Minuartia nuttallii
Minuartia muscorum
brittle sandwort, musk-flower, Nuttall sandwort, Nuttall's sandwort, Nuttall's stitchwort
Dixie stitchwort, starwort
thickened, woody;
crown, many-branched, woody;
rhizomes and trailing stems to 60 cm.
filiform.
ascending to erect, ± green, 2–20 cm, densely glandular-hairy throughout, internodes of flowering stems 0.2–2 times as long as leaves.
erect, green, 10–55 cm, glabrous or weakly stipitate-glandular distally, internodes of all stems 0.5–2.5 times as long as leaves; wintering stems absent.
tightly appressed to spreading, ± evenly spaced, connate proximally, with ± loose, scarious sheath 0.1–0.7 mm;
blade straight to recurved, ± green, flat, prominently 1-veined abaxially, broadly lanceolate to linear, 5–20 × 0.5–1.5 mm, ± rigid, margins rounded, scarious in proximal 1/3–1/4, apex green to purple, acute to acuminate or spinescent, navicular with small mucro or spinescent, dull, stipitate-glandular;
axillary leaves present proximally to throughout.
not overlapping, connate proximally, with loose, scarious sheath 0.4–0.8 mm;
blade straight to variously curved, green, flat, 1-veined, linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, (5–)10–35(–50) × (0.6–)1.5–3.2 mm, flexuous, margins not thickened, herbaceous or thinly scarious, smooth, apex green, acute, flat, dull, glabrous;
axillary leaves absent.
(3–)6–30-flowered, open cymes;
bracts lanceolate to subulate, usually scarious.
5–50+-flowered, open cymes;
bracts lanceolate to subulate, herbaceous.
0.2–2 cm, stipitate-glandular.
0.6–5.5 cm, stipitate-glandular.
hypanthium disc-shaped;
sepals 1–3-veined, narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate or ovate (herbaceous portion narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate or ovate), 3–6(–7) mm, not enlarging in fruit, apex often purple, acute to acuminate or spinescent, not hooded, stipitate-glandular;
petals obovate, 0.5–1.6 times as long as sepals, apex rounded, entire.
hypanthium shallowly disc-shaped;
sepals prominently 3-veined, lanceolate (herbaceous portion narrowly lanceolate), 3–4 mm, to 5 mm in fruit, apex green, acute, not hooded, stipitate-glandular;
petals obovate, 1.6–3 times as long as sepals, apex rounded, broadly notched.
on stipe ca. 0.1–0.2 mm, ovoid, 5 mm, usually shorter than sepals.
on stipe ca. 0.1 mm or shorter, ovoid to broadly so, 5.2–7 mm, longer than sepals.
reddish brown to dark brown, oblong-elliptic with hilar notch on 1 end, 1.5–2.7 mm, tuberculate;
tubercles low-rounded.
black, suborbiculate, radicle obscure, plump to slightly compressed, 0.6–0.8 mm, muriculate-papillate.
Minuartia nuttallii
Minuartia muscorum
Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).
Minuartia nuttallii, M. decumbens, M. rosei, and M. stolonifera form a complex that, together with the eastern species M. caroliniana and M. michauxii, comprise sect. Sclerophylla Mattfeld. The four western species all have capsules that contain one to three(?) large (1.5–2.8 mm) seeds; unfortunately, these plants appear to be collected only rarely in fruit.
Minuartia nuttallii includes four varieties, which can, for the most part, be easily recognized. There is some overlap between var. gracilis and var. fragilis in western Nevada and southeastern Oregon, where some plants exhibit prominently arcuate-spreading leaves (as in var. fragilis) and weakly veined sepals (as in var. gracilis).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Minuartia muscorum is closely related to M. patula, and is distinguished by the often longer and wider leaves, often longer distal stem internodes, consistently three-veined sepals, and shiny, black, muriculate-papillate seeds. B. Maguire (1951) treated this taxon as both a variety of Arenaria patula and a new species; see R. K. Rabeler (1992) for a review of the curious nomenclatural history.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaf blade apices spinecent; sepal apices spinescent | → 2 |
1. Leaf blade apices acute to acuminate, somewhat navicular; sepal apices acuminate | → 3 |
2. Leaves prominently arcuate-spreading, blade 10-20 mm; sepals (1-)3-veined | var. fragilis |
2. Leaves appressed to occasionally arcuate- spreading, blade 5-7 mm; sepals 1(-3)-veined | var. gracilis |
3. Sepals lanceolate to narrowly so; petals 0.5-1.2 times as long as sepals | var. nuttallii |
3. Sepals ovate to lanceolate; petals 1.1-1.6 times as long as sepals | var. gregaria |
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BC, 
CA, 
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