Saxifraga stolonifera (creeping saxifrage, "Yukinoshita")

Japanese name: ユキノシタ （雪下）
Scientific name: Saxifraga stolonifera

[Overview]
A perennial 20–50 cm tall, growing in colonies on damp rocky places and along stream edges.
It has a short rhizome.
In spring it sends out long, thin, thread-like purple stolons, and spreads by forming young plants at their tips.
The stems and leaves have reddish brown hairs.
The leaves are simple, basal, fleshy and reniform-orbicular, with shallowly lobed margins.
The upper surface is blackish green with white patches along the veins, and the underside is usually tinged reddish purple.
The petioles are 3–10 cm long.
A flower stalk 20–50 cm tall is produced, bearing sparse flowers in a cyme.
The stalks of the inflorescence have reddish purple glandular hairs.
The flowers have 5 petals; the upper 3 petals are small and ovate, pale pink with dark pink and yellow spots.
The lower 2 petals are white and large, hanging down in a narrow shape like the character 八.
There are 10 stamens, and the anthers are red.
The fruit is an ovoid capsule 4 mm long.

[Uses]
The whole plant is used medicinally.
The leaves can be eaten, for example as tempura.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division.
Grow it in a moist place in partial shade with good drainage and ventilation.
It is best planted in light soil such as sand, pumice or Kanuma soil, or grown attached to stones.
High humidity in the air is also preferable.
Water so that the soil never dries out, keeping it constantly moist.
From spring to autumn, apply diluted liquid fertilizer.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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