Micranthes fragosa |
Micranthes stellaris |
|
---|---|---|
brittle-leaf saxifrage, Clayton's saxifrage, peak saxifrage |
saxifrage étoilée, starry saxifrage |
|
Habit | Plants often mat-forming, long, thin-rhizomatous. | Plants tufted or mat-forming, with ± branched caudices or stolonlike rhizomes. |
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 ± absent; blade obovate to elliptic, 1–5 cm, ± fleshy, base cuneate, margins 1–3-toothed in distal 1/2, ciliate, surfaces 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. |
2–10-flowered, open, lax cymes, sometimes solitary flowers, (all or some flowers replaced with bulbils, bulbils sometimes absent), 5–20 cm, sparsely to moderately purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. |
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 reflexed, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate; petals white, each with 1–2 basal yellow spots, lanceolate, clawed, 3–8 mm (2 often slightly larger), longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate 1/2+ their lengths; ovary superior, (to 1/3 adnate to hypanthium). |
Capsules | green or reddish purple, folliclelike. |
green to purple, valvate. |
2n | = 20, 38. |
= 28. |
Micranthes fragosa |
Micranthes stellaris |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–summer. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Wet, mossy cliffs, unstable slopes, often near watercourses | Mossy tundra near streams, rocky, gravelly seepage areas |
Elevation | 100-2600 m [300-8500 ft] | 0-500 m [0-1600 ft] |
Distribution |
ID; OR; WA
|
LB; NU; QC; Greenland; Europe |
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.) |
Micranthes stellaris is amphi-Atlantic. In Nunavut, it is known only from Baffin Island. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 68. | FNA vol. 8, p. 57. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga fragosa, Saxifraga claytoniifolia, Saxifraga fragosa subsp. claytoniifolia, Saxifraga integrifolia var. claytoniifolia, Saxifraga nidifica var. claytoniifolia | Saxifraga stellaris |
Name authority | (Suksdorf ex Small) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 137. (1905) | (Linnaeus) Galasso: Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civico Storia Nat. Milano 146: 231. (2005) |
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