Sagina procumbens |
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arctic pearlwort, bird's-eye pearlwort, bird-eye pearlwort, Matted pearlwort, procumbent pearlwort, sagine couchée |
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Habit | Plants perennial, often mat-forming, glabrous. |
Stems | ascending or, more frequently, procumbent, rooting at nodes, giving rise to secondary tufts or rosettes, few- to many-branched, slender. |
Leaves | axillary fascicles often present on procumbent stems; basal frequently in primary rosettes in younger plants; blade linear, 8–17 mm, herbaceous, apex apiculate to somewhat aristate, glabrous; cauline not conspicuously connate basally, never forming an inflated cup, blade linear, 4–15 mm proximally, becoming shorter toward apex, 2.5–6 mm distally, sometimes slightly fleshy, apex apiculate to aristate, rarely with minute glandular cilia. |
Pedicels | frequently recurved during capsule development, filiform, glabrous. |
Flowers | axillary or terminal, 4-merous, occasionally 4- and 5-merous; calyx base glabrous; sepals elliptic to orbiculate, 1.5–(–2.5) mm, hyaline margins white, never purple tinged, apex obtuse to rounded, appressed during capsular development, divergent following dehiscence; petals (1–)4(–5), orbiculate to elliptic, 0.8–1(–1.5) mm, shorter than or equaling sepals, or sometimes absent; stamens 4 (8). |
Capsules | (1.5–)2–2.5(–3) mm, slightly exceeding sepals, dehiscing to base. |
Seeds | brown, obliquely triangular with distinct abaxial groove, (0.3–)0.4(–0.5) mm, smooth to pebbled. |
2n | = 22. |
Sagina procumbens |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–early fall. |
Habitat | Weedy, wet or damp, gravelly or sandy soils along roadsides, sidewalk cracks, margins of paths or lawns, pond and lake margins, coastal rocks and sands, sea cliffs |
Elevation | 0-3500 m (0-11500 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AR; CA; CO; CT; DE; IA; ID; IL; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; UT; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SPM; Greenland; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced in Mexico (Chiapas, México), Central America (Costa Rica, Guatemala), s South America (Bolivia, s Argentina), Asia (w Siberia), Antarctica (sub-Antarctic Islands)]
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 143. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Sagina |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | S. procumbens var. compacta |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 128. (1753) |
Web links |
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