They are everywhere now, the elegant umbels of Burnet Saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga). In limestone meadows and fields it flowers abundantly. It does not need a rich soil, and if it is dry and poor it is even better.
The upper parts of it are glabrous, with thin smooth stalks. There are only a few leaves on the stalks, if any, and they are deeply incised. The important leaves grow in a basal cluster at ground level. They disappear mostly when the plant flowers.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5D11EvN70jFl90p75RqgbHzO36RLCnGn8Ur0UU-KJzRgUhuWp_4NHpfWXUXct-dgsdHI3GCOGNDOmz6MsjU_GgBBHonXHpg24vkPWm1vMuVIG6crHRYdnposV6qrf9U8vD4wMhvV0Csc/s640/friche%252C+ros%25C3%25A9e+d%2527automne-159368za-bl.jpg)
Here some basal leaves. You should think they belong to another species because they are so different, green and rather luscious. But no, it really is Burnet saxifrage.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJyUJ_BEl4_GjqEXb8rxlmjMMZKOkpx01hvBCiaM6A5DrP-y0IWYqU154L7_5wRIUMJcGMuvag4POsTV5Jo70ZYr_Tv4lriCW6VETqghhWR4yLEWNZ8t_7qZxFKZk0147NX3Cf_1cxRs/s640/pimpinella+saxifraga%252C+ros%25C3%25A9e-110223zzb-bl.jpg)
And this is an umbel in fruit, its rays all have about the same length. Many Apiaceae - plants of the umbellifer family - have a ring of little leaves or bracts at the base of those rays, but Burnet Saxifrage has no involucre.
Autumn will arrive soon, but Burnet Saxifrage will go on flowering for a while.