Burke: Montia dichotoma vs. Montia howellii

	Montia dichotoma	Montia howellii
	dwarf montia	Howell's montia
Habit	Capsule obovoid, about equal to the sepals.	Low annual with freely-branched, spreading stems 2-6 cm. long, often rooting at the nodes.
Leaves	Leaves alternate, linear, 6-15 mm. long and 0.5 mm. wide.	Leaves alternate, linear-spatulate to linear-oblanceolate, 5-20 mm. long and 0.5-1.5 mm. wide.
Flowers	Flowers 4-12 in small axillary racemes, the racemes exceeding the leaves; pedicels recurved, 2-4 mm. long; sepals 2, 2 mm. long; petals usually 5, white, about equal to the sepals; stamens usually 3; style 1, stigmas 3, linear.	Flowers in clusters of 3-5 along the stem in the axils of scarious bracts opposite the leaves, the bracts often attached to the leaves and resembling sheathing stipules; pedicels 1-5 mm. long, recurved; sepals 2, 1 mm. long; petals white, 2-5 or wanting, about equal to the sepals; stamens 2 or 3; style 1, short, the stigmas 3, sessile.
Fruits	Flowers 4-12 in small axillary racemes, the racemes exceeding the leaves; pedicels recurved, 2-4 mm. long; sepals 2, 2 mm. long; petals usually 5, white, about equal to the sepals; stamens usually 3; style 1, stigmas 3, linear.	Flowers in clusters of 3-5 along the stem in the axils of scarious bracts opposite the leaves, the bracts often attached to the leaves and resembling sheathing stipules; pedicels 1-5 mm. long, recurved; sepals 2, 1 mm. long; petals white, 2-5 or wanting, about equal to the sepals; stamens 2 or 3; style 1, short, the stigmas 3, sessile.

	Montia dichotoma	Montia howellii
Flowering time	April-June	April - May
Habitat	Moist areas in the lowlands.	Moist lowland areas.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho and western Montana. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	M. chamissoi, M. diffusa, M. fontana, M. howellii, M. linearis, M. parvifolia	M. chamissoi, M. dichotoma, M. diffusa, M. fontana, M. linearis, M. parvifolia
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Montia dichotoma

Montia howellii

dwarf montia

Howell's montia

Habit

Capsule obovoid, about equal to the sepals.

Low annual with freely-branched, spreading stems 2-6 cm. long, often rooting at the nodes.

Leaves

Leaves alternate, linear, 6-15 mm. long and 0.5 mm. wide.

Leaves alternate, linear-spatulate to linear-oblanceolate, 5-20 mm. long and 0.5-1.5 mm. wide.

Flowers

Flowers 4-12 in small axillary racemes, the racemes exceeding the leaves;

pedicels recurved, 2-4 mm. long;

sepals 2, 2 mm. long;

petals usually 5, white, about equal to the sepals;

stamens usually 3;

style 1, stigmas 3, linear.

Flowers in clusters of 3-5 along the stem in the axils of scarious bracts opposite the leaves, the bracts often attached to the leaves and resembling sheathing stipules;

pedicels 1-5 mm. long, recurved;

sepals 2, 1 mm. long;

petals white, 2-5 or wanting, about equal to the sepals;

stamens 2 or 3;

style 1, short, the stigmas 3, sessile.

Fruits