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

thyme-leaf saxifrage

Habit Plants solitary or in clumps, not stoloniferous, with caudex or short-rhizomatous. Plants mat-forming, not stoloniferous, 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, (cauline 1–4);

petiole absent;

blade linear (cauline) or oblong to oblanceolate or spatulate, unlobed, 2–8.5 mm, fleshy, margins (recurved), entire, eciliate, apex obtuse, not mucronate, surfaces glabrous or glabrate.

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.

solitary flowers, 2–7 cm, sparsely to densely pink- to purple-tipped stipitate-glandular;

bracts sessile.

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.

sepals erect to spreading (reflexed in fruit, often purplish), broadly ovate to elliptic, margins eciliate or sometimes sparsely ciliate, surfaces glabrous;

petals pale yellow, rarely purple, faded when dried, not spotted, elliptic to obovate, 4–8 mm, longer than sepals;

ovary superior.

2n

= 36, ca. 48, 50.

= 16 (Russia).

Saxifraga mertensiana

Saxifraga serpyllifolia

Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Moist to wet stream banks, mossy cliffs and slopes, waterfall spray zones Moist to dry sandy areas, cliffs, gravelly ridges, scree, tundra
Elevation 0-2500 m (0-8200 ft) 0-2200 m (0-7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; NT; NU; YT; Asia (Japan, Siberia)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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

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

The purple-flowered variant of Saxifraga serpyllifolia has been called var. purpurea.

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

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 146. FNA vol. 8, p. 139.
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. debilis, S. eschscholtzii, S. flagellaris, S. hirculus, S. hyperborea, S. mertensiana, S. nathorstii, S. oppositifolia, S. paniculata, S. radiata, S. rivularis, S. taylorii, S. tricuspidata, S. tridactylites, S. vespertina
Synonyms S. mertensiana var. eastwoodiae S. serpyllifolia var. purpurea
Name authority Bongard: Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg, Sér. 6, Sci. Math. 2: 141. 1832 , Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 310. 1813 ,
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