Minuartia uniflora
Minuartia rubella
one-flower stitchwort
arctic sandwort, beautiful sandwort, boreal sandplant, boreal stitchwort, minuartie rougeâtre, red seed sandwort, reddish sandwort
filiform.
filiform to somewhat thickened;
rhizomes absent.
erect to ascending, green, 7–20 cm, glabrous, internodes of stems 1–7 times as long as leaves.
ascending to erect, green, 2–8(–18) cm, moderately to densely stipitate-glandular (very rarely glabrous), internodes of stems 1–10 times as long as leaves; trailing 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.
overlapping, ± tightly, distally (cauline), concentrated proximally (cauline), connate proximally, with often loose, usually scarious sheath 0.2–0.7 mm;
blade ± straight or outwardly curved, green, flat to 3-angled, prominently 3-veined abaxially, subulate, 1.5–10 × 0.3–1.3 mm, flexuous, margins not thickened, scarious, smooth, apex green or purple, acute to apiculate, often navicular, shiny, sparsely to densely ciliate, often stipitate-glandular;
axillary leaves present among vegetative leaves.
7–25+-flowered, open cymes;
bracts subulate to ovate, herbaceous, margins scarious.
3–7+-flowered, open cymes or rarely flower solitary, terminal;
bracts broadly subulate to narrowly lanceolate, herbaceous, margins scarious.
0.5–5 cm, glabrous.
0.2–1.5 cm, densely 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 disc-shaped;
sepals prominently 3-veined, ovate to lanceolate (herbaceous portion oblong to narrowly ovate), 2.5–3.2 mm, not enlarging in fruit, apex green to purple, acute to acuminate, not hooded, stipitate-glandular;
petals elliptic, 0.8–1.3 times as long as sepals, apex rounded, entire.
on stipe shorter than 0.1 mm, pyramidal-ovoid, 3.5–4 mm, longer than sepals.
on stipe ca. 0.2 mm, ovoid, 4.5–5 mm, longer than sepals.
yellowish brown, suborbiculate with radicle obscure, slightly compressed, 0.4–0.6 mm, tuberculate;
tubercles low, rounded.
reddish brown, suborbiculate with radicle prolonged into beak, somewhat compressed, 0.4–0.5 mm, tuberculate;
tubercles low, elongate, rounded (to angled on edge) (50x).
= 14.
= 24.
Minuartia uniflora
Minuartia rubella
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.)
Distinct among the arctic/alpine Minuartia species with its stiff, three-veined leaves, M. rubella is a circumpolar calciphile. We follow Ö. Nilsson (2001) in not recognizing infraspecific taxa that have been described based at least partly on pubescence. Variety propinqua has been applied to glabrous plants, which occur infrequently and sporadically throughout the range of the species. Where they do occur they are often intermixed with sparsely stipitate-glandular plants. This glabrous variety is rarely encountered in western North America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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