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

Cerastium nutans Raf.
nodding chickweed
Caryophyllaceae (Pink family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Bryan Kelly-McArthur  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #87585)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Cerastium nutans
Click here to view our interactive map and legend
Details about map content are available here
Click on the map dots to view record details.

SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Cerastium nutans var. nutans

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.



General:
Annual herb from a short, slender taproot; stems ascending to erect, glandular-hairy to somewhat soft-hairy, 1 to several, simple or basally branched, 5-25 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal and lower stem leaves spoon-shaped to oblanceolate, 6-30 mm long, broadly short-stalked; stem leaves opposite, several pairs, linear-lanceolate to egg-shaped, unstalked; stipules lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence several in a loose, leafy, bracted cluster; stalks glandular soft-hairy; petals 5, white, usually sharply deflexed at the tips, 2-cleft, 6-10 mm long, occasionalály lacking; sepals 5, elliptic, 4-5 mm long, generally glandular soft-hairy.
Fruits:
Capsules cylindric, curved at maturity, 7-12 mm long, 10-valved; seeds light brown, 0.5-0.7 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Moist to mesic streambanks, grasslands and open forests in the steppe and lower montane zones; infrequent in SC BC, rare in the Peace River area; N to S AK and S NT, E to PQ and NS, and S to SC, FL, UT, TX, AZ and OR.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Cerastium nutans

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)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 847 1145 1710
Slope Gradient (%) 0 5 12
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
160 190 220
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
4 4 5
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
4
Modal BEC Zone Class
PP
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: IDF(1), MS(1), PP(1)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References