General: Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, 4-15 cm tall.
Leaves: In basal clump, simple, linear or narrowly oblanceolate, 2-10 cm long, entire.
Flowers: Inflorescences of solitary, terminal flowers; flower shoots 4-15 cm long, shorter than leaves when flowering, but longer in fruit; bracts none; petals none to 5, distinct, white, linear to narrowly spoon-shaped, 1-2 mm long, long-clawed, the claw 1- to 2-times as long as blade, nectary on upper surface; sepals (3) 5 (-8), green, or with narrow membranous margins, narrowly oblong, 1.5-3 mm long, spurred, the blades slightly longer than spurs, 3- to 5-veined; stamens 5 to 10; pistils 60 to 100.
Fruits: Achenes, 60 to 100 or more in a spike 16-50 mm long, 1-3 mm wide; beaks straight, 0.05-0.4 mm long.
Wet meadows, streambanks, seepage sites and vernal pools in the lowland and steppe zones; infrequent on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and SC BC; E to ON and S to VA, NC, TX, NM, AZ and CA; S Europe.
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)
