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rusty-hair saxifrage

Yellowstone saxifrage

Habit Plants solitary or in groups, with bulbils on caudices, or rhizomatous. Plants solitary or in clumps, with bulbils on caudices.
Leaves

basal;

petiole flattened, 4–8 cm;

blade ovate to elliptic, 1–4 cm, fleshy, base attenuate to ± truncate, margins serrate (15–30- toothed), eciliate, surfaces densely tangled, reddish brown-hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially.

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.

Inflorescences

15+-flowered, open, flat-topped thyrses, 5–20 cm, purple-tipped stipitate-glandular; (bracts often tangled brown-hairy).

30+-flowered, ± constricted (spikelike) to ± open thyrses, 20–75 cm, yellow- to pink- (rarely purplish-) tipped stipitate-glandular.

Flowers

sepals spreading, ovate, (often tangled brown-hairy);

petals white, not spotted, ovate to elliptic, clawed, 2–4 mm, longer than sepals;

filaments linear, flattened to slightly club-shaped;

pistils distinct almost to base;

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.

Capsules

greenish to reddish purple, folliclelike.

dark purple, valvate.

2n

= 20, 38, 56, 58.

= 76.

Micranthes rufidula

Micranthes subapetala

Phenology Flowering late winter–summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Wet to dry, rocky ledges Subalpine and alpine meadows, wet banks, ledges
Elevation 0-3000 m (0-9800 ft) 1200-3000 m (3900-9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; MT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 62. FNA vol. 8, p. 66.
Parent taxa Saxifragaceae > Micranthes Saxifragaceae > Micranthes
Sibling taxa
M. apetala, M. aprica, M. bryophora, M. californica, M. calycina, M. careyana, M. caroliniana, M. eriophora, M. ferruginea, M. foliolosa, M. fragosa, M. gaspensis, M. gormanii, M. hieraciifolia, M. hitchcockiana, M. howellii, M. idahoensis, M. integrifolia, M. lyallii, M. marshallii, M. micranthidifolia, M. nelsoniana, M. nidifica, M. nivalis, M. nudicaulis, M. occidentalis, M. odontoloma, M. oregana, M. palmeri, M. pensylvanica, M. petiolaris, M. razshivinii, M. reflexa, M. rhomboidea, M. spicata, M. stellaris, M. subapetala, M. tempestiva, M. tenuis, M. texana, M. tischii, M. tolmiei, M. unalaschcensis, M. virginiensis
M. apetala, M. aprica, M. bryophora, M. californica, M. calycina, M. careyana, M. caroliniana, M. eriophora, M. ferruginea, M. foliolosa, M. fragosa, M. gaspensis, M. gormanii, M. hieraciifolia, M. hitchcockiana, M. howellii, M. idahoensis, M. integrifolia, M. lyallii, M. marshallii, M. micranthidifolia, M. nelsoniana, M. nidifica, M. nivalis, M. nudicaulis, M. occidentalis, M. odontoloma, M. oregana, M. palmeri, M. pensylvanica, M. petiolaris, M. razshivinii, M. reflexa, M. rhomboidea, M. rufidula, M. spicata, M. stellaris, M. tempestiva, M. tenuis, M. texana, M. tischii, M. tolmiei, M. unalaschcensis, M. virginiensis
Synonyms Saxifraga aequidentata, Saxifraga occidentalis subsp. rufidula, Saxifraga occidentalis var. rufidula, Saxifraga rufidula Saxifraga subapetala, Saxifraga oregana var. subapetala, Saxifraga rydbergii
Name authority Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 140. (1905) (E. E. Nelson) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 139. 1905 ,
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