saxifrage

noun

1. any plant of the genus Saxifraga, certain species of which grow wild in the clefts of rocks, other species of which are cultivated for their flowers.

noun

1. any saxifragaceous plant of the genus Saxifraga, characterized by smallish white, yellow, purple, or pink flowers

n.type of plant typically found in cold regions, late 14c., from Old French saxifrage (13c.), from Late Latin saxifraga, name of a kind of herb, from Latin saxifraga herba, literally “a rock-breaking herb,” from saxifragus “stonebreaking,” from saxum “stone, rock” + frag-, root of frangere “to break” (see fraction). Pliny says the plant was so called because it was given to dissolve gallstones, but a more likely explanation is that it was so called because it grows in crevices in rocks. (Latin used different words for “stone” and “gallstone” — saxum and calculus). Related: Saxifragaceous.