General:
Perennial herb from a slender rhizome; stems decumbent to more usually erect, several, branched, matted, 4-angled, glabrous to slightly hairy near the base, 3-30 cm tall/long.
Leaves:
Basal leaves few, reduced, soon deciduous; stem leaves opposite, unstalked, egg-shaped or linear to linear-lanceolate, 5-30 mm long, 1-4 mm wide, abruptly sharp-pointed, rigid and stiff, often glaucous; stipules lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of solitary, or few to several flowers in an open cluster; petals 5, white, 2-cleft, 3-8 mm long; sepals 5, lanceolate, 3-5 mm long, usually glabrous, strongly 3-nerved.
Fruits:
Capsules usually purplish, 4-6 mm long, 6-valved; seeds 0.6-0.9 mm long, reddish-brown, lightly roughened.
Notes:
In an earlier treatment (Douglas et al. 1989) Stellaria longipes was treated as a single, highly variable taxon based on the research of Chinnappa and Morton (1976, 1984). Recently, Emery and Chinnappa (1994) have shown that it now best to recognize three varieties within the S. longipes complex. Two of these occur in BC.
1. Flowers solitary; leaves egg-shaped; plants mostly of the alpine zone...................... var. monantha (Hult.) Emery & Chinnappa
1. Flowers on most plants more than 1; leaves linear to linear-lanceolate; plants occurring in all vegetation zones....................... var. longipes
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
Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
Elevation
(metres) |
1491 | 1085 | 2316 |
Slope
Gradient (%) |
21 | 0 | 62 |
Aspect (degrees) |
107 | 0 | 265 |
Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 1 | 7 |
Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
#
of field plots species was recorded in: |
13 | ||
Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SWB | ||
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), BAFA(1), SWB(11) | ||
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Stellaria alaskana Hultén