Chrysosplenium ALTERNIFOLIUM - Alternate-leaved golden-saxifrage, Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Alternate-leaved spleenwort, Saxifrage.
The range of the species covers the tundra and forest zones of the European part of Russia, certain regions of the Caucasus, all of Siberia, the Far East, and grows in Europe, Mongolia, China, Japan, and North America. It is found in broad-leaved forests in damp places, in waterlogged mixed forests, along the banks of forest streams, near springs, in clearings, in tundra, and on wet meadows. Sometimes it forms thickets. It is a perennial with a slender light-brown rhizome possessing numerous fibrous roots. The stems are erect, glabrous or in the lower part with sparse white or reddish hairs, 5-15 cm (2-6 in) tall, with one to three alternate cauline leaves.
The leaves are somewhat fleshy, light green, paler beneath, rounded-reniform, with a deeply cordate base, covered on both sides with sparse hairs or glabrous, shallowly incised along the margin into rounded or almost square lobes; the basal leaves 7-25 mm (0.3-1 in) long, 10-35 mm (0.4-1.4 in) wide are few in number, on long petioles; cauline leaves are smaller, short-petioled, with a flatter base or even cuneate; bracteal leaves are 4-15 mm (0.16-0.6 in) across, yellowish, with fewer lobes, sometimes entire, broadly cuneate, on broad glabrous petioles.
The inflorescence is corymbose, flat. Flowers are numerous, on pedicels 1 mm (0.04 in) long, lengthening in fruit. The calyx is 1.5-2 mm (0.06-0.08 in) long, with ovate, flat lobes that are golden-yellow inside; the disc is fleshy, with eight stamens. The ovary is nearly inferior, with a short style. The capsule equals the calyx, with a broad and small notch. It blooms early in spring, in April - May; seeds ripen in late May.
Flowers and the inflorescence of the next year are completely formed in the bud by autumn, while in spring only elongation of the stem occurs. It reproduces intensively by vegetative means via elongated subterranean stolons, owing to which it sometimes occupies large areas. It propagates by seeds that begin to germinate actively as early as 5 days after reaching the soil; light promotes their germination, and they can also germinate in the second year. Seedlings usually appear near mother plants on heavily moistened soil. They are very sensitive to a lack of moisture and perish quickly when the soil dries out. Already in their first year of life, stolons appear on them.
Alternate-leaved golden-saxifrage is a small herbaceous plant that, expanding, forms non-flowering dense thickets. It has thin, creeping, branched underground stem parts, often forming roots. The leaves are alternate or opposite, incised or serrate. Basal leaves are usually gathered in a rosette. Bracteal leaves differ from cauline and basal leaves, surrounding the corymbose inflorescence or solitary flowers. Cauline leaves are usually short-petioled, cordate in shape. Stems are ascending. The perianth is simple, consisting of large yellow leaflets. The flowers lack a corolla; the calyx is yellow. The perianth, consisting of leaflets, creates the impression that the flowers are large.