Micranthes oregana |
Micranthes occidentalis |
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bog saxifrage, Oregon or bogsaxifrage, Oregon saxifrage |
mountain saxifrage, redwool saxifrage, western saxifrage |
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Habit | Plants solitary or in clusters, with caudex or thick, fleshy rhizomes. | Plants in groups or sometimes almost mat-forming, with bulbils on caudices or rhizomatous. |
Leaves | basal; petiole indistinct, flattened, 3–10 cm; blade linear to oblanceolate, 6–25 cm, fleshy, base cuneate, margins serrulate to denticulate, ciliate, surfaces glabrous or sparsely hairy. |
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. |
Inflorescences | (30–)50+-flowered, open to ± crowded, conic to cylindric thyrses, 25–125 cm, hairy proximally, yellow- to pink-tipped stipitate-glandular distally. |
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). |
Flowers | sepals reflexed, ovate to triangular; petals white, not spotted, broadly elliptic to obovate and 2 times as long as sepals, sometimes oblanceolate and equaling or shorter than sepals, clawed, 2–5 mm; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary 1/2+ inferior, often appearing superior in fruit. |
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. |
Capsules | green to reddish purple, folliclelike. |
greenish or reddish to ± dark purple, folliclelike. |
2n | = 38, 76. |
= 20, 38, 40, 56, 58. |
Micranthes oregana |
Micranthes occidentalis |
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Phenology | Flowering early spring–summer. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Bogs, marshes | Wet, rocky or gravelly slopes, moist to dry alpine meadows, flushes |
Elevation | 100-2500 m (300-8200 ft) | 500-4000 m (1600-13100 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; WA; AB
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AK; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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Discussion | In both habitat and morphology, Micranthes oregana is similar to M. pensylvanica. A thorough investigation of the two species, especially the populations in Colorado that are disjunct from those in Montana, is needed to clarify relationships. The name Saxifraga integrifolia was misapplied to M. oregana by early California authors. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 67. | FNA vol. 8, p. 62. |
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga oregana, Saxifraga montanensis, Saxifraga oregana var. montanensis | Saxifraga occidentalis, Saxifraga allenii, Saxifraga occidentalis var. allenii, Saxifraga occidentalis var. wallowensis, Saxifraga reflexa subsp. occidentalis, Saxifraga saximontana |
Name authority | (Howell) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 138. 1905 , | (S. Watson) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 144. 1905 , |
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