Saxifraga serpyllifolia |
Saxifraga tricuspidata |
|
---|---|---|
thyme-leaf saxifrage |
prickly saxifrage, saxifrage à trois dents, three-tooth saxifrage |
|
Habit | Plants mat-forming, not stoloniferous, rhizomatous. | Plants loosely mat-forming, (stems trailing), not stoloniferous, with elongate caudex or rhizomatous. |
Leaves | 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. |
cauline, (marcescent, crowded proximally); petiole absent; blade (often reddish), linear to cuneate, 1–3-lobed or -toothed apically (distal cauline unlobed), rarely all unlobed, (lobes long spinose-mucronate), 5–20 mm, leathery, margins entire, softly glandular-ciliate, (nonsecreting hydathodes present adaxially), apex acute, long spinose-mucronate, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | solitary flowers, 2–7 cm, sparsely to densely pink- to purple-tipped stipitate-glandular; bracts sessile. |
3–10-flowered cymes, 4–10(–24) cm, white to sparsely pink- to purple-tipped stipitate-glandular; bracts sessile. |
Flowers | 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. |
sepals erect to ascending, (sometimes purplish), triangular-ovate, margins ± glandular-ciliate, surfaces white to purple-tipped stipitate-glandular; petals white to cream, proximally to distally yellow-, orange-, and red-spotted, elliptic to ovate, 4–7 mm, much longer than sepals; ovary superior. |
2n | = 16 (Russia). |
= 26. |
Saxifraga serpyllifolia |
Saxifraga tricuspidata |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering late spring–summer. |
Habitat | Moist to dry sandy areas, cliffs, gravelly ridges, scree, tundra | Open sandy, gravelly, or rocky sites, forest openings, grassy slopes, rocky ridges, stony tundra |
Elevation | 0-2200 m (0-7200 ft) | 0-3000 m (0-9800 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; NT; NU; YT; Asia (Japan, Siberia) |
AK; MI; AB; BC; LB; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland
|
Discussion | The purple-flowered variant of Saxifraga serpyllifolia has been called var. purpurea. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The rare, entire-leaved form of Saxifraga tricuspidata can be confused with S. bronchialis; it has glandular-ciliate margins instead of stiffly hooked-ciliate ones. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 139. | FNA vol. 8, p. 142. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. serpyllifolia var. purpurea | |
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 310. 1813 , | Rotbøll: Skr. Kiøbenhavnske Selsk. Laerd. Elsk. 10: 446. 1770 (as 3cuspidata) , |
Web links |