Micranthes californica |
Micranthes nidifica |
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California saxifrage, Greene's saxifrage |
Columbia saxifrage, meadow saxifrage, peak saxifrage, swamp saxifrage |
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Habit | Plants solitary or in clumps, with bulbils on caudices, or rhizomatous. | Plants solitary or in clumps, with bulbils on caudices. |
Leaves | basal; petiole flattened, 2–5 cm; blade ovate, 2–7 cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margins serrate, rarely subentire, ciliate, surfaces hairy. |
basal; petiole flattened, 1.5–5.5 cm; blade ± ovate to elliptic, 3–6(–7.5) cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margins entire or minutely denticulate, ciliate, surfaces glabrate to sparsely hairy. |
Inflorescences | 20+-flowered, (flowers often secund), open, lax thyrses with distant lateral branches, 15–30(–40) cm, purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. |
30+-flowered, lax, cylindric thyrses with 3–10, ± compact cymules, 10–30 cm, ± densely pink- to purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. |
Flowers | sepals reflexed, sometimes spreading, triangular to ovate; petals white, not spotted, elliptic to oblong, clawed, 2.5–4.5 mm, longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary 1/2+ inferior, appearing superior in fruit. |
sepals strongly reflexed, broadly ovate to deltate; petals white to greenish white, not spotted, usually elliptic to obovate, clawed, 1–1.9 mm, equaling or shorter than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary 1/2+ inferior. |
Capsules | purplish, folliclelike. |
green or reddish purple, folliclelike. |
2n | = 38. |
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Micranthes californica |
Micranthes nidifica |
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Phenology | Flowering winter–early spring. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Shaded fields, rocky or unstable slopes, stream banks | Open meadows, shrub-lands, gravelly slopes, edges of and open pine forests |
Elevation | 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) | 100-2600 m (300-8500 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
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CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
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Discussion | Micranthes nidifica is polymorphic and merges to some extent with M. fragosa in limited areas of southern Washington and northern Oregon. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 64. | FNA vol. 8, p. 68. |
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga californica, M. parvifolia, Saxifraga fallax, Saxifraga hallii, Saxifraga parvifolia, Saxifraga virginiensis var. californica | Saxifraga nidifica, M. plantaginea, Saxifraga columbiana, Saxifraga integrifolia var. columbiana, Saxifraga integrifolia var. leptopetala, Saxifraga montana, Saxifraga plantaginea |
Name authority | (Greene) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 140. (1905) | (Greene) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 134. (1905) |
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