Minuartia patula

Minuartia patula, common names pitcher's stitchwort or lime-barren sandwort, is an annual plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to sections of the eastern and central United States, primarily the lower Mississippi Valley, the southern Great Plains, and the Tennessee Valley, with additional scattered populations in Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the southern Great Lakes region.[3]

Minuartia patula
1913 illustration[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Minuartia
Species:
M. patula
Binomial name
Minuartia patula
(Michx.) Mattf.
Synonyms[2]
  • Arenaria patula Michx. 1803
  • Alsine microsperma Fenzl ex Torr. & A.Gray
  • Alsine patula A.Gray
  • Alsine pitcheri A.Wood
  • Alsinopsis patula (Michx.) Small
  • Arenaria pitcheri Nutt.
  • Arenaria sphaerocarpa Martrin-Donos
  • Sabulina patula (Michx.) Small ex Rydb.

Minuartia patula is found on limestone outcrops and in rocky barrens and glades. It is a small, delicate annual species with thin red stems up to 30 centimetres (1 ft) long, erect (upright) or ascending (trailing along the ground at first, then curving upwards). It very often has numerous stems crossing each other so as to form a clump of many stems. Leaves are in pairs, narrow and rarely more than 20 millimetres (0.8 in) long. Flowers are white, forming in the spring then quickly wilting.[4][5]

Minuartia patula is highly variable throughout its range, and multiple varieties have been named, though none of these is widely accepted today.[2]

References
  1. Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 2: 56.
  2. The Plant List, Minuartia patula (Michx.) Mattf.
  3. Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  4. Minuartia patula in Flora of North America
  5. Ohio Division of Natural Areas Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine


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