The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

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

Matted saxifrage, saxifraga vespertina, spotted saxifrage, yellow dot saxifrage

Habit Plants solitary or in clumps, not stoloniferous, with caudex or short-rhizomatous. Plants forming loose mats, (stems trailing), 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.

cauline (crowded proximally);

petiole absent;

blade spatulate, unlobed or minutely 3-toothed or -lobed apically, 4–11 mm, leathery, margins entire, (not cartilaginous), stiffly ciliate, apex rounded or obtuse, mucronate, 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.

3–6-flowered cymes, 2.5–12 cm, 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, ovate to oblong, margins sparsely ciliate, surfaces glabrous;

petals white to cream, yellow-spotted proximally, red- or orange-spotted distally, these often faded in dried specimens, elliptic, 4–6 mm, much longer than sepals;

ovary superior.

2n

= 36, ca. 48, 50.

= 26.

Saxifraga mertensiana

Saxifraga vespertina

Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Moist to wet stream banks, mossy cliffs and slopes, waterfall spray zones Rocky slopes, ledges, crevices
Elevation 0-2500 m (0-8200 ft) 100-1800 m (300-5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 146. FNA vol. 8, p. 142.
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. serpyllifolia, S. taylorii, S. tricuspidata, S. tridactylites
Synonyms S. mertensiana var. eastwoodiae Leptasea vespertina, S. bronchialis subsp. vespertina, S. bronchialis var. vespertina
Name authority Bongard: Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg, Sér. 6, Sci. Math. 2: 141. 1832 , (Small) Fedde: Just’s Bot. Jahresber. 33(1): 613. (1906)
Web links