Purple Saxifrage - Aupilaktunnguat

Purple Saxifrage, or Aupilaktunnguat as it is known in the local dialect of Inuktitut, is one of the first plants to flower in the Arctic spring. Often, as soon as the sun can reach the ground, the Saxifrage is springing to life, budding out flowers within the week.

When the small plants are covered with the purple flowers it is a sign to the Inuit that the Caribou are giving birth out on the land. I think we are still a week or two off from the full bloom, although this spring has been quite late.

Here is a little perspective on how small the plant is. The rocks are only a few inches in diameter. You can see another blur of purple flowers a bit further up in the photograph.

The stems of the Purple Saxifrage are densely packed with small leaves that hug the stem. Each branch terminates into an individual flower. With how tightly woven the stems can be it often looks like a tiny flowering shrub, but each stem is individual.

The Purple Saxifrage is also the territorial flower of Nunavut. With its ability to grow on rocky terrain where seemingly no other plant can grow it makes a great symbol for the hardiness and perseverance of the Inuit peoples.

All photos were taken by me and belong to me. I use a Nikon P900 and a Samsung S20 for my photos, All in auto settings, so there's no real point in showing you the aperture settings and all that jazz.