Stellaria humifusa Rottb.
salt marsh starwort (saltmarsh starwort)
Caryophyllaceae (Pink family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
salt marsh starwort (saltmarsh starwort)
Caryophyllaceae (Pink family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from slender rhizomes; stems prostrate, several, branched, matted, glabrous, 2-40 cm long.
Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves opposite, unstalked, narrowly lanceolate to elliptic, 0.6-1.8 cm long, 1-5 mm wide, thick and fleshy; stipules lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of solitary flowers in the leaf axils, or in a few-flowered, leafy cluster; petals 5, white, 2-cleft, 4-6 mm long; sepals 5, lanceolate, 3.5-5 mm long at flowering time, inconspicuously 3-nerved.
Fruits:
Capsules straw-coloured, egg-shaped, 4-5 mm long, 6-valved; seeds brown, 0.8-1 mm long, lightly roughened, nearly smooth.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Stellaria humifusa
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)
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 |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
240 | 0 | 1435 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
2 | 0 | 10 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
222 | 205 | 240 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 4 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
6 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CWH(5), MS(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Wet salt marshes, mudflats and saline shores in the lowland zone; infrequent in coastal and SW BC, known from the Queen Charlotte Islands, Vancouver Island and Burrard Inlet; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to OR; Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Alsine humifusa (Rottb.) Britton
Stellaria humifusa var. oblongifolia Fenzl
Stellaria humifusa var. suberecta B. Boivin