Flora of North America species comparison

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Micranthes nelsoniana var. cascadensis

Micranthes nelsoniana var. porsildiana
Photo is of parent taxon

Cascade saxifrage, Cascades dotted saxifrage, dotted saxifrage, Nelson's saxifrage
Photo is of parent taxon

dotted saxifrage
Leaf

blades thin, not fleshy, margins 12–18-toothed.

blades thin, not fleshy, margins 12–18-toothed.
Inflorescences

somewhat lax, tangled-appressed hairy.

congested, tangled-ascending hairy.
Pistils

connate most of their lengths.

connate to 3/4 their lengths.
Capsules

3–8 mm.

3–8 mm.
2n

= 28.

Micranthes nelsoniana var. cascadensis

Micranthes nelsoniana var. porsildiana
Phenology Flowering late spring–summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Wet areas, stream banks Stream banks, wet areas
Elevation 800-2500 m (2600-8200 ft) 0-2500 m (0-8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA; BC
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AB; BC; NT; NU; YT
Discussion

Variety cascadensis has sometimes been confused with Micranthes odontoloma, probably because the petal spots of var. cascadensis fade on herbarium specimens. The more deeply toothed leaves, the compactness of the inflorescence, and the tangled inflorescence hairs clearly distinguish it from M. odontoloma. This variety is present in the Coast and Cascade ranges.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The characters used by J. A. Calder and D. B. O. Savile (1960) to separate var. porsildiana from var. pacifica overlap more significantly than do the characters that separate their subspecies, although inland populations of what has been called var. porsildiana gradually tend away from the morphology typical of coastal populations. Elven and Murray treated this taxon as a species distinct from Micranthes nelsoniana, because it apparently grows in stands mixed with other subspecies of M. nelsoniana without forming intermediates. The entire complex needs a thorough re-examination.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 56. FNA vol. 8, p. 56.
Parent taxa Saxifragaceae > Micranthes > Micranthes nelsoniana Saxifragaceae > Micranthes > Micranthes nelsoniana
Sibling taxa
M. nelsoniana var. carlottae, M. nelsoniana var. insularis, M. nelsoniana var. nelsoniana, M. nelsoniana var. porsildiana
M. nelsoniana var. carlottae, M. nelsoniana var. cascadensis, M. nelsoniana var. insularis, M. nelsoniana var. nelsoniana
Synonyms Saxifraga punctata subsp. cascadensis, Saxifraga nelsoniana subsp. cascadensis, Saxifraga punctata var. cascadensis Saxifraga punctata subsp. porsildiana, M. porsildiana, Saxifraga nelsoniana subsp. pacifica, Saxifraga nelsoniana var. pacifica, Saxifraga nelsoniana subsp. porsildiana, Saxifraga nelsoniana var. porsildiana, Saxifraga punctata subsp. pacifica, Saxifraga punctata var. pacifica, Saxifraga punctata var. porsildiana
Name authority (Calder & Savile) Gornall & H. Ohba: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 1: 1020. (2007) (Calder & Savile) Gornall & H. Ohba: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 2: 395. (2008)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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