Minuartia groenlandica

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Minuartia groenlandica
Minuartia groenlandica ADK.jpg
Minuartia groenlandica in Adirondacks Park, New York state
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Minuartia
Species:
M. groenlandica
Binomial name
Minuartia groenlandica
Synonyms
  • Arenaria groenlandica
  • Arenaria groenlandica var. glabra
  • Minuartia glabra
  • Minuartia groenlandica subsp. glabra
  • Porsildia groenlandica
  • Sabulina glabra

Minuartia groenlandica, the Greenland stitchwort or mountain stitchwort, Appalachian stitchwort, mountain sandwort, smooth mountain sandwort, and smooth sandwort [2] is a rare perennial [3] which grows low to the ground in clumps linked together at the bottom. [3] It has three to five pairs of leaves in a linear opposite pattern along the length of the slender stem. [4] The main stem breaks into one to thirty cymes which each flower separately. [4] The flowers are white and arise five to ten centimeters above the thick foliage. [3] The white flower petals are six to ten millimeters long. [3] The petals are, in turn, surrounded by five green sepals. [5]

The plant exists in many isolated and elevated areas, such as large mountain plateaus. [3] Its range of distribution includes Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia in Canada. [6] In the United States it is found in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. [6] It is also found in Greenland. [5] Within Nova Scotia this plant is found in Inverness County and along the south shore in only a few areas. [7]

The plant has a peak flowering time of two weeks in the middle of July, [5] although it does flower anywhere between June and August. [7] In this period pollen grains are transported from flower to flower by insects. [5] The most effective insect to transport pollen grains is the bumblebee Bombus terricola . [5] This is due to tiny hairs on the bee that collect pollen, and the bee's habit of crawling all over the flower in low temperatures when it is too cold to fly. [5]

Greenland stitchwort is found in areas of high elevation where bedrock is exposed. [5] The plant grows on rocky ledges and in fine gravel on slopes. [3] The soil in this area has a pH of 3.1 to 4, and is low in nitrogen and phosphorus, but high in organic matter content. [5] This region is very cloudy, has frequent fog and considerable precipitation. [5] One study area on Mount Washington recorded an annual precipitation average at 1837.5 millimeters, an average wind speed of 50 km/h, and a mean annual temperature of -3.0 °C. [5]

Minuartia groenlandica was studied for use on roof tops for insulation and urban greenery but was unable to tolerate drought for long enough to be used successfully. [8]

In Nova Scotia the Greenland stitchwort is sensitive to interference by humans and natural events. [9] The conservation status in Nova Scotia is yellow. [9]

Conservation status within the United States

It is listed as endangered in Connecticut, [10] and Maryland, as threatened in Kentucky, New Hampshire, New York (state), Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, and as a special concern in Maine. [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Minuartia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae

Minuartia is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as sandworts in the family Caryophyllaceae.

<i>Uvularia grandiflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Uvularia grandiflora, the large-flowered bellwort or merrybells, is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae, native to eastern and central North America.

<i>Impatiens pallida</i> Species of flowering plant

Impatiens pallida, with the common names pale jewelweed, pale touch-me-not, or yellow jewelweed, is a flowering annual plant in the family Balsaminaceae native to Canada and the United States. It grows in moist to wet soils, generally alongside the closely related Impatiens capensis, producing flowers from midsummer through fall.

<i>Senna hebecarpa</i> Species of legume

Senna hebecarpa, with the common names American senna and wild senna, is a species of legume native to eastern North America.

<i>Sorbus americana</i> Species of tree

The tree species Sorbus americana is commonly known as the American mountain-ash. It is a deciduous perennial tree, native to eastern North America.

<i>Minuartia obtusiloba</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia obtusiloba is a perennial alpine herb known by the common names alpine sandwort and twinflower stitchwort. It is native to the mountains of western North America from the High Sierra of California to the Colorado Rockies north to Alaska. Its range may extend into far eastern Russia. This is a low plant forming mats or clumps and bearing small thimble-shaped flowers with curving white petals.

