Micranthes ferruginea |
Micranthes occidentalis |
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Alaska saxifrage, rusty hair saxifrage, rusty saxifrage |
mountain saxifrage, redwool saxifrage, western saxifrage |
|
Habit | Plants solitary or tufted, with bulbils on caudices, short-rhizomatous. | Plants in groups or sometimes almost mat-forming, with bulbils on caudices or rhizomatous. |
Leaves | basal; petiole indistinct, flattened, to 2 cm; blade spatulate to oblanceolate, 1–8(–10) cm, ± fleshy, base cuneate, margins irregularly serrate (usually with fewer than 12 coarse teeth), ciliate, surfaces hairy. |
basal; petiole flattened, 1–5 cm; blade ovate to elliptic, 1.5–3.5 cm, ± fleshy, base ± attenuate to ± truncate, margins shallowly, sharply serrate, ciliate, surfaces sparsely tangled, reddish brown-hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
Inflorescences | 20–30+-flowered, (flowers sometimes replaced ± completely by bulbils, or bulbils sometimes absent), open, lax thyrses, 10–40 cm, moderately to ± densely purple stipitate-glandular; (bracts reduced). |
usually (10–)30+-flowered, flowers crowded into 1+ glomerules in thyrses with ascending branches, 8–30 cm, purple-tipped stipitate-glandular; (bracts glabrous or marginally glandular-ciliate). |
Flowers | ± bilaterally symmetric; sepals reflexed, ovate to oblong; petals white, 3 with 2 basal yellow spots, 2 without spots, elliptic to oblanceolate, clawed, 3–5 mm, longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate 1/2+ their lengths; ovary superior, (to 1/3 adnate to hypanthium). |
sepals ascending to spreading, sometimes reflexed in fruit, ovate to oblong, (surfaces glabrous); petals white, not spotted (spots rarely present), obovate to almost round, clawed, 2–4 mm, to 1.5 times as long as sepals; filaments linear to very slightly widened near anthers, flattened; pistils distinct almost to base; ovary ± superior. |
Capsules | green or yellow, sometimes purple tinged, or partly purple, valvate. |
greenish or reddish to ± dark purple, folliclelike. |
2n | = 20. |
= 20, 38, 40, 56, 58. |
Micranthes ferruginea |
Micranthes occidentalis |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer–early autumn. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Wet ledges, seepage slopes, stream banks | Wet, rocky or gravelly slopes, moist to dry alpine meadows, flushes |
Elevation | 10-2700 m (0-8900 ft) | 500-4000 m (1600-13100 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT
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AK; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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Discussion | Plants with bulbils replacing flowers are more common in the southern part (southern Alberta and British Columbia southwards) of the range of Micranthes ferruginea and have been called Saxifraga ferruginea var. macounii. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Micranthes occidentalis appears closely related to the little-known M. mexicana (Engler & Irmscher) Brouillet & Gornall from Chihuahua, Mexico. The latter is the only species of the genus that occurs in Mexico and not in the United States. Micranthes occidentalis is disjunct between the northern Rocky Mountains and the Cypress Hills of southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, and the Black Hills of South Dakota. It hybridizes with M. idahoensis where their ranges overlap. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 58. | FNA vol. 8, p. 62. |
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga ferruginea, Saxifraga ferruginea var. macounii, Saxifraga ferruginea var. newcombei, Saxifraga ferruginea var. vreelandii, Saxifraga newcombei | Saxifraga occidentalis, Saxifraga allenii, Saxifraga occidentalis var. allenii, Saxifraga occidentalis var. wallowensis, Saxifraga reflexa subsp. occidentalis, Saxifraga saximontana |
Name authority | (Graham) Brouillet & Gornall: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 1: 1020. 2007 , | (S. Watson) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 144. 1905 , |
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