Golden Saxifrage - Saxifraga chrysantha
Other Names:
Saxifraga serpyllifolia var. chrysantha
Forming small, loose mats from a branched caudex. Stems prostrate to ascending, densely leafy at the base; fertile stems 1–4 cm, sparsely glandular. Leaves basal and cauline, glabrous, succulent, oblanceolate, entire, 2–7 mm long. Inflorescence a solitary flower. Flowers: calyx saucer-shaped, the lobes reflexed, 2–4 mm long; hypanthium <1 mm long; petals elliptic, 4–7 mm long, yellow; ovary mostly superior. Capsule 5–8 mm long.
Lesica (2012) treats this taxon as
Saxifraga serpyllifolia Pursh var.
chrysantha (A. Gray) Dorn (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Open, moist, gravelly soil on gentle slopes in the alpine zone.