Micranthes howellii |
Micranthes pensylvanica |
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Howell's saxifrage |
eastern swamp saxifrage, marsh, marsh saxifrage, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania saxifrage, swamp saxifrage, swamp small-flower-saxifrage |
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Habit | Plants solitary or in groups, with bulbils on caudices. | Plants solitary or in groups, with thick, fleshy rhizomes. |
Leaves | basal; petiole flattened, 1–4 cm; blade oblong to narrowly ovate, 1–2(–3) cm, ± fleshy, base attenuate, margins sharply serrate, eciliate, surfaces sparsely tangled, reddish brown-hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
basal; petiole indistinct, flattened, 3–10 cm; blade linear or elliptic to ovate, 6–25 cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margins entire or subentire, ciliate, surfaces usually densely short-hairy, often tangled brown-hairy along proximal midveins. |
Inflorescences | 5–10(–20)-flowered, very open, lax, ± flat-topped cymes or thyrses, 5–10(–20) cm, glabrate to sparsely purple-tipped stipitate-glandular; (bracts glabrous). |
(30–)50+-flowered, open, often lax thyrses, 25–125 cm, purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. |
Flowers | sepals strongly reflexed, elliptic, (surfaces glabrous); petals white, not spotted, obovate to elliptic, clawed, 2.5–4.5 mm, longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils distinct almost to base; ovary ± superior. |
sepals reflexed, triangular to ovate; petals white to cream or rarely purple, not spotted, linear to narrowly elliptic, not clawed or slightly clawed, 2–3 mm, longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary 1/2+ inferior, appearing superior in fruit. |
Capsules | purple, valvate. |
green, folliclelike. |
2n | = 56, 84, 112. |
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Micranthes howellii |
Micranthes pensylvanica |
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Phenology | Flowering early spring–early summer. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Wet, rocky ledges and crevices | Marshy meadows, mucky seepages in woods, swamp forests, montane bogs and seeps |
Elevation | 0-900 m (0-3000 ft) | 100-1400 m (300-4600 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR
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CT; DE; IA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; MB; ON; SK
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Discussion | Purple-petalled populations of Micranthes pensylvanica have been known as Saxifraga purpuripetala and are found in Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 63. | FNA vol. 8, p. 67. |
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga howellii | Saxifraga pensylvanica, M. pensylvanica var. purpuripetala, Saxifraga forbesii, Saxifraga pensylvanica var. forbesii, Saxifraga pensylvanica subsp. interior, Saxifraga pensylvanica var. purpuripetala, Saxifraga pensylvanica subsp. tenuirostrata, Saxifraga purpuripetala |
Name authority | (Greene) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 140. (1905) | (Linnaeus) Haworth: Saxifrag. Enum., 45. (1821) |
Web links |