Micranthes virginiensis |
Micranthes reflexa |
|
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early saxifrage, early small-flower-saxifrage, saxifrage de virginie, Virginia saxifrage |
Yukon saxifrage |
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Habit | Plants solitary or in clumps, with bulbils on caudices. | Plants solitary or tufted, with bulbils on caudices. |
Leaves | basal; petiole flattened, 1–9 cm; blade ovate to elliptic, 2–8 cm, ± fleshy, base attenuate, margins irregularly crenate to serrate, ciliate, surfaces sparsely to ± densely stipitate-glandular and tangled, reddish brown-hairy, adaxially glabrescent. |
basal; petiole broadly flattened, 1–2 cm; blade elliptic to broadly ovate, 1–3 cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margins shallowly serrate (teeth to 1 mm), densely ciliate, surfaces tangled reddish brown-hairy. |
Inflorescences | 30+-flowered, (flowers sometimes secund), very open, lax, ± flat-topped thyrses, 6–50 cm, proximally hairy, distally densely purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. |
15+-flowered thyrses with flowers crowded at branch tips, 7–60 cm, ± hairy, also with some purple-tipped glandular hairs. |
Flowers | sepals erect to ascending (even in fruit), ovate to triangular; petals white, not spotted, broadly oblong to elliptic, not or rarely slightly clawed, 3–6 mm, 2+ times as long as sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils distinct almost to base; ovary ± superior, (to 1/3 adnate hypanthium). |
sepals reflexed, ovate to triangular; petals white, with 2 basal yellow spots (spots distinct even in dried material), elliptic to spatulate, clawed, 2–4 mm, longer than sepals; filaments strongly club-shaped, (longer than petals); pistils distinct almost to base; ovary superior, (to 1/3 adnate to hypanthium). |
Capsules | green to purplish, folliclelike. |
green to purplish, folliclelike. |
2n | = 20 (+ 0–6 supernumeraries), 38. |
= 20, 40. |
Micranthes virginiensis |
Micranthes reflexa |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering late spring–summer. |
Habitat | Rocky hillsides, cliffs and shaded rock outcrops, stream banks, wooded slopes | Heath, tundra, dry to mesic meadows, alpine gravelly slopes and fellfields, open woods |
Elevation | 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) | 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; DC; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WV; MB; NB; ON; QC
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AK; BC; NT; YT |
Discussion | Also reported for Micranthes virginiensis is 2n = 28; D. E. Soltis (1983) documented zero to six supernumerary chromosomes in this species and speculated that this report may have included eight supernumeraries. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Micranthes idahoensis, M. marshallii, and M. reflexa form a morphological complex of ecologically and geographically distinct entities in western North America that is much in need of study. The eastern North American M. careyana and M. caroliniana are also morphologically similar to the members of this complex. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 61. | FNA vol. 8, p. 63. |
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes | Saxifragaceae > Micranthes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Saxifraga virginiensis | Saxifraga reflexa |
Name authority | (Michaux) Small: Fl. S.E. U.S., 501. 1903 , | (Hooker) Small: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 146. (1905) |
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