Micranthes tolmiei |
Micranthes occidentalis |
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alpine saxifrage, Tolmie's alpine saxifrage, Tolmie's saxifrage |
mountain saxifrage, redwool saxifrage, western saxifrage |
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Habit | Plants mat-forming, (stems trailing, thin, basally slightly woody), with slender, woody caudices. | Plants in groups or sometimes almost mat-forming, with bulbils on caudices or rhizomatous. |
Leaves | cauline, proximally crowded; petiole absent; blade elliptic-obovate, 0.8–1.5 cm, fleshy, base cuneate, margins entire, sometimes proximally sparsely long-ciliate, surfaces glabrous. |
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 | 2–10-flowered, lax cymes, sometimes solitary flowers, 3–12 cm, glabrous or purplish- or pink-tipped stipitate-glandular; (bracts 1–3, proximal). |
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 erect to spreading, ovate; petals white, not spotted, linear to oblanceolate, 2.5–5 mm, longer than sepals, short- or not clawed; filaments broadly club-shaped (± petaloid); pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary ± superior (to 1/4 adnate to hypanthium). |
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, purple mottled, valvate. |
greenish or reddish to ± dark purple, folliclelike. |
2n | = 30. |
= 20, 38, 40, 56, 58. |
Micranthes tolmiei |
Micranthes occidentalis |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Arctic and alpine tundra, fell-fields | Wet, rocky or gravelly slopes, moist to dry alpine meadows, flushes |
Elevation | 500-4000 m (1600-13100 ft) | 500-4000 m (1600-13100 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; BC
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AK; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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Discussion | Unlike those of most Micranthes species, the leaves of M. tolmiei are proximally cauline and the ovules have two integuments. The seeds have a loose, winglike testa. (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. 54. | FNA vol. 8, p. 62. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga tolmiei, Saxifraga tolmiei var. ledifolia | Saxifraga occidentalis, Saxifraga allenii, Saxifraga occidentalis var. allenii, Saxifraga occidentalis var. wallowensis, Saxifraga reflexa subsp. occidentalis, Saxifraga saximontana |
Name authority | (Torrey & A. Gray) Brouillet & Gornall: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 1: 1022. 2007 , | (S. Watson) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 144. 1905 , |
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