Flora of North America species comparison

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Saxifraga flagellaris

Alaska saxifrage, nodding saxifrage, spider plant, spider saxifrage, stoloniferous or spider or spider-legged saxifrage, stoloniferous saxifrage, whiplash saxifrage
Habit Plants in solitary clumps, stoloniferous, slenderly rhizomatous.
Leaves

basal and cauline;

petiole absent;

blade oblong-lanceolate or elliptic to obovate, unlobed, 5–20 mm, fleshy, margins entire, sparsely to densely, coarsely glandular-ciliate, distal sometimes ciliate, apex acute to ± obtuse, mucronate, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences

2–3(–5)-flowered, lax cymes, sometimes solitary flowers, 1–15 cm, densely purplish-tipped stipitate-glandular;

bracts sessile.
Flowers

sepals erect, elliptic or oblong-ovate, margins stipitate glandular-ciliate, surfaces stipitate-glandular;

petals yellow, not spotted, elliptic to broadly obovate, 4–9(–10) mm, longer than sepals;

ovary superior to ca. 1/2 inferior.

Saxifraga flagellaris
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; UT; WY; AB; BC; NT; NU; YT; Asia (c Asia, Caucasus, Russian Far East, Siberia); Atlantic Islands (Svalbard)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies ca. 8 (3 in the flora).

Although sometimes reported from North America, subspecies flagellaris is not present in the flora area; it is native in Eurasia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Ovaries superior; inflorescence bract blades shorter than internodes.
subsp. setigera
1. Ovaries at least 1/2 inferior; inflorescence bract blades longer than internodes
→ 2
2. Inflorescences (2-)4-15 cm; hypanthia and sepals whitish- and black-tipped stipitate-glandular; petals elliptic to narrowly obovate, length to 2 times sepals.
subsp. crandallii
2. Inflorescences 1-4(-6) cm; hypanthia and sepals black-tipped stipitate-glandular; petals broadly obovate, length 2+ times sepals.
subsp. platysepala
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 138.
Parent taxa Saxifragaceae > Saxifraga
Sibling taxa
S. adscendens, S. aizoides, S. aleutica, S. bracteata, S. bronchialis, S. cernua, S. cespitosa, S. cherlerioides, S. chrysantha, S. debilis, S. eschscholtzii, S. hirculus, S. hyperborea, S. mertensiana, S. nathorstii, S. oppositifolia, S. paniculata, S. radiata, S. rivularis, S. serpyllifolia, S. taylorii, S. tricuspidata, S. tridactylites, S. vespertina
Subordinate taxa
S. flagellaris subsp. crandallii, S. flagellaris subsp. platysepala, S. flagellaris subsp. setigera
Name authority Willdenow: in C. M. von Sternberg, Revis. Saxifrag. 1: 25, plate 6. 1810 ,
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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