SEARCH AND WILDFLOWER HOME PAGE WHITE FLOWERS CONTACT US
Weber's Colorado Flora places some species of Chickweeds in Alsinaceae, not Caryophyllaceae. |
|
|
Arenaria lanuginosa subspecies saxosa. Synonym: Spergulastrum lanuginosum subspecies saxosum. (Woolly Chickweed, Spreading Sandwort). Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family) Foothills, montane, subalpine, alpine.
Open woodlands. Summer, fall. Arenaria lanuginosa is typically found sprawling along the ground making very loose, open mounds with 3-7 inch stems topped by bright white flowers. Stems can be much longer (to 18 inches) and the stems can be upright. Rounded white petals are slightly longer than the pointed green sepals. Just after the flowers open the ten stamens are arched back over the petals. As the flower matures the stamens grow erect, pollen matures, and eventually the anther sacs fall. The sacs are pink, to white, to brown depending on their age. In the photograph below you can see that 5 of the 10 stamens still have their anther sacs. In the very center of the flower are the three spreading styles. In the Four Corners region this fairly common Chickweed most often occurs scattered along trails through open Spruce forests. The bright white flowers will attract your attention. Although most Arenaria lanuginosa in the Four Corners area are fairly uniform in their morphology, the Flora of North America indicates that this species "is morphologically diverse... and is in serous need of comprehensive study." The Spergulastrum genus was named by Michaux in 1803 and Michaux also named this species. "Lanuginosum", from the Latin for "wool" and "full of", perhaps refers to the densely hairy leaves and stems. Linnaeus named the Arenaria genus in 1753 and Paul Rohrbach (1846-1871) posthumously renamed Michaux's Spergulastrum lanuginosum to Arenaria lanuginosa in 1872. The Flora of North America, the Synthesis of the North American Flora, and A Utah Flora place this species in the Arenaria genus. "Aren" is Latin for "sand" and is aptly applied because of the often sandy areas that species of this genus grow in. |
|
Stellaria longipes subspecies longipes (Long-stalked Starwort) Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family) Foothills to alpine.
Meadows, moist areas. Summer, fall. Stellaria longipes grows to a very slender two-to-eight inches tall. Typically it is just 3 or 4 inches tall. It enjoys open meadows, dry forests, and wet areas and thrives from the foothills to the alpine. Its stem leaves are narrow, sometimes slightly cupped, and lustrous green, generally angling upward. In the top photograph above, the white dots are Stellaria longipes and you can see how inconspicuous this species is, but when it is looked at closely, as in the three photographs above, it is a delicate work of art. As is true of Arenaria lanuginosa shown above, it is the bright white flower, not the greenery of the plant that will first attract your attention. The plants are so inconspicuous that without the flower they would be unnoticed, unless you find a patch of them as shown above. Such large patches of them are not unusual as the plant is rhizomatous. The genus name, Stellaria, is Latin for "star" and was given by Linnaeus in 1753. "Longipes", a name given by John Goldie (1793-1886), is Latin for "long limbed", referring to the plants very slender stature. Click to see the very similar Stellaria longifolia. |
||
|
Stellaria longipes subspecies longipes (Long-stalked Starwort) Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family) Foothills to alpine.
Meadows, moist areas. Summer, fall. The plant at left puzzled me so I submitted it to several authorities. They all agreed it is S. longipes, but it is one that shows some unusual leaf characteristics. The plant at left grows within a few feet of the three S. longipes shown side by side above. My wife and I scoured the area within three hundred feet of the plant at left. We found dozens of Stellaria longipes that were all clearly the standard-looking S. longipes. We collected several of these for the University of Colorado herbarium. |
Range map © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
|
Range map for Arenaria lanuginosa Range map for Stellaria longipes |