Micranthes occidentalis |
Micranthes californica |
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mountain saxifrage, redwool saxifrage, western saxifrage |
California saxifrage, Greene's saxifrage |
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Habit | Plants in groups or sometimes almost mat-forming, with bulbils on caudices or rhizomatous. | Plants solitary or in clumps, with bulbils on caudices, or rhizomatous. |
Leaves | basal; petiole flattened, 1–5 cm; blade ovate to elliptic, 1.5–3.5 cm, ± fleshy, base ± attenuate to ± truncate, margins shallowly, sharply serrate, ciliate, surfaces sparsely tangled, reddish brown-hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
basal; petiole flattened, 2–5 cm; blade ovate, 2–7 cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margins serrate, rarely subentire, ciliate, surfaces hairy. |
Inflorescences | usually (10–)30+-flowered, flowers crowded into 1+ glomerules in thyrses with ascending branches, 8–30 cm, purple-tipped stipitate-glandular; (bracts glabrous or marginally glandular-ciliate). |
20+-flowered, (flowers often secund), open, lax thyrses with distant lateral branches, 15–30(–40) cm, purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. |
Flowers | sepals ascending to spreading, sometimes reflexed in fruit, ovate to oblong, (surfaces glabrous); petals white, not spotted (spots rarely present), obovate to almost round, clawed, 2–4 mm, to 1.5 times as long as sepals; filaments linear to very slightly widened near anthers, flattened; pistils distinct almost to base; ovary ± superior. |
sepals reflexed, sometimes spreading, triangular to ovate; petals white, not spotted, elliptic to oblong, clawed, 2.5–4.5 mm, longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary 1/2+ inferior, appearing superior in fruit. |
Capsules | greenish or reddish to ± dark purple, folliclelike. |
purplish, folliclelike. |
2n | = 20, 38, 40, 56, 58. |
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Micranthes occidentalis |
Micranthes californica |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–summer. | Flowering winter–early spring. |
Habitat | Wet, rocky or gravelly slopes, moist to dry alpine meadows, flushes | Shaded fields, rocky or unstable slopes, stream banks |
Elevation | 500-4000 m (1600-13100 ft) | 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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CA; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
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Discussion | Micranthes occidentalis appears closely related to the little-known M. mexicana (Engler & Irmscher) Brouillet & Gornall from Chihuahua, Mexico. The latter is the only species of the genus that occurs in Mexico and not in the United States. Micranthes occidentalis is disjunct between the northern Rocky Mountains and the Cypress Hills of southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, and the Black Hills of South Dakota. It hybridizes with M. idahoensis where their ranges overlap. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 62. | FNA vol. 8, p. 64. |
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga occidentalis, Saxifraga allenii, Saxifraga occidentalis var. allenii, Saxifraga occidentalis var. wallowensis, Saxifraga reflexa subsp. occidentalis, Saxifraga saximontana | Saxifraga californica, M. parvifolia, Saxifraga fallax, Saxifraga hallii, Saxifraga parvifolia, Saxifraga virginiensis var. californica |
Name authority | (S. Watson) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 144. 1905 , | (Greene) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 140. (1905) |
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