Saxifraga hyperborea

Pygmy saxifrage

Family: Saxifragaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Pygmy saxifrage is a California native perennial found in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains in moist crevices and shaded rocky areas at elevations of 3,000 to 4,500 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces small white flowers with delicate petals 2 to 6 millimeters long. Growing with a fragile caudex and stems less than 3 centimeters tall, it forms compact clusters in high alpine environments. Its basal leaves are distinctive, with blades 5 to 8 millimeters wide, divided nearly to the base into 3 to 5 rounded or elliptical lobes. The plant's tiny size and delicate structure make it well-adapted to harsh, high-elevation rocky habitats.

Habitat: Uncommon. Moist crevices, shaded rocky areas

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 3000-4500 m

Bioregions: c&amps SNH

California counties: Inyo, Mono, Mariposa, Tuolumne

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.