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

General:
Annual herb from a slender taproot; stems ascending to erect, simple, several, 3-35 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves linear to narrowly oblanceolate, the blades 1-18 cm long, tapered gradually to the stalk; stem leaves paired, opposite, fused on both margins, forming a disk less than 10 cm wide.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of whorled racemes with 3-40 flowers on stalks 1-10 cm long or unstalked, with one bract subtending the lowest flower; petals white or pinkish, 2-6 mm long; sepals 1.5-4 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules; seeds 3, round to egg-shaped, black, shiny, smooth (at 20x magnification), the appendages white, fleshy, 1-2.3 mm long.

Notes:
Claytonia parviflora (and C. rubra) were formerly treated in the Pacific Northwest by Hitchcock et al. (1964) and in BC by Douglas et al. (1990) as part of the natural variation of the C. perfoliata or Montia perfoliata complex. Recent studies by Miller (1978) and Chambers (1993) indicate that they should be treated as separate species.