Saxifraga minutissima

Saxifraga minutissima D.S.Rawat; 
 
After a long toil in alpine zones of Uttarakhand I collected some specimens of a Saxifraga which proved as a new species. It was published few months back in 2012. Here I am attaching a photograph of the species (copied from one of my optical photo thus quality is poor), photo of the area where it was recorded and the pdf of publication for your perusal.

Very interesting article and a beautiful illustration made by you. Thanks for sharing.

I was just thinking why you actually didnt put your plant on the phylogenetic tree as I can see one Isotype is already in British Museum?

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Saxifraga minutissima from Uttarakhand: DSR_Sept.2017_9 : 4 posts by 4 authors. Attachments (2)

Thanks to J.F. Duthie and other early plant collectors who collected plants from Ralam- Barjikang Pass area in Uttarakhand. They left this species Saxifraga minutissima D.S. Rawat (Saxifragaceae) for me to describe.
In our recent trekking to Barjikang Pass (4650m) I was surprised to see this species growing with Saxifraga stella-aurea, Gentiana infelix etc. I collected it from Kedarnath area and described it as a new species based on its apetalous flowers and only 5 stamens in 2012. Till the recent collection I considered it as a point endemic restricted to a small area near Kedarnath. But it proved wrong and I found it here, nearly 125 km away (aerial distance) from its type locality.
I wonder how it escaped of sharp eyes of J.F. Duthie; probably because of extremely small size (1-1.5cm only).
Each exploration in highland of Himalaya has surprises. I feel embarrassed that how less I have explored.

  
 
 
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