[Wildflowers with Five Petals in the Columbia River Gorge Wildflowers of Oregon and Washington]

The Saxifrage Family in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington

Saxifragaceae

Rusty Saxifrage: Saxifraga ferruginea var. macounii

Rusty Saxifrage: Saxifraga ferruginea var. macounii

Members of the Saxifrage Family Found in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington:

Bolandra, Northern False Coolwort, Oregon Bolandra: Bolandra oregana (Synonyms: Bolandra oregana var. imnahaensis, Bolandra oregana var. oregana) - Basal leaves orbicular, incised, the divisions with several acute teeth. 2-4 similar stem leaves present. Inflorescence a loose panicle. Calyx tube yellow green, wide at the base but contracted towards the mouth. Petals dark purple, lanceolate with sharp points.

Coast Boykinia, Coastal Brookfoam, Slender Boykinia: Boykinia occidentalis (Synonyms: Boykinia cincinnata, Boykinia elata, Boykinia vancouverensis, Therofon cincinnatum) - Leaves maple-like with 5-7 shallow, acute lobes. Several leaves found on the stems. Flowers white with 5 lancelike petals. Stems glandular-hairy.

Buttercup Suksdorfia, Buttercup-leaf Mock Brookfoam, Buttercup-leaved Suksdorfia: Hemieva ranunculifolia(Synonyms: Boykinia ranunculifolia, Saxifraga ranunculifolia, Suksdorfia ranunculifolia) - Specimen collected near Viento State Park in the 1920s and in the lower Klickitat River canyon circa 1899.

Alumroots: The Genus Heuchera -

Prairie Stars: The Genus Lithophragma -

Bishops Caps and Mitreworts: The Genus Mitella -

Grass-of-Parnassus: The Genus Parnassia (now in its own family) -

Saxifrages: The Genera Cascadia, Micranthes and Saxifraga -

Violet Suksdorfia: Suksdorfia violacea - 1-3 basal leaves usually wither by flowering. Blade 1.5-2.5 cm wide with several lobes cleft up to 1/2 the length of the blade. 2-10 flowers in an open, loose raceme or 2-3 branched panicle. Petals violet to occasionally almost white.

Oregon Coolwort, Oregon Sullivantia, Sullivantia: Sullivantia oregana - Basal leaves long petiolate with wide, kidney-shaped blades, cleft up to 1/2 their length into 7-9 acute lobes. Flowering stems 5-20 cm high with 1-3 stem leaves. Inflorescence a panicle.

Bigflower Tellima, Fragrant Fringecup, Fringe Cup, Large Fringecup: Tellima grandiflora (Synonyms: Mitella grandiflora, Tellima odorata) - Wildflower to two feet tall. Hairy, simple, palmate leaves with toothed edges are largely all at the base of the plant. Flowers are greenish and cup-shaped in appearance, with tattered white, pink or pastel blue petals at the tips.

Foam Flowers: The Genus Tiarella -

Youth-on-age, Piggyback Plant, Piggy-back Plant: Tolmiea menziesii (Synonym: Tiarella menziesii) - Wildflower to 16 inches high. Hairy, simple, palmate leaves with toothed edges are largely all at the base of the plant. Flowers are a greenish and brown striped color, the fused petals being thinner than those of the Fringe Cup, and thin snakey or curved brown petals arise from the tips of the flower.


Paul Slichter E-mail