Saxifraga cernua L.
nodding saxifrage
Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
nodding saxifrage
Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from dense, fibrous roots; one or more simple flowering stems 10-25 cm tall, glandular-hairy.
Leaves:
Basal leaves kidney-shaped, 10-25 mm wide, 5- to 7-lobed, long-stalked, the stalks slender, with purple bulblets in the axils; stem leaves several, alternate, lower ones similar to the basal leaves, upper ones reduced, bract-like, with purple bulblets in axils.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a solitary, terminal flower or lacking, 1 or 2 of the lowermost flowers replaced by purplish bulblets; petals white, deciduous, egg-shaped to wedge egg-shaped, 5-12 mm long, the tips notched; calyces broadly bell-shaped, 3-4.5 mm long, dark green to purplish, joined to ovary for part of length, the free hypanthium absent, the calyx lobes 5, egg-shaped to lanceolate, 2.5- to 4-times length of joined portion of calyx, spreading; stamens 10.
Fruits:
Capsules, rarely developing.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Saxifraga cernua
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
2047 | 1360 | 2610 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
33 | 0 | 100 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
255 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 0 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
41 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BAFA | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(5), BAFA(20), cma(1), ESSF(7), IMA(4), SWB(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist streambanks, screes slopes and ledges in the alpine zone; common in BC in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, except absent in SC BC; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to Labr. and PQ and S to NH, MN, SD, NM, UT, NV and WA; Iceland; N Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Saxifraga cernua var. exilioides Polunin