Pepper-saxifrage - Silaum silaus

Alternative names
Pepper Saxifrage
Description

A very variable plant with a solid, ridged stem. Leaves triangular in outline, 2 to 4 pinnate, the segments long stalked, often with a reddish tip, leaflets finely toothed. Flowers pale yellow 1.5 mm, in umbels with 5 to 15 rays, bracts sometimes, but not always present.

Identification difficulty
ID guidance

Pale yellow flowers, pinnate leaves, fruits oval, ridged

Recording advice

Photograph of the pant in its habitat, showing leaves and side-on view of umbel

Habitat

Rough or damp grassland, old meadows, roadsides and railway verges.

When to see it

June to August.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Mainly in central and south east England, local elsewhere. Absent from Scotland and most of Wales.

VC55 Status

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland, seldom found in large numbers. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 151 of the 617 tetrads.

In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as Native, old grassland, occasional

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Pepper-saxifrage
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Apiales
Family:
Apiaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
22
First record:
11/06/2011 (Neville, Dave)
Last record:
16/06/2023 (Dunham, David)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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