Micranthes occidentalis |
Micranthes nidifica |
|
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mountain saxifrage, redwool saxifrage, western saxifrage |
Columbia saxifrage, meadow saxifrage, peak saxifrage, swamp saxifrage |
|
Habit | Plants in groups or sometimes almost mat-forming, with bulbils on caudices or rhizomatous. | Plants solitary or in clumps, with bulbils on caudices. |
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, 1.5–5.5 cm; blade ± ovate to elliptic, 3–6(–7.5) cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margins entire or minutely denticulate, ciliate, surfaces glabrate to sparsely 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). |
30+-flowered, lax, cylindric thyrses with 3–10, ± compact cymules, 10–30 cm, ± densely pink- to 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 strongly reflexed, broadly ovate to deltate; petals white to greenish white, not spotted, usually elliptic to obovate, clawed, 1–1.9 mm, equaling or shorter than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary 1/2+ inferior. |
Capsules | greenish or reddish to ± dark purple, folliclelike. |
green or reddish purple, folliclelike. |
2n | = 20, 38, 40, 56, 58. |
= 38. |
Micranthes occidentalis |
Micranthes nidifica |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–summer. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Wet, rocky or gravelly slopes, moist to dry alpine meadows, flushes | Open meadows, shrub-lands, gravelly slopes, edges of and open pine forests |
Elevation | 500-4000 m (1600-13100 ft) | 100-2600 m (300-8500 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
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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.) |
Micranthes nidifica is polymorphic and merges to some extent with M. fragosa in limited areas of southern Washington and northern Oregon. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 62. | FNA vol. 8, p. 68. |
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 nidifica, M. plantaginea, Saxifraga columbiana, Saxifraga integrifolia var. columbiana, Saxifraga integrifolia var. leptopetala, Saxifraga montana, Saxifraga plantaginea |
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: 134. (1905) |
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