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 ).

MINUARTIA

SANDWORT

Annual, perennial herb, erect to mat-forming, taprooted or rhizomed
Leaf: blade thread-like to awl-shaped or narrowly oblong; veins or ribs 1–3
Inflorescence: cyme, terminal or axillary; flowers 2–many, open to ± dense, or flower solitary; peduncles and pedicels 0.5–35+ mm
Flower: hypanthium short, obscure; sepals 5, ± free, 1.9–7 mm, ± lanceolate to ovate, glabrous to glandular-hairy; petals 5 or 0, 0.7–10 mm, entire or notched; stamens arising from an obscure to prominent disk; styles 3, 0.3–2 mm
Fruit: capsule, narrowly ovoid to widely elliptic; teeth 3, ascending to recurved
Seeds 1–many, reddish tan to reddish, purplish, or blackish brown
Species in genus: 120 species: arctic to Mex, n Africa, s Asia
Etymology: (J. Minuart, Spanish botanist & pharmacist, 1693–1768)
Reference: [McNeill 1980 Rhodora 82: 495–502]

Native

M. nuttallii (Pax) Briq.

Perennial, mat-forming, 2–20 cm, ± green, densely glandular-hairy; taproot > 3 mm diam; rhizomes and trailing stem < 60+ cm
Stems in flower ascending to erect
Leaves 4–12(15) mm, ± 0.3–1.1 mm wide, > internodes, needle-like to awl-shaped, straight to recurved, ± rigid, ± evenly spaced; axillary leaves well developed
Flower: sepals 3.5–7 mm, acute to acuminate, margin not incurved, ribs 1 or 3; petals 0.7–1.6 X sepals
Seed 1.5–2.2 mm; margin thick, reddish brown to dark brown
Ecology: Sandy and rocky slopes and ridges, barren rock, chaparral, open pine woodland, often on serpentine
Elevation: 650–3800 m.
Bioregional distribution: Northwestern California, High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, Great Basin Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: Oregon, Nevada
Synonyms: Arenaria n. Pax