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{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Saxifragarufescens.jpg
| image_caption = ''Saxifraga rufescens'' at the UC Botanical Garden, Berkeley, California, USA.
| genus = Saxifraga
| species = rufescens
| authority = [[Isaac Bayley Balfour|Balf.f.]]
| synonyms =
}}

'''''Saxifraga rufescens''''' is a [[herbaceous plant|herbaceous]] plant in the family [[Saxifragaceae]]. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the subalpine or subarctic biome.

== Description ==
In 1916, the ''Saxifraga rufescens'' plant described by Balfour came through the botanical collector [[George Forrest (botanist)|George Forrest]] who noticed it in China. The plant was close to ''[[Saxifraga cortusifolia]]'' but distinct in its "densely red-hairy flower-shoots and the petals flushed with red."

The plants grow between 16 and 40 cm in height with rather long [[rhizome]]s beneath. Its [[Petiole (botany)|petiole]] is between 1.6 and 3.7 cm in length with glandular hairy, base cordate to reniform, or cuneate to truncate. The flowers have five petals and are from white to pink in colour. Usually, their shortest four petals [[lanceolate]]. Its [[stamen]]s are between 4.5 mm and 5.5 mm.<ref name=":0" /> The ovary ovoid is between 1.3 and 2.5 mm. The plant flowers from April to June.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Saxifraga rufescens in Flora of China @ efloras.org |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200010383 |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=www.efloras.org}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Jin-Tang |first1=Pan |author-link1=Pan Jin-Tang |last2=Gornall |first2=Richard |last3=Ohba |first3=Hideaki |author-link3=Hideaki Ohba |date=2001 |title=Saxifraga, Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 398. 1753. |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=129353 |journal=Flora of China |volume=8 |pages=280–344}}</ref>

Taxonomist [[Jin Tang Pan]] described the var. ''uninervata'' in 1991. Pan along with [[Wu Zhengyi|C. Y. Wu]] described the var. ''flabellifolia'' in 1991. Thereby, the three accepted varieties are,
*''Saxifraga rufescens'' var. ''rufescens'' (1916)
*''Saxifraga rufescens'' var. ''flabellifolia'' C. Y. Wu & J. T. Pan (1991)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=C. Y. |author-link1=Wu Zhengyi |last2=Pan |first2=Jin-Tang |date=1991 |title=Saxifraga rufescens var. flabellifolia |journal=Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=7}}</ref>
*''Saxifraga rufescens'' var. ''uninervata'' J. T. Pan (1991)<ref name=":2" />
Pan and Wu's analysis in 1991 led to identifying var. ''flabellifolia'' as ''S. rufescens.'' Thereby, it changed the separate taxonomy created by French botanist Louis René Marie François Morot in 1894 as ''S. flabellifolia''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Saxifraga rufescens var. flabellifolia C.Y.Wu & J.T.Pan {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:965921-1 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref> However, some argue that this variety needs a separate taxonomical recognition due to its distinctive leaf shape. Therefore, the name ''S. zhejiangensis'' has also been proposed. The leaf blade is usually cuneate to truncate at base.<ref name=":3" />

In Pan's description of var. ''uninervata,'' compared to var. ''rufescens,'' the leaf blades have a cordate base, and is never cuneate or truncate. The petals have a margin that is not glandular-ciliate; they are only single-veined.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Pan |first=Jin-Tang |date=1991 |title=A Study on the Genus Saxifraga L. from China |url=https://www.jse.ac.cn/EN/Y1991/V29/I1/1 |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=1–24}}</ref>

