Micranthes micranthidifolia |
Micranthes calycina |
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branch-lettuce, lettuceleaf saxifrage |
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Habit | Plants solitary or in groups, with bulbils on caudices. | Plants solitary or in clusters, rhizomatous. |
Leaves | basal; petiole ± indistinct, (broad), flattened, 3–15 cm; blade lanceolate to oblanceolate, 4–35 cm, thin, base attenuate, margins irregularly serrate to dentate, ciliate, surfaces sparsely hairy. |
basal; petiole ± distinct, flattened, (0.5–)1–3.5 cm; blade rhombic or fan-shaped, sometimes nearly round, (1–)1.5–3.5 cm, ± fleshy, base attenuate to ± cuneate, margins 7–11-toothed in distal 1/2–2/3 (teeth 1–3 mm), sparsely ciliate, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | (30–)50+–flowered, very open, lax thyrses, 30–75 cm, pink- to purplish-tipped stipitate-glandular; (bracts gradually smaller distally). |
3–15-flowered, usually racemiform, sometimes paniculiform thyrses, 3–15 cm, axis glabrous or sparsely long-hairy, branches ± densely (rarely sparsely) long tangled-hairy; (bracts reduced). |
Flowers | sepals strongly reflexed, oblong; petals white, with 2 basal yellow spots that sometimes appear as 1 (sometimes faded in dried material), ± elliptic to spatulate, clawed, 2–3 mm, longer than sepals; filaments strongly club-shaped; pistils distinct almost to base; ovary superior, (to 1/3 adnate to hypanthium). |
sepals reflexed, lanceolate to ovate; petals white to cream, sometimes purplish, not spotted, linear to narrowly elliptic, not clawed, 2–4 mm, longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate 1/2+ their lengths, (conic); ovary ± 1/2 inferior. |
Capsules | green, sometimes purplish, folliclelike. |
purple-black, valvate. |
2n | = 22. |
= 24. |
Micranthes micranthidifolia |
Micranthes calycina |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Rocky seepage slopes, stream banks | Flushes, stream banks, tundra, around late snowbeds, screes |
Elevation | 400-2100 m (1300-6900 ft) | (0-)30-1700 m ((0-)100-5600 ft) |
Distribution |
GA; KY; MD; NC; PA; SC; VA; WV
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AK; e Asia (Russian Far East) |
Discussion | Micranthes micranthidifolia was formerly gathered by local people in the southern Appalachians as a spring “green” (hence the common name, “branch” being dialect for a small stream); it is still occasionally seen in local grocery stores. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Micranthes calycina is found mostly in western Alaska, in the north from the Seward Peninsula to the Brooks Range west of Atigun Pass, and in the south from Unimak Island and the Ahklum Mountains to the Saint Elias Mountains. It is also present on the main Bering Sea islands, but apparently not on the Aleutians west of Unimak. Plants of this species sometimes have been misidentified as M. davurica (Willdenow) Small, a species restricted to eastern Siberia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 60. | FNA vol. 8, p. 59. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Robertsonia micranthidifolia, Aulaxis micranthidifolia, Saxifraga micranthidifolia | Saxifraga calycina, Saxifraga davurica subsp. grandipetala, Saxifraga davurica var. grandipetala |
Name authority | (Haworth) Small: Fl. S.E. U.S., 501, 1331. 1903 , | (Sternberg) Gornall & H. Ohba: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 1: 1020. (2007) |
Web links |