purple Saxifrage (Ann Cripps)
Ann’s chosen species is the chosen Purple Saxifrage Saxifraga oppositifolia. It is really an arctic plant. In fact, it grows in the most northerly patch of vegetation in Peary Island, Greenland and it has the record for growing at the highest altitude. However, it can also be found in mountainous areas further south including northern Britain. It can be found locally growing on the limestone crags of Pen-y-Ghent and Ingleborough. At a time of year when there is often snow and at the very least the colours are still grey and drab, the flowers of this plant stand out against their backdrop. They are vivid purple, five petalled flowers growing in a dense clump, each one on a short reddish stem with orange anthers and on the stems, pairs of small opposite leaves – BSBI’s Kevin Walker describes the leaves as looking like they have been dipped in sugar due to small deposits of limestone exuding from pores on their tips.
Ann recalls the first time she encountered this lovely plant: ‘Having first encountered the plant in a book by the botanist Leif Bersweden, I set off with family (including the long-suffering dog) on a dull March day in search of the intriguing Purple Saxifrage. I obviously didn’t follow the route up Pen-y-Ghent that I had read about and after numerous detours off the path in search of it, decided to concentrate on the steep climb to the top. Just before the final part of the ascent I looked over an edge at the view and just below me found my first clump of the plant. It is anything but shy and stands out vividly against the background rocks. Whatever pollinating insects are out and about at this time of year would be drawn in by its bright flowers. After celebrating our successful ascent, we began the long trek down from the peak and near the bottom of the steps found the saxifrage in all its glory spread along the crags – an unmistakeable bright spot in the landscape. I managed to delay the trek down and went to examine the plants up close.’
Purple Saxifrage
The plant also grows in the far reaches of North America and is the official flower of an area called Nunavut. The Inuit people who are indigenous to the area see the full blooming of the flowers as an indication of when the young caribou are born. They also eat the flowers in areas where berries are often scarce; the flowers are apparently sweet and are taken to help relieve gastric problems. The stems and leaves can be used to make a tea which is said to be best once the flowers have died. The plant’s Latin name means ‘opposite-leaved rock breaker’ as it frequently grows in rocky places. Its name may also derive from its use in Greek herbalism as a treatment for kidney stones.
As a relic of the last ice age, there is evidence that Purple Saxifrage grew north of London 28000 years ago and has retreated with the ice sheets to its high-level habitat. As our climate continues to warm it may not fare so well in its current lower reaches. For now, it is a glorious early herald of spring and will be followed by its relative Yellow Saxifrage and other local plants like the rare English Sandwort, both of which are also arctic plants.
Recording and monitoring
Records of Purple Saxifrage can be submitted to your local VC recorder for plants, to your LERC, or via recording platforms such as iRecord.
Further information and acknowledgements
NEYEDC would like to thank Ann for her time and expertise in helping to create this blog.