Saxifraga pubescens 'Snowcap'

Saxifraga pubescens 'Snowcap' — Cultivar of the Saxifragaceae family, selected from the Pyrenean species Saxifraga pubescens. Its exact selection origin is not precisely documented in the consulted sources, but it is well established in rock garden collections and regularly offered by nurseries specializing in alpine plants.

It forms a dense, hemispherical cushion, well-rounded, composed of numerous small, tight rosettes with short, cuneiform, lobed leaves of medium green, covered with short glandular hairs that give them a slightly rough and sticky texture. Outside of flowering, the cushion is compact, regular, and decorative in itself.

The flowers are pure white, with five well-opened and rounded petals, with a clear yellow-green center, borne on fine, slightly erect hairy stems above the foliage. The flowering is abundant and generously covers the cushion, producing an effect of snow laid on the green of the foliage, an effect to which the cultivar's name directly echoes.

In cultivation, its flowering generally occurs in April-May.

It is grown in full light, in a well-drained mineral substrate, with protection against stagnant moisture in winter. It tolerates both limestone and neutral to slightly acidic substrates, and remains one of the most reliable introductions of this group in alpine gardens.