Chondrosea cotyledon, the Pyramidal Saxifrage, occurs in the mountains of Europe and has rosette

Rosette (botany)

In botany, a rosette is a circular arrangement of leaves, with all the leaves at a single height.Though rosettes usually sit near the soil, their structure is an example of a modified stem.-Function:...

s about 8 inches (20.3 cm) across of tongue-shaped leaves, beaded but not toothed. In May or June the tall panicle

Panicle

A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....

s of white flowers, branched and pyramidal in outline, may reach 2'. It is one of Norway's two national flowers (chosen in 1935). Often placed in Saxifraga with the typical saxifrages, this plant is otherwise separated in the monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Chondrosea. Its relationship to the silver saxifrages (Saxifraga sect.

Section (botany)

In botany, a section is a taxonomic rank below the genus, but above the species. The subgenus, if present, is higher than the section, and the rank of series, if present, is below the section. Sections are typically used to help organise very large genera, which may have hundreds of species...

 Ligulatae) remains to be resolved to full satisfaction.

Horticulture

To produce flowers it sometimes is necessary to remove and save for propagation all side rosettes. The flowering rosette dies after blooming. C. cotyledon is one of the most beautiful of the silver saxifrages and one of the easiest to grow.

It is the floral emblem

Floral emblem

In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols - some are conferred by...

of Norway.