Leaf of Merten's saxifrage on moist
slopes east of Rowena Overlook, between Mosier and The Dalles, OR....April 5,
1997.
Merten's saxifrage is a perennial with flowering stems arising 15-40 cm high above 1-3 basal leaves which sit atop short thick rhizomes. The herbage is smooth to having long, soft, spreading hairs or glands on the stem. The succulent leaves are large and round with large teeth on the margins (See photo at right.) The hairy leaf stems are 1-4 times longer than the blades which are 3-10 cm wide and nearly as long.
The inflorescence is an open cyme or panicle, with many flowers. Some of the flowers may be replaced by pink bulblets. The 5 petals are white, oblong-elliptic to obovate in shape, narrowing quickly to a clawless or short-clawed base. The petals are each about 3-5 mm long. The calyx is cleft nearly to the base, with each of the 5 lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong lobes reflexed outwards. The stamens are roughly equal in length to the petals with pink anthers.
Merten's saxifrage may be found on wet shady cliffs or along streams.
Merten's saxifrage may be found from southern Alaska south between the coast and the Cascade crest to the central Sierra Nevada of California. In British Columbia, it extends eastward to northwest Montana and south through central Idaho to northeastern Oregon.