Stellaria crispa |
Stellaria crassifolia |
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crisp sandwort, crisp starwort, crisped starwort, curled starwort, ruffled starwort |
fleshy starwort, thick-leaf starwort, thickleaf chickweed |
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Habit | Plants perennial, forming small to large mats, from slender rhizomes. | Plants perennial, delicate, forming small to large tangled mats or straggling through grass, from slender rhizomes. |
Stems | trailing to ascending, branched, 4-angled, 10–60 cm, glabrous. |
diffusely branched, 4-angled, 3–30 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | subsessile; blade broadly elliptic to ovate, 0.4–2.6 cm × 2–15 mm, base round to cuneate, margins entire, apex acuminate, glabrous or with a few scattered cilia. |
sessile or subsessile; blade with midrib obscure, broadly elliptic-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, widest at or above middle, 0.2–0.8(–1.5) cm × to 2 mm, ± succulent, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, glabrous; leaf blades in terminal buds sometimes become fleshy and form gemmae. |
Inflorescences | with flowers solitary in leaf axils; bracts absent. |
with flowers usually solitary, terminal and in axils of distal leaves forming open, diffuse cymes; bracts foliaceous, 1–10 mm; 1 or 2 pairs of bracteoles sometimes present, 1–3 mm, herbaceous or with narrow membranous margins. |
Pedicels | ascending, straight, mostly 5–30 mm, glabrous. |
erect or sharply angled at base, becoming sharply curved at apex, 3–40 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | 4–5 mm; sepals 5, prominently 3-veined, lanceolate, 2–4 mm, margins broadly scarious, apex acute to acuminate, glabrous; petals usually absent, rarely 1–5 and much shorter than sepals; stamens 10 or fewer; styles 3, spreading to ascending, curved but not curled, ca. 1 mm. |
5–8 mm; sepals 5, 3-veined, narrowly triangular-lanceolate, 3–3.5(–4) mm, margins straight, narrow, scarious, apex acute, glabrous or rarely margins pubescent; petals 5, 2.5–5 mm, equaling to slightly longer than sepals; stamens 5 or 10; styles 3, ascending, curved at tip, ca. 2 mm. |
Capsules | straw colored or brownish, ovoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, 3.5–6 mm, equaling or slightly exceeding sepals, apex broadly acute, opening by 6 valves; carpophore absent. |
straw colored, conic to ellipsoid, 4–5 mm, longer than sepals, apex obtuse, opening by 6 valves; carpophore absent. |
Seeds | brown, broadly elliptic, 0.7–1 mm (longest axis), distinctly rugose. |
reddish brown, reniform to round, 0.7–1 mm diam., rugose. |
2n | = 26, 52. |
= 26. |
Stellaria crispa |
Stellaria crassifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering early summer. |
Habitat | Wet soil in woods, shaded streambanks and shores | Marshes, streams, cold, wet, grassy places |
Elevation | 0-2300 m (0-7500 ft) | 0-3000 m (0-9800 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
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AK; CO; IL; MI; MN; ND; SD; UT; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Europe; Asia
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Discussion | The sterile shoots of Stellaria crassifolia (described as forma gemmificans Norman) form fleshy terminal buds under suitable conditions of temperature and day length. These propagules survive under the snow and are readily dispersed in the spring runoff. Leaf shape and size vary considerably. Leaves tend to be smaller and wider in exposed habitats, and longer and narrower in sheltered, more favorable habitats. Plants with pubescent margins to the sepals are referable to var. eriocalycina Schischk. Stellaria crassifolia is often confused with S. humifusa, but the former is a much more slender, delicate species with long pedicels that are sharply angled below the capsule. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 104. | FNA vol. 5, p. 103. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Stellaria | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Stellaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Alsine crispa, S. borealis var. crispa | S. crassifolia var. eriocalycina, S. crassifolia var. linearis, S. gracilis |
Name authority | Chamisso & Schlechtendal: Linnaea 1: 51. (1826) | Ehrhart: Hannover. Mag. 8: 116. (1784) |
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