Defence or...?
The glandular hairs of the Saxifrages probably evolved to defend the vulnerable buds by trapping tiny insects without impeding pollinators from flying to the flowers once they open, although in his extensive work on carnivorous plants Charles Darwin suggested they also dissolve and digest the insects they trap. He tells us that in 1875 Druce reported in the Pharmaceutical Journal that he found tiny insects on almost all of the dozens of plants of Saxifraga tridactylites he examined, and a friend in Ireland found the same.
This little specimen of Rue-leaved Saxifrage (Saxifraga tridactylites) was on a mossy wall by Nottingham's NG2 Business Park
Defence or...?
The glandular hairs of the Saxifrages probably evolved to defend the vulnerable buds by trapping tiny insects without impeding pollinators from flying to the flowers once they open, although in his extensive work on carnivorous plants Charles Darwin suggested they also dissolve and digest the insects they trap. He tells us that in 1875 Druce reported in the Pharmaceutical Journal that he found tiny insects on almost all of the dozens of plants of Saxifraga tridactylites he examined, and a friend in Ireland found the same.
This little specimen of Rue-leaved Saxifrage (Saxifraga tridactylites) was on a mossy wall by Nottingham's NG2 Business Park