Micranthes lyallii
Micranthes subapetala
Lyall's saxifrage, red-stem saxifrage
Yellowstone saxifrage
basal;
petiole rounded to flattened, 2–10 cm;
blade spatulate to obovate, 0.8–8 cm, thin, base cuneate to slightly attenuate, margins serrate to dentate, eciliate or sparsely glandular-ciliate, surfaces abaxially glabrous, adaxially sparsely brown-hairy.
basal;
petiole usually indistinct, flattened, ca. 2 cm;
blade ovate or elliptic to oblanceolate, 3–15 cm, fleshy, base cuneate, margins entire or minutely denticulate, ciliate, surfaces hairy.
usually 10–15-flowered, lax, cylindric thyrses, (red), (4–)7–30 cm, sparsely purple-tipped stipitate-glandular.
30+-flowered, ± constricted (spikelike) to ± open thyrses, 20–75 cm, yellow- to pink- (rarely purplish-) tipped stipitate-glandular.
sepals reflexed, oblong to elliptic;
petals white, each with 2 basal yellowish green spots, elliptic to round, clawed, 2–5.5 mm, longer than sepals;
filaments club-shaped, (to 6 mm);
pistils connate 1/2+ their lengths;
ovary superior, (to 1/3 adnate to hypanthium).
sepals reflexed, ovate;
petals absent, sometimes 1–5, pink to purplish, not spotted, elliptic, clawed, 1–2 mm, shorter than sepals;
filaments linear, flattened;
pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths;
ovary inferior.
green to yellow, distal 1/2 purple, ± folliclelike, (basally connate).
dark purple, valvate.
= ca. 56, 58.
= 76.
Micranthes lyallii
Micranthes subapetala
Although they have nearly disjunct sets of populations, the subspecies of Micranthes lyallii are difficult to distinguish from each other. The more northern plants tend to be larger with wider leaves and often have been called Saxifraga lyallii subsp. or var. hultenii. Apparent hybrids with M. odontoloma occur in Alberta, British Columbia, and northern Idaho, and near Glacier National Park, Montana.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Although the species is usually distinctive, some populations of Micranthes subapetala in northern Wyoming appear more similar to M. hieraciifolia than to typical M. subapetala and may need to be re-evaluated. The distributional disjunction between the two taxa is about 1600 kilometers.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
