Saxifrage

Saxifrage, common name for a family of flowering plants of the rose order, and for its representative genus. The family contains about 36 genera and 475 species of usually perennial herbs, subcosmopolitan in distribution but found especially in North Temperate and colder regions. Members of the family include the ornamentals coralbells, or alumroot, the spiraeas and perennial saxifrages, and saxifrage.

Saxifrage flowers usually have five sepals and five petals. The latter are often clawed or dissected and small and inconspicuous. The gynoecium is composed of two to five carpels that are usually fused at the base. The fruit is a capsule, usually with many small seeds.

Scientific classification: Saxifrages make up the family Saxifragaceae. The representative genus is Saxifraga. Coralbells, or alumroot, are classified in the genus Heuchera and the spiraeas and perennial saxifrages in the genus Astilbe.