Minuartia uniflora
Minuartia muscorum
one-flower stitchwort
Dixie stitchwort, starwort
filiform.
filiform.
erect to ascending, green, 7–20 cm, glabrous, internodes of stems 1–7 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.
not overlapping, connate proximally, with tight, herbaceous or scarious sheath 0.1–0.3 mm;
blade straight to outwardly curved, widely spreading, green, flat, 1-veined abaxially, especially proximal, narrowly lanceolate to oblong, commonly linear, 2–20 × 0.3–1.5 mm, flexuous, margins not thickened, scarious, smooth, apex green to purple, rounded to acute, dull, glabrous;
axillary leaves poorly developed.
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.
7–25+-flowered, open cymes;
bracts subulate to ovate, herbaceous, margins scarious.
5–50+-flowered, open cymes;
bracts lanceolate to subulate, herbaceous.
0.5–5 cm, glabrous.
0.6–5.5 cm, stipitate-glandular.
hypanthium disc-shaped;
sepals obscurely veined, ovate to elliptic or lanceolate (herbaceous portion elliptic to lanceolate), 2–3.5 mm, not enlarging in fruit, apex green, obtuse to rounded, not hooded, glabrous;
petals oblanceolate to spatulate, 1.5–2.5 times as long as sepals, apex rounded, entire to shallowly notched.
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 shorter than 0.1 mm, pyramidal-ovoid, 3.5–4 mm, longer than sepals.
on stipe ca. 0.1 mm or shorter, ovoid to broadly so, 5.2–7 mm, longer than sepals.
yellowish brown, suborbiculate with radicle obscure, slightly compressed, 0.4–0.6 mm, tuberculate;
tubercles low, rounded.
black, suborbiculate, radicle obscure, plump to slightly compressed, 0.6–0.8 mm, muriculate-papillate.
= 14.
Minuartia uniflora
Minuartia muscorum
Minuartia alabamensis was originally described to accommodate much-reduced plants from Alabama (J. F. McCormick et al. 1971). Subsequent studies have shown them to be conspecific with M. uniflora (R. Wyatt 1984).
(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.)
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