General: Loosely tufted perennial herb from a taproot and a simple or branched stem-base; stems branched, erect or decumbent at base, 5-25 cm tall, densely hairy with simple and starlike hairs.
Leaves: Basal leaves oblanceolate, 1-4 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, usually toothed; stem leaves (3) 5-8 (12), lanceolate, commonly toothed; densely hairy with simple or branched hairs, generally starlike with branches again branched.
Flowers: Racemes several- to many-flowered, less than 60, usually some in leaf axils; flower stalks 2-9 mm long, appressed, erect, hairy, lower ones often bracted and less than 3 mm; petals white, 3-5 mm long; sepals 1.5-2 mm long, sparsely soft-hairy.
Fruits: Silicles, 4-12 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, lanceolate to oblong, commonly twisted; usually densely soft-hairy, the hairs less than 3-branched and also starlike; styles 0.2-0.8 mm long; fruiting racemes usually occupying the top half of the stems.
Mesic to dry meadows, cliffs, rocky slopes and river terraces in the subalpine and alpine zones; frequent in N BC, less frequent southward E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to PQ and S to CO, VT and NV; Eurasia, Greenland.
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)
