Saxifraga tridactylites L.

Spice In the field 1 In the field 2

Family: SAXIFRAGACEAE

Genus: Saxifraga

Catalan common name: Saxífraga de tres dits.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza. Formentera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Some regions

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Terophyte.

Habitats: Therophytic calicole fields. Rocky surfaces and dry stone walls. Therophytic communities. Wall, thin soils.

Characteristics: A small annual plant, its leaves form a dominant rosette at the base, with an erect stem upon which flowers of only few centimetres in diameter are borne. The leaves are slightly scaly, but are best characterized by their apical lobes in the form of small fingers (of which the species name, tridactylites). The flowers are small but very showy, with five white petals in the form of a star. Always found growing on top of rocks in shady, wet areas, accompanying other small plants. This is the only representative of the genus Saxifraga in Mallorca and Menorca, although in the Pitiusses the endemic Saxifraga corsica ssp. cossoniana can be found as well. Flowers at the beginning of spring.