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  1. saxifrage love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Any of numerous herbs of the genus Saxifraga, having small, variously colored flowers and leaves that often form a basal rosette.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A plant of the genus Saxifraga. Scarcely any of the species have economic properties, but many are beautiful in foliage and flower. They are commonly rock-plants with tufted leaves and panicles of white, yellow, or red flowers. They are predominantly alpine, and of alpine plants they are the most easy to cultivate. One group, as S. hypnoides, has mossy foliage, forming a carpet, in spring dotted with white flowers. Others, as S. Aizoon, have the foliage silvery, in rosettes. Others, as S. umbrosa, the London-pride or none-so-pretty, and S. oppositifolia, the purple saxifrage, afford brilliant colored flowers. A leathery-leafed group is represented by the Siberian S. crassifolia, well known in cultivation. A common house-plant is S. sarmentosa, the beefsteak- or strawberry-geranium (see geranium,) also called sailor-plant, creeping-sailor, and Chinese saxifrage. S. Virginiensis is a common spring flower in eastern North America.
  2. n. See meadow-saxifrage.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A plant in the genus Saxifraga.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Saxifraga, mostly perennial herbs growing in crevices of rocks in mountainous regions.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. any of various plants of the genus Saxifraga

Etymologies

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin (herba) saxifraga, maidenhair fern, feminine of Latin saxifragus, rock-breaking (from its being found growing in rock crevices) : saxum, rock; see sek- in Indo-European roots + frangere, frag-, to break; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “The ice-plant, which is also called a saxifrage, may now be seen in many a garden to which it has been brought from the Kerry mountains, and it is known as”

    A Child's Book of Saints

  • “This deceitful appearance is caused by a small plant resembling saxifrage, which is abundant, growing in large patches on a species of crumbling moss.”

    The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3

  • “I give you this bouquetof saxifrage sneezewortspurge ragged robinasphodel lords-and-ladies.'”

    The Guardian: Poems for a wedding

  • “In the Arctic, extremely steep environmental gradients are frequent on a microtopographical scale and ecotypic differentiation has been demonstrated over such short distances for alpine timothy (Phleum alpinum [16]), Carex aquatilis [17], mountain avens [18], and purple saxifrage [19], all widely distributed plant species in the Arctic.”

    Genetic responses of arctic species to changes in climate and ultraviolet-B radiation levels

  • “High on the cliffs, particularly on north-facing slopes, there are a number of alpine plants, including purple saxifrage Saxifraga oppositifolia, tufted saxifrage Saxifraga caespitosa, the fern Polystichum lonchitis and the three-leaved rush Juncus trifidus.”

    Kvarken Archipelago High Coast, Finland and Sweden

  • “Among these are Alaska Nagoon berry Rubus articus stellatus (R), fragile sedge Carex membranacea, wedge-leaved primrose Primula cuneifolia saxifragifolia (R), and Wright's golden saxifrage Chrysosplenium wrightii.”

    Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Wilderness Park, Canada

  • “Ramonda myconi, endemic to the Pyrénées, is found in this habitat and others species such as the Pyrenean saxifrage Saxifraga longifolia, Antirrhinum sempervirens and Pinguicula longifolia occur in the same habitat.”

    Pyrenees-Mont Perdu, France and Spain

  • “I'm digging dozens of fist-sized holes, squeezing thyme and saxifrage into cracks.”

    The Wall Street Journal: Back to the Garden

  • “First, a little grass slope, covered with the prettiest flowers, rockrose and saxifrage, and thyme and basil, and all sorts of sweet herbs.”

    The Water Babies

  • “Partly to avoid more noise, and partly out of compassion, Bradamant dropped her bunch of saxifrage and caught the warm little body up in her hands.”

    Asimov's Science Fiction

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equivalents (1)

Other words for ‘saxifrage’

  1. pepper saxifrage

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. herbaceous plant
  1. Herb

hyponyms (19)

Words that are more specific

  1. star saxifrage
  2. fair-maids-of-france
  3. yellow mountain saxifrage
  1. meadow saxifrage
  2. strawberry saxifrage
  3. strawberry geranium
  1. saxifraga hypnoides
  2. saxifraga stolonifera
  3. saxifraga stellaris
  1. saxifraga oppositifolia
  2. saxifraga aizoides
  3. mother-of-thousands
  1. western saxifrage
  2. purple saxifrage
  3. starry saxifrage
  1. mossy saxifrage
  2. saxifraga granulata
  3. saxifraga occidentalis
  1. saxifraga sarmentosam

same context (23)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. samphire
  2. campion
  3. lady
  4. larkspur
  1. sea-grass
  2. hydrangea
  3. poinsettia
  4. burnet
  1. hellebore
  2. raffia
  3. turtledove
  4. verbena
  1. Nasturtium
  2. mignonette
  3. guava
  4. self-heal
  1. henbane
  2. unsinged
  3. mandragora
  4. cornflower
  1. bunch grass
  2. horse-radish
  3. yarrow

reverse dictionary (37)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. stone-break
  2. mother-of-thousands
  3. western saxifrage
  4. saxifraga occidentalis
  5. saxifraga sarmentosam
  6. saxifraga stolonifera
  7. strawberry geranium
  1. strawberry saxifrage
  2. pimpinel
  3. meadow-saxifrage
  4. kidneywort
  5. swamp-saxifrage
  6. Saxifraga
  7. Aaron's beard
  1. pepper-saxifrage
  2. saxifrage
  3. wineberry
  4. burnet saxifrage
  5. paiwurt
  6. saxifragal
  7. star-saxifrage
  1. strawberry-geranium
  2. christmas-bush
  3. chrysosplene
  4. creeping-sailor
  5. alum root
  6. genus leptarrhena
  7. genus saxifraga
  1. leptarrhena
  2. saxifragaceous
  3. leatherwood
  4. pimpernel
  5. saxifragaceæ
  6. culantrillo
  7. feather-fern
  1. opossum-tree
  2. water-carpet

tagging (1)

Words tagged ‘saxifrage’

  1. stone-break

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‘saxifrage’ has been looked up 1828 times, added to 19 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 20.