(reflexed saxifrage)
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Photo of Micranthes reflexa by Jacob Frank
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Micranthes reflexa is a small alpine herb that occurs in open, dry areas on slopes, ridges and floodplains from boreal uplands into the alpine zone of Denali. This species has thick, hairy leaves and white flowers on a stout stem. Plants grow 9-30 cm tall from a thick
rhizome with fibrous roots. Plants typically have many basal leaves surrounding one fertile stem. The dentate-margined leaves are
ovate with a broad
petiole. The leaf underside is purplish, and both sides are densely hairy. Stems are leafless, relatively stout, reddish and hairy. The central
inflorescence is an open, branched
cyme, and producing many small, white, 5-petalled flowers. The
sepals are
ovate and half as long as the 2-3 mm long petals, in mature flowers they reflex backwards. Fruits are two-beaked
capsules. This species can be differentiated from other species in
Micranthes by the reflexed
sepals and the presence of hairs on both sides of the leaves.
Micranthes reflexa is
monoecious with bisexual flowers. The fruit is a dry
capsule, which splits open to release many small seeds, dispersed by gravity, wind and water.
This species is endemic to Alaska and neighboring areas. In Alaska, Micranthes reflexa occurs in the interior, Arctic and southwestern regions of the state, absent from the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutians and rare in southeastern Alaska. This species is most common in the central and eastern interior mountains and river bluffs. In Denali, Micranthes reflexa occurs in scattered locations north of the Alaska Range crest, and also occurs south of the Alaska Range crest in the drainages of the Yentna and Chulitna rivers.
Details are shown in the Plots & Charts found at right, depicting recent Denali data.
Dry to somewhat moist sites.