Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Saxifragales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (10/20/20):
Micranthes petiolaris var. petiolaris
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read about the break-up of Saxifraga and the Saxifragaceae from Alan Weakley and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Learn more about Michaux's Saxifrage from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Check out Jim Fowler's blog describing his encounter with a recently described, narrowly endemic, variety of M. petiolaris.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Saxifraga michauxii
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Micranthes petiolaris
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 094-14-001:
Saxifraga michauxii
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hydatica petiolaris
COMMON NAME:
Michaux's Saxifrage, Cliff Saxifrage
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_hype7_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm200522_5148
May Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm100626_032
June Avery County NC
The Roan Highlands
The upper three petals each have two yellow spots, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
)
JK Marlow jkm100626_035
June Avery County NC
The Roan Highlands
Leaves are coarsely serrate, obovate to oblanceolate, from 2-6" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
)
Keith Bradley kab_h_petiolaris_0754
June Haywood County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm0307g_17
July Greenville County SC
Jones Gap State Park
Our only Saxifrage with bilaterally symmetric flowers, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
)
JK Marlow jkm060723_104
July Transylvania County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm060723_106
July Transylvania County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Hairy perennial with most leaves in a basal rosette, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
)
JK Marlow jkm060723_343
July Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm0308w_04
August Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Plant from 4-20" tall with a large open inflorescence, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
)
JK Marlow jkm0311d_37
November Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Reddish-green leaves & stem and deeply toothed spatulate leaves, per Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers.
)
JK Marlow jkm0311e_01
November Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm0311e_08
November Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (10/20/20):
Micranthes petiolaris var. petiolaris
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Saxifraga michauxii
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Micranthes petiolaris
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 094-14-001:
Saxifraga michauxii
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hydatica petiolaris
1334
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common, endemic to the Southern Appalachians
Look for it in crevices in exposed rock outcrops at high elevations, other rock outcrops (moist to rather dry), periglacial boulderfields, rocky seeps, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Wet
...Moist
...Variable
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal (rarely any stem leaves)
FLOWER:
Summer
Whitish
Bisexual
Bilaterally symmetrical
5 sepals
5 petals
10 stamens, barely exserted
FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers p110
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p109
- Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops p14
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p085
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p023
- Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition p086
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p106
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p113
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p143
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p403
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p064