English: Yellow mountain saxifrage; Yellow saxifrage; Evergreen Saxifrage
Region: north America, Alaska, Canada, Great Lakes region, Greenland; Europe, Tatra Mountains, Alps, Svalbard.
Habitat: cold and moist well draining neutral to basic bedrock, gravel, sand, or shale cliff environments; fell springs, river banks, stream banks, damp rocks, rich swamps in the coniferous forest zone; prefers calcium rich soil; maritime climate and damp, calciferous soil; lower tundra zone, mountain birch woodland, coniferous forest belt.
BotanyHerb; perennial; alpine plant; 2 to 15 cm tall; spreads by short rhizomes, forming mats of small colonies; loosely tufted.
Stem: ascending; abundantly leaved; branches at or below ground level.
Leaves: alternate; stalkless; narrowly lanceolate–linear, bristle-tipped, with entire margins or sometimes with sparse, small teeth, sparsely ciliate, fleshy, light green–reddish.
Inflorescence: 1 to 2-flowered corymb.
Flowers: five sepals and petals; yellow to green; flowering June to August.
Corolla: regular, actinomorphic; yellow and often red-spotted, sometimes reddish yellow or purplish red; 8 to 15 mm wide; petals 5, 3 to 6 mm long, same length as calyx.
Calyx: sepals 5, narrow, glabrous, with membranous margin.
Stamens: 10, yellow.
Gynoecium: styles 2, fused at base.
Fruit: capsule; 2-parted; ± 7 mm long.