Saxifraga flagellaris Willd. ex Sternb.
Spider Saxifrage (Alaska saxifrage; Nodding Saxifrage; stoloniferous saxifrage; whiplash saxifrage)
Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Alfred Cook     (Photo ID #29270)

Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Saxifraga flagellaris
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SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC

Saxifraga flagellaris ssp. setigera

Species Information

General:
Perennial herb from dense fibrous roots; stems 3-15 cm tall, purplish-glandular-hairy; several to many threadlike, leafless stolons to 10 cm long, with small, rooting rosette at ends.
Leaves:
Basal leaves in a rosette, oblanceolate to spoon-shaped, 0.5-2 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, entire, fringed with coarse, spiny hairs and a tooth-like point at tips; stem leaves numerous, alternate, reduced upwards.
Flowers:
Inflorescence terminal, of 1 to 3 flowers; petals bright yellow, wedge-egg-shaped, 6-12 mm long, 5- to 9-veined, narrowed to a broad, claw-like base; calyces bell-shaped, 3-4.5 mm long, joined to ovary for part of length, the free hypanthium absent, the calyx lobes 5, triangular to oblong-lanceolate, 2.5-4.5 mm long, greenish, glandular-hairy, ascending; stamens 10.
Fruits:
Capsules, 4-10 mm long; seeds brownish, about 0.6 mm long, nearly smooth.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Saxifraga flagellaris

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)
 1786 604 2300
Slope Gradient (%)
 21 0 91

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

 262 0 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		2 0 5
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
 C
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
 43
Modal BEC Zone Class
 BAFA

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

 BAFA(34), ESSF(3), ICH(1), IMA(2), SWB(2)

Habitat and Range

Dry to moist meadows, fellfields and ridges in the alpine zone, predominantly on limestone; infrequent in N BC south to 55degreeN, disjunct in the Itcha Range (Chilcotin area); amphiberingian, N to AK, YT and W NT and E to AB; NE Asia.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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