Sagina nodosa (L.) Fenzl
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Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
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Family
Caryophyllaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Obviously perennial, decumbent to erect, 5–15 cm, with conspicuous tufts of basal lvs; lvs linear-subulate, 5–20 cm, triquetrous, the tip mucronate, boat-shaped, the upper cauline lvs reduced; short sterile shoots replacing some or all fls; fls terminating the slender branches, or on slender pedicels 4–12 mm in a branching infl; sep 5 (or 4 on some fls), broadly ovate or oblong, 2 mm, erect-appressed at maturity and about equaling the 5-valved fr; pet nearly twice as long as the sep; stamens 10; seeds 0.5 mm, plump, obliquely subreniform or nearly globose; minutely tessellate-tuberculate in lines or ridges, scarcely grooved. Polyploid series based on x=11. Rocky or sandy soil, moist shores, or beaches; circumboreal, s. in Amer. to Mass., Lake Superior (incl. Keweenaw Pt.), and Alta. Summer. The widespread native Amer. phase, glabrous throughout, or with only the pedicels and calyx-bases glandular-hairy, is var. borealis (Crow) Cronquist. The European var. nodosa, with the stems, pedicels, calyx-bases, and often the lf-margins glandular-hairy, is intr. along the coast from Nf. and Que. to Mass.