E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Cerastium beeringianum Cham. & Schltdl.
Bering chickweed (alpine chickweed)
Caryophyllaceae (Pink family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jamie Fenneman  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #7387)

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Distribution of Cerastium beeringianum
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb from a taproot and stoloniferous prostrate stems; forming mats 4-40 cm wide; stems prostrate, glandular-hairy, slender, less than 1 mm in diameter, flowering stems 3-25 cm long.
Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves opposite, narrowly oblong or oblong-lanceolate to spoon-shaped, 5-35 mm long, 3-8 mm wide, sharp-pointed to rounded, hairy; stipules lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of usually 3-6 flowers in an open cluster; petals 5, white, 6-12 mm long, deeply 2-cleft; sepals 5, elliptic, 3-7 mm long, often purplish.
Fruits:
Capsules cylindric, 8-12 mm long, 10-valved; seeds golden to reddish-brown, 0.8-1.2 mm long.
Notes:
Sometimes confused with C. fischerianum where their ranges overlap. Two subspecies occur in BC.

1. Stalks with very fine, short, glandular hairs; plants of S BC..................... ssp. earlei (Rydb.) Hult.

1. Stalks with long glandular hairs, plants of N BC..................... ssp. beeringianum

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry rocky slopes, talus slopes and cliffs in the upper subalpine and alpine zones; common E of the Coast-Cascade Ranges, rare on Vancouver Island; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to UT, CO, AZ and CA; Asia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Cerastium beeringianum

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 51 1880 2682
Slope Gradient (%) 0 23 90
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
0 198 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
0 2 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
168
Modal BEC Zone Class
BAFA
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: AT(15), BAFA(96), cma(1), ESSF(28), ICH(1), IMA(4), MS(2), SWB(9)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References