E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from a taproot; forming cushions 5-15 cm wide; stems erect or ascending, simple, glabrous, 1-3 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves linear to lance-linear, 3-6 mm long, less than 1 mm wide, 1-nerved, glabrous; stem leaves opposite, 2-3 pairs, 3-12 mm long, glabrous often with short, sterile axillary branches; stipules lacking.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of solitary or occasionally a few flowers in a loose cluster; petals linear to oblong, 1-2 mm long or more usually lacking; sepals green, long-pointed or abruptly sharp-pointed, 2-3 mm long, strongly 3-nerved.

Fruits:
Capsules 2-3 mm long, 3-valved; seeds light brown, 0.6-1.0 mm long.

Notes:
Collections of this species were previously identified as M. rossii ssp. columbiana (M. elegans) (Wolf et al. 1979).