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Wright's golden carpet, Wright's golden-saxifrage

dorine à quatre étamines, golden carpet, northern golden-saxifrage

Flowering stems

erect, branching in distal 1/10–1/4(–1/3), (1.5–)2–11(–16) cm, sparsely to densely villous especially proximally, hairs reddish brown.

erect, branching in distal 1/6–1/3(–1/2), (1.2–)3–21 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous, especially proximally, hairs white or reddish brown.

Leaves

alternate, fleshy.

alternate, membranous or fleshy.

Cauline leaves

absent or 1(–2);

petiole 3–16(–24) mm, glabrous or sparsely villous, hairs reddish brown;

blade ovate to broadly ovate, reniform, or flabellate, 3.5–12 × 4.5–19 mm, base cuneate, margins 3–7-crenate, usually glabrous, sometimes villous, hairs white, surfaces glabrous.

1–3(–4);

petiole (2–)4–20(–31) mm, glabrous or sparsely villous proximally, hairs white or reddish brown, sometimes purplish;

blade depressed-ovate, flabellate, or reniform, 3–9 × 4–13 mm, base truncate to cuneate or cordate, margins 3–7-crenate, glabrous, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

terminal, 3–30-flowered, compact cymes;

bracts green or greenish yellow, usually purple-spotted, foliaceous, usually ovate to flabellate or, rarely, elliptic, 3–13 × 2–15 mm, margins subentire or 3–7-crenate.

terminal, (2–)3–15-flowered, compact cymes;

bracts green, usually purple-spotted, foliaceous, ovate to depressed-ovate or flabellate, 2–9 × 3–12 mm, margins subentire or 3–5-crenate.

Pedicels

absent or 0.1–1.5 mm.

absent or 0.1–1.5 mm.

Flowers

hypanthium green or greenish yellow, sometimes purple-spotted distally, turbinate, 1.2–2.2 × 1.8–3.5 mm, glabrous;

sepals spreading, greenish yellow, purple, or reddish orange, usually purple-spotted throughout or distally, rarely not spotted, broadly ovate to depressed-ovate or nearly round, 0.9–2.3 × 1.2–3.1 mm, apex obtuse to rounded;

nectary disc prominent, yellow or purple, 8-lobed;

stamens 8, 0.7–0.9 mm;

anthers yellow or purple, 0.2–0.3 × 0.2–0.3 mm;

styles 0.5–0.9 mm.

hypanthium green or greenish yellow, usually not purple-spotted, rarely purple-spotted distally, turbinate to campanulate, 1–2.2 × 1.2–2.1 mm, glabrous;

sepals usually erect, sometimes spreading, usually green, rarely yellow, usually purple-spotted throughout or distally, rarely not purple-spotted, ovate to broadly ovate or depressed-ovate, 0.8–1.5 × 0.8–1.7 mm, apex obtuse to rounded;

nectary disc apparently absent;

stamens (3–)4, 0.3–0.4 mm;

anthers yellow, 0.1–0.3 × 0.1–0.3 mm;

styles 0.2–0.3 mm.

Seeds

(2–)5–12, reddish brown, ovoid to ellipsoid, (0.8–)1–1.3 mm, glabrous.

(6–)15–40, reddish brown, ovoid to ellipsoid, 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous.

Stolon(s)

leaves: petiole (7–)25–55(–68) mm, sparsely to densely villous, hairs reddish brown;

blade depressed-ovate to reniform, 4–19 × 7–24 mm, base cordate or truncate, margins 5–9-crenate, usually purple-spotted, usually ciliate, hairs white, surfaces glabrous or sparsely villous, especially near petiole, hairs usually white, brown, or reddish brown, sometimes purple.

leaves: petiole 12–55 mm, usually sparsely villous, sometimes glabrous, hairs white or reddish brown;

blade usually depressed-ovate to reniform, sometimes nearly round, 3–14 × 5–18 mm, base cordate, margins 5–7-crenate, not purple-spotted, glabrous or sparsely ciliate, hairs white, surfaces glabrous or sparsely villous adaxially, hairs usually white, rarely purple.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Chrysosplenium wrightii

Chrysosplenium tetrandrum

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Gravelly tundra and stream banks, boulder fields, scree slopes, solifluction terraces, seeps Marshy ground, muddy stream banks and shorelines, mossy seeps, bogs, fens
Elevation 0-2300 m (0-7500 ft) 0-3300 m (0-10800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; BC; YT; e Asia (Russia: Kamtchatka, e Siberia)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CO; ID; MT; WA; AB; BC; LB; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; n Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

H. Hara (1957) recognized two varieties of Chrysosplenium wrightii. He considered var. wrightii to be restricted to Herald Island, the type locality, and var. beringianum (Rose) H. Hara to be the element in southern Alaska, St. Matthew Island and the Pribiloff Islands, and across the Aleutian Islands to Kamtchatka. He distinguished the varieties by the indumentum of the flowering stems and thickness of the leaf blades. These characters vary too widely among populations to warrant recognition of infraspecific taxa.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

As treated here, Chrysosplenium tetrandrum is circumpolar. In North America, disjunct populations occur in subalpine and alpine habitats in the Bitterroot Range of Idaho and Montana, and in the Front Range of Colorado. Some specimens from northern Europe and the Russian Far East that have been referred to C. alternifolium appear to be morphologically indistinguishable from C. tetrandrum.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 75. FNA vol. 8, p. 74.
Parent taxa Saxifragaceae > Chrysosplenium Saxifragaceae > Chrysosplenium
Sibling taxa
C. americanum, C. glechomifolium, C. iowense, C. rosendahlii, C. tetrandrum
C. americanum, C. glechomifolium, C. iowense, C. rosendahlii, C. wrightii
Synonyms C. alternifolium var. wrightii C. alternifolium subsp. tetrandrum
Name authority Franchet & Savatier: Enum. Pl. Jap. 2: 356. 1878 , Th. Fries: Bot. Not. 1858: 193. 1859 ,
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