Celmisia saxifraga

{{Short description|Species of plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|name=Small snow daisy

| taxon = Celmisia saxifraga

| authority ={{cite web |title=Celmisia saxifraga |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:189712-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Kew Royal Botanical Gardens |access-date=27 March 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Curtis |first1=W. M. |title=New Combination in Celmisia |journal=Taxon |volume=17 |page=467 |date=1968|issue=4 |doi=10.2307/1217425 |jstor=1217425 }}

}}

Celmisia saxifraga, commonly known as the small snow daisy, is a perennial herb in the Asteraceae family. It is native to Tasmania and Victoria, where it grows in alpine grasslands above the snowline.{{cite web |last1=Curtis |first1=W.M |last2=Bentham |first2=George |title=Celmisia saxifraga |url=http://encyclopaedia.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/Celmisia/saxifraga |website=Alpine Garden Society |access-date=27 March 2022}}

Description

Like other members of the Asteraceae family, C. saxifraga has a composite flower head with both disk and ray florets.{{cite web |title=Asteraceae |url=https://www.britannica.com/plant/Asteraceae |website=Britannica |access-date=27 March 2022}} Inflorescence are a typical daisy arrangement with white outsides and a yellow centre. The entire inflorescence can be 3 cm across and is often held well above the rosette on a hairy stem, growing to 15 cm.{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Christine |last2=Whiting |first2=Jenny |last3=Roberts |first3=Jill |last4=Reeves |first4=Ricky |last5=Taylor |first5=Frank |last6=Taylor |first6=Verity |title=Tasmania's Natural Flora |date=2012 |publisher=Tasmania's Natural Flora Editorial Committee |location=Devenport, Tasmania |isbn=9780909830663 |page=57 |edition=2nd}} The fruit is small, hard and dry, similar to a sunflower seed.{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Christine |last2=Whiting |first2=Jenny |last3=Roberts |first3=Jill |last4=Reeves |first4=Ricky |last5=Taylor |first5=Frank |last6=Taylor |first6=Verity |title=Tasmania's Natural Flora |date=2012 |publisher=Tasmania's Natural Flora Editorial Committee |location=Devenport, Tasmania |isbn=9780909830663 |page=57 |edition=2nd}} This is often called an achene, but in Asteraceae is more accurately called a cypsela. {{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=William Charles |title=Plant description, morphology and anatomy |journal=Trease and Evans' Pharmacognosy |date=2009 |volume=Sixteenth edition |pages=541–550 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-7020-2933-2.00041-1 |isbn=9780702029332 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780702029332000411 |access-date=27 March 2022|url-access=subscription }} The primary difference between the two being that a cypsela is a single fruit formed from two ovaries (as in C. saxifraga) while an achene describes a fruit formed from a single ovary.{{cite web |title=Cypsela |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/cypsela |website=Encyclopedia.com |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=27 March 2022}} The leaves of C. saxifraga are simple and entire, growing to 3 cm long. They are glaucous silver and hairy.{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Christine |last2=Whiting |first2=Jenny |last3=Roberts |first3=Jill |last4=Reeves |first4=Ricky |last5=Taylor |first5=Frank |last6=Taylor |first6=Verity |title=Tasmania's Natural Flora |date=2012 |publisher=Tasmania's Natural Flora Editorial Committee |location=Devenport, Tasmania |isbn=9780909830663 |page=57 |edition=2nd}} C. saxifraga can be distinguished from the similar and co-occurring C. asteliifolia by its leaves.{{cite web |title=Celmisia saxifraga |url=https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/AST/ast/sCelmisia_saxifraga.htm |website=Key to Tasmanian Dicots |publisher=UTAS |access-date=27 March 2022}} The leaves of C. saxifraga are shorter (~3 cm) than those of C. asteliifolia (up to 18 cm).{{cite web |title=Celmisia Asteliifolia |url=https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/AST/ast/sCelmisia_asteliifolia.htm |website=Key to Tasmanian Vascular Plants |publisher=UTAS |access-date=27 March 2022}}

Etymology

"Saxifraga" is a combination of the Latin words saxum, meaning "stone", and frangere meaning "to break". The name "stone-breaker" is however thought to refer to plant in the genus Saxifraga being used in treating kidney stones.{{cite web |title=Saxifraga |url=https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/the-garden/horticultural-collections/national-plant-collections/saxifraga/ |website=Cambridge University Botanic Garden |access-date=27 March 2022}} It is unclear whether C. saxifraga is named for breaking rocks or for its similarity to certain Saxifraga species which are also herbaceous and rosette-forming.

References

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{{Taxonbar|from=Q15562278}}

saxifraga