<i>Pedicularis groenlandica</i> North American species of flowering plant

Pedicularis groenlandica is a showy flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae commonly known as elephant's head, little pink elephant, elephantella, or similar common names inspired by the resemblance of the flower to the head of an elephant. It is also less commonly known as butterfly tongue for the long beak on the flower. Like many other plants in genus Pedicularis, it is a parasitic plant and depends on host plants to survive.

Minuartia californica, commonly known as California sandwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.

Minuartia decumbens is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names The Lassics sandwort and Lassicus stitchwort.

<i>Minuartia douglasii</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name Douglas' stitchwort.

<i>Minuartia howellii</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia howellii is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names Howell's stitchwort and Howell's sandwort.

<i>Minuartia nuttallii</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia nuttallii is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names Nuttall's sandwort and brittle sandwort.

Minuartia pusilla is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names annual sandwort and dwarf stitchwort.

Minuartia rosei is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names peanut sandwort and peanut stitchwort.

<i>Minuartia rubella</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia rubella is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by several common names, including beautiful sandwort, mountain sandwort, Arctic sandwort, and boreal stitchwort. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northernmost Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic Circle on the Arctic tundra into the alpine climates of mountainous areas in temperate Eurasia and North America. It grows in rocky, moist, often barren habitat, including gravelly, sparsely vegetated slopes with little organic matter. It is a calciphile, growing in calcareous substrates such as soils rich in decomposed limestone.

<i>Minuartia stolonifera</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia stolonifera is a rare species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names Scott Mountain sandwort and stolon sandwort.

<i>Minuartia stricta</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia stricta is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names bog stitchwort, Teesdale sandwort and rock sandwort. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout much of the northernmost Northern Hemisphere from the lower Arctic into the alpine climates of mountainous areas in temperate Eurasia and North America. It grows in several types of habitat, including meadows, marshes, heath, beaches and bars, and arctic and alpine tundra.

<i>Minuartia cumberlandensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia cumberlandensis is a rare species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names Cumberland stitchwort and Cumberland sandwort. It is endemic to the Cumberland Plateau near the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River in Tennessee and Kentucky. This rare plant is found only in cool sandstone rock shelters, on the moist sandy cave floors behind the drip line. There are 27 occurrences in Tennessee and one in Kentucky. The plant is a federally listed endangered species.

<i>Minuartia glabra</i> Species of flowering plant

Minuartia glabra, commonly called Appalachian stichwort, is a species of flowering plant in the carnation family (Caryophyllaceae). It is native to the eastern United States, where it has a scattered distribution.

References

  1. ↑ NatureServe (2024). "Minuartia groenlandica". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  2. ↑ "Plants Profile for Minuartia glabra (Appalachian stitchwort)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rare plant fact sheet PDCAROGOEO (2004) Maine Dept. of Conservation Natural Areas Program
  4. 1 2 Riley, J.L. (1979). Some New and Interesting Vascular Plant Records from Northern Ontario Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist, 93(4), 355-362.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Levesque, C.M., Burger, J.F. (1982). Insects (Diptera, Hymenoptera) associated with Minuartia groenlandica (Caryophyllaceae) on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, USA, and their possible role as pollinators. Arctic and Alpine Research, 14(2), 117.
  6. 1 2 "Home". natureserve.org.
  7. 1 2 Roland, A. E., Zinck, M., Owen, E., & Nova Scotia Museum. (1998). Roland's flora of Nova Scotia (3rd ed.). Halifax, N.S.: Nimbus Pub. & Nova Scotia Museum.
  8. ↑ Wolf, D., & Lundholm, J. T. (2008). Water uptake in green roof microcosms: Effects of plant species and water availability. Ecological Engineering, 33(2), 179.
  9. 1 2 Rank and Status of Wildlife in Nova Scotia, 2007.
  10. ↑ "Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015". State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources. Retrieved 12 January 2018. (Note: This list is newer than the one used by plants.usda.gov and is more up-to-date.)
  11. ↑ "Plants Profile for Minuartia glabra (Appalachian stitchwort)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
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