Saxifraga howellii Greene, Pittonia 2: 163. 1891

Plants solitary or in groups, with bulbils on caudices. Leaves basal; petiole flattened, 1-4 cm; blade oblong to narrowly ovate, 1-2(-3) cm, ± fleshy, base attenuate, margins sharply serrate, eciliate, surfaces sparsely tangled, reddish brown-hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially. Inflorescences 5-10(-20)-flowered, very open, lax, ± flat-topped cymes or thyrses, 5-10(-20) cm, glabrate to sparsely purple-tipped stipitate-glandular; (bracts glabrous). Flowers: sepals strongly reflexed, elliptic, (surfaces glabrous); petals white, not spotted, obovate to elliptic, clawed, 2.5-4.5 mm, longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils distinct almost to base; ovary ± superior. Capsules purple, valvate.

Flowering early spring-early summer. Wet, rocky ledges and crevices; 0-900 m; Calif., Oreg.