== Distribution and habitat==
The native range of ''S. rufescens'' var. ''rufescens'' is [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], [[Sichuan]], [[Hubei|west Hubei]], [[Yunnan]] in [[China]] to [[Myanmar]].<ref name=":3" /> It is a perennial and grows primarily in the subalpine or subarctic biome.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saxifraga rufescens Balf.f. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:794460-1 |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref> It grows in forests and its margins, scrubs, alpine meadows, rock crevices, slopes, wetlands at sides of valleys. It is usually found between the altitudes of 600m and 4000m.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Specimen of Saxifraga rufescens from Psi Shang.jpg|thumb|333x333px|''Saxifraga rufescens'' collected by [[Joseph Rock]] from Psi Shang, in the eastern slopes of [[Lijiang]] snow range]]
Between 1906 and 1910, Botanical collector [[George Forrest (botanist)|George Forrest]] noticed ''S. rufescens'' in China and provided the specimens to Balfour. He had collected them from different parts of [[Yunnan]]. In the eastern part of the Tali range, it was found on moss-covered rocks and river banks in shady pine and mixed forests. In the eastern of the Lichiang range, it was found in similar rocky and shady places in pine and mixed forests. At the Mount Tahai, at the altitude of 2926m, it was found on rocks. The last specimens was provided by [[Édouard-Ernest Maire]]. In all these specimens, the plant ranged from 6-16 inches.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Balfour |first=Bayley |date=1916-01-01 |title=Saxifrages Of The Diptera Section, With Description of New Species |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03746601609468463 |journal=Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=65–75 |doi=10.1080/03746601609468463 |issn=0374-6607}}</ref> The var. ''rufescens'' was later found to be spread from [[Tibet]] to South-Central China and further, to Myanmar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saxifraga rufescens var. rufescens {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77227658-1 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref>

In September 2024 a research team of Santanu Dey and Moaakum from [[Kohima Science College]], and Hussain A. Barbhuiya from [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]] recorded the var. ''rufescens'' for the first time in Nagaland in [[Northeast India]]. Thereby, it expanded the known range of var. ''rufescens.'' It was found thriving in [[Noklak district]]'s Khelia King mountain range at an elevation of 2265m above sea level. The plants were thriving on moss-covered rocks within the range's temperate broad-leaved evergreen forest. There were two distinct populations of 15-20 individual plants on surrounding mountain slopes.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zhimo |first=Veroli |date=8 April 2025 |title=Rare plant species discovered in Nagaland, a first for India |url=https://www.easternmirrornagaland.com/rare-plant-species-discovered-in-nagaland-a-first-for-india |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=Eastern Mirror}}</ref> In Noklak, where var. ''rufescens'' was found the forest is dominated by ''[[Rhododendron arboreum]]'', ''[[Quercus]]'', and ''[[Lithocarpus pachyphyllus]]'', along with ''[[Strobilanthes atropurpureus]]'', ''[[Corydalis]]'', ''[[Impatiens stenantha]]'', ''[[Thalictrum reniforme]]'', and ''[[Sedum]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dey |first1=Santanu |last2=Barbhuiya |first2=Hussain A. |last3=Khiamniungan |first3=Thangsoi M. |last4=Moaakum |last5=Jing |first5=Imtilila |title=Saxifraga rufescens var. rufescens (Saxifragaceae): A New Addition to the Flora of India |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fedr.70007 |journal=Feddes Repertorium |date=2025 |article-number=fedr.70007 |language=en |volume=n/a |issue=n/a |doi=10.1002/fedr.70007 |issn=1522-239X|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The native range of var. ''flabellifolia'' is the northeast region of Sichuan and western region of Yunnan provinces.<ref name=":1" /> It is found in forests, wetlands on the sides of valleys and rock crevices at an altitude of 600m to 2100m.<ref name=":3" />

The native range of var. ''uninervata'' is South-Central Sichuan in China.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saxifraga rufescens var. uninervata J.T.Pan {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:965206-1 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref> It is found around 2400m.<ref name=":3" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q15250430}}

[[Category:Saxifraga|rufescens]]
[[Category:Flora of China]]
[[Category:Flora of Myanmar]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1916]]

Saxifraga rufescens - Revision history

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