Micranthes eriophora |
Micranthes micranthidifolia |
|
---|---|---|
redfuzz saxifrage |
branch-lettuce, lettuceleaf saxifrage |
|
Habit | Plants solitary or in groups, with bulbils on caudices. | Plants solitary or in groups, with bulbils on caudices. |
Leaves | basal; petiole flattened, 0.5–2.5 cm; blade ovate to elliptic, 1–2 cm, ± fleshy, base attenuate, margins sharply serrate, sparsely to densely ciliate (some glandular-tipped), surfaces densely tangled, reddish brown-hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
basal; petiole ± indistinct, (broad), flattened, 3–15 cm; blade lanceolate to oblanceolate, 4–35 cm, thin, base attenuate, margins irregularly serrate to dentate, ciliate, surfaces sparsely hairy. |
Inflorescences | 10+-flowered, (flowers often secund), very open, lax, often flat-topped thyrses with distant lateral branches, 6–25 cm, pink- to purplish-tipped stipitate-glandular. |
(30–)50+–flowered, very open, lax thyrses, 30–75 cm, pink- to purplish-tipped stipitate-glandular; (bracts gradually smaller distally). |
Flowers | sepals erect, triangular; petals white, sometimes purplish-tipped, not spotted, obovate to elliptic, not clawed or barely clawed, 4–7 mm, ca. 2 times as long as sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils distinct almost to base; ovary 1/3–1/2 inferior. |
sepals strongly reflexed, oblong; petals white, with 2 basal yellow spots that sometimes appear as 1 (sometimes faded in dried material), ± elliptic to spatulate, clawed, 2–3 mm, longer than sepals; filaments strongly club-shaped; pistils distinct almost to base; ovary superior, (to 1/3 adnate to hypanthium). |
Capsules | purplish, valvate. |
green, sometimes purplish, folliclelike. |
2n | = 22. |
|
Micranthes eriophora |
Micranthes micranthidifolia |
|
Phenology | Flowering late winter–early summer. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Rocky slopes and ledges | Rocky seepage slopes, stream banks |
Elevation | 1900-3000 m (6200-9800 ft) | 400-2100 m (1300-6900 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua)
|
GA; KY; MD; NC; PA; SC; VA; WV
|
Discussion | Micranthes micranthidifolia was formerly gathered by local people in the southern Appalachians as a spring “green” (hence the common name, “branch” being dialect for a small stream); it is still occasionally seen in local grocery stores. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 64. | FNA vol. 8, p. 60. |
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga eriophora | Robertsonia micranthidifolia, Aulaxis micranthidifolia, Saxifraga micranthidifolia |
Name authority | (S. Watson) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 142. (1905) | (Haworth) Small: Fl. S.E. U.S., 501, 1331. 1903 , |
Web links |