General: Perennial herb from slender rhizomes and stolons, sometimes forming large patches; stems ascending to erect, solitary to several, simple from the nodes of the rhizomes, 10-25 cm tall; vegetative stoloniferous branches up to 40 cm long.
Leaves: Basal leaves many, egg-shaped, spoon-shaped or rounded, the blades 1.5-3 cm long, 2-20 mm wide, the stalks as long or longer than the blades; stem leaves several, lanceolate to egg-shaped or rounded, alternate, reduced, narrower than the basal leaves.
Flowers: Inflorescence of bracteate, terminal racemes with 3-8 flowers on stalks 5-12 mm long; petals 5, pinkish or white with pink veins, 7-15 mm long; sepals 2, unequal, 2-3 mm long; stamens 5.
Moist mossy rock outcrops, streambanks and shorelines in the lowland and montane zones; frequent in S BC; N to SE AK and SW YT, E to MB and S to MT, ID, UT and CA.
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 intolerant, submontane to montane, Western North American forb distributed equally in the Pacific and Cordilleran regions. Occurs in cool temperate and cool mesothermal climates on nitrogenmedium soils; its occurrence decreases with increasing latitude and elevation. Scattered in open-canopy forests on water-shedding and water-receiving sites. Usually inhabits very shallow, friable organic materials accumulated on stony and rocky sites affected by temporary surface flow of water and organic materials. Characteristic of colluvial sites.