Botany Blog Plants of the Northeastern U.S.

May 5, 2011

American Golden Saxifrage

Filed under: North American Native Plants — admin @ 22:49

American Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium americanum) is a small member of the Saxifrage family with creeping stems that root at the nodes. It grows in muddy or springy soil in shaded areas. The leaves are rounded and entire or obscurely toothed, typically opposite lower on the stem and becoming alternate higher up.

chrysosplenium_americanum3.jpg

The flowers lack petals and have four ovate sepals that range from greenish-yellow to greenish brown-purple. The disk of the flower can be green, reddish, or brown-purple. The most colorful aspect of the flowers are the 8 red stamens.

chrysosplenium_americanum1.jpg

Branching stems each ending in a single flower

chrysosplenium_americanum2.jpg

Closeup of flower

1 Comment »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Powered by WordPress