Micranthes nidifica

Peak saxifrage

Family: Saxifragaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Peak saxifrage is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, and North Coast Mountains in open wet meadows and mountain slopes at elevations of 1,800 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces white flowers with triangular sepals and tiny narrowly elliptic petals one to two millimeters long. Growing 10 to 50 centimeters tall with a distinctive caudex bearing rhizomes and small bulblets, it develops an open, somewhat clustered inflorescence. Its leaves are ovate, 3 to 10 centimeters long with petioles one and a half to five centimeters, having bases that taper and edges that are entire or minutely toothed. The plant produces two follicles with ovaries that are more than half-inferior in the flower.

Habitat: Open wet meadows, slopes

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: (1000)1800-3500 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO (Buck Mtn, Humboldt Co.), SNH, MP

California counties: Modoc, Alpine, El Dorado, Inyo, Madera, Mono, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Sierra, Siskiyou, Butte, Fresno, Mariposa, Tulare, Tuolumne, Lassen, Tehama, Humboldt, Shasta, Trinity

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.