Micranthes nivalis

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Micranthes nivalis.jpg

| genus = Micranthes

| species = nivalis

| authority = (L.) Small

| synonyms = *Dermasea nivalis (L.) Haw.

• Micranthes kumlienii Small
• Micranthes nivalis (L.) Small
• Robertsonia nivalis (L.) Link
• Saxifraga kumlienii (Small) Fedde
• Saxifraga nivalis f. longipetiolata Engl. & Irmsch.
• Saxifraga obtusa Nasarow

| synonyms_ref = {{cite web | url = http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:160055-2#synonyms | title = Synonyms of Micranthes nivalis | accessdate = 26 March 2020 | publisher = Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew}}

}}

Micranthes nivalis is a plant species in the saxifrage family. It is commonly called snow saxifrage or (ambiguously) alpine saxifrage.

Micranthes nivalis is a perennial plant which grows on damp, shady, base-rich rocks and cliffs, usually in crevices and on ledges in locations where it cannot be crowded out by competing plants. In Britain the highest altitudes are recorded in Scotland, from {{convert|365|m|ft}} at the Quiraing, Isle of Skye, to {{convert|1210|m|ft}} on Ben Lawers in Perth & Kinross. However it has been claimed as high as {{convert|1300|m|ft}} in the Cairngorms.{{cite web | url = https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/saxifraga-nivalis | title = Saxifraga nivalis | accessdate = 26 March 2020 | publisher = Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland | work = Online Atlas of British and Irish Flora}} It grows to a height of {{convert|5–20|cm|in|0}} with a leafless, hairy stalk. The flower is greenish white, turning reddish as it ages with five petals and five sepals. The leathery, greyish green, rhomboidal leaves make up a rosette at the base of the stem and lie close to the soil surface, and are only sparsely haired.{{cite web | url = http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/snow-saxifrage | title = Snow Saxifrage Micranthes nivalis | accessdate = 26 March 2020 | publisher = LuontoPortti / NatureGate}}

The Latin specific epithet nivalis means "as white as snow', or "growing near snow".{{cite book | last=Harrison |first=Lorraine | title=RHS Latin for Gardeners | year=2012 |publisher=Mitchell Beazley | location=United Kingdom | isbn=184533731X }}

This species is also found in Norway, Ireland, Svalbard, northern Germany, Poland, Russia, Canada, Alaska and Greenland.{{cite web |url = http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065904 | title = Micranthes nivalis | work = Flora of North America | accessdate = 26 March 2020 | publisher = efloras .org}}

The plant was first described by Carl Linnaeus in Flora Lapponica (1737), as a result of his expedition to Lapland.{{cite book | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358420#page/413/mode/1up | author = Linnaeus, Carl von | year = 1753 | title = Caroli Linnaei ... Species plantarum :exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas... | volume = 1 | publisher = Biodiversity History Library}}

Some populations from the Canadian Province of Quebec have been recognized as a distinct species by some authors,[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065905 Flora of North America v 8 p 65.]{{cite journal | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/569404#page/144/mode/1up| author = Fernald, Merritt Lyndon | year = 191 |title = CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE GRAY HERBARIUM OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.— NEW SERIES, NO. L |journal = Rhodora | volume =19 | issue =224 | pages = 141–142}} but as a variety of M. nivalis by others:{{cite web | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/openurlmultiple.aspx?id=i15434 | author = Small, John Kunkel | year = 1918 | title = North American Flora | volume = 22 | issue = 6 | page = 552}}{{cite journal | author = Boivin, Joseph Robert Bernard | year = 1966 | title = Enumération des plantes du Canada | journal = Le Naturaliste Canadien | volume = 93 | issue =5 | pages = 583–646}}

• Saxifraga gaspensis Fernald
• Saxifraga nivalis var. gaspensis (Fernald) B. Boivin
• Micranthes gaspensis (Fernald) Small

is distinguished from var. nivalis by smaller inflorescences and narrower leaves. It is known only from the Shickshock Mountains of the Gaspé Peninsula of southeastern Quebec. It has been suggested that this may be a hybrid of M. nivalis and M. tenuis; further study is warranted.