Sagina saginoides

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Sagina saginoides
Sagina saginoides Atlas Alpenflora.jpg
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: Sagina
Species:
S. saginoides
Binomial name
Sagina saginoides

Sagina saginoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names arctic pearlwort [2] or alpine pearlwort. It has a circumboreal distribution; it can be found throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It grows in subalpine and alpine climates and other mountainous habitat at lower elevations. This is a small perennial herb producing a slender to threadlike stem just a few centimetres long, growing decumbent or erect. It is sometimes clumpy in form. The leaves are linear in shape and about 1 to 2 centimetres in length. The inflorescence is a solitary flower with five sepals and five small white petals.

Contents

Description

The alpine pearlwort is a small, tufted perennial plant growing from 3 to 10 centimetres (1.2 to 3.9 in) tall. Its stems are semi-erect and the stalked leaves are in opposite fused pairs with slender linear blades, entire margins and blunt tips. The erect flowering stem bears a globular bud followed by a single regular flower about 2 mm (0.1 in) in diameter. It has five turned back sepals, five white, ovate, blunt petals which are the same length as the sepals, ten stamens and five styles. The fruit is a five-chambered capsule and longer than the calyx. The snow pearlwort (Sagina nivalis) looks very similar but often has four rather than five petals. [3]

Distribution and habitat

The alpine pearlwort has a circumboreal distribution; it can be found throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere and mountainous regions further south. It is found in short turf in thin soils on fell tundra, under snowdrifts, in melt-water wetlands, on ledges on rock faces, rocky banks, meagre pastures, roadside banks and bare ground. During the winter its dwarf stature and covering of snow protect it from the worst of the winds and low temperatures. [3]

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<i>Sagina subulata</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Sagina</i> Genus of flowering plants

Sagina is a genus of 20–30 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. These are flowering herbs native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere extending south to tropical mountain areas at high altitudes, reaching just south of the equator in Africa. They are small annual or perennial herbaceous plants, growing to 5–15 cm. The leaves are opposite, often in tight whorl-like clusters, simple linear, typically 5–20 mm long. The flowers are solitary or in small cymes, with four or five green sepals and an equal number of white petals; the petal size relative to the sepal size is useful in species identification. The fruit is a small capsule containing several seeds.

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<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 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>Sagina apetala</i> Species of flowering plant

Sagina apetala is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names annual pearlwort and dwarf pearlwort. It is native to Europe and it is known elsewhere as an introduced species, including parts of North America. It grows in many types of disturbed habitat, such as cracks in the sidewalk. It is a petite annual herb producing a threadlike stem just a few centimeters long, spreading or growing erect. The plant is glandular and somewhat hairy. The leaves are linear in shape and not more than about a centimeter long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower borne on a threadlike pedicel. The flower has usually four sepals and generally no petals.

Sagina decumbens is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names trailing pearlwort and western pearlwort. It is native to several areas of North America, where it can be found in many types of habitat. It is a small annual herb producing a threadlike green or purplish stem growing erect or trailing, measuring up to about 16 centimeters long. The leaves are hairless, linear in shape, and one half to two centimeters long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower borne on a threadlike pedicel. The flower has usually five sepals and five tiny white petals. There are two subspecies which differ mainly in the microscopic appearance of the seeds.

<i>Sagina maxima</i> Species of flowering plant

Sagina maxima is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names stickystem pearlwort and thick-stemmed pearlwort. It is native to the west coast of North America from Alaska to California, where it can be found in many types of sandy and rocky coastal habitat. It is a small, fleshy perennial herb growing in a clump of linear leaves and thick stems. The fleshy, pointed leaves are 1 or 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower with five sepals and five small white petals. There are two subspecies which differ mainly in the arrangement of hairs on the stem.

<i>Sagina procumbens</i> Species of flowering plant

Sagina procumbens is a species of flowering plant. in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names procumbent pearlwort, birdeye pearlwort and matted pearlwort. It can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere and parts of South America. It is a common weed of many environments. It can be found in wild and disturbed habitat, especially moist areas. It can sometimes be seen growing in lawns or in cracks in pavements. This is a perennial herb forming clumps or mats of hairless green herbage, sometimes vaguely resembling a patch of moss. The leaves are linear and up to 1 or 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower with four or five sepals and four or five small white petals, but the petals are sometimes absent.

