TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

CARYOPHYLLACEAE

PINK FAMILY

Ronald L. Hartman (except Silene)

Annual, biennial, perennial herb, rarely dioecious, taprooted or rhizome generally slender
Leaves simple, generally opposite; stipules generally 0; petiole generally 0; blade entire, sheath generally 0
Inflorescence: cyme, generally open; flowers few–many or flower solitary and axillary; involucre generally 0
Flower generally bisexual, radial; hypanthium sometimes present; sepals generally 5, ± free or fused into a tube, tube generally herbaceous between lobes or teeth; awns generally 0; petals generally 5 or 0, generally tapered to base (or with claw long, blade expanded), entire to 2–several-lobed, blade generally without scale-like appendages (inner surface), generally without ear-like lobes at base; stamens generally 10, generally fertile, generally free, generally from ovary base; nectaries generally 0; ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, placentas basal or free-central, styles 2–5 or 1 and 2–3-branched
Fruit: capsule or utricle (rarely modified, dehiscent), generally sessile
Seeds: appendage generally 0
Genera in family: 85 genera, 2400 species: widespread, especially arctic, alpine, temp, n hemisphere; some cultivated (Agrostemma, Arenaria, Cerastium, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Saponaria, Silene, Vaccaria ).

ARENARIA

SANDWORT

Annual, perennial herb, erect to mat-forming, taprooted
Stem generally round in X -section
Leaf: blades thread-like to ovate; veins 1–5
Inflorescence: cyme, terminal or axillary, open to head- or umbel-like; flowers 1–many; peduncles and pedicels 0–50+ mm
Flower: hypanthium barely present; sepals 5, ± free, 1.5–8 mm, ± lanceolate to widely ovate, glabrous to glandular-hairy; petals 0 or 5, 1.5–10 mm, entire or notched; stamens inserted on obscure to prominent disk; ovary ± superior, styles 3, 0.5–2 mm
Fruit: capsule, ovoid to urn-shaped; teeth 6, ascending to recurved
Seeds 1–15+, grayish, dark brown, reddish brown, yellowish tan, blackish purple, or blackish
Species in genus: 150 species: n temp, especially mtns, arctic Am, Eurasia
Etymology: (Latin: sand, a common habitat)
Reference: [McNeill 1980 Rhodora 82:495–502]

Native

A. macradenia S. Watson

DESERT SANDWORT

Perennial, tufted, green
Stem 20–40 cm, rounded, ± dull, sometimes glandular-hairy
Leaf 20–60 mm, 0.5–2 mm wide, needle-like, herbaceous, blunt to sharp-pointed; vein 1
Inflorescence: cyme, terminal; flowers several–many, compact to open; pedicels 3–55 mm
Flower: sepals 3–7.2 mm, in fruit < 8 mm, acute to acuminate; petals 6–11 mm; nectaries 2-lobed, 0.7–1.5 mm
Seeds 4–9, 1.8–2.7 mm, ± spheric to ovate, compressed, reddish brown to blackish; tubercles low, rounded to conic
Ecology: Open woodlands, sagebrush flats, dry rocky slopes
Elevation: 1100–2500 m.
Bioregional distribution: s Sierra Nevada Foothills, c&s High Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, East of Sierra Nevada, Mojave Desert
Distribution outside California: to Utah, Arizona