Storm saxifrage

Saxifraga tempestiva Elvander & Denton, Madroño 23: 346, figs. 1, 3A. 1976

Plants solitary or in groups, with bulbils on caudices. Leaves basal; petiole indistinct (leaves appearing sessile), flattened, 2-8+ mm; blade oblanceolate to obovate, 4-10(-30) mm, fleshy, base cuneate to attenuate, margins entire or minutely denticulate, eciliate, (apex acute to obtuse or rounded), surfaces ± glabrous; (venation pinnate or palmate). Inflorescences 5-15(-20)-flowered, congested thyrses, 3-10(-15) cm, glabrous or sparsely purple-tipped stipitate-glandular. Flowers: sepals spreading, ovate; petals white, not spotted, linear to obovate, clawed, to 1.5 mm, shorter than sepals; filaments linear, flattened; pistils connate to 1/2 their lengths; ovary inferior. Capsules reddish purple, valvate. 2n = 10.

Flowering summer. Rocky ledges, slopes, or snow-bed meadows; of conservation concern; 2400-3200 m; Mont.

Micranthes tempestiva is known only from the Bitterroot Mountains and Anaconda Range.