Burke: Micranthes apetala vs. Micranthes ferruginea

	Micranthes apetala	Micranthes ferruginea
	Tiny swamp saxifrage, western swamp saxifrage	rusty saxifrage
Habit		Perennial from a short, woody base or thick rhizome, the 1-several leafless, freely-branched stems 1.5-3.5 dm. tall, soft-pubescent below and glandular-pubescent above.
Leaves		Leaves all basal, oblanceolate, 2-10 cm. long and 5-15 mm. wide, with 7-17 teeth, thinly hairy, tapered gradually to broad, winged petioles not clearly differentiated from the blades.
Flowers		Inflorescence an open, diffuse panicle extending nearly to the base of the stem; calyx lobed almost to the base, the 5 lobes oblong-ovate, sharply reflexed, 1.5-2.5 mm. long, usually reddish or purplish; petals 5, white, 4-6 mm. long, dimorphic, 3 much broader than the other 2; stamens 10, the filaments slender and white; flowers vary from all normal to mostly replaced by leafy bulblets.
Fruits		Ovary almost completely superior, capsule 4-6 mm. long; carpels 2, fused their length.

	Micranthes apetala	Micranthes ferruginea
Flowering time	March-May	June-August
Habitat	Vernally moist meadows at low to middle elevations.	Open, moist, often rocky areas, from low to middle elevations in the mountains.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to Oregon, east to Idaho and Montana. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring in the Cascades and Olympic Mountains, and in the mountains of northeastern in Washington; Alaska to south California, east to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	M. ferruginea, M. fragosa, M. gormanii, M. idahoensis, M. integrifolia, M. lyallii, M. nelsoniana, M. nidifica, M. occidentalis, M. odontoloma, M. oregana, M. rufidula, M. tischii, M. tolmiei	M. apetala, M. fragosa, M. gormanii, M. idahoensis, M. integrifolia, M. lyallii, M. nelsoniana, M. nidifica, M. occidentalis, M. odontoloma, M. oregana, M. rufidula, M. tischii, M. tolmiei
Web links	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Micranthes apetala

Micranthes ferruginea

Tiny swamp saxifrage, western swamp saxifrage

rusty saxifrage

Habit

Perennial from a short, woody base or thick rhizome, the 1-several leafless, freely-branched stems 1.5-3.5 dm. tall, soft-pubescent below and glandular-pubescent above.

Leaves

Leaves all basal, oblanceolate, 2-10 cm. long and 5-15 mm. wide, with 7-17 teeth, thinly hairy, tapered gradually to broad, winged petioles not clearly differentiated from the blades.

Flowers

Inflorescence an open, diffuse panicle extending nearly to the base of the stem;

calyx lobed almost to the base, the 5 lobes oblong-ovate, sharply reflexed, 1.5-2.5 mm. long, usually reddish or purplish;

petals 5, white, 4-6 mm. long, dimorphic, 3 much broader than the other 2;

stamens 10, the filaments slender and white;

flowers vary from all normal to mostly replaced by leafy bulblets.

Fruits

Ovary almost completely superior, capsule 4-6 mm. long;

carpels 2, fused their length.

Micranthes apetala

Micranthes ferruginea

Flowering time

March-May

June-August

Habitat

Vernally moist meadows at low to middle elevations.

Open, moist, often rocky areas, from low to middle elevations in the mountains.

Distribution

Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to Oregon, east to Idaho and Montana.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Occurring in the Cascades and Olympic Mountains, and in the mountains of northeastern in Washington; Alaska to south California, east to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa