Micranthes fragosa |
Micranthes palmeri |
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brittle-leaf saxifrage, Clayton's saxifrage, peak saxifrage |
Palmer's saxifrage |
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Habit | Plants often mat-forming, long, thin-rhizomatous. | Plants solitary or in clumps, with bulbils on caudices. |
Leaves | basal; petiole flattened, 4–10 cm; blade broadly ovate to deltate, 4–8(–10) cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margins entire or minutely denticulate, ciliate, surfaces glabrate to sparsely hairy. |
basal; petiole flattened, 1–9 cm; blade ovate to elliptic, 2–8 cm, slightly fleshy, base attenuate, margins entire or subentire, ciliate, surfaces tangled, reddish brown-hairy. |
Inflorescences | 30+-flowered, (flowers sometimes almost secund), open, lax, conic thyrses with ± open cymules on lateral branches, 20–50 cm, purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. |
30+-flowered, (flowers sometimes almost secund), very open, lax thyrses, 6–50 cm, hairy proximally, densely so distally. |
Flowers | sepals spreading to slightly reflexed, ovate to deltate; petals white, not spotted, obovate, clawed, 2–3 mm, longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary 1/2+ inferior, appearing more superior in fruit. |
sepals erect to ascending, ovate to triangular; petals white, not spotted, broadly oblong to elliptic, not clawed, 3–6 mm, 2+ times as long as sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils distinct almost to base; ovary ± superior, (to 1/3 adnate to hypanthium). |
Capsules | green or reddish purple, folliclelike. |
green with reddish or purplish tinge, or reddish purple, folliclelike. |
2n | = 20, 38. |
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Micranthes fragosa |
Micranthes palmeri |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–summer. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Wet, mossy cliffs, unstable slopes, often near watercourses | Rocky, open woodlands |
Elevation | 100-2600 m [300-8500 ft] | 100-1000 m [300-3300 ft] |
Distribution |
ID; OR; WA
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AR; OK |
Discussion | Micranthes fragosa is restored to specific status here because a review of its differences with M. nidifica shows it to be more distinctive than previously thought, and for consistency in the application of criteria for species recognition within the rest of the genus. In the southernmost part of its range, M. fragosa converges in appearance with M. californica. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 68. | FNA vol. 8, p. 61. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga fragosa, Saxifraga claytoniifolia, Saxifraga fragosa subsp. claytoniifolia, Saxifraga integrifolia var. claytoniifolia, Saxifraga nidifica var. claytoniifolia | Saxifraga palmeri, Saxifraga virginiensis var. subintegra |
Name authority | (Suksdorf ex Small) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 137. (1905) | Bush: Amer. Midl. Naturalist 11: 221. 1928 , |
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