Saxifraga flagellaris |
Saxifraga cespitosa |
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alaska saxifrage, nodding saxifrage, spider plant, spider saxifrage, stoloniferous or spider or spider-legged saxifrage, stoloniferous saxifrage, whiplash saxifrage |
saxifrage cespiteuse, tuft alpine saxifrage, tuft or tuft alpine saxifrage, tuft saxifrage |
|||||||||
Habit | Plants in solitary clumps, stoloniferous, slenderly rhizomatous. | Plants densely cushion- to loosely mat-forming, (stems trailing), not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous, with ± woody caudex. | ||||||||
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. |
basal and proximal cauline, (marcescent, crowded); petiole flattened, 2–6(–12) mm; blade elliptic to obovate or spatulate, 3(–5)-lobed apically (lobes oblong-elliptic), 4–15(–25) mm, ± fleshy, margins entire, sparsely short glandular-ciliate (mostly proximally), (nonsecreting hydathodes present adaxially at each lobe apex), apex obtuse, surfaces sparsely to densely short stipitate-glandular. |
||||||||
Inflorescences | 2–3(–5)-flowered, lax cymes, sometimes solitary flowers, 1–15 cm, densely purplish-tipped stipitate-glandular; bracts sessile. |
2–5-flowered cymes, sometimes solitary flowers, to 2–15(–20) cm, densely clear- or cream- to pinkish yellow-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. |
sepals erect to spreading, triangular or ovate to elliptic, margins stipitate-glandular, surfaces stipitate-glandular; petals white, proximally greenish to yellowish tinged, not spotted but sometimes striate, elliptic or oblanceolate to obovate, (1.5–)3–7(–15) mm, equaling or longer than sepals; ovary inferior. |
||||||||
2n | = 78, 80. |
|||||||||
Saxifraga flagellaris |
Saxifraga cespitosa |
|||||||||
Phenology | Flowering summer. | |||||||||
Habitat | Rock outcrops, crevices, talus, scree slopes, rocky tundra, fellfields, nunataks, stream banks | |||||||||
Elevation | 0-4500 m (0-14800 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
AK; AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; UT; WY; AB; BC; NT; NU; YT; Asia (c Asia, Caucasus, Russian Far East, Siberia); Atlantic Islands (Svalbard)
|
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NL; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT; Greenland; Europe; Asia (Siberia)
|
||||||||
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.) |
The North American representatives of Saxifraga cespitosa are very variable. It seems futile at this time to recognize any of the infrapecific taxa that have been described, although five are frequently distinguished as either subspecies or varieties. Expressions of all of the purported distinguishing characters overlap or have little apparent geographic or ecologic correlation. The only Southern Hemisphere representatives of Saxifraga are closely related to S. cespitosa. Reports of S. rosacea Moench from southern Greenland are misidentifications of this species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||||||
Key |
|
|||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 138. | FNA vol. 8, p. 146. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Saxifraga | Saxifragaceae > Saxifraga | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | Muscaria delicatula, Muscaria micropetala, Muscaria monticola, S. cespitosa subsp. decipiens, S. cespitosa var. emarginata, S. cespitosa subsp. exaratioides, S. cespitosa subsp. laxiuscula, S. cespitosa var. lemmonii, S. cespitosa var. minima, S. cespitosa subsp. monticola, S. cespitosa subsp. sileneflora, S. cespitosa subsp. subgemmifera, S. cespitosa var. subgemmifera, S. cespitosa subsp. uniflora | |||||||||
Name authority | Willdenow: in C. M. von Sternberg, Revis. Saxifrag. 1: 25, plate 6. 1810 , | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 404. 1753 , | ||||||||
Web links |
|