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Rugel's nailwort, sand squares

clusterstem nailwort, fork-chickweed, hairy fork nailwort, hairy fork whitlow-wort

Habit Plants annual; taproot filiform to slender. Plants annual; taproot filiform to slender.
Stems

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

erect, usually much-branched, 4–30 cm, retrorsely to spreading-pubescent mostly on 1 side.

Leaves

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.

stipules subulate to lanceolate, 0.5–4.5 mm, apex acuminate, sometimes fimbriate;

blade usually dotted or blotched, oblanceolate to elliptic or obovate, 2–25 × 0.5–7(–10) mm, herbaceous to leathery, apex subobtuse to acute or cuspidate, glabrous or occasionally with very few scattered trichomes along midrib.

Flowers

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.

5-merous, short-cylindric, with enlarged hypanthium and calyx ± cylindric, 1.1–1.6 mm, glabrous or with few scattered hairs;

sepals greenish to brownish, veins absent, linear-oblong, 1–1.2 mm, leathery to rigid, margins white to translucent, 0.05–0.1 mm wide, scarious, apex terminated by mucro, hood narrowly rounded, mucro short-conic, 0.05–0.3 mm, ± minutely scabrous;

staminodes absent;

styles 2, 0.07–0.6(–0.7) mm.

Cymes

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

terminal, 25–70+-flowered, branched, loose to compact, forming clusters 3–10 mm wide.

Utricles

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

obovoid to obconic, 0.7–1 mm, minutely papillate.

2n

= 32, 36.

Paronychia rugelii

Paronychia fastigiata

Phenology Flowering late spring–fall.
Habitat Woodlands, fields, clearings, roadsides, waste places
Elevation 0-200 m (0-700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; GA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

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

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

The varieties here recognized are sympatric over at least portions of their ranges. A detailed study on infraspecific variation within Paronychia fastigiata is warranted.

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

Key
1. Styles 0.3-0.6(-0.7) mm, often bent or contorted
var. pumila
1. Styles 0.07-0.25(-0.3) mm, straight
→ 2
2. Sepal cusps 0.2-0.3 mm
var. nuttallii
2. Sepal cusps 0.05-0.15 mm
var. fastigiata
Source FNA vol. 5, p. 41. FNA vol. 5, p. 37.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Paronychioideae > Paronychia Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Paronychioideae > Paronychia
Sibling taxa
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
P. ahartii, P. americana, P. argyrocoma, P. baldwinii, P. canadensis, P. chartacea, P. congesta, P. depressa, P. drummondii, P. echinulata, P. erecta, 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
Subordinate taxa
P. fastigiata var. fastigiata, P. fastigiata var. nuttallii, P. fastigiata var. pumila
Synonyms Siphonychia rugelii, Gibbesia rugelii, Odontonychia interior, P. rugelii var. interior, Siphonychia interior Anychia fastigiata
Name authority (Chapman) Shuttleworth ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S. ed. 3, 397. (1897) (Rafinesque) Fernald: Rhodora 38: 421. (1936)
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