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

Saxifraga oppositifolia

purple mountain saxifrage, purple or purple mountain saxifrage, purple saxifrage, saxifrage à feuilles opposées, twinflower saxifrage

Habit Plants forming loose mats, (stems trailing), not stoloniferous, rhizomatous. Plants mat- or cushion-forming (with trailing, ± woody stems), not stoloniferous, rhizomatous.
Leaves

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.

cauline (marcescent, crowded), opposite (rarely alternate);

petiole absent;

blade oblong to ± broadly obovate, unlobed, 2–5 mm, leathery, margins entire, bristly-ciliate, with 1(–3) lime-secreting hydathodes (in pit, secretion obvious), apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

3–6-flowered cymes, 2.5–12 cm, pink- to purple-tipped stipitate-glandular;

bracts sessile.

solitary flowers, ebracteate, 1–5 cm, glabrate or sparsely purple-tipped stipitate-glandular.

Flowers

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.

sepals erect, ovate, margins stiffly ciliate or not, surfaces hairy, stipitate-glandular, or glabrous;

petals purple to pink, rarely white, often drying violet, not spotted, obovate to elliptic, (2–)5–12(–20) mm, longer than sepals;

ovary ± superior.

Capsules

± folliclelike.

2n

= 26.

Saxifraga vespertina

Saxifraga oppositifolia

Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Rocky slopes, ledges, crevices
Elevation 100-1800 m (300-5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CO; ID; MT; NY; OR; VT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NS; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT; Eurasia; arctic and alpine
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 7 (2 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Sepal margins bristly-ciliate
subsp. oppositifolia
1. Sepal margins glandular-ciliate
subsp. smalliana
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 142. FNA vol. 8, p. 136.
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. mertensiana, S. nathorstii, S. oppositifolia, S. paniculata, S. radiata, S. rivularis, S. serpyllifolia, S. taylorii, S. tricuspidata, S. tridactylites
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. paniculata, S. radiata, S. rivularis, S. serpyllifolia, S. taylorii, S. tricuspidata, S. tridactylites, S. vespertina
Subordinate taxa
S. oppositifolia subsp. oppositifolia, S. oppositifolia subsp. smalliana
Synonyms Leptasea vespertina, S. bronchialis subsp. vespertina, S. bronchialis var. vespertina
Name authority (Small) Fedde: Just’s Bot. Jahresber. 33(1): 613. (1906) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 402. 1753 ,
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