1. Saxifraga oppositifolia Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 402. 1753.
Purple or purple mountain saxifrage, saxifrage feuilles opposaes
Plants mat- or cushion-forming (with trailing, ± woody stems), not stoloniferous, rhizomatous. Leaves cauline (marcescent, crowded), opposite (rarely alternate); petiole absent; blade oblong to ± broadly obovate, unlobed, 2-5 mm, leathery, margins entire, bristly-ciliate, with 1(-3) lime-secreting hydathodes (in pit, secretion obvious), apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences solitary flowers, ebracteate, 1-5 cm, glabrate or sparsely purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. Flowers: sepals erect, ovate, margins stiffly ciliate or not, surfaces hairy, stipitate-glandular, or glabrous; petals purple to pink, rarely white, often drying violet, not spotted, obovate to elliptic, (2-)5-12(-20) mm, longer than sepals; ovary ± superior. Capsules ± folliclelike.
Subspecies 7 (2 in the flora): North America, Eurasia; arctic and alpine.