Micranthes californica |
Micranthes reflexa |
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California saxifrage, Greene's saxifrage |
Yukon saxifrage |
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Habit | Plants solitary or in clumps, with bulbils on caudices, or rhizomatous. | Plants solitary or tufted, 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 broadly flattened, 1–2 cm; blade elliptic to broadly ovate, 1–3 cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margins shallowly serrate (teeth to 1 mm), densely ciliate, surfaces tangled reddish brown-hairy. |
Inflorescences | 20+-flowered, (flowers often secund), open, lax thyrses with distant lateral branches, 15–30(–40) cm, purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. |
15+-flowered thyrses with flowers crowded at branch tips, 7–60 cm, ± hairy, also with some purple-tipped glandular hairs. |
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 reflexed, ovate to triangular; petals white, with 2 basal yellow spots (spots distinct even in dried material), elliptic to spatulate, clawed, 2–4 mm, longer than sepals; filaments strongly club-shaped, (longer than petals); pistils distinct almost to base; ovary superior, (to 1/3 adnate to hypanthium). |
Capsules | purplish, folliclelike. |
green to purplish, folliclelike. |
2n | = 20, 40. |
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Micranthes californica |
Micranthes reflexa |
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Phenology | Flowering winter–early spring. | Flowering late spring–summer. |
Habitat | Shaded fields, rocky or unstable slopes, stream banks | Heath, tundra, dry to mesic meadows, alpine gravelly slopes and fellfields, open woods |
Elevation | 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) | 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
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AK; BC; NT; YT |
Discussion | Micranthes idahoensis, M. marshallii, and M. reflexa form a morphological complex of ecologically and geographically distinct entities in western North America that is much in need of study. The eastern North American M. careyana and M. caroliniana are also morphologically similar to the members of this complex. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 64. | FNA vol. 8, p. 63. |
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga californica, M. parvifolia, Saxifraga fallax, Saxifraga hallii, Saxifraga parvifolia, Saxifraga virginiensis var. californica | Saxifraga reflexa |
Name authority | (Greene) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 140. (1905) | (Hooker) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 146. (1905) |
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