General: Perennial (sometimes annual) herb from a slender taproot or short rhizome; stems spreading to erect, few to several, 5-60 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves numerous, the blades oblanceolate to egg-shaped, triangular or deltate, 1-8 cm long, tapering to a 2-22 cm stalk, some stalk bases sheathed or bulb-like; stem leaves paired, opposite, free, lanceolate to egg-shaped, unstalked, 1-8 cm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence of terminal and axillary racemes with 10-22 flowers on stalks 1-5 cm long, nodding in bud but spreading in flower, with 1 bract per 1-2 flowers; petals 5, white or pink (fading to white), 6-12 mm long; sepals 2, 3-6 mm long.
Fruits: Capsules, 2.5-3.5 mm long; seeds 1, sometimes 3, round to elliptic, black, shiny or dull, 1.5-2 mm long.
Notes: A highly variable species sometimes confused with C. cordifolia.
Moist streambanks, meadows, beaches, thickets and forests in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in and W of the Coast-Cascade Mountains S of 55degreeN, less frequent eastward; amphiberingian, S to MT, UT and CA; E Asia.
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)
A shade-tolerant, submontane to montane, Asian and Pacific North American moss; its occurrence decreases with increasing continentality. Occurs in cool temperate and cool mesothermal climates on very shallow, calcium-rich soils. Inhabits coarse fragments, cliffs, or bark of trees in shaded forest understories. Characteristic of calcium-rich substrates.
BC Ministry of Environment:BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer,
the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.
Synonyms and Alternate Names
Claytonia sibirica var. cordifolia (S. Watson) R.J. Davis Claytonia sibirica var. heterophylla Claytonia sibirica var. sibirica L. Montia cordifolia (S. Watson) Pax & K. Hoffm. Montia sibirica var. heterophylla
