bio.wikisort.org - Plant

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

Minuartia pusilla
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Caryophyllaceae
Genus:	Minuartia
Species:	M. pusilla
Binomial name
Minuartia pusilla (S.Watson) Mattf.
Synonyms
Arenaria pusilla

It is native to western North America from British Columbia to southern California to Utah, from sea level to 2,400 metres (7,900 ft). It grows in mountain pine forests, chaparral, plains, and other habitats.

Description

Minuartia pusilla is a petite annual herb producing a slender, erect stem no more than 5 centimeters tall. The tiny green concave leaves are thready to lance-shaped, up to 5 millimeters long and no more than 1.5 millimeters wide.

The tiny flower has five pointed sepals just a few millimeters long. There may be five white petals which are roughly the same length as the sepals or slightly smaller, though sometimes the flowers lack petals.

External links

• Jepson Manual Treatment: Minuartia pusilla
• USDA Plants Profile
• Flora of North America
• Minuartia pusilla — U.C. Photo gallery

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