Dense basal rosettes of small leaves form mats up to 12 inches wide with 3–15 flower stems up to 8 inches tall. Note the small white petals have red and yellow dots and white stamens and anthers.

FLOWER: June–October. Rounded to flat-topped clusters of 3–15 white flowers at stem tips; 5 yellowish-white petals, oblong to oval, 1/4 inch long (7 mm), with purple to red dots near the tips and yellow dots near the base; 5 prominent white stamens and anthers.

LEAVES: Basal rosette is crowded, mat-like; a few leaves alternate on stem. Blades linear, lance-shaped or elliptic, 1/8–5/8 inch long (3–15 mm); margins lined with stiff, white ciliate hairs, tips bristly pointed.

HABITAT: Sandy, rocky soils; cliff crevices, ledges, talus and scree slopes, ridges, alpine meadows; pinyon-juniper woodlands, mixed conifer, pine-douglas fir, spruce-fir forests, alpine and subalpine meadows.

ELEVATION: 7,000–12,250 feet.

RANGE: CO, ID, MT, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Nodding Saxifrage, S. cernua, has nodding buds and red bulblets on glandular-hairy stems. Tufted Alpine Saxifrage, S. cespitosa, has basal leaves with 3 teeth or lobes. Fendler’s Sandwort, Eremogone fendleri, has solid white petals and reddish anthers.

NM COUNTIES: In NM mountains at mid- to high-elevation habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sierra, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, Torrance.