Saxifrage Family – Saxifragaceae

Grassland Saxifrage is also called Northwestern Saxifrage, Whole-leaf Saxifrage, or Early Saxifrage.  The older Latin name for this flower was Saxifrage integrifolia.

Plant Description: Grassland Saxifrage has a flowering stem that is up to 24 inch tall, reddish, covered with glandular hairs, and has a ball-shaped cluster of flowers at  the top and a rosette of leaves at the base.  The leaves are highly variable in size and shape. They are often oval, hairy, smooth or wavy-edged, rusty-haired below and on short petioles.

Flower Description: The flowers are 1/2 inch across. The sepals form a shallow cup with 5 petal-like lobes which alternate with 5 widely oval, white petals. The 10 short stamens with yellow, orange or red anthers emerge from the edge of a flattened, lobed disk.  Only the tips of the stigmas are visible.

Ecology: Grassland Saxifrage  grows in mossy exposed places and grassy meadows that are wet in the spring. It grows at low to high elevations, including coastal bluffs.

Notes:

• Grassland Saxifrage is a highly variable species with several named varieties that often intergrade.
• The genus of Grassland Saxifrage has recently been changed from Saxifrage to Micranthes. See the note below the gallery on the Saxifrage Family page and the “APG Changes” page for more information.