Flora of North America species comparison

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Saxifraga mertensiana

Saxifraga debilis

Merten's or wood or woodland saxifrage, Mertens' saxifrage, wood saxifrage, woodland saxifrage

pygmy saxifrage, weak saxifrage
Habit Plants solitary or in clumps, not stoloniferous, with caudex or short-rhizomatous. Plants usually densely tufted, sometimes loosely so, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous.
Leaves

basal and cauline, (basal persistent, cauline ± inconspicuous);

petiole rounded, 2–20 mm;

blade round to reniform, irregularly shallowly lobed, 20–80(–100) mm, thin, margins serrate, stipitate glandular-ciliate, apex obtuse to rounded, surfaces sparsely hairy.

basal and cauline, (3–5, proximal similar to basal);

petiole ± flattened, 5–70 mm;

blade round or reniform, (3–)5–7-lobed (lobes obtuse), (3–)4.5–6.7(–10.3) mm, slightly fleshy, margins entire, eciliate, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences

30+-flowered, open, much-branched thyrses, usually some or all flowers replaced by bulbils (sometimes bulbils absent), 15–40 cm, dark purple-tipped stipitate-glandular;

bracts (± inconspicuous), petiolate or sessile.

2–3(–5)-flowered, capitate cymes, sometimes solitary flowers, (flowers subsessile), (3–)6.7–9(–19.4) cm, tangled, nonglandular-hairy;

bracts petiolate.
Flowers

sepals reflexed (at least in fruit), ovate to elliptic, margins eciliate, surfaces sparsely stipitate-glandular or glabrous;

petals white, not spotted, narrowly ovate to elliptic, (3–)4–6 mm, longer than sepals;

filaments strongly club-shaped;

ovary superior.

(hypanthium V-shaped in longisection, glabrous or sparsely short stipitate-glandular);

sepals erect, oblong to ovate, (0.7–1 mm wide), margins eciliate, surfaces abaxially glabrous;

petals white to pale purple, not spotted, oblong, (1.7–)3–4.4(–6.2) mm, ± equaling sepals;

ovary 1/2 inferior.
2n

= 36, ca. 48, 50.

= 26.

Saxifraga mertensiana

Saxifraga debilis
Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Moist to wet stream banks, mossy cliffs and slopes, waterfall spray zones Alpine meadows, snow beds, open gravel and silt, seepage areas, stream and lake margins, shady taluses, ravines or cliffs
Elevation 0-2500 m (0-8200 ft) 2500-4000 m (8200-13100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; MT; NM; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Plants of Saxifraga mertensiana bear bulbils in the axils of basal leaves.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Saxifraga debilis is known only from the central and southern Rocky Mountains, where it is often called S. rivularis (a species not present in the area). Its V-shaped (in longisection), glabrous or sparsely short stipitate-glandular hypanthia, and larger, more-lobed leaves (similar to S. bracteata in this) distinguish it from S. hyperborea, which is sometimes sympatric (M. H. Jørgensen et al. 2006).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 146. FNA vol. 8, p. 143.
Parent taxa Saxifragaceae > Saxifraga 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. flagellaris, S. hirculus, S. hyperborea, S. nathorstii, S. oppositifolia, S. paniculata, S. radiata, S. rivularis, S. serpyllifolia, S. taylorii, S. tricuspidata, S. tridactylites, S. vespertina
S. adscendens, S. aizoides, S. aleutica, S. bracteata, S. bronchialis, S. cernua, S. cespitosa, S. cherlerioides, S. chrysantha, S. eschscholtzii, S. flagellaris, 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
Synonyms S. mertensiana var. eastwoodiae S. cernua var. debilis, S. hyperborea subsp. debilis, S. rivularis var. debilis
Name authority Bongard: Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg, Sér. 6, Sci. Math. 2: 141. 1832 , Engelmann ex A. Gray: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 15: 62. (1864)
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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