Authors: All.
This polymorphic species forms fairly dense cushions of suberect shoots. Leaves somewhat hairy, cuneate to semi-circular in outline, divided into five to eleven segments. Flowering stems 10-18cm tall bearing cymes of four to fifteen white flowers, petals 1.1-1.4cm long. Southern Europe from the Pyrenees and Cevennes through to the Carpathians, amongst shaded, siliceous rocks. Not difficult to grow if placed in a moist, shady position not liable to waterlogging in winter. Easy in the alpine house. There are four subspecies: S.p. subsp. pedemontana; leaves wedge-shaped, thick and fleshy, not deeply divided, covered with short, glandular hairs, segments forwardly directed, narrowing gradually into a broad petiole. Flowering stems 6-15cm high. South-western Alps, just extending into the central Alps. Subsp. cymosa; leaves wedge-shaped, thin and soft, not deeply divided, covered with short, glandular hairs, segments forwardly directed. Flowering stems seldom more than 8cm tall. Carpathians and mountains of the Balkans. Subsp. cervicornis; leaf blades semi-circular in outline, segments usually long and spreading, lateral ones spreading, long-hairy, with a narrow petiole usually shorter than blade. Rosette leaves incurved in bud. Corsica and Sardinia. Subsp. prostii (syn. S. prostii); leaves more or less wedge-shaped but deeply divided into segments and covered with long glandular hairs. Rosette leaves not incurved in bud and with a petiole at least as long as the blade. Flowering stems 10-15cm high. Southern France, in the Cevennes and Pyrenees.
a, S. biflora; b, S. cebennensis; c, S. cinerea; d, S. georgei; e, S. pedemontana; f, S. stolitzkae;
