Saxifraga retusa subsp. augustana

A plant with a restricted range, endemic to the Western Alps; in Italy, it is found exclusively in Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. Found within the Gran Paradiso National Park, it colonises cliffs, moraines and, generally, detrital soils with a calcareous substrate, at altitudes ranging from 1,850 to 3,100 metres.

It is a succulent plant with creeping, branched stems, forming dense clumps – sometimes veritable carpets – from which the inflorescences emerge shortly after the snow melts. The flowers are pinkish-purple and are arranged in corymb-like inflorescences on well-developed peduncles. It can be confused with Saxifraga retusa subsp. retusa, which, however, has less abundant inflorescences and grows on siliceous rather than calcareous soils. 

Succulents are not a family of plants, but a diverse group of plants possessing specialised tissues designed to store water: an adaptation to arid environments.