Stellaria humifusa |
Stellaria obtusa |
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salt-marsh starwort, saltmarsh stitchwort |
blunt-sepal starwort, obtuse starwort, Rocky Mountain chickweed, Rocky Mountain starwort |
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Habit | Plants perennial, forming small to large mats or clumps, from slender rhizomes. | Plants perennial, creeping, often matted but not forming cushions, rhizomatous. |
Stems | decumbent, freely branched, square, 2–20 cm, glabrous, rooting at proximal nodes. |
prostrate, branched, 4-sided, 3–23 cm, internodes equaling or longer than leaves, glabrous, rarely pilose. |
Leaves | sessile; blade elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, 0.4–1.5 cm × 1–5 mm, succulent, base cuneate to rounded, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, glabrous or with few cilia along margins. |
sessile or short-petiolate; blade broadly ovate to elliptic, 0.2–1.2 cm × 0.9–7 mm, base round or cuneate, margins entire, apex acute, shiny, glabrous or ciliate near base. |
Inflorescences | with flowers solitary in axils of foliage leaves; bracts absent. |
with flowers solitary, axillary; bracts absent. |
Pedicels | ascending, straight or nearly so, usually 5–10(–30) mm, glabrous. |
spreading, 3–12 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | ca. 10 mm diam.; sepals 5, prominently 1–3-veined, lanceolate, 4–5 mm, margins convex, narrow, scarious, apex acute, glabrous; petals 5, 4–6 mm, equaling sepals; stamens 10; styles 3, ascending and outwardly curved, 1–1.5 mm. |
1.5–2 mm diam.; sepals 4–5, veins obscure, midrib sometimes apparent, ± ovate, 1.5–3.5 mm, margins narrow, scarious, apex ± obtuse, glabrous; petals absent; stamens 10 or fewer; styles 3(–4), curled, shorter than 0.5 mm. |
Capsules | straw colored, ovoid, 4–5 mm, equaling sepals, apex obtuse, opening by 6 valves; carpophore absent. |
green to pale straw colored, translucent, globose to broadly ovoid, 2.3–3.5 mm, 1.9–2 times as long as sepals, apex obtuse, opening by 6 valves; carpophore absent. |
Seeds | pale brown, broadly and obliquely reniform, 0.8–1 mm diam., smooth to slightly rugose. |
grayish black, broadly elliptic, 0.5–0.7 mm diam., finely reticulate. |
2n | = 26. |
= 26, 52, ca. 65, ca. 78. |
Stellaria humifusa |
Stellaria obtusa |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering late spring–summer. |
Habitat | Lake shores, beaches, marshes, salt marshes, mainly northern coastal | Moist areas in woods, shaded edges of creeks, talus slopes |
Elevation | 0-100 m (0-300 ft) | 300-3400 m (1000-11200 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; ME; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; YT; SPM; Greenland; arctic Europe; Asia (Russian Far East, Siberia)
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CA; CO; ID; MT; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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Discussion | Stellaria humifusa is often confused with S. crassifolia, but has thicker stems and fleshy leaves that wrinkle and tend to turn brownish when dried. Also, in S. crassifolia the long pedicels are very slender and sharply angled below the capsule. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 106. | FNA vol. 5, p. 110. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Stellaria | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Stellaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Alsine humifusa, S. humifusa var. marginata, S. humifusa var. oblongifolia, S. humifusa var. suberecta | Alsine obtusa, Alsine viridula, Alsine washingtoniana, S. viridula, S. washingtoniana |
Name authority | Rottbøll: Skr. Kiøbenhavnske Selsk. Laerd. Elsk. 10: 447, plate 4, fig. 14. (1770) | Engelmann: Bot. Gaz. 7: 5. (1882) |
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