Saxifraga hyperborea R. Br.
pygmy saxifrage
Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
pygmy saxifrage
Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from fibrous roots; stems 2-12 cm tall, soft- to woolly-hairy.
Leaves:
Basal leaves round- to kidney-shaped, 0.3-1.2 cm long, 0.4-2.3 cm wide, 3- to 9-lobed, smooth, stalked, often with bulblets in the axils; stem leaves 1 or a few, alternate, fewer-lobed, without bulblets, short-stalked or unstalked.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of 1 to few flowers, without bulblets; petals white to pink, 3-5 mm long, 1- to 3-veined; calyces green to reddish-purple, the lobes 5, egg-shaped to lanceolate or lance-oblong, 1-4.5 mm long, sparsely glandular-hairy; stamens 10.
Fruits:
Capsules, 4-9 mm long; seeds brown, about 0.5 mm long, minutely wrinkled.
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 hyperborea
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) |
1831 | 1445 | 2368 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
26 | 2 | 50 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
347 | 60 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
10 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BAFA | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(2), BAFA(7), SWB(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to wet rock outcrops, gravelly slopes, streambanks and talus slopes in the subalpine and alpine zones; frequent throughout BC except absent from the Queen Charlotte Islands; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to NH, NM, AZ and CA; Iceland, N Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Saxifraga rivularis L.
References
BC Conservation Data Centre. 2012. Annual nomenclatural update. Victoria, BC.