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Baldwin's nailwort

Rugel's nailwort, sand squares

Habit Plants annual, biennial, or perennial, often matted; taproot slender. Plants annual; taproot filiform to slender.
Stems

prostrate to erect, branched, 5–70 cm, mostly retrorsely to spreading-pubescent on 1 side or throughout.

erect, dichotomously branched, 5–50 cm, retrorsely to spreading- pubescent throughout.

Leaves

stipules lanceolate, 2–6 mm, apex acuminate, entire;

blade oblong to elliptic or oblanceolate, 3–25 × 1–6 mm, herbaceous, apex acute and briefly cuspidate, glabrous.

stipules ovate-lanceolate, 2–6 mm, apex acuminate, entire;

blade linear to linear-oblanceolate or linear-oblong, 3–25 × 1–2.3 mm, herbaceous, apex ± acute, moderately antrorsely puberulent.

Flowers

5-merous, ± short-cylindric, with enlarged hypanthium and calyx cylindric, 1–1.7 mm, glabrous to pubescent with short hairs, often minutely ciliate, sometimes glaucous;

sepals greenish or greenish white to brownish, veins absent, ovate to oblong, 0.8–1.3 mm, herbaceous, margins white, 0.05–0.1 mm wide, scarious to papery, apex terminated by minute cusp, hood narrowly rounded, cusp light green to whitish, straight, short-conic, 0.1–0.15 mm, minutely scabrous;

staminodes subulate, 0.2–0.3 mm;

style 1, cleft in distal 4/5+, 0.2–0.4 mm.

5-merous, cylindric to narrowly lanceolate, with enlarged hypanthium and calyx cylindric to tapering distally, 2.3–3.5 mm, pubescent mostly proximal with hooked or usually straight hairs, sometimes with scattered straight hairs distally;

sepals flecked or solid red-brown, white distally, midrib obscure, linear-lanceolate, 1.5–2 mm, papery, margins white, 0.1–0.2 mm wide, papery, apex terminated by mucro, hood obscure, narrowly rounded, mucro short-conic, ca. 0.1 mm, glabrous;

staminodes filiform, widening proximally, 0.5–0.6 mm;

style 1, cleft in distal 1/10.

Cymes

terminal, 20–40+-flowered, diffuse, lax, repeatedly forked or dichotomous.

terminal and lateral, 15–50+-flowered, often forming large, congested clusters 5–30 mm wide.

Utricles

ellipsoid, 1–1.3 mm, papillate distally.

broadly ellipsoid to ± globose, 0.5–0.7 mm, smooth, glabrous.

Paronychia baldwinii

Paronychia rugelii

Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering late spring–fall.
Habitat Dunes, woodlands, fields, clearings, roadsides, riverbanks, hummocks, waste places Woodlands, fields, clearings, roadsides, waste places
Elevation 0-200 m (0-700 ft) 0-200 m (0-700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; NC; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; GA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Chaudhri used duration and pubescence to recognize two subspecies of Paronychia baldwinii, characters that L. H. Shinners (1962c) found to vary independently in this species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Of conservation concern.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 34. FNA vol. 5, p. 41.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Paronychioideae > Paronychia Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Paronychioideae > Paronychia
Sibling taxa
P. ahartii, P. americana, P. argyrocoma, P. canadensis, P. chartacea, P. congesta, P. depressa, P. drummondii, P. echinulata, P. erecta, P. fastigiata, P. franciscana, P. herniarioides, P. jamesii, P. jonesii, P. lindheimeri, P. maccartii, P. monticola, P. patula, P. pulvinata, P. rugelii, P. sessiliflora, P. setacea, P. virginica, P. wilkinsonii
P. ahartii, P. americana, P. argyrocoma, P. baldwinii, P. canadensis, P. chartacea, P. congesta, P. depressa, P. drummondii, P. echinulata, P. erecta, P. fastigiata, P. franciscana, P. herniarioides, P. jamesii, P. jonesii, P. lindheimeri, P. maccartii, P. monticola, P. patula, P. pulvinata, P. sessiliflora, P. setacea, P. virginica, P. wilkinsonii
Synonyms Anychia baldwinii, Anychiasatrum baldwinii, Anychiasatrum riparium, P. baldwinii var. ciliata, P. baldwinii subsp. riparia, P. riparia Siphonychia rugelii, Gibbesia rugelii, Odontonychia interior, P. rugelii var. interior, Siphonychia interior
Name authority (Torrey & A. Gray) Fenzl ex Walpers: Repert. Bot. Syst. 1: 262. (1842) (Chapman) Shuttleworth ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S. ed. 3, 397. (1897)
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