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Saxifraga micranthidifolia

Common name:	Mountain Lettuce	Family:	Saxifragaceae
Author:	(Haw.)Britton.	Botanical references:	43, 235
Synonyms:	Saxifraga erosa (Pursh.), Micranthes micranthidifolia ((Haw.) Small.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Pennsylvania and W. Virginia to Georgia and Tennessee.
Habitat:	By brooks, wet rocks and wet banks in mountains[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Deertongue [H], Lettuce Saxifrage [L], Lettuce-leaf Saxifrage [B], Lettuce-saxifrage [H], Lettuceleaf Saxifrage [P], Mountain Lettuce [H],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rosales. Saxifrage family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m. . It is in flower from May to June. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Leaves - raw or cooked[46, 61, 105, 123, 257]. A highly-prized salad in the areas where it grows wild[207]. It can also be cooked as a greens, going well with Allium tricoccum[257].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

We have almost no information for this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it is likely to succeed outdoors in most parts of this country. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus.
Prefers an open soil surrounded by stones[1]. Grows well in a rock garden.

Propagation

Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed in a cold frame in the spring. Surface sow, or only just cover the seed, and make sure that the compost does not dry out. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse or cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out in late spring after the last expected frosts.
Division in spring. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found it best to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame, planting them out once they are well established in the summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Saxifragaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[123] ? Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th edition.
It contains a few things of interest to the plant project.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Saxifraga+micranthidifolia
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Saxifraga+micranthidifolia

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