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St Patrick's Cabbage

Saxifraga spathularis

Also called St. Patrick's Cabbage

St Patrick's Cabbage
Photo: Dinkum, CC BY-SA 3.0

St Patrick's cabbage is a small perennial saxifrage forming a basal rosette of succulent, spoon-shaped leaves, native to Ireland, NW Spain and Portugal. It grows best in cool, humus-rich, well-drained spots, often among rocks or in shade.

Family
Saxifragaceae (Saxifrag family)
Grows as
Succulent
Light
Part shade, Shade
Water
Water when the top of the soil starts to dry, and avoid waterlogging the crown.
Soil
Humus-rich, gritty, free-draining mix with some leaf mould; acidic to neutral.
Temperature
10-22 °C; hardy to around -10 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Ireland, NW. Spain to NC. Portugal
Climate
temperate

About

Saxifraga spathularis, the St Patrick's cabbage, is a species of saxifrage native to Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. It is a member of the so-called Lusitanian flora, a small set of plants which are native to Ireland but inexplicably absent from Great Britain. It consists of a basal rosette of elongate obovate succulent leaves around an upright leafless flowering stem. It seems to grow best in humus-rich alpine habitats among acidic rocks. With Saxifraga umbrosa it is a parent of Saxifraga × urbium (London pride).

Other Saxifraga plants

Yellow mountain saxifrage · Garden Mossy Saxifrage · Saxifraga aspera · Saxifraga bicuspidata · Spiny Leaf Saxifrage · Yellowdot saxifrage · Mossy Saxifrage · Saxifraga burseriana · Thick Leaved Saxifrage · Saxifraga candelabrum · Nodding saxifrage · Tufted saxifrage

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Saxifraga spathularis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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