Silene aperta is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names naked catchfly and Tulare campion. It is endemic to Tulare County, California, where it is known only from the coniferous forests of the High Sierra Nevada. It is a perennial herb growing from a woody, branching caudex sending up several erect stems up to about 60 centimetres tall. The lower leaves are linear in shape, up to 12 cm long but less than one wide. Leaves higher on the stem are smaller. The flower has a hairy, tubular calyx of fused sepals with ten veins. The calyx is open at the top, revealing five white or yellow-green petals each 1 to 2 cm long.

<i>Silene bernardina</i> Species of flowering plant

Silene bernardina is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name Palmer's catchfly.

<i>Silene grayi</i> Species of flowering plant

Silene grayi is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, known by the common name Gray's catchfly.

<i>Silene parishii</i> Species of flowering plant

Silene parishii is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name Parish's catchfly. It is endemic to southern California, where it is known from several of the local mountain ranges, including the San Bernardino, San Gabriel, and San Jacinto Mountains. It grows in rocky, forested habitat, sometimes in the alpine climates of the higher peaks. It is a perennial herb growing from a woody, branching caudex and taproot, sending up several decumbent or erect stems 10 to 40 centimetres tall. The oppositely arranged leaves line the stems, the largest ones located at the middle of each stem. Leaves are lance-shaped to nearly oval and up to 6 centimetres long. They are thick and leathery, and sometimes glandular and sticky. Each flower is encapsulated in a tubular calyx of fused sepals which may be nearly 3 centimetres long. It is greenish with ten veins and a coating of glandular hairs. The five petals are yellowish in colour and each has about six long, fringelike lobes at the tip.

<i>Stellaria borealis</i> Species of flowering plant in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae

Stellaria borealis is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name boreal starwort. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout northern areas of the Northern Hemisphere. It occurs in many types of moist and wet habitat, including marshes, riverbanks, lakesides, floodplains, talus, ditches, and moist spots in forests and woodlands. It is quite variable in appearance, especially across subspecies. In general, it is a rhizomatous perennial herb forming mats of branching, four-angled stems lined with lance-shaped leaves a few centimeters in length. The inflorescence bears many flowers each with five deeply lobed white petals. Some flowers lack petals and have only the five pointed green sepals.

<i>Stellaria longifolia</i> Species of plant

Stellaria longifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name longleaf starwort. It is native to much of the northern half of the Northern Hemisphere, occurring throughout northern Europe and North America. It grows in many types of moist habitat, including meadows, marshes, and roadsides. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb forming clumps with sprawling, branching stems which are mostly hairless except for tiny rough hairs along the edges of the squarish stem. The linear to lance-shaped leaves are up to 3.5 centimeters long and are oppositely arranged in pairs. The inflorescence bears several flowers, each on a short pedicel. The flower has five pointed green sepals each a few millimeters long. There are five white petals, each so deeply lobed it appears to be two.

<i>Stellaria longipes</i> Species of flowering plant

Stellaria longipes is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names longstalk starwort and Goldie's starwort. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the northernmost latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It is a perennial herb that grows in a wide variety of habitat types, including tundra and taiga and many areas farther south with subalpine and alpine climates. It is extremely variable in morphology, its form depending on both genetic makeup and environmental conditions. It has a widely varying number of chromosomes. In general, it is a rhizomatous perennial herb forming mats or clumps, or growing erect. The stems may be short and simple or with sprawling and highly branched. The linear to lance-shaped leaves are usually 1 to 4 centimeters long and are oppositely arranged in pairs. The inflorescence bears one or more flowers, each on a short pedicel. The flower has five pointed green sepals each a few millimeters long. There are five white petals each divided into two lobes, sometimes shallowly, but often so deeply there appear to be two petals. The plant is gynodioecious, with some flowers having functional male and female reproductive parts and others being only female.

Stellaria irrigua is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names umbrella starwort and umbellate starwort. It is native to western North America from Alaska and north-western Canada to the south-western United States, as well as parts of Asia, including Siberia. It grows in subalpine and alpine climates in mountain forests and riverbanks. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing a slender prostrate stem up to about 20 centimeters long, sometimes forming clumps or mats. The stem is lined with pairs of oval leaves each up to about 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence is an umbel-shaped array of several flowers each on an arching or erect pedicels. The flower has five pointed green sepals each no more than 3 millimeters long. There are occasionally tiny white petals within the calyx of sepals, but these are generally absent.

<i>Thalictrum alpinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Thalictrum alpinum is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common names alpine meadow-rue and arctic meadow-rue. It is native to Arctic and alpine regions of North America and Eurasia, including Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland, and it occurs in cold, wet, boggy habitats in high mountains farther south.

References

  1. NatureServe (2024). "Sagina saginoides". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  2. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Sagina saginoides". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Alpine pearlwort". NatureGate>. Retrieved 2013-12-24.