General: Perennial herb from a taproot and slender, branched stem-base; stems numerous, erect to ascending, tufted, usually glaucous, glabrous below and glandular-hairy on the upper stems and in the inflorescence, 5-20 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves many, grasslike, erect or ascending to somewhat lax, rather soft, sharply pointed, toothed along the margins, 2-6 cm long, 0.5-1 mm wide, 1-nerved, finely fringed to glabrous; stem leaves opposite, grasslike, reduced upwards, 2-5 pairs, to 4 cm long; stipules lacking.
Flowers: Inflorescence of 1-3 flowers in small open clusters; petals 5, white, egg-shaped, 5-9 mm long; sepals 5, 3-5 mm long, egg-shaped, the margins membranous and often violet-tinged, obtuse or abruptly sharp-pointed.
Fruits: Capsules egg-shaped, 5-8 mm long, sparsely glandular, 6-valved; seeds 1.5-2 mm long, kidney-shaped, flattened, slightly warty.
Dry grasslands, shrublands, meadows and forest openings from the steppe to alpine zones; common in SC and SE BC, rare on Vancouver Island; E to AB and S to MT, NV and N OR.
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)
