California saxifrage

Saxifraga californica Greene, Pittonia 1: 286. 1889; Micranthes parvifolia (Greene) Small; S. fallax Greene; S. hallii A. M. Johnson; S. parvifolia Greene; S. virginiensis Michaux var. californica (Greene) Jepson

Plants solitary or in clumps, with bulbils on caudices, or rhizomatous. Leaves basal; petiole flattened, 2-5 cm; blade ovate, 2-7 cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margins serrate, rarely subentire, ciliate, surfaces hairy. Inflorescences 20+-flowered, (flowers often secund), open, lax thyrses with distant lateral branches, 15-30(-40) cm, purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. Flowers: sepals reflexed, sometimes spreading, triangular to ovate; petals white, not spotted, elliptic to oblong, clawed, 2.5-4.5 mm, longer than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary 1/2+ inferior, appearing superior in fruit. Capsules purplish, folliclelike.

Flowering winter-early spring. Shaded fields, rocky or unstable slopes, stream banks; 0-1500 m; Calif., Oreg.; Mexico (Baja California).