Chrysosplenium

Chrysosplenium
Chrysosplenium alternifolium
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Saxifragaceae
Genus: Chrysosplenium
L. (1753)[1]
Species[2]

84; see text

Chrysosplenium (golden saxifrage or golden-saxifrage) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae. It includes 84 species found throughout the Arctic and northern temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere.[2] The highest species diversity in eastern Asia, and two species are found disjunctly in northern South America.[3]

They are soft herbaceous perennial plants growing to 20 centimeters tall, typically in wet, shady locations in forests. The leaves are rounded, palmately veined, with a lobed margin and arranged either alternately or opposite, depending on the species. The flowers are small, yellow or yellowish-green, with four petals; they are produced in small clusters at the apex of the shoots surrounded by leafy bracts. Most of the growth and flowering is in early spring, when more light is available under deciduous trees.