Micranthes lyallii (Engl.) Small
red-stemmed saxifrage (Lyall's saxifrage; redstem saxifrage)
Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
red-stemmed saxifrage (Lyall's saxifrage; redstem saxifrage)
Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from well-developed rhizomes, often matted; flowering stems 4-30 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves spoon-shaped or fan- to egg-shaped, 1-8 cm long, 0.3-5 cm wide, 7- to 17-toothed, the teeth 2-4 mm long, gradually tapered at base to slender stalks about length of blades, smooth, or sparsely brown soft-hairy above; stem leaves lacking or single, small and bract-like.
Flowers:
Inflorescence open, of up to 15 flowers, the flower stalks slender and usually bracted, the bracts linear, entire, the inflorescence, calyces and fruits often bright red; petals white, often aging pinkish, egg-shaped, 2.5-5 mm long, claw less than 0.5 mm long, deciduous; calyces lobed almost to base, free hypanthium absent, the lobes oblong-lanceolate, 2-4 mm long, sharply bent back; stamens 10.
Fruits:
Follicles, body 6-12 mm long, beaks slender, curved outward; seeds brownish, about 0.7 mm long, with several lengthwise rows of thick, scale-like pimples.
Notes:
Hybridizes extensively with S. odontoloma in S BC.
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Micranthes lyallii
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) |
1765 | 760 | 2675 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
22 | 0 | 140 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
332 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
297 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(18), BAFA(50), BWBS(1), CMA(3), ESSF(157), ICH(4), IDF(1), IMA(10), MH(9), MS(13), SBS(4), SWB(14) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to wet streambanks, seepage sites, meadows and gravelly slopes in the montane to alpine zones; frequent throughout all but extreme NE BC; var. hulteni - amphiberingian, N to AK, YT and SW NT, E Asia, var. lyallii - E to AB and S to MT, ID and WA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Saxifraga lyallii Engl.