Saxifraga can be annuals, biennials, evergreen or herbaceous perennials, mostly mat-forming in habit, with simple or palmately lobed leaves and starry or rounded flowers which may be solitary of in panicles or cymes
Porphyrion section saxifrages are compact, cushion or mat-forming evergreen perennials with small, usually lime-encrusted leaves, and 5-petalled white, yellow or pink flowers in early summer
S. ferdinandi-coburgi is a dense cushion-forming evergreen perennial to 10cm in height, with encrusted grey leaves and reddish stems bearing 1-3 bright yellow flowers opening from red buds